Meryatum (“Beloved of

Atum Atum (, Egyptian: ''jtm(w)'' or ''tm(w)'', ''reconstructed'' ; Coptic ''Atoum''), sometimes rendered as Atem or Tem, is an important deity in Egyptian mythology. Name Atum's name is thought to be derived from the verb ''tm'' which means 'to com ...

”) was an ancient Egyptian prince and

High Priest of Re The High Priest of Ra or of Re was known in Egyptian as the ''wr-mꜢw'', which translates as Greatest of Seers. The main cult of Ra was in ancient Heliopolis, northeast of present-day Cairo. The high priests of Ra are not as well documented as ...

, the son of

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, wikt:rꜥ-ms-sw, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is oft ...

and Queen

Nefertari Nefertari, also known as Nefertari Meritmut, was an Egyptian queen and the first of the Great Royal Wife, Great Royal Wives (or principal wives) of Ramesses II, Ramesses the Great.Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. ''The Complete Royal Families o ...

. He is shown as 16th on the processions of princes, and is likely to have been the last child born to Ramesses and Nefertari (after

Amun-her-khepeshef Amun-her-khepeshef (died c. 1254 BC; also Amonhirkhopshef, Amun-her-wenemef and Amun-her-khepeshef A to distinguish him from later people of the same name) was the firstborn son of Pharaoh Ramesses II and Queen Nefertari. Name He was born wh ...

Pareherwenemef Pareherwenemef (Pre-hir-wonmef, Prehirwenemef, Rehirwenemef ) was an ancient Egyptian prince of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, the third son of Pharaoh Ramesses II, the second by Queen Nefertari. Family Pareherwenemef was a son of Pharaoh ...

Meritamen Meritamen (also spelled ''Meritamun, Merytamen, Merytamun, Meryt-Amen''; ancient Egyptian: ''Beloved of Amun'') was a daughter and later Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Ramesses the Great. Family Meritamen was a daughter of Ramesses and one ...

Henuttawy Henuttawy (or Henttawy, Henuttaui) (''ḥnw.t-t3.wỉ'', “Mistress of the Two Lands Egypt��, from ''ḥnw.t'', 'mistress' and ''t3.wỉ'', dual for ''t3'', 'land') is the name of several royal ladies from Ancient Egypt. * Henuttawy (19th dynast ...

and

Meryre Meryre (also Meryra or Merire) ( egy, mrii-rˤ "the one loved by Ra, Re") was an Ancient Egypt, Egyptian noble and the only certain High Priest of the Aten. Amongst his other titles were Haty-a, Hereditary Noble and High Official and Fan-bearer ...

). He is depicted in the Smaller

Abu Simbel Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel ( ar, أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about sou ...

temple, dedicated to Nefertari. Inscriptions at

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...

and elsewhere show Nefertari was his mother. He visited

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

in the second decade of his father's reign, and later in that decade was appointed as High Priest of Ra in Heliopolis, a position he held for the next twenty years. Two of his statues are now in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and a

stela A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

belonging to him is in

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

. An

ostrakon An ostracon ( Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ...

mentions work on his tomb and that of

Isetnofret Isetnofret (or Isis-nofret or Isitnofret) ( Ancient Egyptian: "the beautiful Isis") was one of the Great Royal Wives of Pharaoh Ramesses II and was the mother of his successor, Merneptah. She was one of the most prominent of the royal wives ...

; it implies he was buried in the area of the

Valley of the Queens The Valley of the Queens ( ar, وادي الملكات ) is a site in Egypt, where the wives of pharaohs were buried in ancient times. It was known then as Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning "the place of beauty". It was most famous for being the burial site ...

, though it is also possible he was buried in

KV5 Tomb KV5 is a subterranean, rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It belonged to the sons of Ramesses II. Though KV5 was partially excavated as early as 1825, its true extent was discovered in 1995 by Kent R. Weeks and his exploration team. ...

