| Merytre-Hatshepsut | |
|---|---|
| Great Royal Wife King's mother | |
 Merytre-Hatshepsut and her sonAmenhotep II | |
| Born | 15th century BC Thebes |
| Died | 1425 BC Thebes |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Thutmose III |
| Issue | Amenhotep II Menkheperre Nebetiunet Meritamen C Meritamen D Iset |
| Dynasty | 18th Dynasty of Egypt |
| Mother | PossiblyHuy |
| Merytre-Hatshepsut inhieroglyphs | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr.t Rꜥ ḥꜣ.t šps.(w)t Beloved ofRa, First among the nobles | |||||||||||||||
Merytre-Hatshepsut, orHatshepsut-Meryet-Ra, was theGreat Royal Wife ofPharaohThutmose III following the death of QueenSatiah. She was the mother of PharaohAmenhotep II.
Merytre-Hatshepsut was of noble birth, possibly the daughter of the AdoratrixHuy. A statue of Huy in theBritish Museum (EA 1280) depicts her holding a grandchild and includes representations of the other children of Thutmose III and Merytre-Hatshepsut along the sides of her seated figure. Merytre-Hatshepsut was the mother ofPharaohAmenhotep II, as well as the princeMenkheperre and the princessesNebetiunet,Meritamen C,Meritamen D, andIset.[1]
Merytre-Hatshepsut is known to have held the titlesHereditary Princess (iryt-p`t),Sole One,Great of Praises (wrt-hzwt-w’tit),King's Mother (mwt-niswt),Lady of The Two Lands (nbt-t3wy),King's Wife (hmt-nisw),Great King's Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt),God's Wife (hmt-ntr), andGod's Hand (djrt-ntr).[2]
Merytre-Hatshepsut became aGreat Royal Wife after the death of QueenSatiah. She is attested in themortuary temple ofThutmose III inMedinet Habu. The queen is depicted standing behind a seated Thutmose III, wearing full queenly regalia, including thevulture cap and amodius with double plumes, while holding a fly-whisk. She is titledGreat Royal Wife.[3]
Merytre-Hatshepsut is depicted in several tombs, including that of her husband Thutmose III (KV34). On one of the pillars in his tomb, Merytre is shown as one of three queens following Thutmose III. She is followed by QueenSatiah, QueenNebtu, and Princess Nefertari.[4]
In the tomb of Ra (TT72) in Thebes, Merytre-Hatshepsut is depicted seated next to or behind her son, Amenhotep II.[5] Another scene in a tomb atSheikh Abd el-Qurna appears to depict a statue of Merytre-Hatshepsut on a sled within a small structure. Other statues depicted alongside her represent Thutmose III. A stela borne by a courtier’s statue shows Merytre-Hatshepsut standing before Thutmose III. In this scene, she is wearing a modius with double plumes, holding a fly-whisk in one hand and an ankh in the other.[6]
Merytre-Hatshepsut was originally intended to be interred inKV42. Foundation deposits found in 1921 clearly establish that the tomb was initially meant for her. However, she may have been buried inKV35, the tomb of her son, Amenhotep II. KV42 may have later been reused for the Theban Mayor Sennefer and his wife, Senetnay.[7] The fact that KV42 was not used for her burial may suggest her disgrace during the reign of her grandson.[8]
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