Great Royal Wife
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| Great Royal Wife in hieroglyphs |
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Hatshepsut was Great Royal Wife to Thutmose II, then regent for her stepson Thutmose III, before becoming pharaoh in her own right (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Great Royal Wife, or alternatively, Chief King's Wife (Ancient Egyptian: ḥmt nswt wrt), is the term that was used to refer to the principal wife of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who served many official functions.
Contents
1 Description
2 Examples
2.1 Ancient Egypt
2.1.1 Middle Kingdom
2.1.2 Second Intermediate Period
2.1.3 New Kingdom
2.1.4 Third Intermediate Period
2.1.5 Late Period
3 See also
4 References
Description
While most Ancient Egyptians were monogamous, a male pharaoh would have had other, lesser wives and concubines in addition to the Great Royal Wife. This arrangement would allow the pharaoh to enter into diplomatic marriages with the daughters of allies, as was the custom of ancient kings.[1]
In the past the order of succession in Ancient Egypt was thought to pass through the royal women. This theory, referred to as the Heiress Theory, has been rejected regarding the eighteenth dynasty ever since a 1980s study of its royalty.[2][3] The throne likely just passed to the eldest living son of those pharaohs.
The mother of the heir to the throne was not always the Great Royal Wife, but once a pharaoh was crowned, it was possible to grant the mother of the king the title of Great Royal Wife, along with other titles. Examples include Iset, the mother of Thutmose III,[4] Tiaa, the mother of Thutmose IV[2] and Mutemwia, the mother of Amenhotep III.[5]
Meretseger, the chief wife of Senusret III, may be the earliest queen whose name appears with this title; she also was the first consort known to write her name in a cartouche.[6] However, she is only attested in the New Kingdom[7] so the title might be an anachronism. Perhaps the first holder of its title was Nubkhaes of the Second Intermediate Period.
A special place in the history of great royal wives was taken by Hatshepsut. She was Great Royal Wife to her half-brother Thutmose II. During this time Hatshepsut also became God's Wife of Amun (the highest ranking priestess in the temple of Amun in Karnak). After the death of her husband, she became regent because of the minority of her stepson, the only male heir (born to Iset), who eventually would become Thutmose III. While he was still very young, however, Hatshepsut was crowned as pharaoh and ruled very successfully in her own right for many years. Although other women before her had ruled Egypt, Hatshepsut was the first woman to take the title, pharaoh, as it was a new term being used for the rulers, not having been used before the eighteenth dynasty. When she became pharaoh, she designated her daughter, Neferure, as God's Wife of Amun to perform the duties of high priestess. Her daughter may have been the great royal wife of Thutmose III, but there is no clear evidence for this proposed marriage.[8]
Elsewhere, in Kush and other major states of ancient Africa, the rulers often structured their households in much the same way as has just been described.
Examples
Ancient Egypt
Middle Kingdom
| Dynasty | Name | Husband | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
12th dynasty | Meretseger | Senusret III | Possibly the first holder of the title, but not definitively attested to in contemporary sources |
Second Intermediate Period
| Dynasty | Name | Husband | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
13th dynasty | Nubhotepti | Hor | |
13th dynasty | Nubkhaes | Sobekhotep V, Sobekhotep VI or Wahibre Ibiau | |
13th dynasty | Ineni | Merneferre Ai | |
13th dynasty | Nehyt | (?) | Only known from two scarab seals |
13th dynasty | Satsobek | (?) | Only known from one scarab seal |
13th dynasty | Sathathor | (?) | Only known from one scarab seal, reading of name not fully certain |
16th dynasty | Mentuhotep | Djehuti | |
16th dynasty | Sitmut | Mentuhotep VI (?) | |
17th dynasty | Nubemhat | Sobekemsaf I | |
17th dynasty | Sobekemsaf | Nubkheperre Intef | Sister of an unknown king, buried in Edfu |
17th dynasty | Nubkhaes | Sobekemsaf II | |
17th dynasty | Tetisheri | Tao I the Elder | Mother of Tao II the Brave |
17th dynasty | Ahhotep I | Tao II the Brave | Mother of Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari |
New Kingdom
| Dynasty | Name | Husband | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
18th dynasty | Ahmose-Nefertari | Ahmose I | Mother of Amenhotep I and Ahmose-Meritamon |
18th dynasty | Sitkamose | Ahmose I (?) | |
18th dynasty | Ahmose-Henuttamehu | Ahmose I (?) | Daughter of Queen Inhapi |
18th dynasty | Ahmose-Meritamon | Amenhotep I | |
18th dynasty | Ahmose | Thutmose I | Mother of Hatshepsut |
18th dynasty | Hatshepsut | Thutmose II | second great royal wife to her father, Thutmose I, and later, ruling pharaoh with her daughter, Neferure, as great royal wife |
18th dynasty | Iset | Thutmose II | Received the title from her son Thutmose III after he became pharaoh |
