God's Wife (

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

''ḥmt nṯr'') is a title which was often allocated to royal women during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. The term indicates an inherited sacral duty, in which the role of "God's Wife" passed from mother to daughter. The role could also exist among siblings, as in the case of the role of "God's Wife" being shared or passed by daughters of

Ahmose-Nefertari Ahmose-Nefertari (Ancient Egyptian: '' Jꜥḥ ms Nfr trj'') was the first Great Royal Wife of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was a daughter of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep I, and royal sister and wife to Ahmose I. Her son Amenhotep I b ...

, Sitamun and her sister, Ahmose-Merytamun. The role of "God's Wife" is not the same as the title "

God's Wife of Amun God's Wife of Amun (Egyptian: ''ḥm.t nṯr n ỉmn'') was the highest-ranking priestess of the Amun cult, an important religious institution in ancient Egypt. The cult was centered in Thebes in Upper Egypt during the Twenty-fifth and Twenty ...

", which is a separate sacral title, involved in the "Divine Cycle" myth of the

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

Amun Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → (Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egyptian ...

. Only two Eighteenth Dynasty queens held this title,

Ahhotep I Ahhotep I ( egy, jꜥḥ-ḥtp (.w), alternatively Anglicized ''Ahhotpe'' or ''Aahhotep'', "Iah (the Moon) is satisfied") was an ancient Egyptian queen who lived circa 1560– 1530 BC, during the end of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was ...

and

.Troy, L. 1986. ''Patterns of Queenship: in ancient Egyptian myth and history'': Appendix A, 18.2 and 18.3. BOREAS14. Uppsala: ACTA Universitatis Upsaliensis

References

{{Ancient Egyptian royal titulary Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ancient Egyptian titles