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| Great Royal Wife inhieroglyphs | ||||
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Great Royal Wife, or alternatively,Chief King's Wife (Ancient Egyptian:ḥmt nswt wrt) is the title that was used to refer to theprincipal wife of thepharaoh ofAncient Egypt, who served many official functions.
While most ancient Egyptians weremonogamous, a male pharaoh would have had other, lesser wives andconcubines 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 theorder 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 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 includeIset, the mother ofThutmose III,[4]Tiaa, the mother ofThutmose IV[2] andMutemwia, the mother ofAmenhotep III.[5]
Meretseger, the chief wife ofSenusret III, may be the earliest queen whose name appears with this title; she also was the firstconsort known to write her name in acartouche.[6] However, she is only attested in theNew Kingdom[7] so the title might be an anachronism. Perhaps the first holder of its title wasNubkhaes of theSecond Intermediate Period.
A special place in the history of great royal wives was taken byHatshepsut. She was Great Royal Wife to her half-brotherThutmose II. During this time Hatshepsut also becameGod's Wife of Amun (the highest ranking priestess in the temple of Amun in Karnak). After the death of her husband, she becameregent because of the minority of her stepson, the only male heir (born to Iset), who eventually would becomeThutmose III. During this time Hatshepsut was crowned aspharaoh 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, asGod'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]
InKush , the rulers often structured their households in much the same way as has just been described.[9][10]
| Dynasty | Name | Husband | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12th Dynasty | Meretseger | Senusret III | Possibly the first holder of the title, but not definitively attested to in contemporary sources |
| Dynasty | Name | Husband | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13th Dynasty | Nubhotepti | Hor | |
| 13th Dynasty | Nubkhaes (I) | Sobekhotep V,Sobekhotep VI orWahibre 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 inEdfu |
| 17th Dynasty | Nubkhaes (II) | Sobekemsaf II | |
| 17th Dynasty | Tetisheri | Senakhtenre Ahmose | Mother ofSeqenenre Tao |
| 17th Dynasty | Ahhotep I | Seqenenre Tao | Mother ofAhmose I andAhmose-Nefertari |
| Dynasty | Name | Husband | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26th Dynasty | Mehytenweskhet | Psamtik I | Mother ofNecho II |
| 26th Dynasty | Takhuit | Psamtik II | Mother ofWahibre |
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