Royal women as wr.t­hnr in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasty: continuity in discontinuity

• Authors: Bělohoubková Dana
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

A very characteristic aspect of the New Kingdom royal family is the involvement and integration of royal women into the royal ideology, as well as their participation in the cult; for example, their presence during rituals such as the Opet festival. One of the foundations of the early New Kingdom state revolves around the concept of the king on the throne and his mother, sister or wife in the role of “god’s wife” (Hm.t-nTr). This system appears to cease being productive after the reign of Queen Hatshepsut, or perhaps still slightly later, since the last female with this title is dated to the reign of Thutmose IV. It is highly possible that the position of “god’s wife” was at that time replaced by the post of the “great of musical performance” (wr.t-xnr); a post usually held by the wife of the high priest. The royal women later reappeared in this position, not only with the title of the “god’s wife”, but from the reign of the Sethi I, several of them also held the title of the “great of performers” (wr.t-xnr). This phenomenon could be symptomatic not only of the dynamic nature of both institutions, but also of the power race between the royal and non royal elite.

Keywords

EN

royal women; od’s wife; great of performers; priestesses; New Kingdom; procession

• Publisher: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, Czech Republic
• Journal: Pražské egyptologické studie (Prague Egyptological Studies)
• Year: 2022
• Issue: 29
• Pages: 29-42

Contributors

author

Bělohoubková Dana

• Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University