Takhat was an ancient Egyptian princess and queen of the

19th Dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty furt ...

, the mother of the usurper pharaoh

Amenmesse Amenmesse (also Amenmesses or Amenmose) was the fifth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt, possibly the son of Merneptah and Queen Takhat. Others consider him to be one of the innumerable sons of Ramesses II. Very little is known ...

. There are not many facts known about her other than that she was Amenmesse's mother. She bore the titles ''King's Daughter'' and ''King's Wife.'' She might have been identical with Takhat, a daughter 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 ...

, who is mentioned on a

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

ostracon An ostracon (Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ...

. Thus she was the aunt of

Seti II Seti II (or Sethos II) was the fifth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and reigned from 1203 BC to 1197 BC. His throne name, Userkheperure Setepenre, means "Powerful are the manifestations of Re, the chosen one of Re." H ...

, but since she was among the youngest children of Ramesses, it is very likely that she was the same age or even younger than Seti II who was the grandson of Ramesses. It is also possible that she was a grandchild of Ramesses; there are several examples of granddaughters bearing the title ''King's Daughter,'' although it was not very common. The king she married was either

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, ...

. She is shown on several statues of Amenmesse, among them on two statues in the Karnak temple. On one of these, which still stands in Karnak, she is called ''King's Daughter, King's Wife (Takhat)'' and the word "wife" replaced the original "mother". According to Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, the title was recarved when Seti, the rightful heir regained the throne and usurped the statue, and that it proves either that Takhat married Seti when he became pharaoh, or that they had been married before, which means Amenmesse was Seti's son and usurped the throne from his own father. This theory might be strengthened by the other statue (now in Cairo), on which Takhat is also named as ''King's Daughter'' and ''King's Wife,'' but without any trace of recarving, while the king's name replaced another name. This statue was, according to Dodson and Hilton, possibly made by Seti; later it was usurped by Amenmesse who replaced Seti's name with his own, while leaving his mother's titles intact; still later Amenmesse's name was again replaced with that of Seti. According to another theory Seti was never married to Takhat and had her original titles recarved only to remove all traces that her son ever ruled. She is likely to have been buried in Amenmesse's tomb

KV10 Tomb KV10, located in the Valley of the Kings near the modern-day Egyptian city of Luxor, was cut and decorated for the burial of Pharaoh Amenmesse of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. However, there is no proof ...

in the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

. Her sarcophagus lid originally belonged to an otherwise unknown Princess-Queen Anuketemheb, who might be identical with a daughter of Ramesses II, a princess once named in the

Luxor temple The Luxor Temple ( ar, معبد الأقصر) is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian lang ...

but from whose name only ''...heb'' remains. The tomb was later usurped by two family members of

Ramesses IX Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses IX (also written Ramses) (originally named Amon-her-khepshef Khaemwaset) (ruled 1129–1111 BC) was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after Ra ...

: his mother Takhat and his Great Royal Wife

Baketwerel Baketwernel (also spelled Baketwerel) was an ancient Egyptian queen during the 20th Dynasty. She is likely to have been the Great Royal Wife of Ramesses IX. Burial She was buried in the tomb KV10, built for the late 19th Dynasty usurper-pharaoh ...

. The latter was once thought to be Amenmesse's Great Royal Wife, but it has been proven since then that decoration mentioned her replaced that of Amenmesse in the tomb, so she must have lived later.Dodson & Hilton, p.283

Sources

{{Queens of Ancient Egypt 13th-century BC Egyptian women Queens consort of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt Princesses of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt