The Colorful History of the Female Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt

El Amarnas Meso's & Weddings too
Queen Nefertiti

Encyclopedia
International Marriages and Laws
The Thrones of God and His Sanctuary

The Love Life of Queen Tiy and The Funeral of Her Parents in Egypt

The following account presents the story of the Queens of Egypt [10] by endeavoring to show the true historical background to their era and discussing some of the relevant connections which help us understand the complexity of these times. In some instances it may not present the latest, already updated versions of the individual website files.

The Enchanted Life of Sebeknefrure and Amenemhet IV

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A good example for synchronizing events and people is Joseph, who was sold to Egypt by his brothers and who came to be the highest official in Egypt. More so than any other dynasty the 12th was characterized by governing the land based on the feudal system in which provincial officials made all the local decisions and only answered to the king. It was that system which made it possible for Pharaoh to elevate Joseph to be the number two man in the country. No other dynasty fits this essential element better than the 12th Dynasty. Not only does it fit the requirements of the time of Joseph but later, under Pharaoh Sesostris III, it changed from the feudal system to direct rule. Now the king made all the decisions having taken away political power from the former rulers and princes of the nomes [provinces] of the land on the Nile. This set the stage for the enslavement of the Israelites. It is during this time that we meet an Egyptian princess which became famous among the Bible stories as the one who found the baby Moses floating in a woven basket of reeds to save it from a new law of the land to kill all the male babies born of Hebrew parents.

As D. Mackey has pointed out more recently that we find reasons to conclude that there was considerable overlap of the Old and Middle Kingdom Dynasties and that there were not two Intermediate Periods separating them but just one. We concur with this assessment and with it find a wealth of correlation of this general period in the tomb art of what conventionally are Old Kingdom tombs illustrating the Egyptians love for marsh land scenes in various localities along the banks of the Nile. [Harpur, Yvonne, `Decoration in Egyptian Tombs of the Old Kingdom', N.Y., 1987]

The mother of Moses knew that the sight of a helpless little baby would appeal to the compassion of the princess of the king and she made arrangements to set things up in such a way that the young daughter of the king would find the baby floating on the water. She even had her own daughter Miriam, the older sister of Moses, wait in the bulrushes to make sure everything went as planned and report back to her what had happened. Only so she could shoulder such an undertaking with an otherwise unknown outcome. But she put her faith in God to see her through this emergency solution and we all know the rest of the story. But what was not known for sure is, who was this young princess who found and raised Moses?

During excavations in the Nile Delta region the team of Labib Habachi in 1941 found three statues of queen Sobeknofru (Sebeknefrure), in a small sanctuary near were later Manfred Bietak, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Vienna, Austria, was excavating. But the 1941 excavation in the same sanctuary also yielded a statue of a 13th dynasty ruler named `Hetep-ib-Re' `Amu-sa-Hornedjheryotef'. According to Professor Bietak the name of this ruler indicated to him that he was the son of an Asiatic unfortunately without providing Asiatic names which are supposed to sound like that name. He then cites the discovery of a scepter bearing his name found in a tomb found in distant Syrian Ebla which became known as the tomb of `The Lord of the Goats', as well as ivory boxes and concludes probably correctly so that trading took place or at least gifts were exchanged.

Many writers have settled for Queen Hatshpsut to have been the foster mother of Moses. But we must reject that claim and present Sebeknefrure, daughter of Pharaoh Amenemhet III of the 12th Dynasty as the one who raised Moses. As we pointed out already the 12th Dynasty fits the background requirements as described in the Hebrew scriptures in all details. That is an essential part and we shall see that everything else about successive dynasties falls into their proper settings as we go on.

What do the Egyptian monuments tell us about `Sobek-ka-re Neferusobek', Sebeknefrure?

The 12th Dynasty came to an end with Sebeknefrure, whom Manetho states probably correctly so, to have been the sister of the last Ammenemes. The Turin king list gives her reign as having lasted for 3 years and 10 months. Even though she is ignored in the Abydos Kinglist, we find her name at Sakkara by her Prenomen Sebekkare as the successor of Ammenemes IV. A cylinder in the British Museum gives her almost full royal titulary. [Gauthier, `Le Livre des rois d'Egypte' (Cairo, 1907-17), Vol. I, p. 341]

There is definite evidence that at one moment she was associated on the throne with Ammenemes III, presumably her father, and even more decisive evidence that Ammenemes III and Ammenemes IV were for a time so associated, whereas there is no hint of a co-regency between Ammenemes IV and Sebeknefrure. We conclude from this and the fact that we have all the mummies of the kings of this dynasty except that of Ammenemes IV that most likely Ammenemes IV was Moses himself who had become a prince of Egypt but never became Pharaoh as we know from the scriptural account. After Sebeknefrure there followed a succession of kings none of whose reigns exceeded three years. The glorious Middle Kingdom was now broken down ushering in the time described by modern scholars as the Second Intermediate Period but which is the same as the period of the Hyksos/Amalekite occupation of Egypt.

We know for instance that the 12th Dynasty had their royal palace in the Nile Delta region and that it did many of its large constructions in brick as indicated in the scriptural record. We also know that during its time the common Nile crocodile was a much revered animal, made into a deity no less and we find its representations among the monuments of Egypt. In fact the very name Sebeknefrure contains the Egyptian word for crocodile which is `sebek'. What is it about this dynasty that doesn't fit our scenario? It is the period of time this dynasty is supposed to have ruled over Egypt according to the gestimate of modern historians and which is too far in the past for the Biblical story to fit in. The dating of this dynasty is supposed to be accurate because of its astronomical anchor points. But closer inspection of the Sothic dating method that was used to pinpoint these kings on the BC time scale shows that the star `Sothis' was not the well known fixed star Sirius but rather the planet Venus. That puts the Sothic dating claim into utter chaos as a method to measure the ancient past. The Egyptians left no valid records for us which could be used to date them by astronomical means. They were not very keen observers of celestial events. All Egyptian inscriptions taken to refer to astronomical happenings are not clear cut in their true meaning and must be read with care.

Historians have also failed to realize that the 13th Dynasty for instance was not a dynasty which followed the 12th but rather it represents many names of officials and governors of the 20 or more nomes of Egypt which already began before the time of the 12th, existed during its whole duration, and continued on for a number of years after the demise of Sebeknefrure. This fact alone sends the history of ancient Egypt as we find it written in our history books topsy-turvy into a tail spin and in need of drastic revision. For we realize that about 34 or 35 years after the last ruler of the 12th Dynasty passed from the scene a prince of the 13th officials set on the throne of the Nine Bows, Upper and Lower Egypt. At first we had selected a 13th Dynasty name as a likely candidate for the Exodus. More recently we also would like to consider Amenemhet IV as the Pharaoh of the Plagues and Exodus. Having a statue of this king he does appear to show the same stern facial expression we know already from his immediate predecessors.
Amenemhet also reigned only for a very short time which corresponds well with the scriptural account which indicates that the king and his army died in the Red Sea when trying to return the people of Israel into slavery in Egypt. Of course we all know Israel did not return into the land of their bondage but went on and established their people in the Promised Land at that time known as Canaan. But during this time another chronologically important event took place. Soon after Israel had left Egypt they headed for Mt. Sinai and on the way they met the Amalekites who had come from the opposite direction trying to escape the wide spread climactic events of the 10 plagues which had affected the whole region deep into Arabia and Palestine. Tectonic activity in the African Rift Valley may have been unleashed and responsible for these events or else they were a consequence of it. The Amalekites had heard of the demise of Egypt and decided to invade the land and make it their own. Along the way they thought they could rob and slaughter the escaping Israelites but they had not counted on the fierce resistance of the Israelites and the defeat they would suffer on that day. While Israel proceeded on their 40 years of wandering in the Sinai desert and probably deep into the Arabian peninsula, the battle tired remnants of the Amalekites took Egypt without a fight and began an over 400 year presence in the land of the Nile known to us as the Hyksos period.

