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Ahhotep I

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Ahhotep I
Queen consort of Egypt
Great Royal Wife
Queen Regent
Ring of Ahhotep I, Louvre.
DiedThebes?
Burial
Thebes?
SpouseSeqenenre Tao
IssueKamose?
Ahmose I
Ahmose-Nefertari
Ahmose Sapair
Binpu
Ahmose-Henutemipet
Ahmose-Nebetta
Ahmose-Tumerisy
Egyptian name
iaHR4
t p
DynastySeventeenth Dynasty of Egypt
FatherSenakhtenre
MotherTetisheri
Religionancient Egyptian religion

Ahhotep I (Template:Lang-egy, alternatively Anglicized Ahhotpe or Aahhotep, "Iah (the Moon) is satisfied") was an ancient Egyptian queen who lived circa 1560–1530 BC, during the end of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the daughter of Queen Tetisheri (known as Teti the Small) and Senakhtenre Ahmose, and was probably the sister, as well as the queen consort, of Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao.[1] Ahhotep I had a long and influential life. She ruled as regent for her son Ahmose I for a time.

Her titles include Great Royal Wife and "Associate of the White Crown Bearer" (Template:Lang-egy).[2] The title "King's Mother" (Template:Lang-egy) was found on the Deir el-Bahari coffin.[3]

Family

A Bracelet naming king Ahmose I found in the tomb of Ahhotep I.

Ahhotep I was the daughter of Queen Tetisheri and Pharaoh Senakhtenre Ahmose.[4][note 1] She was the royal wife of the Seventeenth Dynasty king Seqenenre Tao, also believed to be her brother.[1]: 124 

Ahhotep was probably the mother of Pharaoh Ahmose I. Her exact relationship to Pharaoh Kamose is not known, but he may have been her brother-in-law (the brother of Seqenenre Tao) or her son. Ahhotep's other children include Princess Ahmose-Nebetta and the later Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, who was married to her brother, Pharaoh Ahmose I.[1]: 124  While Prince Ahmose Sapair, Prince Binpu, Princess Ahmose-Henutemipet, and Princess Ahmose-Tumerisy may also have been children of Ahhotep, their maternity is less certain.[1]: 126 

Life

At the beginning of Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao's reign, the Hyksos had controlled parts of northern and central Egypt for close to a century, and Seqenenre Tao began a military campaign to take back control. He died from injuries sustained in battle, and was briefly succeeded by Pharaoh Kamose, who continued to lead the campaign against the Hyksos. Kamose died in battle only three years later, leaving Queen Ahhotep's young son Ahmose I as the next heir to the throne.[6]

It is believed by scholars that Ahhotep took on governing responsibilities as a regent for her son until he was old enough to rule.[6] A stela from the reign of Ahmose I describes Ahhotep I as ruling Egypt and uniting its people, attributes that are normally only reserved for kings.[7] The stela can be translated as follows:[7]: 366–367 

Give jubilation to the Mistress of the Land, the ruler of the riverbanks of Hau-nebu, with a renowned name in every land, and who does the will of the masses. The King’s Wife, the Sovereign’s Sister, life-prosperity-health, the King’s Daughter and the august King’s Mother, who knows matters, and upholds Egypt; she has united its officer class; and she has protected it; she has returned its deserters and she gathers its dissidents; she has pacified Upper Egypt and she quells its rebels, the King’s Wife, Ahhotep, living.

Through an analysis of royal officials who worked during the early Eighteenth Dynasty, Beatriz Noria Serrano notes that officials who are explicitly linked to Ahhotep I (e.g., through titles, inscriptions, and artifacts) generally held positions connected to civil administration, such as "overseer of the double house of gold", "overseer of the double granary of the (royal wife and) king's mother Ahhotep", or "senior steward of the king's mother".[8]: 108  In contrast, officials explicitly linked to Ahmose I were generally involved with border administration or the cult of the god Amun. Noria Serrano suggests this could indicate a clear division of ruling responsibilities between Ahhotep I and her son: Ahhotep may have managed administration of the palace and city of Thebes, along with other internal affairs, while Ahmose I focused his attentions on issues of border administration and solidifying royal power abroad.[8]: 108 

