Maathorneferure

Maathorneferure

Maathorneferure

Queen consort of Egypt

Maathorneferure (Hieroglyphic: Mȝʿt-Ḥr-nfrw-Rʿ, Maʿat-ḥōr-nefrurēʿ)[1] was an ancient Egyptian queen, the Great Royal Wife of Ramesses II (1279–1213 BC, according to the standard "Low Chronology" for Egypt).[2]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Family

Maathorneferure was a daughter of the Hittite king Hattusili III and his wife, Queen Puduhepa.[3] [4][5] She was the sister of the crown prince Nerikkaili of Hatti and the sister of the later Hittite king Tudhaliya IV.[6][7] The Egyptian sources claim that Maathornefrure was the eldest daughter of her parents, specifically identified as the king and queen of the Hittites.[8]

Maathorneferure was married to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II in his Year 34, becoming a senior queen, the King's Great Wife.[9] [10][11] Ramesses II's mother and first two chief queens had died before Year 34, which carried the potential that Maathornefrure would become the chief queen;[12] nevertheless, she shared the title with several of Ramesses II's daughters.[13] The status of Maathornefrure as the King's Great Wife (unlike Ramesses' other foreign wives), seems to have been a precondition of the marriage alliance, set by her parents.[14]

The Hittite princess' original name is not known with certainty, although Elmar Edel has suggested identifying her with the Šauškanu (name partly restored) mentioned in a letter from Hattusili III to Ramesses II.[15] After arriving in Egypt and marrying Ramesses II, she was renamed Maʿat-ḥōr-nefrurēʿ ("One who sees Horus, the splendor of Ra") or Maʿat-nefrurēʿ ("One who sees the splendor of Ra"),[16] depending on whether the falcon sign in the name is read out or not. Alternatively, it is possible that "maʿat-ḥōr" was a queenly title or epithet ("One who sees Horus"), and the new Egyptian name of the princess was more simply Nefrurēʿ ("the Splendor of Ra").[17]

Life

Piece of papyrus bearing the name of Maathorneferura, the Hittite princesess daughter of the great ruler of Khatti who married Ramesses II. From Gurob, Fayum, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London
Maathorneferure and Hattusili III before Ramesses II

Egypt and the Hittite empire had been increasingly at odds since the demise of the kingdom of the Mittani, culminating at the Battle of Kadesh on 1 May, 1274 BC.[18] Maathorneferure's marriage to the Egyptian king was the conclusion of the subsequent peace process which had begun with the signing of a peace treaty thirteen years earlier, in the autumn of 1259 BC.[19] [20]

The marriage was preceded by long negotiations between the Egyptian and Hittite courts. Ramesses II expressed concern over continuing delays, while the Hittite queen Puduhepa explained that she had to send off her daughter in style with a suitable dowry, which was difficult to assemble quickly.[21] The diplomatic correspondence reveals the actual parity between the two courts and the marriage being arranged. Within Egypt, however, as described on the "Marriage Stela" from the temple of Abu Simbel, for example, the event was presented as the submission of the Hittite king to Ramesses II, with Hattusili supposedly coming himself to offer Ramesses all his goods as tribute and his eldest daughter as wife.[22] It was Ramesses' prayer to the god Seth that was credited for ensuring favorable weather during the winter journey.[23] Later, Ramesses II sent a military escort to ensure the safety and honor of his bride, and she marched on to Egypt under the protection of both Hittite and Egyptian troops.[24]

The Hittite princess left Hattusa, the Hittite capital, in the autumn of 1246 BC,[25] accompanied by her mother, Queen Puduhepa, to the frontier.[26] Maathornefrure was traveling with a vast escort, including troops guarding the princess and her dowry caravan laden with gold, silver, bronze, cattle and sheep, and slaves.[27][4] At the Egyptian frontier, a message was dispatched to the Pharaoh: "They have traversed sheer mountains and treacherous passes to reach Your Majesty's border." [28] Ramesses sent a military force to join the princess and her escort through Canaan and into Egypt.[29] She arrived at Pi-Ramesse between December 1246 and January [30] or February 1245 BC.[31] [32] The marriage and Ramesses II's second jubilee were commemorated on the "Marriage Stela" at the temple of Abu Simbel later the same year.[33]

For Ramesses II, the marriage was perhaps valuable especially for the large dowry he acquired. Nevertheless, Maathornefrure resided at court for at least a while, receiving emissaries from her father,[34] before apparently settling in the harem palace at Mer-wer (today's Gurob).[35] [36] This is sometimes interpreted as a disposal of an unappreciated queen.[37] Maathorneferure appears to have given birth to a daughter, probably Neferure, the 31st daughter of Ramesses II according to the Abydos procession of his children.[38][39] The birth of this grandchild was received as happy news by the Hittite king and queen, as indicated by some of the diplomatic correspondence.[40]

Maathorneferure is mentioned on a papyrus found at Gurob. The partly preserved text on the papyrus states: [...] small bag, the king's wife Maathorneferure (may she live) (the daughter of) the great ruler of Hatti, [...] Dayt garment of 28 cubits, 4 palms, breadth 4 cubits, [bag?] of 14 cubits, 2 palms, breath 4 cubits - 2 items [...] palms, breath 4 cubits.[36]

Currently at Tanis, a damaged colossal statue of Ramesses II depicts Maathornefrure's diminutive and mostly destroyed figure touching her husband's left leg, with her title, name cartouche, and filiation inscribed on the surface next to her: "The King's Great Wife, Lady of the Two Lands, Maʿat-ḥōr-nefrurēʿ, daughter of the great chief of Hatti."[41] She is named similarly alongside her husband on a steatite tablet from Tell el-Yahudiya.[42]

Maathornefrure might have died before Ramesses II married an unnamed second daughter of the Hittite king, as reported on the "Coptos Stela" from around Year 40 (1240 BC) or 42 (1238 BC) of Ramesses II.[43]

In later tradition

During the Persian or early Ptolemaic period, a convoluted memory of Maathorneferure's marriage to Ramesses II resulted in the tale inscribed on the "Bentresh stela" found in a Ptolemaic shrine at the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak. The stela reports that Ramesses II married the daughter of the chief of Bekhten (otherwise unknown) and made her the King's Great Wife Nefrure, and that in Year 23 he received an envoy from his father-in-law, asking for help in treating the illness of Nefrure's younger sister Bentresh. The royal scribe Dhutemhab was duly dispatched to Bekhten, and discovered that Bentresh was possessed by a spirit. Evidently unable to heal her, Dhutemhab returned to Ramesses II in Year 26. Ramesses II then sought the help of the statue of the god Khonsu-Pairsekher, determining that this would be the correct course of action through the oracle of Khonsu. The statue (god) was duly sent to Bekhten with a company of ships and chariots, arriving there after nearly a year and a half. The statue immediately healed Bentresh, casting out the possessive spirit. Her father, the chief of Bekhten, retained the miracle-working statue in his land until the god indicated it should be returned to Egypt in a prophetic dream. The statue arrived home at Karnak in Year 33.[44][45]

The tale recorded on the "Bentresh stela" does not seem to be historically accurate, but evidently incorporates memories of historical events. The regnal years apart, Ramesses' foreign King's Great Wife Nefrure is apparently inspired by the Hittite Maathornefrure, and the royal scribe Dhutemhab was a historical courtier of Ramesses II.[46] Healing by the statues of the gods is attested in the Late Bronze Age, a statue of Ishtar (Šauška) being sent to heal Amenhotep III on two occasions by the Mittanian king Tushratta, although in that instance, the statue was sent to Egypt.[47] Although the situation was markedly different from that described in the "Bentresh stela," The Hittite king Hattusili III did seek Ramesses II's assistance in curing his aging sister Matanazzi/Massanauzzi's infertility. In a surviving letter, Ramesses informed Hattusili that his sister was past childbearing years, but nonetheless promised to send a priest and physician to try to help her.[48]

Alternative spellings

Due to the vagaries of transcribing hieroglyphic names and realizing their approximate and conventional vocalization, there are several different orthographies of the queen's name, including:

With the falcon sign:

  • Maʿat-ḥōr-nefrurēʿ, simplified to Maathornefrure [49]
  • Maâthorneferourê [50]
  • Maat-Hor-Néférourê [51]
  • Maat-Hor-neferure [52]
  • Maḥornefrurēʿ[53]
  • Maahornefrure [54]

Omitting the falcon sign:

  • Maʿat-nefrurēʿ, simplified to Maatnefrure
  • Maat-nefrurê [55]
  • Matnefrure [56]
  • Manefrureʿ [57]

Erroneous identification:

Notes

  1. [1]
    Gauthier 1914: 79.
  2. [2]
    Dodson, Aidan; Hilton, Dyan (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-5000-51283.
  3. [3]
    Freu 2008: 232; Bryce 2005: 282-283. Selection of translated primary sources in Beckman 1996: 126-131.
  4. [4]
    Shalaby, Mostafa (2019-01-01). "The holders of the title imy-r ssmt (Overseer of the horses) of the Ramesside period". مجلة کلیة الآثار . جامعة القاهرة. 6 (2019): 3–18. doi:10.21608/jarch.2019.90999. ISSN 2682-4884.
  5. [5]
    Kawaminami, André Shinity (2019-08-28). "A dualidade da representação de Ramsés II e dos hititas na Estela de Casamento: A relação do Egito com o reino de Hatti no século XIII a.C." Epígrafe (in Portuguese). 7 (7): 161–186. doi:10.11606/issn.2318-8855.v7i7p161-186. ISSN 2318-8855.
  6. [6]
    Nerikkaili might have accompanied his sister Maathornefrure to Egypt, according to Freu 2008: 237.
  7. [7]
    Töyräänvuori, Joanna (2022), Kõiv, Mait; Läänemets, Märt; Droß-Krüpe, Kerstin; Fink, Sebastian (eds.), "The Ugaritic Combat Myth and Egypto-Hittite Relations in the Late Bronze Age", Crisis in Early Religion, Universal- und kulturhistorische Studien. Studies in Universal and Cultural History, Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien, pp. 61–70, doi:10.1007/978-3-658-36989-7_5, ISBN 978-3-658-36989-7, retrieved 2024-01-25
  8. [8]
    Leblanc 1999: 266; Bryce 2005: 283.
  9. [9]
    Gardiner 1961: 265; Leblanc 1999: 260; Bryce 2005: 282-283; Freu 2008: 239; Obsomer 2012: 205.
  10. [10]
    Tomorad, Mladen (2014). "A History of Research Into Ancient Egyptian Culture in Southeast Europe": 1–284. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. [11]
    Dodson, Aidan (2020-10-06). Nefertiti, Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt: Her Life and Afterlife. American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-1-64903-168-6.
  12. [12]
    Leblanc 1999: 262.
  13. [13]
    On the daughters of Ramesses II who served as their father's King's Great Wife, see Leblanc 1999: 185-256.
  14. [14]
    Bell 2007: 111.
  15. [15]
    Edel 1994 vol 1: 226-227; vol. 2: 349, 351; Bell 2007: 116, n. 40.
  16. [16]
    Breasted 1906: §417, preferred omitting the falcon sign in the reading, while Gardiner 1961: 265 and Freu 2008: 239 allowed for either reading; Leblanc 1999: 269, Bryce 2005: 283, Obsomer 2012: 205, prefer reading the falcon sign as Horus.
  17. [17]
    Bell 2007: 116, n. 41.
  18. [18]
    Obsomer 2012: 530.
  19. [19]
    Obsomer 2012: 531, referencing the arrival of the treaty tablets in Egypt on 10 November, 1259 BC.
  20. [20]
    Töyräänvuori, Joanna (2022), "The Ugaritic Combat Myth and Egypto-Hittite Relations in the Late Bronze Age", Crisis in Early Religion, Universal- und kulturhistorische Studien. Studies in Universal and Cultural History, Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, pp. 61–70, doi:10.1007/978-3-658-36989-7_5, ISBN 978-3-658-36988-0, retrieved 2024-01-24
  21. [21]
    Beckman 1996: 126-129; Bryce 2005: 282-283; Obsomer 2012: 205-207.
  22. [22]
    Breasted 1906: §§415-424; Bryce 2005: 283.
  23. [23]
    Breasted 1906: §423; Bell 2007: 110-111.
  24. [24]
    Breasted 1906: §424.
  25. [25]
    Freu 2008: 237.
  26. [26]
    Freu 2008: 237.
  27. [27]
    Bell 2007: 110.
  28. [28]
    Breasted 1906: §421.
  29. [29]
    Breasted 1906: §424; Bell 2007: 111.
  30. [30]
    Obsomer 2012: 211, narrowing-down the arrival to December 1246 to January 1245 BC.
  31. [31]
    Freu 2008: 238.
  32. [32]
    Wilkinson, Toby (2011). The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt. Bloomsbury. pp. 340–41. ISBN 978-1-4088-1002-6.
  33. [33]
    Leblanc 1999: 269.
  34. [34]
    Edel 1994 vol. 1: 214-215; Bell 2007: 111.
  35. [35]
    Leblanc 1999: 271.
  36. [36]
    Gurob, papyrus 32795
  37. [37]
    Bryce 2005: 283.
  38. [38]
    Leblanc 1999: 309; Bell 2007: 111, 116, n. 44; Freu 2008: 239; Obsomer 2012: 213.
  39. [39]
    Tyldesley, Joyce (2001). Egypt's Golden Empire: The Age of the New Kingdom. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7472-51606.
  40. [40]
    Edel 1994 vol. 1: 166-167, 226-231; Bell 2007: 111.
  41. [41]
    Gauthier 1914: 79.
  42. [42]
    Gauthier 1914: 79; Leblanc 1999: 271.
  43. [43]
    Leblanc 1999: 271-272; Bryce 2005: 285-286; Bell 2007: 116, n. 44, posits that Maathornefrure was already deceased; Freu 2008: 240-241, prefers Year 40; Obsomer 2012: 214, prefers Year 42 at the earliest.
  44. [44]
    The Bentresh Stela
  45. [45]
    Breasted 1906: §§429-447.
  46. [46]
    Breasted 1906: §430, §435, §437.
  47. [47]
    Breasted 1906: §429; Moran 1992: 61-62.
  48. [48]
    Beckman 1996: 131-132; Bryce 2003: 113-116; Bell 2007: 112.
  49. [49]
    Dodson & Hilton 2004: 171.
  50. [50]
    Leblanc 1999: 19.
  51. [51]
    Obsomer 2012: 205.
  52. [52]
    Bryce 2005: 283; Bell 2007: 110.
  53. [53]
    Gardiner 1961: 265.
  54. [54]
    Brand 2016: 29.
  55. [55]
    Freu 2008: 239.
  56. [56]
    Breasted 1906: §430.
  57. [57]
    Gardiner 1961: 265.
  58. [58]
    Jackson, Guida M. (2003). Women Rulers Throughout the Ages: An Illustrated Guide. Santa Barbara : ABC-CLIO. p. 337. ISBN 1576070913.
  59. [59]
    Beckman 1996: 123; Bryce 2003: 75, 241; Freu 2008: 220.

References

  • Beckman, Gary, Hittite Diplomatic Texts, Atlanta, 1996.
  • Bell, Lanny, "Conflict and Reconciliation in the Ancient Middle east: The Clash of Egyptian and Hittite Chariots in Syria, and the World's First Peace Treaty between "Superpowers"," in K. A. Raaflaub (ed.), War and peace in the ancient world, Malden, 2007: 98-120.
  • Brand, Peter J., "Reconstructing the Royal Family of Ramesses II and its Hierarchical Structure," Journal of Ancient Civilizations 31 (2016) 7-44.
  • Breasted, James H., Ancient Records of Egypt, vol. 3, London, 1906, §§415-424, Marriage Stela online.
  • Bryce, Trevor, Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East: The Royal Correspondence of the Late Bronze Age London, 2003, especially pp. 106-111.
  • Bryce, Trevor, The Kingdom Of The Hittites, new edition, Oxford, 2005, especially pp. 282-283.
  • Dodson, Aidan, and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, London, 2004.
  • Edel, Elmar (ed. & transl.), Die ägyptisch-hethitische Korrespondenz aus Boghazköi in babylonischer und hethitischer Sprache, 2 vols., Kleve, 1994.
  • Freu, Jacques, and Michel Mazoyer, L'Apogée du nouvel empire hittite, Paris, 2008.
  • Gardiner, Sir Alan, Egypt of the Pharaohs, Oxford, 1961.
  • Gauthier, Henri, Livre des rois d'Égypte, vol. 3, Cairo, 1914.
  • Kitchen, Kenneth A., Ramesside Inscriptions, vol. 2, p. 857, and Ramesside Inscriptions, Translated and Annotated, vol. 2, p. 559.
  • Leblanc, Christian, Nefertari «L'aimée-de-Mout»: Épouses, filles et fils de Ramsès II, Monaco, 1999.
  • Moran, William (transl.), The Amarna letters, Baltimore, 1992.
  • Obsomer, Claude, Ramsès II, Paris, 2012.
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