The reverence the ancient, holy city of Mecca enjoyed may very well stem from these events. There exist Arab legends which lead us to conclude this was so. It is probably a mistake to think of the Israelite wanderings for 40 years as having taken place within just a relatively small geographical area of the Sinai Peninsula. The vitality of this nation, its ups and downs are a well known story but many details are not explained in such a way which allows us to know for sure all the details of their nomadic existence during that time.

Additional evidence that the Hyksos and Amalekites were the same people comes from Numbers 24:7,20,17 where Balaam is speaking, "... and his king shall be higher than Agag ... And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish forever ... there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Seth."

Who are the `children of Seth?' There is no clear opinion as to their identity. But we know that the Hyksos worshipped the god Seth whom they also introduced into the Egyptian pantheon. The term "children of Seth" signifies worshippers of Seth, or Hyksos. Therefore the references to the Amalekites and to the children of Seth by Balaam reveal the identity of these two designations telling us that the Hyksos were the Amalekites. [See D. Woolley in KMT Magazine, Vol. 10, No. 4, Winter 1999-2000, p. 6]

The Glorious Reign of Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt

At the outset we would like to state that women way back then have much in common with woman of today. The same may be true for men too. Knowing that Solomon married an Egyptian princess, no doubt in a pre-arranged wedding, that means he also received titles, responsibilities and privileges in the process. In addition it means that he had now relatives in Egypt one of which we believe was Hatshepsut. This put the visit of the Queen of Sheba in a new light and gives it a more understandable reason for a female head of state visiting a male king. In those days proper etiquette was an important factor. There were considerations to adhere to in what was proper to do and what not. Therefore, besides wanting to see the recently achieved splendor in Israel and see the sights and sounds of the land enriched by numerous, exotic imports via its merchant fleet, she also could say, I want to visit my relative, a prince of Egypt. So she could bear it no longer and visited Solomon.

Josephus was right when he wrote:

"Now the woman who at that time ruled as queen of Egypt and Ethiopia was thoroughly trained in wisdom and remarkable in other ways, and, when she heard of Solomon's virtue and understanding, was led to him by a strong desire to see him which arose from the things told daily about his country."[Josephus, `Antiquities', VIII, 165, p.180]

The term we would like to elaborate on in this statement by Josephus is where he says the queen heard `daily' about his country. For any other time period in Egypt this would probably be a wrong statement to make, but not so within the framework of what we have outlined already in our revision. In fact we may not be far off that this might indicate the faintest of traces that there was more than a passing interest involved here. They were family matters so to speak. An Israelite king had just married into the Egyptian royal family, no wonder there was `daily' interest involved. Some might be tempted to disregard this remark in Josephus as an exaggeration, national pride or view it as a writer's liberal way to enhance his story. But if for just a moment we grant Josephus that perhaps he just tried to present a factual account, and if that factual account happens to cast additional light into the background of real characters, wouldn't that authenticate his story, put it on a better footing? We believe only a correct chronology can shine revealing light on the most intricate, amazing interconnections and make them come alive. Words then become crystal clear vehicles of presenting the truths which otherwise could not be discovered. It may not be only this one instance which should represent the best example for the above statements, but numerous examples spread out over the whole period under discussion may be the sought after indirect proof of reliability. And we believe we have these numerous synchronizing examples throughout the various papers we present.

We find the following statements in her own inscriptions echoing the words in the Bible quoted below. She wrote:

"... a command was heard from the great throne, an oracle from the god himself, that the ways to Punt should be searched out, that the highways to the myrrh-terraces should be penetrated:"
"I will lead the army on water and on land, to bring marvels from God's land for this god, for the fashioner of her beauty..."
"I have reached the myrrh-terraces. It is a glorious region of God's land."

"And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the Lord, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah." [2.Chronicles 9:11]

"It was heard of from mouth to mouth by hearsay of the ancestors..." [1.Kings 10:6-7; Josephus, `Antiquities', VIII, 5, Breasted, `Records', Vol. II, Sect. 285 & 288.]

