Taimhotep (''t3ỉ-ˁỉỉ-m-ḥtp,'' in Greek: ''ταιμουθης'', Taimuthis; December 17, 73 BCE – February 15, 42 BCEMiriam Lichtheim: Ancient Egyptian Literature: The late period. University of California Press, 2006. pp.59–65) was an ancient Egyptian woman known from two stelae made during the reign of

Cleopatra VII Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

. One of these, a limestone stela from 43 or 42 BCE was found in Memphis or

Sakkara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. ...

and is today in the British Museum (BM 147),Epitaph of Tayimhotep
at ''attalus.org'' the other is a Demotic version of its text; its fragments are also in the British Museum (BM 377). Stela BM 147 has a depiction of Taimhotep worshipping Sokar- Osiris,

Apis Apis or APIS may refer to: * Apis (deity), an ancient Egyptian god * Apis (Greek mythology), several different figures in Greek mythology * Apis (city), an ancient seaport town on the northern coast of Africa **Kom el-Hisn, a different Egyptian ci ...

, Isis, Nephtys,

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...

, Anubis and a symbol of the West. The text on the stela is 21 lines long and tells of Taimhotep's life. She was born in the 9th regnal year of Ptolemy XII Auletes; her father was apja Khahapi, a priest of Ptah, Min, Khnum-Ra and Horus, her mother was Herankh, a musician of the Ptah temple. She had a brother, High Priest Pasherienamun I and a sister called Taneferher, who married each other; a further possible brother is the scribe Horemhotep. In the 23rd regnal year, at the age of fourteen (July 25, 58 BCE)Chris Bennett: Taimhotep
/ref> she married the High Priest of Ptah,

Pasherienptah III Pasherienptah (III) ''(p3-šrỉ-n-ptḥ'', 'Son of Ptah'; November 4, 90 BCE – July 13 or 14, 41 BCE) was an ancient Egyptian high Priest of Ptah in Memphis from 76 BCE until his death. Two of his stelas are known, the one with a hieroglyphic ...

, and had three daughters and a son by him. Her children are named on the stela BM 377: the son Imhotep-Pedubast and the daughters Berenike, Herankh (nicknamed Beludje) and Kheredankh. It is known that Kheredankh was not her daughter, as she was born to Pasherienptah seven years before his marriage to Taimhotep, and her name was inscribed on the stela erroneously in place of her actual third daughter Her'an (nicknamed Tapedibast), whose name can be found on another stela of her father (Ash. M. 1971/18). After the birth of her third daughter she prayed to

Imhotep , other_names = Asclepius (name in Greek) Imouthes (also name in Greek) , burial_place = Saqqara (probable) , occupation = chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser and High Priest of Ra , years_active = , known_for ...

, an Old Kingdom sage who was deified in later centuries, for a son. Her prayers were answered and her son was born in 46 BCE, the 6th regnal year of Cleopatra VII. Taimhotep died four years later. On her stela Taimhotep laments her untimely death and asks her husband to enjoy life while he can; this is the longest ancient Egyptian text of this kind. From her husband's two stelas it is known that he survived his wife by only one year. Their son Imhotep-Pedubast became High Priest of Ptah in 39 BCE but died young only nine years later.Chris Bennett: Imhotep-Pedubast
/ref>

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taimhotep 1st-century BC Egyptian people 1st-century BC Egyptian women 73 BC births 42 BC deaths