Shepenupet I or Shapenewpet I was

God's Wife of Amun God's Wife of Amun ( Egyptian: ''ḥm.t nṯr n ỉmn'') was the highest-ranking priestess of the Amun cult, an important religious institution in ancient Egypt. The cult was centered in Thebes in Upper Egypt during the Twenty-fifth and Twen ...

during the Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt., p.231

Biography

She was the first “hereditary”

God's Wife God's Wife ( Egyptian ''ḥmt nṯr'') is a title which was often allocated to royal women during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. The term indicates an inherited sacral duty, in which the role of "God's Wife" passed from mother to daughter. The ro ...

or Divine Adoratrice of Amun to wield political power in ancient Thebes and its surrounding region. She was the first to take on complete royal titulary with names in two

cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...

s (her prenomen ''Khenemetibamun'' means 'she who is one with the heart of Amun'), and although her successors followed her example, she remained the only one who also bore the royal titles “Lord of the Two Lands” and “Lord of Appearances”, also, the only one whose throne name refers to

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 ...

, not to his wife

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 ...

. She was the daughter of

Osorkon III Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon III Si-Ese was Pharaoh of Egypt in the 8th Century BC. He is the same person as the Crown Prince and High Priest of Amun Osorkon B, son of Takelot II by his Great Royal Wife Karomama II. Prince Osorkon B is best ...

and Queen Karoadjet, and the (half-)sister of

Takelot III Usermaatre Setepenamun Takelot III Si-Ese (reigned 774–759 BC) was Osorkon III's eldest son and successor. Takelot III ruled the first five years of his reign in a coregency with his father, according to the evidence from Nile Quay Text No.1 ...

and Rudamun.Dodson & Hilton, pp.226-227 She was God's Wife during her father's whole reign. When

Kashta Kashta was an 8th century BCE king of the Kingdom of Kush, Kushite Dynasty in ancient Nubia and the successor of Alara of Kush, Alara. His nomen ''k3š-t3'' (transcribed as Kashta, possibly pronounced /kuʔʃi-taʔ/) "of the land of Kush" is ofte ...

, a Kushite monarch, extended his influence to the Theban area, she was compelled to adopt Kashta's daughter Amenirdis I as her successor and name her as her chosen heir. Shepenupet and Amenirdis are depicted together in Wadi Gasus. Shepenupet is known to have survived into the reign of

Shebitku Shebitku or Shabataka (, , or ) also known as Shebitqo, was the second pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt who ruled from 714 BC – 705 BC, according to the most recent academic research. He was a son of Piye, the founder of this dy ...

since she is depicted on a section of a wall Temple J which was decorated under this Nubian king.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepenupet 01 God's Wives of Amun People of the Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt 8th-century BC Egyptian women 8th-century BC clergy 8th-century BC Egyptian people Egyptian Berbers