Both hers and Solomon's records of the exchanging of gifts show that it was born of a foreknowledge between them on what was going to happen. The type of gifts exchanged and the variety of them is in agreement between both records.

Josephus was correct when he stated that Solomon was visited by the Queen of Egypt and Ethiopia which included at that time parts of Arabia. One may also note the language used in the records at Deir el Bahari and in the scriptures and be able to appreciate on how closely it is all related. Even Jesus himself called the king's queenly visitor `the Queen of the South' and from the book of Daniel we know that in Jewish minds `the king of the south' always referred to the king of Egypt.

"The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation...for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon..."Matthew 12:42

The easiest travel package put together by the Queens advisors would have been to step out of her palace into a waiting royal barge near the sacred lake to be taken to the larger, sea going vessels which would take her down the Nile through the delta into the Great Green Sea on her way to some Palestinian or Phoenician harbor. From this harbor she would have proceeded by caravan to Jerusalem.
It is not impossible that simultaneously or nearly so, another fleet of ships left Egypt from the ancient harbor town at Qoseir at the shore of the Red Sea to do business or bring presents to an Israelite harbor near Eilat. By way of the Red Sea, her fleet, loaded with presents, then arrived at Solomon's harbor town of Eilat. An island at the very tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, named Jezirat Faraun, could also have been a harbor for Solomon. It is interesting to note that Solomon visited Eilat just before the story of the Queen's visit begins. The reason for his visit there is not stated. Could it have been an inspection tour, to make sure his Egyptian visitors would be well received? [2.Chronicles 8:17]

Before or after her visit with Solomon she may also have visited the Phoenician king Hiram, and then returned on her Mediterranean fleet to Thebes. This is so because her inscriptions state that the voyagers to Punt returned on the Nile which gave earlier investigators reason to think that she circumnavigated Africa.

The Egyptian sources do not reveal that Hatshepsut herself accompanied the party she sent to Punt. However, the central part this event took in her reign leads us to surmise that she herself went. As an alternative we could also suggest that this trip might have taken place before she became pharaoh and that her title `queen' should be a clue to us that she was not yet the enthroned ruler of her country at that particular time. This scenario would explain why her figure was not engraved together with the ships she sent to Punt.

Overall, this topic is still very dynamic in the possibilities it offers for this eventful period in the history of these three neighboring nations, Phoenicia, Israel and Egypt.
Inscriptional Parallels

"Sailing in the sea, beginning the godly way towards God's Land, journeying in peace to the land of Punt ... because he so much loves the King of Upper and Lower Egypt [Makere, Hatshepsut]."Sec. 253

"... because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king..." 1.Kings 10:9

In the scriptures we also read much about myrrh, fragrant plants and oils and unusual gift items. More so than at any other time in its history do these correlations support our contention that indeed, the 18th dynasty belongs into the time of the early Israelite monarchy.

Two other foreign peoples are mentioned in the Punt reliefs. Between the scriptures and Josephus,`Antiquities' we can find these same two peoples. They are the `chiefs of Irem' and `the chiefs of Nemyew (or kussim)' [natives from Africa].' 1.Kings 9:27; Josephus, `Antiquities', VIII, vii, 2.

Other similar phrases are found in both sources:

"Thirty-one fresh myrrh trees, brought as marvels of Punt for the majesty ... never was seen the like since the beginning."

"... there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day."1.Kings 10:12

"Never did the like happen under any gods who were before, since the beginning."

"And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom ... and the ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her." 1.Kings 10:4,5

"I conciliated them by love that they might give to thee praise..."

"... because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king ..." 1.Kings 10:9

Solomon had built the Temple of the Lord on terraces whose approach (ascent) impressed the queen so much that she uttered expressions of astonishment over its beauty. As a result, she too had her temple built on terraces and in the same proportions as the Lord's Temple in Jerusalem. Not only that, she also employed square posts or pillars just like the scriptures tell us Solomon used, at this time a rather unique feature. [1.Kings 7:5] That may not mean that all pillars were square but a good number of them must have been that shape.

