Isetnofret

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Isetnofret

in hieroglyphs
st t
H8		 nfr r&t

Isetnofret (or Isis-nofret or Isitnofret) (Ancient Egyptian: "the beautiful Isis") was one of the Great Royal Wives of Pharaoh Ramesses II and was the mother of his heir, Merneptah. She was one of the most prominent of the royal wives, second only to the pharaoh's favourite, Nefertari, and was the chief queen after Nefertari's death (around the 24th year of the pharaoh's reign). She had at least three sons and one daughter.

Her children include:

  • Prince Ramesses B, Crown Prince from Year 25-50 of Ramesses II[1]
  • Princess-Queen Bintanath, firstborn daughter and later wife of Ramesses[2]
  • Prince Khaemwaset, High Priest of Ptah. Crown Prince from Year 50-55 of Ramesses II[3]
  • Pharaoh Merneptah, Ramesses' 13th son and ultimate successor (he outlived the first 12 princes)
  • Princess Isetnofret II (?), possible wife of Merenptah[4]
  • Prince Sethi (?)
  • Princess Nebettawy (?) (more likely to be the daughter of Nefertari[5])

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)

She is known from several inscriptions and small statues.[6] She is shown on a family stela from Aswan. The upper register shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Khaemwaset before Khnum. While the lower register shows Princes Ramesses, Merneptah and Princess Queen Bint-Anath. Another family stela (Speos at West Silsila) shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Bint-Anath with a much smaller Khaemwaset before Ptah and Nefertem. The lower register shows Prince Ramesses and Prince Merenptah. [7]

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[8]. A possible daughter of Merneptah also bears this name[9].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), p.173
  2. ^ Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.170
  3. ^ Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.170
  4. ^ Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.171
  5. ^ Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.167
  6. ^ Queen Isetnofret
  7. ^ Kitchen, K.A., Rammeside Inscriptions, Translated & Annotated, Translations, Volume II, Blackwell Publishers, 1996.
  8. ^ Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.171
  9. ^ Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.182

[edit] Sources