Ahmose-Sitamun or just Sitamun was a princess of the early

Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt 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 ...

Etymology

Her name Ahmose-Sitamun (sꜣt-jmn; Sat-Amun/Satamun) means "Child of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

, Daughter 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 ...

Biography

Sitamun was the daughter of

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 ( ...

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 ...

and sister 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 ...

. Her titles were: King's Daughter (sꜣt-nsw); King's Sister (snt-nsw); God's Wife (ḥmt-nṯr) Her name was written in cartouche. By Year 18 of Ahmose I (1570-1546 BC high chronology), her title string included King's Daughter and God's Wife. When her brother Amenhotep I (1545-1526 BC high chronology) became king, the title King's Sister was added to her title string.

Attestations

Barracco 16

A stela belonging to a subordinate of King's Daughter Satamun.

Hannover 1935.200.209

A limestone stela dating to Year 18 of Ahmose I where she is King's Daughter and God's Wife.

Benson, Gourlay, Temple, 297-299 (IV), pl. XI (1)

At Karnak, a limestone statue stood before the eighth pylon at

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

. On this mounument she holds the titles King's Daughter, King's Sister and God's Wife. The title King's Sister should date this monument to the reign of her brother,

Death

The Tomb of Sitamun has not been identified. Her mummy was found in a secondary context.

Coffin of Sitamun

The Coffin of Sitamun has a length of 1.28 m.

Mummy, Cairo CG 61060

The Mummy of Sitamun was identified by inscriptions on her wrapping and was found in the

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 ...

cache (

DB320 The Royal Cache, technically known as TT320 (previously referred to as DB320), is an Ancient Egyptian Hypogeum, tomb located next to Deir el-Bahari, in the Theban Necropolis, opposite the modern city of Luxor. It contains an extraordinary collect ...

) and is today in the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. Maspero apparently misidentified this mature woman as a child, because her skull and some bones were found in a child's coffin.Constantin Emil Sander-Hansen: The God's Wife of Amun. København 1940, p. 6.

References

Sources

*Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton: ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt,'' Thames & Hudson, 2004, , p. 129 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmose-Sitamun 16th-century BC Egyptian women 16th-century BC clergy Princesses of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ancient Egyptian mummies Children of Ahmose I Ancient Egyptian priestesses