In her inscription she calls the land she visited `God's Land.' In the mouth of the mummy of Thutmoses III a poem was found which talks about his wars in the area of Retenue, a term for Palestine. But it also calls Retenue `God's Land' just like Hatshepsut called Punt `God's Land'. From this reference we can say that Retenu [derived from Rezenu: Erez Israel - our land Israel as the Jews called it.], God's Land and Punt all refer to Palestine. This is important information.

Did the royal crown pass through the female line of the king's offspring?
In many instances that appears to have been the case even though some want to challenge this view. [Marianne Eaton-Krauss, `Four Notes on the Early Eighteenth Dynasty', Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 84 (1998), pp. 205-210]
[G. Robins, `A critical examination of the theory that the right to the throne of Egypt passed through the femal line in the 18th Dynasty', Göttinger Miszellen 62 (1983), pp. 66-77]

Who defaced the monuments of Queen/Pharaoh Hatshepsut?
For a discussion by conventional historians see:
1. Peter Dorman, `The Monuments of Senenmut: Problems in Historical Methodology', Paul Kegan International, New York, 1988.
2. Charles Van Siclen, `The date of the Granite Bark Shrine of Thutmose III', Göttinger Miszellen 79 (1984), p. 53]
3. Charles Van Siclen, `New Data on the Defacement of Hatshepsut's Name and Image on the Chapelle-Rouge', Göttinger Miszellen 107 (1989), pp. 85-86.

What may be an important consideration in reading these contributions is how the final conclusions would be affected by different chronological viewpoints, i.e. the conventional vs. the revised viewpoints.

Beautiful Queen Nefertiti - Wife of Amenophis IV

Pharaoh Akhnaton also known as Amenophis IV reigned for 17 years toward the end of the so called Amarna period from 843 - 826 BC. In revised view the El Amarna Period encompasses the years from about 870 - 830 BC.

The names of the Egyptian Pharaohs in the EA correspondence are:

1. `Ma-na-ah-bi-ia'
2. Nibmuaria
3. Nimutria
or
2. Nimmuria (Mimmuria)
3. Naphururia, Naphuriria or Naphuria

1. Most likely Thutmose III, or Thutmose II or IV
2. throne name `nb-m3-t-r' of Amenophis III
3. throne name `nfr-hprw-r' (w-n-r) of Amenophis IV

Nefertiti's fame is based on the beautifully sculptured head with her likeness and not because of royal achievements that we know of. In fact her husband Akhnaton/Amenophis IV did not keep her as his queen till the end of his reign. This may seem sad to us today and probably was so to Nefertiti too but life for woman even way back then was not easy. Men have a long record of domineering which would perhaps not be so damaging to male-female relationships if the domineering partner had at the same time a great love for his wife and the realization that they were created equal.

Even though she may have not been politically active, for neither was her husband Akhnaton a great political force, but she may have had a say in the construction of the complex of Aten as far as planning and decoration is concerned. Assuming from her famous sculpture she must have been a lady who took good care of herself and was an excellent judge of beauty. Besides being married to Nefertiti Akhnaton also lived in incest with his own mother, Queen Tiy. Do we know if both women had relations with Akhnaton at the same time?

The Intriguing Story of Queen Twosre of the Time of the Three Brothers.

See also on Twosre/Twosret/Tausret

No doubt one of the most desirable women for an Egyptian man to have loved must have been Queen Twosre who during her long life was the wife to three kings. Twosre actually claimed the title of pharaoh for herself, not just royal wife or queen. Alas, modern historians assigned her to the end of the 19th Dynasty which we show to be the 26th Dynasty. The evidence points for her to have been the wife of Ramses-Siptah first. At the death of her husband she was pregnant and Bey, the Assyrian plenipotentiary of Egypt, set to pronounce her offspring to be the occupant of the throne by birth but did not leave the throne vacant in the interim.

