Pharaohs. Ahmose nefertary
 |
| Ahmose |
 |
| nefertary |
Ahmose Nefertary. (c.1 570-1 505 BC) Perhaps the most influential of the New Kingdom royal women, whose political and religious titles, like those of her grandmother TETISHERI and mother AI-IHOTEP I, have helped to illuminate the various new political roles adopted by women in the early 18th Dynasty (see QUEENS). Born in the early sixteenth century BC, she was described as mwl nesw Cking's mother') in relation to her son AMENHOTEP T and hemel nesw werel Cking's principal wife') in relation to her brother and husband AI-IMOSE 1. She was also the first royal woman to have the title hemet netjer (see GOD'S WIFE OF AMUN) bestowed upon her, an act which was described in Ahmose I'S Stele of Donations in.
the temple of Amun at Karnak. This title was the one most frequently used by Ahmosc Nefertari, and it was later passed on to sc\-eral of her female descendants. including her own daughter Meritamun and Queen IIATSIIEPSLT (1473-1458 BC), It was once interpreted as an 'heiress' epithet, marking out the woman whom the king must marry to legitimize his claim to the throne, but it is now considered to have been simply a priestly office relating to the cult of Amun (carrying with it entitlemcnt to an agricultural estate and personnel), which was to acquire greater political importance during the Late Period.
There is considerable textual evidence for Ahmose Nefertari's involvement in the cult of Amun as well as her participation in the quarrying and building projects undertaken by her husband. One stele even documents the fact that Ahmose 1 sought her approval before erecting a cenotaph for TETISHERJ at Abydos. She seems to have outlived him by a considerable period, apparently serving as regent during the early years of Amenhotep I'S reign. An inscription of the first year of the reign of his successor, THUTMOSE I, suggests that she was probably still alive even after the death of her son. She became the object of a posthumous religious cult, sometimes linked with that of Amenhotep I, particularly in connection with the workmen's village at OEIR EL-MEDINA, which they were considered to have jointly rounded. More than fifty of the Theban tombs of private individuals include inscriptions mentioning her name..