, the tomb built for the sons of Ramesses, since a fragment of one of his

canopic jar Canopus (, ; grc-gre, Κάνωπος, ), also known as Canobus ( grc-gre, Κάνωβος, ), was an ancient Egyptian coastal town, located in the Nile Delta. Its site is in the eastern outskirts of modern-day Alexandria, around from the cent ...

s was found there.

Inscriptions

Meryatum is known from several inscriptions.Kitchen, K.A., Ramesside Inscriptions, Translated & Annotated, Translations, Volume II, Blackwell Publishers, 1996 * Inscription at

Serabit el-Khadim Serabit el-Khadim ( ar, سرابيط الخادم ; also transliterated Serabit al-Khadim, Serabit el-Khadem) is a locality in the southwest Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, where turquoise was mined extensively in antiquity, mainly by the ancient Egypt ...

depicting Prince Meryatum with the Troop-commander and Royal Cupbearer Ashahebsed and Troop-commander Amenemope. * Façade of the Small Temple at Abu Simbel; two of the colossal statues of the King are flanked by small statues of the King’s Son Meryatum and the King’s Son Meryre (the other two are flanked by

and Prehirwenemef) * Inscription at the Temple of Mut at

; The inscription names Meryatum and Queen

: ''Text made by the King’s Son Ramesses-Meryatum, born of Queen Nefertari-Meryetmut, may she live forever! (Kitchen)'' * Statue of Queen Nefertari with a depiction of Prince Meryatum at the left side (Brussels E.2459) * Stela of Subordinate Akhpet from Qantir ( Pelizaeus-Museum) mentions the King’s Son, Chief of Seers, pure of hands in the House of Re, Mery-Atum, justified. * A statue with Standards (Berlin 19716) mentions on the Dorsal Pillar: ''Hereditary Prince and Count, Chief of Secrets in the Mansion of the Bennu bird, bodily King’s son, beloved of him, Chief of Seers, Mery-Atum. (Kitchen )'' * The dorsal pillar of a statue in Berlin (Berlin 7347). On the left side the inscription reads: " ��inthe Great Mansion, Setem priest in the Horizon of Eternity, Eyes of the King at the head of his

Two Lands In Egyptian history, the Upper and Lower Egypt period (also known as The Two Lands) was the final stage of prehistoric Egypt and directly preceded the unification of the realm. The conception of Egypt as the Two Lands was an example of the dua ...

, with the utterance of whose mouth people are pleased; King’s Son, Chief of Seers, pure of hands in the house of Re, Meryatum, renewed in life, born of the Great Royal Wife, Lady of Both Lands, Nefertari Meryetmut." (Kitchen ) And on the right side it reads: " ��Charioter of his father the Victorious King, Horus-Falcon, Beloved of

Maat Maat or Maʽat ( Egyptian: mꜣꜥt /ˈmuʀʕat/, Coptic: ⲙⲉⲓ) refers to the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. Ma'at was also the goddess who personified these concepts, and regul ...

; King’s Son, Chief of Seers, pure of hands in the house of Re, Meryatum, born of the Great Royal Wife, Lady of Both Lands, Nefertari Meryetmut." (Kitchen) While the main text says: "Hereditary Prince, Royal princeling, Judge(?) of the people, born of the Great Royal Wife, Chief of Seers, pure of hands in the house of Re, Meryatum." (Kitchen ) * An

ostracon An ostracon (Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ston ...

in Cairo (JdE 72460) mentions “work-in-progress of the Chief of Seers, Meryatum”. Probably refers to work on the tomb of Meryatum (i.e. KV5) * In the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

two

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

s were found in chamber 3. One mentions Qebehsenuef, the other Hapi.Weeks, K., KV5: A Preliminary Report on the Excavation of the Tomb of the Sons of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings.

References

{{authority control High Priests of Re People of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt 13th-century BC Egyptian people 13th-century BC clergy Ramesses II Children of Ramesses II

Inscriptions

See also

References