This order of events explains the otherwise enigmatic state of affair with Twosre calling herself "Hereditary Princess", "The Royal Wife", and later "King of Upper and Lower Egypt" **, with a different husband holding the scepter and donning the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Her claiming the throne is attested by the fact that she took a throne name, Sitre-merit-Amen. [Petrie, `Six Temples at Thebes', London, 19?), pl.. 16, 1-7; 17, 2; 19, 2; cf. J. von Beckerath, `Die Reihenfolge der letzten Könige der 19. Dynastie', `Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft,' Vol. 106 (1956), p. 249; As to her throne names read also Gardiner, `The Tomb of Queen Twosre', Journal of Egyptian Archaeology,' Vol. 40 (1954), p. 42 and ** J. von Beckerath, `Queen Twosre as Guardian of Siptah', Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Vol. 48 (1962), p. 70]

Twosre is associated with Bey, who refers to himself as "Great Chancellor of the Entire Land" [Gardiner, `Egypt of the Pharaohs', p. 277] As soon as Twosre's son was born, he was made pharaoh and received the name Merneptah-Siptah. Bey, according to his own words, "established the king on the seat of his father." [Ibid] Whereas Ramses-Siptah was not of royal lineage but gained his throne by marriage to Twosre, in the case of his infant son Merneptah-Siptah, Bey could base his action on the fact that his deceased father had been a pharaoh. This marks the first and only time that three living contemporaries possessed a tomb in that much revered valley. Ramses Siptah was buried in the Valley of the Kings, and in his funerary temple at Thebes Bey's name was found in the foundation deposits.

In 1962 a scholar discerned a certain figure of Merneptah-Siptah, showing him as a small boy sitting on the lap of his mother Twosre, who is referenced to as a protectress of the boy-Pharaoh. [Beckereth, Ibid, plate 3] Thus the throne was ceded to the infant, and he occupied it for several years, possibly 6 years. Twosre's new title was `protectress of the pharaoh.'

By the size of the boy Merneptah-Siptah, compared with the lap of his mother and the part of the hand still surviving on the sculpture, it can be judged that he remained "in power" or in the position of a puppet of Sargon and Bey for a number of years. In inscription found in Nubia refers to his 6th year. [Reisner, `Journal of Egyptian Archaeology', Vol. 6 (1920), pp. 47-50]

Sargon II ruled from 722-705 BC. During these 17 years Ramses-Siptah counted about one year, Twosre less than a year, Merneptah Siptah six years, from then on Sethos counts his years. Sethos survived Sargon. Once he was in power the Assyrian influence in Egypt quickly faded. Of Bey nothing is heard again, nor of any other Assyrian functionary. With the start of Sethos, no longer an insurgent, but an occupant of the throne, Twosre being now his wife, of the boy pharaoh is nothing heard.

Sethos was the high priest of Ptah (Hephaestos in Greek). Sethos became an ally to Assyria in the days of Sennacherib. In Egypt since ancient times the royal succession was supposed to follow the female line of the royal family - an heir to the throne usually legitimized his claim for kingship by marrying a sister of his. Having made Harmais (Haremhab) his deputy over Egypt while Sethos went to war Haremhab violated the queen and wore the diadem thus setting himself up as king in the absence of his brother Sethos. In this case the female of royal lineage was queen Tworse who was the wife of Merneptah-Siptah and later of Sethos and by violation Harmais.

The Three Brothers - 1. Ramses-Siptah, 2.Haremhab or Armais, 3. Sethos. [Josephus, Against Apion, Book I, par. 15] "... after [after the previous names as found on the list of Manetho] him came Sethosis, and Ramesses (Siptah), who had an army of horse, and naval force. This king appointed his brother Armais, to be his deputy over Egypt. .. He also gave him all the other authority of a king, but with these only injunctions, that he should not wear the diadem, nor be injurious to the queen, the mother of his (Sethosis') children, and that he should not meddle with the other concubines of the king; while he made an expedition against Cyprus, and Phoenicia, and besides against the Assyrians and the Medes. ... Armais, who was left in Egypt, did all those very things, by way of opposition, which his brother had forbidden him to do, without fear..." [Josephus, `Against Apion', Bk. I, par. 15]

But the alternate story Josephus found went like this: "In another copy it stood thus: After him came Sethosis, and Ramesses (Siptah), two brethren, the former of whom had a naval force, and in a hostile manner destroyed those that met him upon the sea: but as he slew Ramesses in no long time afterward, so he appointed another of his brethren to be his deputy over Egypt." [Ibid.]

Merneptah-Siptah is not the same as pharaoh Merneptah of the 19th Dynasty. Sethos' brother was Ramses Siptah, both were of undistinguished birth.

Seti and his Queen Tworse [~740-730?] - Jewelry found in a nameless cache in the Valley of the Kings shows her to have been the first [main] wife of Sethos. "A silver bracelet depicts her standing before her husband and pouring wine into his outstretched goblet." [Gardiner, `Egypt of the Pharaohs', p. 277]

This scene is very similar to one adorning the throne of Tutankhamen - with him sitting, holding a goblet, and Ankhesenpaaten, his young wife, standing before him and pouring wine. She probably had a pedigree stemming from the house of the Thutmoses and Amenhoteps of the 18th Dynasty who reigned 150 years before her. Very little is known about her but we wonder why she had a separate tomb in the same valley as her husband? The honor of having her own tomb was a distinction previously only accorded to one other female suzerain, Queen Hatshepsowe [Hatshepsut]. [Ibid] But the contents of her tomb are even more intriguing. Gardiner describes the perplexing circumstances, she bears the title of "King's Great Wife" by virtue of her marriage to Sethos, but one scene shows her standing behind another king who is making an offering; the name of this king, Merneptah-Siptah, has been plastered over and that of Sethos cut into the same space. "Since there are excellent reasons for thinking that Sethos was the earlier of the two kings, this replacement [the substitution of Sethos' name for Merneptah-Siptah's] must have been due to Twosre's later preference to be depicted with the king who had been her actual husband." [Ibid., p.277] In her tomb, on various places she is called "King's Great Wife" - but immediately we are confronted with the problem of who were her husband-kings and in what order. She is also called "Lady of the Two Lands" and "Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt", which is the same as being pharaoh herself; and another title was found, "Hereditary Princess". That means she claimed to have had a pedigree of royal blood. In the framework of our synchronization that could only have been the house of the Thutmoses and Amenhoteps of the 18th Dynasty which came to their end just about 140 years earlier, with the start of the Libyan Dynasty. In Egypt, traditionally, the throne was inherited through a royal princess and marriage of a royal son to such an heiress legalized the succession. The evidence from her tomb and the few other finds involving her present a confused and often debated state of affairs. What interests us is, what was the relationship between the three brothers [Sethos, Armais, Ramses Siptah]?

The Crowning of Haremhab - A finely crafted double statue of Haremhab and his queen [her name was Mutnodjme] from the Turin Museum bears the coronation inscription on its backside. [A.Gardiner, `The Coronation of King Haremhab,' Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Vol. 39 (1953), p. 13-31] The text and her titles lead us to conclude that in fact he was crowned king at their wedding ceremony and that it was due to her that he was elevated to the throne. He was crowned by a king who did not abdicate his own crown at this occasion, nor was he a co-ruler. The inscription on the statue gives the account of Haremhab growing in the king's favor and an account of the coronation ceremony. "Now he acted as vice-regent of the Two Lands [Upper and Lower Egypt] over a period of many years." With his own councillors Haremhab was "doing obeisance at the gates of the King's House." It also happened that "He being summoned before the Sovereign when the palace fell into rage, and he opened his mouth and answered the King and appeased him with the utterance of his mouth." Haremhab had to quiet the king's rage in a difficult situation. Was the raging king the teenager Tutankhamen? Hardly. Gardiner wrote: "[Haremhab] also dwells upon the confidence that had been reposed in him by the king, doubtless Tutankhamen, on whose behalf he had ruled over a long period of years ... a time ... when the temper of the Palace was not always as cool as it might have been, and needed the wisdom and moderation of a man as astute as himself to steer the ship the right way." [Ibid., p. 16]

