Meritamen (also spelled ''Meritamon'', ''Meritamun, Merytamen, Merytamun, Meryt-Amen'';

ancient Egyptian Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

: ''Beloved of

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

'') was a daughter and later

Great Royal Wife Great Royal Wife, or alternatively, Chief King's Wife () is the title that was used to refer to the Queen consort, principal wife of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who served many official functions. Description While most ancient Egyptians were ...

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

Ramesses the Great, born by his first queen

Nefertari Nefertari, also known as Nefertari Meritmut, was an Egyptian queen and the first of the Great Royal Wife, Great Royal Wives (or principal wives) of Ramesses II, Ramesses the Great. She is one of the best known Egyptian queens, among such women ...

Family

Meritamen was a daughter of Ramesses and his first

. She appears as the fourth daughter in the list of daughters in Abu Simbel and had at least four brothers: Amun-her-khepeshef, Pareherwenemef, Meryre and Meryatum, as well as a sister named Henuttawy. Meritamen may have had more brothers and sisters, but these five are known from the facade of Queen Nefertari's temple in Abu Simbel. Her eldest brother, Amun-her-khepeshef, was the crown prince until at least year 25 of the reign of their father. Prince Prehirwenemef is known to have served in the army and is depicted in the battle scenes from Kadesh. The youngest sibling known to us, Prince Meryatum, would later become High Priest of Re in Heliopolis. Around the time her mother died (around the 24th or 25th regnal year), Meritamen became

, along with her half-sister Bintanath.

Depictions of Meritamen

Meritamen is depicted in quite a few scenes in temples and is represented on several statues. *Meritamen is well known for her beautiful

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

statue, the ''White Queen'' found at the

Ramesseum The Ramesseum is the Temples of a Million years, memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the Ni ...

, the temple complex her father had built. In Kitchen's Ramesside inscriptions, the statue is attributed to Queen Tuya (mother of Ramesses II), but it is now generally thought to represent Princess-Queen Meritamen. The dorsal pillar contains the inscription: ..Chief of the Haremof Amen-Re, Sistrum Player of Mut, Rattle- layer of Hathor ...">Hathor.html" ;"title="layer of Hathor">layer of Hathor ... [...of Siut/Sai">Hathor">layer of Hathor ...">Hathor.html" ;"title="layer of Hathor">layer of Hathor ... [...of Siut/Sai, danceuse of Horus, ...Kitchen, K.A., Ramesside Inscriptions, Translated & Annotated, Translations, Volume II, Blackwell Publishers, 1996 *She appears on the facade of the great temple of

Abu Simbel Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive Rock-cut architecture, rock-cut Egyptian temple, temples in the village of Abu Simbel (village), Abu Simbel (), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is located on t ...

. The northernmost colossus shows the Bodily King's Daughter, his beloved, Merytamen. Meritamen is accompanied by Princess Nefertari (Bodily King's Daughter), and Queen-Mother and God's Wife, Mut-Tuya. *The small temple of

dedicated to Queen

and the goddess

Hathor Hathor (, , , Meroitic language, Meroitic: ') was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god R ...

is decorated with 2 large statues of Queen Nefertari and 4 large statues of Ramesses II. The statues of

are flanked by two daughters: the Princesses Meritamen and Hennutawy. *The Abu Simbel Rock stela of Viceroy of Nubia Heqanakht. The upper register shows Ramesses II and Princess Merytamen worshipping Deities. The lower register depicts the Viceroy adoring Queen Nefertari before offerings. This stela is thought to represent Meritamen in the role of deputy-Queen for her possibly ailing mother. *In Luxor, Meritamen is depicted twice on statues of her father/husband. The westernmost colossus before the pylon shows Meritamen next to her father. She is given the titles of King's Daughter and Great Royal Wife. She is also depicted on statuary in the forecourt. On the southern colonnade, eastern statue Meritamen is the queen depicted on the left. *Statue in Tanis (from Pi-Ramesse). Meritamen is depicted standing between the legs of her father. She reaches to about knee height. *Large statue of the Queen at the Temple of Ramesses II at Akhmim, likely to originally have been carved for Tey, the wife of Ay, in the

18th Dynasty The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty ...

