Pharaoh
The Pharaoh was an ancient Egyptian ruler, whose power was generally assumed to come directly from the Egyptian gods, and was therefore worshipped and treated as a god. Being gods, of course, meant they could marry their sisters with all the results one would expect. This was done to preserve the throne; an ever increasing number of descendants meant more rivalry, but the stronger the person's claim to the throne the more likely they would be a clear heir. Being the son and nephew of the prior Pharaoh was a stronger claim than merely being a son. Egypt did allow for women to be Pharaoh (though it wasn't too common), so two of the children could be rulers simultaneously if they worked together against the others, instead of winner takes all.
Since the actual word for "Egyptian King" (nswt) is a male gender word, when women ruled the Kingdom, Pharaoh (gender neutral) was the linguistically necessary term.
For Ancient Israel, "pharaoh" takes on the role as the biggest, baddest,"Evil Empire Ruler" they could envision or name until Babylon rose as a more significant power. Some of the Pharaoh of the Old Testament are named, others are not, and some are even clearly fictional.[1] If your myth required a scary dude to sell the story, bring in the Pharaoh.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Such as the curiously unnamed one from Exodus