Who was the first woman ruler?

Answers to the question:

What is the oldest recorded female name in history?

Name some earlier persons who seem to have probably or possibly been female rulers, and lived before the legendary Queen Nitocris.

Merneith (also written Merit-neith and Meryt-Neith) was a consort and a regent of Ancient Egypt during the First Dynasty. She may have been a ruler of Egypt in her own right, based on several official records. If this was the case and the earlier royal wife Neithhotep never ruled as an independent regent, Merneith may have been the first female pharaoh and the earliest queen regnant in recorded history. Her rule occurred around 2950 BC1 for an undetermined period.

Wikipedia:Merneith

And of course the chronology of early Egyptian history is uncertain by several hundred years so Merneith might have lived a century or two before or after 2950 BC.

Neithhotep or Neith-hotep was an ancient Egyptian queen consort living and ruling during the early First Dynasty. She was once thought to be a male ruler: her outstandingly large mastaba and the royal serekh surrounding her name on several seal impressions previously led Egyptologists and historians to the erroneous belief that she may have been an unknown king.2

As the understanding of early Egyptian writings developed, scholars learned that Neithhotep was in fact a woman of extraordinary rank. She was subsequently considered to be the wife of unified Egypt's first pharaoh, Narmer, and the mother of Hor-Aha.2 More recent discoveries suggest that Neithhotep might have instead been a spouse of Hor-Aha, and the mother and co-regent of successive ruler Djer. Archeological evidence also indicates that she may have ruled as pharaoh in her own right, and as such would have been the earliest known female monarch in history.3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neithhotep[3]

Narmer, the possible husband or father-in-law of Neithhotep, is believed to have united upper and lower Egypt and to have ruled sometime during the period of about 3273 to 2987 BC (for a lot shorter time than all of the 286 years of that period, of course).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narmer[4]

Kubaba (in the Weidner or Esagila Chronicle),1 Sumerian: 𒆬𒀭𒁀𒌑, kug-Dba-u₂, is the only queen on the Sumerian King List, which states she reigned for 100 years – roughly in the Early Dynastic III period (ca. 2500–2330 BC) of Sumerian history. In the early Hittite period, she was worshipped as a goddess.

Kubaba is one of very few women to have ever ruled in their own right in Mesopotamian history. Most versions of the king list place her alone in her own dynasty, the 3rd Dynasty of Kish, following the defeat of Sharrumiter of Mari, but other versions combine her with the 4th dynasty, that followed the primacy of the king of Akshak. Before becoming monarch, the king list says she was an alewife.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubaba[5]

So before Hapshepsut (c. 1507-1458 BC) there was Sobekneferu who ruled Egypt about 1806-1802 BC, the first female ruler whose reign is considered certain.

And before Sobekneferu there might have been the rather legendary Kubaba whose story seems rather fanciful, but who would have ruled centuries before Sobeknewferu.

And before Sobekneferu and the possibly legendary Kubaba there might have been the legendary Nitocris, possibly a daughter of Pepi II and Queen Neith, and possibly a sister and successor of King Merene, at the end of the 6th dynasty and of the Old Kingdom era. If real, Nitocris would have become queen regnant sometime about 2194 to 2152 BC.

And before Nitocris there was Merneith, a queen consort in the 4th dynasty sometime roughly about 2950 BC, who might have also become queen regnant. If Merneith was a queen regnant and Neithhotep was not, Merneith would have been the first queen regnant.

And before Merneith there was Neithhoptep, a queen consort near the beginning of the first dynasty, centuries before Merneith, who might have also become queen regnant.

Since Neithhop may have ruled before 3000 BC, at the very dawn of recorded history, she would probably be the first recorded queen regnant, if she was a queen regnant.

Kubaba is a queen (the only one) mentioned in the Sumerian King list as ruler of Kish. According to Wikipedia that puts her at roughly 2500-2330 BC. I doubt there are any earlier female Sumerian rulers, and Sumer is to a first approximation the oldest historical civilisation (in the sense that historical records of it are earlier than those of anywhere else).

Kubaba or Kug-bau is said to have been a Sumerian ruler circa 2500 BCE and possibly the oldest rags-to-riches story that we know of: she was an alewife/tavern-keeper before she became queen.

Kubaba (in the Weidner or Esagila Chronicle; Sumerian: Kug-Bau) is the only queen on the Sumerian King List, which states she reigned for 100 years – roughly in the Early Dynastic III period (ca. 2500-2330 BC) of Sumerian history. She is one of very few women to have ever ruled in their own right in Iraqi history. Most versions of the king list place her alone in her own dynasty, the 3rd Dynasty of Kish, following the defeat of Sharrumiter of Mari, but other versions combine her with the 4th dynasty, that followed the primacy of the king of Akshak. Before becoming monarch, the king list says she was a tavern-keeper.

_{^{(I ran across her in one of the stories in the anthology, After Hours: Tales from Ur-Bar.)}}