Meryre (also Meryra or Merire) ( egy, mrii-rˤ "the one loved by Re") was an

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 ...

noble and the only certain High Priest of the

Aten Aten also Aton, Atonu, or Itn ( egy, jtn, ''reconstructed'' ) was the focus of Atenism, the religious system established in ancient Egypt by the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten. The Aten was the disc of the sun and originally an aspect of ...

. Amongst his other titles were Hereditary Noble and High Official and

Fan-bearer on the Right Side of the King The Fan-bearer on the Right Side of the King – sometimes also translated as ''Fanbearer on the King's Right Hand'' – was an ancient Egyptian courtier. The title implies a very close personal or official relationship with the pharaoh ...

which emphasise his closeness to the king. He had a tomb constructed at

Amarna Amarna (; ar, العمارنة, al-ʿamārnah) is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Ph ...

, Tomb 4, although his remains have never been identified. (See Tombs of the Nobles.) It is possible that he is identical to an official known from a Memphite tomb. This official appears in his tomb with two names:

Meryneith Meryneith (''beloved of

he goddess He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

Neith''), also named Meryre (''beloved of

he sun-god He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

Ra, Re'') was an ancient Egyptian official who lived in the Amarna Period, around 1350 BC. He is mainly known from his tomb found in 2001 at Saqqara. He is ...

and Meryre. The latter name he was bearing in the Amarna period, while Meryneith was his name before this period and after. In his inscriptions Meryneith bears also the title of a high priest of Aton.René van Walsem, in: Maarten J. Raven, René van Walsem: ''The Tomb of Meryneith at Saqqara'', Turnhout 2014, , 41, 47

References

Literature

*J. H. Breasted, ''Ancient Records of Egypt'', Chicago 1906, Part Two, §§.982-988 14th-century BC clergy Fan-bearer on the Right Side of the King Atenism Priests of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt 14th-century BC Egyptian people {{Amarna Period

See also

References

Literature