Ahmose-Nefertari

Queen Ahmose-Nefertari of Egypt was the royal sister and wife of Egypt's pharaoh, Ahmose I. Ahmose-Nefertari became the regent for her son, Amenhotep I, upon the death of Ahmose I and reigned until he could attain the age to ascend the throne.

Her name appears on many monuments from Saï to Tura. She is known still to have been alive during the first year of the reign of Thutmose I; thus, she apparently outlived her son Amenhotep I, who reigned over Egypt for nearly twenty-one years.

Among her titles, she had held the office of "Second Prophet of Amun", but renounced it sometime during the eighteenth or twenty-second year of the reign of her husband, Ahmose I, when she became the first "living", royal woman known to be entitled, "God's Wife of Amun". Her mother, Ahhotep I, royal wife of Seqenenre Tao II and the mother of Ahmose I also, held the title of "God’s Wife of Amun" first, but it only has been found on her coffin. Some Egyptologists assert that she may not have held the office itself and the title may have been given to her posthumously.

The office of "God's Wife of Amun", which had existed in earlier dynasties, was revived, now as a hereditary title to be held only by royal women and passing from one generation to another, as the highest ranking priestess in the administration of the powerful temple. Previously, the holder of the title was not of the royal line. The holder of this office was a close adviser who participated in daily contact with the pharaoh. Some scholars describe the administration of the temple of Amun as the virtual rulers of the country while Thebes was the capital of Egypt.

Founders of the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

Some Egyptologists assert that their mother, Ahhotep I, was the founder of the eighteenth dynasty because after the death of Seqenenre Tao II, she enabled two of her sons to became pharaohs and to unite Egypt following the Hyksos occupation and ruled as regent between them, Kamose and Ahmose I. Her husband had initiated the overthrow and may have died in battle, her son, Kamose, made battle with them and died in the war, she then became regent and a warrior queen to continue the battle, and when Ahmose I came of age and ruled as pharaoh, he finally drove them out of Egypt.

Ahmose I became the first king of the eighteenth dynasty, a pharaoh ruling over the united country. Ahmose-Nefertari had the following royal children, Amenhotep I, Mutnofret, and Ahmose-Meritamon, two of whom would become the next king and queen of Egypt.

When she died, Ahmose-Nefertari became the last queen to be worshipped as a deity in a Theban funerary cult until the time of the High Priest of Amun, Herihor, in the beginning of the twenty-first dynasty.

ource

* [http://www.homestead.com/wysinger/ahmosenefertari.html"Family Tree of Ahmose Nefertari"]

* [http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/qahmosenefertari.htm="Queen Ahmose Nefertari"]

* [http://www.philae.nu/akhet/Queens.html "Women in ancient Egypt"]

* [http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/women.html "The Glory and Power"]

* [http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower000.htm "Women in Power BCE 4500-1000"]

* [http://www.civilization.ca/civil/egypt/egcgov4e.html "Royal Women"]