18th dynasty | Neferure (?) | Thutmose III | No evidence documents their marriage |
18th dynasty | Satiah | Thutmose III | |
18th dynasty | Merytre-Hatshepsut | Thutmose III | Mother of Amenhotep II |
18th dynasty | Tiaa | Amenhotep II | Received the title from her son Thutmose IV after her husband's death - Amenhotep II tried to break the royal lineage by not recording any of his wives, who may not have been royal, and Tiaa was identified only later, by her son |
18th dynasty | Nefertari | Thutmose IV | |
18th dynasty | Iaret | Thutmose IV | |
18th dynasty | Tenettepihu | Thutmose IV (?) | Known from a shabti and funerary statue, thought to date to the time of Tuthmosis IV (?) |
18th dynasty | Mutemwia | Thutmose IV | Received the title from her son, Amenhotep III, after her husband's death to make his own birth seem royal |
18th dynasty | Tiye | Amenhotep III | Mother of Akhenaten |
18th dynasty | Sitamun | Amenhotep III | Eldest daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye |
18th dynasty | Iset | Amenhotep III | Daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye |
18th dynasty | Nebetnehat | Unidentified | Known from cartouche found on canopic fragments, she lived during the mid to late 18th dynasty |
18th dynasty | Nefertiti | Akhenaten | Mother of Meritaten and Ankhesenamun, possible daughter of Ay, likely became pharaoh in her own right as King Neferneferuaten |
18th dynasty | Meritaten | Smenkhkare | Daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti |
18th dynasty | Ankhesenamen | Tutankhamen | Daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti |
18th dynasty | Tey | Ay | |
18th dynasty | Mutnedjmet | Horemheb | Probable daughter of Ay and Tey |
19th dynasty | Sitre | Ramesses I | Mother of Seti I |
19th dynasty | Tuya | Seti I | Mother of Ramesses II |
19th dynasty | Nefertari | Ramesses II | |
19th dynasty | Isetnofret | Ramesses II | Mother of Merenptah |
19th dynasty | Bintanath | Ramesses II | Eldest daughter of Ramesses II and Isetnofret |
19th dynasty | Meritamen | Ramesses II | Daughter of Ramesses II and Nefertari |
19th dynasty | Nebettawy | Ramesses II | Daughter of Ramesses II and Nefertari |
19th dynasty | Henutmire | Ramesses II | Sister or daughter of Ramesses II |
19th dynasty | Maathorneferure | Ramesses II | Hittite princess |
19th dynasty | Isetnofret II | Merenptah | Sister or niece of her husband |
19th dynasty | Tawosret | Seti II | Later pharaoh |
19th dynasty | Takhat | Seti II (?) | Depicted as the wife of Sety II on a (usurped) statue, may have been the mother of Amenmesse (?) |
20th dynasty | Tiye-Mereniset | Setnakhte | Mother of Ramesses III |
20th dynasty | Iset Ta-Hemdjert | Ramesses III | Mother of Ramesses IV and Ramesses VI |
20th dynasty | Henutwati | Ramesses V | Queen mentioned in the Wilbour Papyrus |
20th dynasty | Nubkhesbed | Ramesses V | Mother of Princess Isis, who later, would be the God's Wife of Amun |
20th dynasty | Baketwernel | Ramesses IX | |
20th dynasty | Tyti | Ramesses X | Possibly a wife of Ramesses X, buried in QV52 |
20th dynasty | Anuketemheb | unknown | Original owner of sarcophagus and canopic jars later used for Queen Takhat in KV10, dates to the 19th or 20th dynasty |
Third Intermediate Period
| Dynasty | Name | Husband | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
21st dynasty | Nodjmet | Herihor | Probable mother of Pinedjem I |
21st dynasty | Mutnedjmet | Psusennes I | |
23rd dynasty | Karomama | Takelot II | Mother of Osorkon III |
25th dynasty | Khensa | Piye | |
25th dynasty | Peksater | Piye | |
25th dynasty | Takahatenamun | Taharqa | |
25th dynasty | Isetemkheb | Tanutamon |
Late Period
| Dynasty | Name | Husband | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
26th dynasty | Mehytenweskhet | Psamtik I | Mother of Necho II |
26th dynasty | Takhuit | Psamtik II | Mother of Wahibre |
See also
Nefertari, the Great Royal Wife of Ramasses II, from the temple he built to honour her at Abu Simbel, she holds a sistrum and a sacred lotus
List of consorts of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, for the modern queens and sultanas of Egypt- God's Wife of Amun
- Divine Adoratrice of Amun
- Interregnum queen
References
^ Shaw, Garry J. The Pharaoh, Life at Court and on Campaign, Thames and Hudson, 2012, p. 48, 91-94.
^ ab O'Connor and Cline (Editors), Amenhotep III: Perspectives on his reign, pg 6
^ G. Robins, A Critical examination of the Theory that the Right to the Throne in Ancient Egypt Passed through the Female Line in the Eighteenth Dynasty. GM 62: pg 67-77
^ O'Conner and Cline, Thutmose III: A new biography,2006
^ Joann Fletcher: Egypt's Sun King – Amenhotep III (Duncan Baird Publishers, London, 2000) .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
ISBN 1-900131-09-9, p.167
^ Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, 2004,
ISBN 0-500-05128-3, pp.25-26
^ L. Holden, in: Egypt’s Golden Age: The Art of Living in the New Kingdom, 1558-1085 B.C., Boston 1982, S. 302f.
^ Tyldesley, Chronicle of the Queens of Ancient Egypt, pg 110
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