Satiah (also, Sitiah, Sitioh; “Daughter of the Moon”) was an
ancient Egyptian queen, the
Great Royal Wife
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 ...
of
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 ...
.
Family
Satiah was the daughter of the royal nurse
Ipu
Ipu is a percussion instrument made from gourds that is often used to provide a beat for hula dancing.
There are two types of ipu, the ipu heke (), which is a double gourd made by taking two gourds of different sizes, cutting them and joining t ...
. It is possible that her father was the important official
Ahmose Pen-Nekhebet The Autobiography of Ahmose Pen Nekhbet is a tomb inscription from ancient Egypt, which is significant to Egyptology studies. Ahmose Pen Nekhbet was an ancient Egyptian official who started his career under Ahmose I and served all the pharaohs unti ...
. No children of Satiah are known, though there is a possibility that Prince
Amenemhat – Thutmose's eldest son, who died in the 35th year of his father's reign – was her son.
Satiah died during her husband's 24 years reign and Thutmose's next Great Royal Wife was
Merytre-Hatshepsut.
Biography
Satiah's titles include: King's Wife (ḥmt-nisw), Great King's Wife (ḥmt-niswt-wrt) and God's Wife (ḥmt-ntr).
Satiah is attested in several places. In
Abydos Abydos may refer to:
*Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz
*Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor
* Abydos (''Stargate''), name of a fictional planet in the ''Stargate'' science fiction universe ...
the text on an offering table mentions her mother, the “nurse of the god” Ipu. The offering table was dedicated by the lector priest Therikiti. A bronze votive axe-head(?) (now in the Cairo Museum), inscribed with the name of Queen Satiah, was also found in Abydos.
At the temple of
Montu
Montu was a falcon-god of war in ancient Egyptian religion, an embodiment of the conquering vitality of the pharaoh.Hart, George, ''A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses'', Routledge, 1986, . p. 126. He was particularly worshipped in Upp ...
at
El-Tod a statue of the queen was dedicated by Tuthmose III after her death (the statue is now in the Cairo Museum).
Queen Satiahis depicted behind Queen
Merytre-Hatshepsut and
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 ...
on a pillar in the tomb of the king (
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 ...
). Behind Queen Satiah we see the King's Wife
Nebtu and the King's Daughter Nefertari.
Satiah is depicted before Tuthmose III in a relief from
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. Constru ...
.
A stela in the Cairo Museum shows Queen Satiah standing behind Tuthmose III.
[A. Bart Queen Sitiah website]
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References
Further reading
Alexandre Herrero Pardo, ''Satiah, 1ª Gran Esposa Real; Meritre, 2ª Gran Esposa Real; Isis, la madre del Rey - Las mujeres en la vida de Tutmosis III - Los Nobles de Egipto''
External links
Queen Sitiah (website by A. Bart)
{{Queens of Ancient Egypt
15th-century BC Egyptian women
Queens consort of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Wives of Thutmose III
Great Royal Wives