Although dates are uncertain, scholars generally agree that Ahhotep I had a long life, outliving her son Ahmose I.[9] Ahhotep is mentioned on the Kares stela (CG 34003), which dates to year ten of the reign of her grandson Amenhotep I, and her steward Iuf also mentions her on his stela (CG 34009). Iuf refers to Ahhotep as the mother of Ahmose I, and would later be the steward of Queen Ahmose, wife of Thutmose I. This suggests Ahhotep I may have died at a fairly advanced age during the reign of Thutmose I.[3]

The cult of Amenhotep I continued to remember Ahhotep after her death, along with Ahmose-Nefertari and Ahmose-Meritamun (Amenhotep's queen), up until at least the Twenty-first Dynasty.[10]

Tomb

An Egyptian coffin with the carved image of a woman's face and body on the lid. Her arms are crossed, and she is portrayed as holding an ankh in each hand (a key of life symbol, shaped like a "T" with a loop on top).
Coffin of Ahhotep I, found at Deir el-Bahri

Ahhotep I's outer coffin was eventually reburied in TT320 in Deir el Bahari. The coffin shows the queen with a tripartite wig and a modius. The body is covered in a rishi-design (feathers) and is similar to the outer coffins of Ahmose-Nefertari and Ahmose-Meritamon.[citation needed] No funerary equipment belonging to Ahhotep I was found with the coffin.[11]: 101 

Ahhotep I's original tomb is not known, unless this queen is identical to Ahhotep II. Measurements of the coffin found in Dra' Abu el-Naga' however show that it is too large to have belonged with the Deir el Bahari coffin. This has been used to argue that Ahhotep I cannot be identical to Ahhotep II.[3]

Different Ahhoteps

In 1859, a team of Egyptian workers employed by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette discovered a coffin at a dig site in Dra' Abu el-Naga'. The coffin was identified as belonging to a queen named Ahhotep and inscribed with the titles "Great Royal Wife" and "She who is joined to the White Crown". While the coffin contained a mummy when first discovered, the body and bandaging was destroyed or disposed of soon afterwards, leaving behind little evidence to confirm the identity of the coffin's inhabitant.[12]: 131–134 

In 1881, a separate team at Deir el-Bahri unearthed another coffin also belonging to a queen named Ahhotep. This coffin had a longer, more elaborate set of titles inscribed, including the addition of "King's Daughter", "King's Sister", and "King's Mother", but did not contain the body of an individual named Ahhotep. Instead, this coffin had apparently been reused to bury a high priest named Pinudjem I.[12]: 134–135  The discovery of this second coffin raised new questions about the identity of the Ahhotep from the Dra' Abu el-Naga' burial site, igniting a longstanding scholarly debate over whether there was one, two, or even three distinct Egyptian queens named Ahhotep.[5]

The naming and numbering of the queens named Ahhotep has changed over the years:

Late 19th century: Ahhotep I was thought to be the wife of Seqenenre Tao. The coffins of Deir el-Bahari and Dra' Abu el-Naga' were both thought to be hers by some experts. Ahhotep II was thought to be the wife of Amenhotep I. Some thought the coffin from the Deir el-Bahari cache belonged to the queen called Ahhotep II in this scheme.[citation needed]

Late 20th century: In the 1970s, it was commented on that the Deir el-Bahari coffin bears the title "King's Mother" and Amenhotep I has no son. The title must refer to the mother of Ahmose I. In 1982, Robins suggests that Ahhotep I is the owner of the gilded coffin from Dra' Abu el-Naga', Ahhotep II is the queen mentioned on the Deir el-Bahari coffin and Ahhotep III is the queen mentioned on the statue of a prince Ahmose.[3]

21st century: Following Dodson and Hilton (2004), Ahhotep I is the wife of Seqenenre Tao and mother of Ahmose I. Ahhotep II is the queen known from the gilded coffin found at Dra' Abu el-Naga' and possibly a wife of Kamose. (There is no Ahhotep III).[1] Taneash Sidpura, mainly on the basis of the King's Daughters Satkamose and Satdjehuty, concluded that there was only one Ahhotep at this time.[5]

Alternative theory

An alternative interpretation has been developed by Ann Macy Roth.[3] This suggests that Seqenenre Tao had three queens:

In this interpretation, Kamose married his sister Ahhotep II and then were the parents of Ahmose I, Ahmose-Nefertari and Ahmose-Sitkamose.

Notes

  1. ^ Due to a prior belief that there were two pharaohs with the same name of Seqenenre Tao, many scholarly sources name Ahhotep's father as Seqenenre Tao I and her husband as Seqenenre Tao II – but there is now wider recognition that the pharaoh considered to be Seqenenre Tao I was actually named Senakhtenre Ahmose. [5]: 27 

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Dodson, Aidan; Hilton, Dyan (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. The American University in Cairo Press.
  2. ^ W. Grajetzki, Ancient Egyptian Queens: a hieroglyphic dictionary, 2005
  3. ^ a b c d e Roth, Ann Macy (1999). "The Ahhotep Coffins: The Archaeology of an Egyptological Reconstruction". In Teeter, Emily; Larson, John A. (eds.). Gold of Praise: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F. Wente. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. pp. 361–378. ISBN 1-885923-09-0.
  4. ^ Ochwada, Hannington; Gates, Henry Louis (2011). "Ahhotep (1560–1530 BCE)". In Gates, Henry Louis; Akyeampong, Emmanuel; Niven, Steven J. (eds.). Dictionary of African Biography (Online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  5. ^ a b c Sidpura, Taneash (2016). Gregory, Steven R. W. (ed.). "Where is my Mummy…Who is my Mummy? A Re-Evaluation of the Dra Abu-el Naga Coffin of Queen Ahhotep (CG 28501) with Queen Satkamose'" (PDF). Proceedings of the Second Birmingham Egyptology Symposium. 2: 21–46.
  6. ^ a b "How the Rebel Queens of Egypt Expelled the Hyksos". National Geographic. 2019-03-07. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  7. ^ a b Sidpura, Taneash (2022). Flies, Lions and Oyster Shells: Investigating Military Rewards in Ancient Egypt from the Predynastic Period to the New Kingdom. Manchester: University of Manchester: PhD thesis. pp. 93–98.
  8. ^ a b Noria Serrano, Beatriz (2021). "Officials Under Queen Mother Ahhotep". In Arranz Cárcamo, Marta; Sánchez Casado, Raúl; Planelles Orozco, Albert; Alarcón Robledo, Sergio; Ortiz García, Jónatan; Mora Riudavets, Patricia (eds.). Current Research in Egyptology 2019: Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Symposium, University of Alcalá, 17–21 June 2019. Archaeopress. pp. 98–113. ISBN 978-1-78969-907-4.
  9. ^ Eaton-Krauss, Marianne (2003). "Encore: The Coffins of Ahhotep, Wife of Seqeni-en-Re Tao and Mother of Ahmose". In Blöbaum, Anke Ilona; Kohl, Jochem; Schweitzer, Simon D. (eds.). Ägypten-Münster: kulturwissenschaftliche Studien zu Ägypten, dem Vorderen Orient und verwandten Gebieten [Egypt-Münster: Cultural Studies on Egypt, the Near East and Related Areas]. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 75–90. ISBN 978-3-447-04633-6.
  10. ^ Troy, Lana (2005). "New Kingdom: Eighteenth Dynasty to the Amarna Period". In Redford, Donald B. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.
  11. ^ Jánosi, Peter (1992). "The Queens Ahhotep I & II and Egypt's Foreign Relations" (PDF). Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum. 5: 99–105.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  12. ^ a b Betrò, Marilina (2022). "The Identity of Ahhotep and the Textual Sources". In Miniaci, Gianluca; Lacovara, Peter (eds.). The Treasure of the Egyptian Queen Ahhotep and International Relations at the Turn of the Middle Bronze Age (1600-1500 BCE). Golden House Publications. pp. 131–152. ISBN 978-1906137724.


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