Nitocris II

Nitocris II
High Priestess of Amun in Thebes
Divine Adoratrice of Amun?

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hm-ntr [tpy] n-'Imn, Nt-jqrt[1]
High Priestess of Amun, Nitocris
Dynasty 26th Dynasty
Pharaoh Amasis II, Psamtik III
Father Amasis II

Nitocris II (or Nitokris II,[1] Nitocris B,[2] Egyptian: Nt-jqrt, Nitiqret) was an ancient Egyptian princess and priestess during the reign of pharaoh Amasis II of the 26th Dynasty.

Biography

Daughter of Amasis II,[2] Nitocris II is mainly attested by an inscription on a bronze sitting statuette of Amun-Ra now in the University of Chicago Oriental Institute (registration no. E10584A-B[3]) on which she is called High Priest of Amun; the same object also claims that the God's Wife of Amun Ankhnesneferibre was her "mother". Nitocris' title is notable because she is the last attested holder of the once influential office of High Priest of Amun at Thebes, as well as the only known female holder;[1] she may have reached this office around 560 BCE.[2]

The fact that Ankhnesneferibre is called her "mother" suggests that Nitocris also held the office of Divine Adoratrice of Amun[1] which usually led to the charge of God's Wife of Amun after the adoptive mother's death. However, it seems that Nitocris never managed to reach the latter position because these offices were abolished soon after the Persian invasion of Egypt in 525 BCE.[4]

Preceded by
?		 High Priest of Amun
c.560–525 BCE 		Succeeded by
office abolished(?)
Preceded by
Ankhnesneferibre		 Divine Adoratrice of Amun
?–525 BCE 		Succeeded by
office abolished

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Dodson, Aidan (2002). "The problem of Amenirdis II and the heirs of the office of God's Wife of Amun during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty". Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 88. pp. 179; 186
  2. 1 2 3 Kitchen, Kenneth A. (1996). The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC). Warminster: Aris & Phillips Limited. p. 608. ISBN 0-85668-298-5. § 365 n. 951; table 13A
  3. ↑ Picture of the statuette on the Chicago Oriental Institute website
  4. ↑ "God's Wife of Amun". Ancient Egypt by Anneke Bart. Retrieved May 31, 2015.


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