There were female Pharaohs (the name means The Great House and was adopted in the 18th dynasty) such as Hatshepsut, Merneith Sobekneferu, etc., in Ancient Egypt but there was no such thing as a "Male Harem" for any class of people. There was only one harem and it was the Royal Harem that belonged to the king. Generally, the mother of the King because a Wise Woman and retired to the Royal Harem and took a guiding role there. The king was to have as many children as he could as many children, during that time in history, did not live past the age of three. Each king had one Great Wife that was beside him and had the job of the royal duties. But the women of the harem were not all "royal" - yet, they could be the daughters of the king but also in the Harem were the children of elites who were educated along with the king's children (as one day one of the king's sons would be king). The Harem was also a money making institution. It was there that the women were taught the skill of weaving fine linen. And one king inherited the harem from the former but could always add as many other women as he wished. It was ONLY the king that had many wives - and that was based on divine mythology. Gods had several wives and the kings, as the living God Horus on earth, he could do as the gods. No where else did you find anyone having multiple wives. The Royal Harem was also a diplomatic treasure. Today, we still see the propaganda from kings on temple walls, in chariots winning every war or smiting the enemies of Egypt, If you believed every scene you saw, Egypt never lost a war - and we know that is not true. But they also did not fight every war - there was a lot of diplomatic relationships between the countries around Egypt, some who were called the 9 enemies of Egypt - but they needed Egypt's agriculture as well as Egypt needed gold from Nubia/Kush (modern day Sudan), cedar from Lebanon, etc., and in diplomatic trades from kings would send their sons and daughters - and they would go straight into the Harem. It was a definite win for Egypt. They would have raise their children or keep the woman and they would adapt the culture and customs of Egypt. Never - ever - did a king of Egypt allow one of their sons or daughters be used as a diplomatic trade! They did not want them to become a king of a foreign country and have split alliances! Never! Amenhotep lll loved his Great Wife, Queen Tiye, but he was very happy to share with the country his diplomatic wives, he created scarabs to share throughout the country - but he did start out talking about his wife Tiye then about his new additions to the harem. General and Elites may have been given a servant girl or serf as a gift of war, but it was never as a wife. And women in the Royal harem were never to be married to anyone else except to belong to the king - for life. There was also just ONE Great Wife and hopefully, her son would be king but that was not the case at all. Numerous kings were the products of secondary wives from the Royal Harem, such great kings as Hatshepsut and the warrior king, Tuthmosis lll. Women in AE had a lot of legal rights. Women outside the Harem could go to court and even divorce but this was forbidden in the Harem. I am very long winded and have more to say, but I will give you a link to provide for information on the subject: http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub365/entry-6124.html