Isetnofret (or Isis-nofret or Isitnofret) ( Ancient Egyptian: "the beautiful Isis") was one of the

Great Royal Wives Great Royal Wife, or alternatively, Chief King's Wife ( Ancient Egyptian: ''ḥmt nswt wrt'', cop, Ⲟⲩⲏⲣ Ⲟⲩⲣϣ), is the title that was used to refer to the principal wife of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who served many official ...

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 ...

Ramesses II Ramesses II, ). (; egy, rꜥ-ms-sw, , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Dynasty, he is often regarded as the gr ...

and was the mother of his successor,

Merneptah Merneptah or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213 BC – May 2, 1203 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2, ...

. She was one of the most prominent of the royal wives, along with Nefertari, and was the chief queen after Nefertari's death (around the 24th year of the pharaoh's reign).

Family

The parents of Isetnofret are not known. She must have married

even before he came to the throne as her eldest children already appear in scenes from the time of Seti I. She had at least three sons and one daughter. Her children include: * Prince Ramesses, Crown Prince from Year 25 to 50 of Ramesses II * Princess-Queen Bintanath, firstborn daughter and later wife of RamessesDodson & Hilton, p.170 * Prince

Khaemwaset Prince Khaemweset (also translated as Khamwese, Khaemwese or Khaemwaset or Setne Khamwas) was the fourth son of Ramesses II and the second son by his queen Isetnofret. His contributions to Egyptian society were remembered for centuries after his ...

, High Priest of Ptah. Crown Prince from Year 50 to 55 of Ramesses II * Pharaoh

, Ramesses' 13th son and ultimate successor (he outlived the first 12 princes) * Princess Isetnofret (?), possible wife of Merenptah as Isetnofret IIDodson & Hilton, p.171 Prince Sethi and Princess Nebettawy have been suggested as further children of Isetnofret, but they are more likely to be the children of Nefertari (or even some other mother).

Titles

Queen Isetnofret's titles include: Hereditary Princess (iryt-p`t), Great of Praises (wrt-hzwt), King’s Mother (mwt-niswt), Mistress of the entire Two Lands (hnwt-t3wy-tm), King’s Wife (hmt-nisw), Great King’s Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt)

Life

Isetnofret is known from several inscriptions and small statues. She is not well attested before year 25 of

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, 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 often regarded as ...

. Most of the items and scenes mentioning Queen Isetnofret seem to be associated with her sons Ramesses,

and

Merenptah Merneptah or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213 BC – May 2, 1203 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2, ...

. * Isetnofret is shown on a family

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''), wh ...

from

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...

. The upper

register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...

shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Khaemwaset before the god

Khnum Khnum or also romanised Khnemu (; egy, 𓎸𓅱𓀭 ẖnmw, grc-koi, Χνοῦβις) was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities, originally the god of the source of the Nile. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt an ...

. The lower register shows Prince Ramesses,

and Princess Queen Bintanath. * A family stela from the Speos at West Silsila shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Bintanath with a much smaller Khaemwaset before the gods

Ptah Ptah ( egy, ptḥ, reconstructed ; grc, Φθά; cop, ⲡⲧⲁϩ; Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤇, romanized: ptḥ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god and patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the hu ...

and Nefertem. The lower register shows Prince Ramesses and Prince (later

) Merenptah.Kitchen, K.A., Ramesside Inscriptions, Translated & Annotated, Translations, Volume II, Blackwell Publishers, 1996. * A Statue with Prince's Figure (Brussels E.7500). Her son is named on the statue: the Sem-Priest and King's Son Khaemwaset. * A Statue group with Sons (Louvre 2272): A "hetep-di-nesu" offering for the King's Son, Sem priest of Ptah, Khaemwaset and the royal scribe, Generalissimo and King's Son Ramesses. The text mentions Queen Isetnofret (the princes' mother). * The Head of a Statue (Brussels E.5924): On right shoulder the name of Isetnofret appears. * A naophorous Statue of Prince Khaemwaset mentions his mother. On the dorsal pillar it reads: "Iunmutef-priest, born of the Great Royal Wife Isetnofret, the Sem-priest of Ptah Khaemwaset." * Relief for offering for Prince Khaemwaset in

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab or Haremhab ( egy, ḥr-m-ḥb, meaning " Horus is in Jubilation") was the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1295 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 BC and 1292 BC. ...

's Speos. The text above the prince reads: "Sitting at table, making purification with natron and reading out the (funerary) menu, every good offering, for the King's Son of Usermaatre Setepenre, born of the Great Royal Wife, Isetnofret, the Sem-priest Khaemwaset." * Shabtis from Middle cemetery of Abydos: One of these has a cartouche of Queen Isetnofret.Porter and Moss Topographical Bibliography; Volume V Upper Egypt Griffith Institute * West Silsila: Rock shrine of Merneptah. A scene depicts Ramesses II, Queen Isetnofret with sistra before

Taweret In Ancient Egyptian religion, Taweret (also spelled Taurt, Tuat, Tuart, Ta-weret, Tawaret, Twert and Taueret, and in Greek, Θουέρις – Thouéris, Thoeris, Taouris and Toeris) is the protective ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and ...

(as a hippopotamus),

Thoth Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...

and Nut. A daughter of her son Khaemwaset (sometimes called Isetnofret III) was named after her. It is possible that this Isetnofret was Merenptah's wife, not her aunt Isetnofret II. A possible daughter of Merneptah also bears this name.Dodson & Hilton, p.182

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isetnofret 01 13th-century BC Egyptian women Wives of Ramesses II Princesses of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt