Queen Merytre-Hatshepsut (or sometimes Hatshepsut-Meryet-Ra) became the principal wife 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 ...

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 2 ...

after the death of

Satiah Satiah (also, Sitiah, Sitioh; “Daughter of the Moon”) was an ancient Egyptian queen, the Great Royal Wife of Thutmose III. Family Satiah was the daughter of the royal nurse Ipu. It is possible that her father was the important official Ahmos ...

. She was also the daughter of Adoratrix Huy and the mother of

Amenhotep II Amenhotep II (sometimes called ''Amenophis II'' and meaning '' Amun is Satisfied'') was the seventh pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Amenhotep inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few milit ...

Family

Merytre-Hatshepsut was of noble birth. She was possibly the daughter of the Adoratrix

Huy Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...

, whose statue in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

(EA 1280) shows Huy holding a grandchild and represents the other children of Thutmose III and Merytre-Hatshepsut along the sides of her seated statue. She was the mother of

, Prince Menkheperre, and the princesses Nebetiunet, Merytamun C, Merytamun D, and Iset.

Biography

Merytre-Hatshepsut is known to have held the titles Hereditary Princess (iryt-p`t), Sole One, Great of Praises (wrt-hzwt-w’tit), King’s Mother (mwt-niswt), Lady of The Two Lands (nbt-t3wy), King’s Wife (hmt-nisw), Great King’s Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt), God’s Wife (hmt-ntr), God’s Hand (djrt-ntr). Merytre-Hatshepsut became a Great Royal Wife after the death of queen

. She is attested in the

mortuary temple Mortuary temples (or funerary temples) were temples that were erected adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in Ancient Egypt. The temples were designed to commemorate the reign of the Pharaoh under whom they were constructed, as well as ...

in Medinet Habu. The queen is depicted standing behind a seated Tuthmosis III. She's depicted in full Queenly regalia, including the vulture cap, modius with double plumes and the fly-whisk. She is called "great royal wife". Merytre-Medinet-Habu

Merytre-Hatshepsut is depicted in several tombs, including that of her husband Tuthmosis III (

KV34 Tomb KV34 ( ar, مقبرة تحتمس الثالث, Maqbarat Tahtamis al-Thaalithi) in the Valley of the Kings (near the modern-day Egyptian city of Luxor) was the tomb of 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Thutmose III. One of the first tombs to be dug in the ...

). On one of the pillars the queen, identified as Merytre, is one of three queens following Thutmose III. Merytre is followed by queen

, Queen Nebtu and Princess Nefertari. Thutmose III and family

In the tomb of Ra (

TT72 Theban Tomb TT72 is located in the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. It was the tomb of Re, who was the First Prophet of Amun in the Mortuary temple of Thutmosis III. The tomb is located in the necropolis area aro ...

) in Thebes. Merytre Hatshepsut is depicted seated next to / behind her son Amenhotep II. A scene in another tomb in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna seems to depict a statue of Merytre-Hatshepsut that is shown in a small structure on a sled. The other statues depicted all represent Tuthmosis III. A stela (borne by the statue of a courtier) depicts Merytre-Hatshepsut standing before Tuthmosis III. The Queen is shown wearing a modius and double plumes. She is shown holding a fly-whisk in one hand and an ankh in the other.

Death and burial

Merytre-Hatshepsut was originally meant to be interred in

KV42 Tomb KV42 (Kings Valley 42) is an ancient Egyptian tomb located in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. It was constructed for Hatshepsut-Meryetre, the wife of Thutmose III, but she was not buried in the tomb. It was reused by Sennefer, a mayor of Th ...

. Foundation deposits were found in 1921 which clearly establish that the tomb was originally meant for her. She may have been buried in KV35, the tomb of her son Amenhotep II however. KV42 may have been reused for the Theban Mayor Sennefer and his wife Senetnay. The non-use of her tomb at KV42 may indicate her disgrace at the time of her grandson.Tuthmosis III (Menkheperre)
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References

External links

{{Queens of Ancient Egypt 15th-century BC Egyptian women 15th-century BC clergy Princesses of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Queens consort of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Wives of Thutmose III Priestesses of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt