Ahhotep II was an

ancient Egypt 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 ...

ian queen, and likely the

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 ( ...

Kamose Kamose was the last king of the Thebes, Egypt, Theban Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt, Seventeenth Dynasty at the end of the Second Intermediate Period. Kamose is usually ascribed a reign of three years (his highest attested regnal year), although s ...

Different Ahhoteps

The naming / numbering by Egyptologists of the queens named Ahhotep has changed during the years. During the late nineteenth century, Egyptologists thought that Ahhotep I was the wife of Seqenenre Tao. The coffins of

Deir el-Bahari Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri (, , ) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of the Theban Necropolis. History Deir el-Bahari, located on the west ...

and Dra' Abu el-Naga were both thought by some experts to be hers. Also, Ahhotep II was thought to be the wife of

Amenhotep I Amenhotep I () or Amenophis I ( from Ancient Greek Ἀμένωφις), was the second Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. His reign is generally dated from 1526 to 1506 BC (Low Chronology). He was a son of Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari but ...

as the coffin from the Deir el-Bahari cache was considered to belong to a queen called Ahhotep II. During the 1970s, it was noted that the Deir el-Bahari coffin bears the title King's Mother yet Amenhotep I had no son. Therefore, the title must refer to the mother of

Ahmose I Ahmose I (''Amosis'', ''Aahmes''; meaning "Iah (the Moon) is born") was a pharaoh and founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt in the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. His reign is usually d ...

. In 1982, Robins suggested that Ahhotep I was the occupant 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. Following Dodson and Hilton (2004), it is now considered that Ahhotep I was the wife of Seqenenre Tao and the mother of Ahmose I. Ahhotep II is regarded as the queen identified from the gilded coffin found at Dra' Abu el-Naga and, therefore, possibly a wife of

. It is no longer accepted that there was a queen called Ahhotep III.Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004) This interpretation by Dodson and Hilton has been used in this article.

Family

Ahhotep II is thought to be the chief wife of Kamose and possibly the mother of Queen Ahmose-Sitkamose. It is possible but unlikely that Ahhotep II is identical to a queen known as Ahhotep I. If so, she may have been married to Seqenenre Tao instead. The title of King's Mother is only found on the coffin from Deir el Bahari and not on the funerary equipment from Dra' Abu el-Naga'. It could be argued that Ahhotep II was a royal wife but never the mother of a pharaoh, and hence not the same person as Ahhotep I.Ann Macy Roth, The Ahhotep Coffins, Gold of Praise: Studies of Ancient Egypt in honor of Edward F. Wente, 1999 Usekh Collar of Queen Ahhotep II

Burial

Ahhotep II was buried in Dra' Abu el-Naga and rediscovered in February 1859 by workmen employed by

Auguste Mariette François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette (11 February 182118 January 1881) was a French scholar, archaeologist and Egyptologist, and the founder of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, the forerunner of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Earl ...

. The tomb contained her mummy (destroyed in 1859) and gold and silver jewelry. An inscribed ceremonial

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

blade made of copper, gold,

electrum Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially and is ...

and wood was decorated with a

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

style

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

. Three golden flies were included and were awards usually given to people who served and acquitted themselves well in the army. A few items bore the name of Kamose, but more were inscribed with the name of Ahmose I. A Gold armband in the form of a box and two lions were also found in her tomb. The Dra' Abu el-Naga coffin and the items associated with it all have inscriptions using an early form of the Iah glyph. The representation of the hieroglyph changed between years 18 and 22 of Ahmose I. The use of the early form of Iah suggests that Queen Ahhotep II died sometime before year 20 of Ahmose I. This suggests that this queen is not Ahhotep, mother of Ahmose, because that queen appears on a stela dated to Amenhotep I and possibly survived into the reign of

Thutmose I Thutmose I (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis I, Thothmes in older history works in Latinized Greek; meaning "Thoth is born") was the third pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of History of Ancient Egypt, Egypt. He re ...

Silver boats

The tomb of queen Ahhotep II at Dra' Abu el-Naga contained both a gold and a silver boat, made by pharaoh

.Egyptian Museum of Cairo,Catalogue JE4682
/ref> File:Gold and Silver Boat of Queen Ahhotep II.jpg, One of two, gold and silver, boats from Queen Ahhotep II's tomb File:Bracelet of Ahhotep II in 2018.jpg, Bracelet of Ahhotep II naming Pharaoh

in blue lapis lazuli stone, carved with hieroglyphs and figures of kings and thrones File:Ahmose I’s E7168 armband from Ahhotep II’s tomb.jpg, A set of gold armbands in the form of two lions and a box made by Ahmose I from Ahhotep II's tomb File:Silver Boat from Ahhotep II’s tomb.jpg, The silver boat from Ahhotep II's tomb

Alternative theory

An alternative interpretation has been developed by Ann Macy Roth. In this interpretation, the pharaoh Seqenenre Tao had three queen consorts: * Ahhotep I, who was the mother of a prince named Ahmose (not the future pharaoh) and several princesses named Ahmose. * Sitdjehuti, who was the mother of a princess named Ahmose. * Tetisheri, who was the mother of Kamose, Ahhotep II and

Ahmose-Henuttamehu Ahmose-Henuttamehu ("Child of the Moon; Mistress of Lower Egypt") was a princess and queen of the late seventeenth dynasty of Egypt, 17th-early eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, 18th dynasties of Egypt. Family Ahmose-Henuttamehu was a daughter of Phar ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahhotep Ii Queens consort of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt 16th-century BC Egyptian women