Isetnofret (or Isis-nofret or Isitnofret) ( Ancient Egyptian: "the beautiful Isis") was one of the Great Royal Wives of

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 ...

Ramesses II and was the mother of his successor,

Merneptah Merneptah or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213 BC – May 2, 1203 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2, ...

. She was one of the most prominent of the royal wives, along with Nefertari, and was the chief queen after Nefertari's death (around the 24th year of the pharaoh's reign).

Family

The parents of Isetnofret are not known. She must have married Ramesses II even before he came to the throne as her eldest children already appear in scenes from the time of

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The na ...

. She had at least three sons and one daughter. Her children include: * Prince

Ramesses Ramesses may refer to: Ancient Egypt Pharaohs of the nineteenth dynasty * Ramesses I, founder of the 19th Dynasty * Ramesses II, also called "Ramesses the Great" ** Prince Ramesses (prince), second son of Ramesses II ** Prince Ramesses-Merya ...

, Crown Prince from Year 25 to 50 of Ramesses II * Princess-Queen

Bintanath Bintanath (or ''Bentanath'') was the firstborn daughter and later Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II. Family Bintanath was likely born during the reign of her grandfather Seti I. Her mother was Isetnofret, one of the ...

, firstborn daughter and later wife of RamessesDodson & Hilton, p.170 * Prince Khaemwaset, High Priest of Ptah. Crown Prince from Year 50 to 55 of Ramesses II * Pharaoh

, Ramesses' 13th son and ultimate successor (he outlived the first 12 princes) * Princess Isetnofret (?), possible wife of Merenptah as

Isetnofret II Isetnofret (or Isis-nofret or Isitnofret) (Ancient Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: "the beautiful Isis") was a royal woman of Ancient Egypt and, as the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Merenptah, she became Isetnofret II. Family Isetnofret II ma ...

Dodson & Hilton, p.171 Prince Sethi and Princess Nebettawy have been suggested as further children of Isetnofret, but they are more likely to be the children of Nefertari (or even some other mother).

Titles

Queen Isetnofret's titles include: Hereditary Princess (iryt-p`t), Great of Praises (wrt-hzwt), King’s Mother (mwt-niswt), Mistress of the entire Two Lands (hnwt-t3wy-tm), King’s Wife (hmt-nisw), Great King’s Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt)

Life

Isetnofret is known from several inscriptions and small statues. She is not well attested before year 25 of

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded a ...

. Most of the items and scenes mentioning Queen Isetnofret seem to be associated with her sons

, Khaemwaset and

Merenptah Merneptah or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213 BC – May 2, 1203 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2, ...

. * Isetnofret is shown on a family

stela A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), wh ...

from

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of ...

. The upper register shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Khaemwaset before 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 ...

. The lower register shows Prince Ramesses,

and Princess Queen

. * A family stela from the Speos at West Silsila shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and

with a much smaller Khaemwaset before the gods

Ptah Ptah ( egy, ptḥ, reconstructed ; grc, Φθά; cop, ⲡⲧⲁϩ; Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤇, romanized: ptḥ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god and patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the ...

and

Nefertem Nefertem (; possibly "beautiful one who closes" or "one who does not close"; also spelled Nefertum or Nefer-temu) was, in Egyptian mythology, originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world, who had arisen from the primal waters.Nefertem p ...

. The lower register shows Prince Ramesses and Prince (later

) Merenptah.Kitchen, K.A., Ramesside Inscriptions, Translated & Annotated, Translations, Volume II, Blackwell Publishers, 1996. * A Statue with Prince's Figure (Brussels E.7500). Her son is named on the statue: the Sem-Priest and King's Son Khaemwaset. * A Statue group with Sons (Louvre 2272): A "hetep-di-nesu" offering for the King's Son, Sem priest of Ptah, Khaemwaset and the royal scribe, Generalissimo and King's Son Ramesses. The text mentions Queen Isetnofret (the princes' mother). * The Head of a Statue (Brussels E.5924): On right shoulder the name of Isetnofret appears. * A naophorous Statue of Prince Khaemwaset mentions his mother. On the dorsal pillar it reads: "Iunmutef-priest, born of the Great Royal Wife Isetnofret, the Sem-priest of Ptah Khaemwaset." * Relief for offering for Prince Khaemwaset in

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab or Haremhab ( egy, ḥr-m-ḥb, meaning "Horus is in Jubilation") was the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1295 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 BC and 1292 BC. ...

's Speos. The text above the prince reads: "Sitting at table, making purification with natron and reading out the (funerary) menu, every good offering, for the King's Son of Usermaatre Setepenre, born of the Great Royal Wife, Isetnofret, the Sem-priest Khaemwaset." * Shabtis from Middle cemetery of

Abydos Abydos may refer to: *Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz * Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor * Abydos (''Stargate''), name of a fictional planet in the '' Stargate'' science fiction universe ...

: One of these has a cartouche of Queen Isetnofret.Porter and Moss Topographical Bibliography; Volume V Upper Egypt Griffith Institute * West Silsila: Rock shrine of Merneptah. A scene depicts Ramesses II, Queen Isetnofret with sistra before

Taweret In Ancient Egyptian religion, Taweret (also spelled Taurt, Tuat, Tuart, Ta-weret, Tawaret, Twert and Taueret, and in Greek, Θουέρις – Thouéris, Thoeris, Taouris and Toeris) is the protective ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and ...

(as a hippopotamus),

Thoth Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...

and Nut. A daughter of her son Khaemwaset (sometimes called Isetnofret III) was named after her. It is possible that this Isetnofret was Merenptah's wife, not her aunt

Isetnofret II Isetnofret (or Isis-nofret or Isitnofret) ( Ancient Egyptian: "the beautiful Isis") was a royal woman of Ancient Egypt and, as the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Merenptah, she became Isetnofret II. Family Isetnofret II may have been the daughter ...

. A possible daughter of Merneptah also bears this name.Dodson & Hilton, p.182

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isetnofret 01 13th-century BC Egyptian women Wives of Ramesses II Princesses of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt