Dakhamunzu (sometimes ''Dahamunzu'') is the name of an
Egyptian queen known from the
Hittite
Hittite may refer to:
* Hittites, ancient Anatolian people
** Hittite language, the earliest-attested Indo-European language
** Hittite grammar
** Hittite phonology
** Hittite cuneiform
** Hittite inscriptions
** Hittite laws
** Hittite religion
* ...
annals ''
The Deeds of Suppiluliuma
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
'', which were composed by
Suppiluliuma I's son
Mursili II There were three Hittite kings called Mursili:
*Mursili I, ca. 1556–1526 BCE (short chronology), and was likely a grandson of his predecessor, Hattusili I. His sister was Ḫarapšili and his wife was queen Kali.
* Mursili II, (also spelled Mursi ...
. The identity of this queen has not yet been established with any degree of certainty and Dakhamunzu has variously been identified as either
Nefertiti
Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in whic ...
,
Meritaten
Meritaten, also spelled Merytaten, Meritaton or Meryetaten ( egy, mrii.t-itn) (14th century BC), was an ancient Egyptian royal woman of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Her name means "She who is beloved of Aten"; Aten being the sun-deity whom ...
or
Ankhesenamen
Ankhesenamun (, "Her Life Is of Amun"; c. 1348 or c. 1342 – after 1322 BC) was a queen who lived during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt as the pharaoh Akhenaten's daughter and subsequently became the Great Royal Wife of pharaoh Tutankhamun. Born An ...
. The identification of this queen is of importance both for Egyptian chronology and for the reconstruction of events during the late
Eighteenth Dynasty.
However, in recent years it has been noted that Dahamunzu may be the Hittite phonetic rendition of the Egyptian ''ta hemet nesu'', 'the king's wife', and thus is simply the equivalent of addressing her as the equivalent of 'queen'. If so, then Dahamanzu is not a proper name at all and thus not a mysterious synonym for any of the queens discussed here, and is instead only a title. See below on this page.
The episode in ''The Deeds of Suppiluliuma'' that features Dakhamunzu is often referred to as ''the