To shorten the process of unraveling the meaning of the coronation text, let us substitute the proper king for the anonymous king referenced in the text. It was king Sennacherib of Assyria. He had Haremhab, a scribe, priest, and military man - a not unusual combination of offices in ancient Egypt - as the commanding officer in charge of and expedition against Ethiopia [Nubia] and as his regent over Egypt. In this capacity Haremhab weathered the rages of the wrathful overlord; by this, he claims, he won also the appreciation of his own people ( "the people were happy" ). Then the king, according to the inscription on the statue: "...knew the day of his good pleasure to give him his kingship. Lo, this god distinguished his son in the sight of the entire people ... The heart of the King being content with his dealings, and rejoicing at the choice of him. ... Lo, this noble god Horus of Hnes, his heart desired to establish his son upon his eternal throne and commanded ... [missing lines] Then did Horus proceed amid rejoicing to Thebes, the city of the lord of Eternity, his son in his embrace, to Ipet-Isut (Karnak), in order to induct him into the presence of Amun for the handing over to him of his office of king." In this and other passages "king" and "this god" are designations of the sovereign who crowned Haremhab.

Queen Mutnodjme occupied the throne not just because she was now the king's wife, but in her own right. Her exalted position is also reflected in her scarabs and signet rings. They were made of gold. She was given as a wife to the administrator of Egypt by his suzerain, the king of Assyria, and at the same time her husband was promoted from the position of "King's Deputy" in Egypt to the status of pharaoh, yet still dependent on his suzerain and even subordinate to his queen, the daughter of Sennacherib. [Stephen Quirke, `Who Were The Pharaohs?', (New York, 1990), p. 65; She was Queen Mutnodjme, wife of Pharaoh Horemheb. Queen Twosert is also known as Tausret.]

The Last Female Pharaohs of Egypt

Other famous queenly potentates were the widow of Pharaoh Tirhaqa, the queens of the kings of the 19th, 21st and the 20th dynasties. After these came the spouses of the Ptolemaic pharaohs down to the time of Cleopatra. The Ptolemaic kings do not concern us because their regnal years and succession is not under dispute the same way the kings are during native rule.

For the Record: Notes and References
[0010] Examples of the word Queen in hieroglyphics:

[0100] Statuette of the seated Queen Teta-sheret/Teta-khart still showing some evidence of paint. BM#22558. Dated to the end of the conventional Hyksos era. [E.A.W. Budge, `By Nile and Tigris', Vol. II, London, 1920, p. 291.]
[0200] Queen Amanmalenra is mentioned by G.A. Reisner, `The Barkal Temples in 1916' in JEA, Vol. VI, 1917, p. 213-227.
[0300] The name of an otherwise unknown queen `Neb-nehat' was found on the lower part of an ushabti made of hard, almost black, crystalline stone. See W.L. Nash, Notes on Egyptian Antiquities in PSBA, Vol. XXIX, 1907, p. 175-176.
[1000] A B&W image of a) Queen Ahmes-Nefertari, p. 118, fig. 41; b) the Stele of Tjeji p. 37, fig. 13; c) the goddess Nut carved on a shist sarcophagus of Princess Ankhnesneferibre, p. 155, fig. 52; d) Stele of Rahotep, p. 166, fig. 57; e) Stele and block statuette of Sihathor, p. 187, fig. 67; f) Vase in the shape of a colorful fish from the time of Akhnaton & Queen Tiy, p. 202, fig. 76. [`Introductory Guide to the Egyptian Collection' in the British Museum, 1964 & in Georges Posener, Dictionary of Egyptian Civilization, NY, 1959.]

Crawl out of this tomb

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