. On the dorsal pillar, the Queen is identified as "... whose forehead is beautiful bearing the uraeus, the beloved of her Lord, the great one f the harem of AmenRe, istrum playerof Mut, menat player of Hathor, songstress of Atum, King's Daughter eloved of ?.. rt n.w." "the fair of face, beautiful in the palace, the Beloved of the Lord of the Two Lands, she who is beside her Lord as Sothis is beside Orion, one is pleased with what is spoken when she opens her mouth to pacify the Lord of the Two Lands, King's Daughter in the palace of the Lord of many festivals ...Z. Hawass, Recent Discoveries at Akhmin, KMT, A modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Volume 16, Nr. 1, Spring 2005 *Colossal statue of Ramesses II from Akhmim. The king is accompanied by two daughter-Queens. The Princess-Queen by left leg is identified as Daughter of the King, his beloved, Great King's Wife, Merytamen, may she be young. The Princess-Queen by right leg is identified as Daughter of the King, his beloved, Great King's Wife, Bint-Anath, may she live. *In Heracleopolis, an usurped Middle Kingdom statue was found with Bint-Anath and Meryetamen depicted on the base of the statue. *In the temple of Ramesses II in El Kab, there is a depiction of an Iunmutef priest and the Princesses Bint-Anath and Meryetamen. Scene includes cartouches and the princesses carry wands. Bintanat is termed "king's daughter" as well as "king's wife", while no titles are given for Merytamun. Both Merytamen and Bint-Anath have a modius without stalks, shake a sistrum, and carry a gazelle-headed wand. They face Iunmutef ("pillar of his mother"), a solar deity often associated with the crown prince.Representation in a small temple at El-Kab. (A. Wilkinson : 117) By Christiane Lilyquist, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Titles

* Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt (hnwt-Shm’w -mhw) * King’s Daughter (s3t-niswt) * Great King’s Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt) * Lady of The Two Lands (nbt-t3wy) * Lady of the Rattle and Mistress of the Sistrum * Prophetess of

* Princess-child of

Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

* istrum playerof

Mut Mut (; also transliterated as Maut and Mout) was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian language. Mut had many different aspects and attributes that changed and evolved greatly over th ...

* Chantress of

* Menit player of Hathor * Songstress of

Atum Atum (, Egyptian: ''jtm(w)'' or ''tm(w)'', ''reconstructed'' ; Coptic ''Atoum''), sometimes rendered as Atem, Temu, or Tem, is the primordial God in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose. He created himself and is the father of Shu and ...

* The fair of face beautiful in the palace, she who is beside her Lord as Sothis is beside Orion, one is pleased with what is spoken when she opens her mouth to pacify the Lord of the Two Lands * King’s Sister (snt-niswt)

Burial in the Queens Valley

Meritamen was buried at QV68 in the

Valley of the Queens The Valley of the Queens is a site in Egypt, in which queens, princes, princesses, and other high-ranking officials were buried from roughly 1560 BC to 1130 BC. Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Queens was known an ...

. The tomb of Meritamen was described by Lepsius. An interesting scene in the tomb shows Meritamen consecrating cloth-boxes to Osiris and Hathor. The inscriptions identify the Queen as The Osiris, King's Daughter, Great Royal Wife, Lady of Both Lands, Merytamen, may she live. She is said to be "Bringing a box of clothing, eternally; consecrating the box of clothing three times" (sic). The sarcophagus-lid is now in Berlin (15274). Meritamen's titles on the sarcophagus lid are given twice. At the head she is described as: " ing's Daughter Great oyal Wife Lady of Both Lands, Merytamen, justified". Over the head she is described as: "The Osiris, King's Daughter beloved of him, Great Royal Wife, Lady of Both Lands, Merytamen, justified".

Gallery

File:The statue of Meritamon in the temple of Min. Akhmim..jpg, Statue of Meritamen at

Akhmim Akhmim (, ; Akhmimic , ; Sahidic/Bohairic ) is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. Referred to by the ancient Greeks as Khemmis or Chemmis () and Panopolis (), it is located on the east bank of the Nile, to the northeast of Sohag. ...

File:Statue of Meritamen in the Hurghada Museum.jpg, The White Queen statue from the Ramesseum, Luxor, Egypt, 19th Dynasty File:Abu Simbel 0230.JPG, Statues of Queen Meritamen (right) and her sister Baketmut (left) File:Statue of Meritamen.jpg, Meritamen statue at

Zagazig Zagazig (, , ) is a city in Egypt. Situated in the eastern part of the Nile delta, it is the capital of the governorate of Sharqia. It is located on the Muweis Canal and is a hub of the corn and cotton trade. There is a museum, the Museum of ...

File:Louvre-Lens Stèle Meritamon agitant les sistres.JPG, Stela of Meritamen standing before the deified Amenhotep I and his mother Ahmose-Nefertari

References

* Grajetzki, Wolfram: ''Ancient Egyptian Queens – a hieroglyphic dictionary'', London 2005, p. 70

External links

Queen Merytamen
{{Queens of Ancient Egypt 13th-century BC Egyptian women Wives of Ramesses II Children of Ramesses II Hathor