Ahmose was an Ancient Egyptian queen in the Eighteenth Dynasty. She was the

Great Royal Wife Great Royal Wife, or alternatively, Chief King's Wife ( Ancient Egyptian: ''ḥmt nswt wrt'', cop, Ⲟⲩⲏⲣ Ⲟⲩⲣϣ), is the title that was used to refer to the principal wife of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who served many official ...

of the dynasty's third

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...

Thutmose I Thutmose I (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis I, Thothmes in older history works in Latinized Greek; Ancient Egyptian: '' ḏḥwtj- ms'', ''Tʼaḥawtī-mīsaw'', , meaning "Thoth is born") was the third pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of E ...

, and the mother of the queen and pharaoh

Hatshepsut Hatshepsut (; also Hatchepsut; Egyptian: '' ḥꜣt- špswt'' "Foremost of Noble Ladies"; or Hatasu c. 1507–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, af ...

. Her name means "Born of the Moon".

Family

It is not known who Ahmose's father and mother were. It has been suggested that Ahmose was either a daughter of pharaoh

Amenhotep I Amenhotep I () ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(w) /jaˌmanuwˈħatpaw/ "Amun is satisfied"; Amarna cuneiform ''a-ma-an-ha-at-pe'' or ''-at-pa''), Amenôthes I, or Amenophis I, (,) from Ancient Greek Ἀμένωφις ,Dodson & Hilton (2004) p.126 additionally ...

or a daughter of pharaoh

Ahmose I Ahmose I ( egy, jꜥḥ ms(j .w), reconstructed /ʔaʕaħ'maːsjə/ ( MK), Egyptological pronunciation ''Ahmose'', sometimes written as ''Amosis'' or ''Aahmes'', meaning " Iah (the Moon) is born") was a pharaoh and founder of the Eighteent ...

and possibly Ahmose I's sister-wife

Ahmose-Nefertari Ahmose-Nefertari (Ancient Egyptian: '' Jꜥḥ ms Nfr trj'') was the first Great Royal Wife of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was a daughter of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep I, and royal sister and wife to Ahmose I. Her son Amenhotep I be ...

. Ahmose was never called a ''King's Daughter''. This fact creates some doubt about these theories about Ahmose's royal family connections. However, Ahmose did hold the title ''King's Sister''. This may suggest that she was a sister of Pharaoh Thutmose I. Ahmose is identified with an impressive array of titles: ''Hereditary Princess'' (iryt-p`t), ''Great of Praises'' (wrt-hzwt), ''Mistress of Great Beloved Sweetness'' (nebt-bnrt-‘3(t)-mrwt), ''Great King’s Wife, his beloved'' (hmt-niswt-wrt meryt.f), ''Mistress of Gladness'' (hnwt-ndjm-ib), ''Lady of all Women'' (hnwt-hmwt-nbwt), ''Mistress of the Two Lands'' (hnwt-t3wy), ''Companion of Horus'' (zm3yt-hrw), ''Beloved Companion of Horus'' (zm3yt-hrw-mryt.f), ''King’s Sister'' (snt-niswt) Ahmose was the Great Royal Wife of Thutmose I. She is depicted in Deir-el-Bahari and she appears there with a daughter named Neferubity. Ahmose was also the mother of the queen-pharaoh Hatshepsut. It is not known with certainty whether Princes Amenmose and Wadjmose were her sons. They are generally thought to be the sons of Queen Mutnofret, another wife of Thutmose I.

Monuments and inscriptions

An official named

Yuf Yuf was an Ancient Egyptian priest and official who is known from a stela found in Edfu, and now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (inv.no. CG 34009, JdE 27091). He lived at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty. On his stela he reports that queen ...

served as the second prophet of the dues (''S'w'') of the altar, the doorkeeper of the temple, and as a priest. He also served several royal women. He first served queen Ahhotep, the mother of pharaoh Ahmose I, he was responsible for repairing the disturbed tomb of Queen Sobekemsaf, and eventually served Queen Ahmose. Yup recorded that Queen Ahmose appointed him as assistant treasurer and entrusted him with the service to a statue of her majesty

James Henry Breasted James Henry Breasted (; August 27, 1865 – December 2, 1935) was an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901 he ...

: ''Ancient Records of Egypt. Vol II'', Chicago 1906, S. 44–46

/ref> Ahmose features prominently in the divine conception scenes.

had scenes created showing how the god

Amun Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as ( Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → ( Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egypt ...

approached her mother, Ahmose, and how she (Hatshepsut) was of divine birth. The inscriptions show how the god Thoth first mentions Queen Ahmose to Amun. "Ahmose is her name, the beneficent, mistress of - She is the wife of the king Aakheperkare (Thutmose I), given life forever" (from Breasted's Ancient Records).J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records: The Eighteenth Dynasty The god Amun then proceeds to the palace and makes himself known to the Queen. They proceed to conceive a child and Amun declares that she should be named Khnemet-Amun-Hatshepsut. Amun proceeds to the god

Khnum Khnum or also romanised Khnemu (; egy, 𓎸𓅱𓀭 ẖnmw, grc-koi, Χνοῦβις) was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities, originally the god of the source of the Nile. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt an ...

and instructs him to create Hatshepsut. The scenes continue to show the confinement of the queen and the birth of her divine daughter. Many years later Pharaoh

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...

copied these scenes almost exactly to show how Amun visited his mother queen

Mutemwiya Mutemwiya (also written as Mutemwia, Mutemuya or Mutemweya) was a minor wife of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Thutmose IV, and the mother of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Mutemwiya's name means " Mut in the divine barque". While unconfirmed, it has b ...

and conceived the royal prince.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmose Queens consort of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt 16th-century BC women 15th-century BC Egyptian women Thutmose I Amenhotep I