God's Wife ( Egyptian ''ḥmt nṯr'') is a title which was often allocated to royal women during the

Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty ...

. The term indicates an inherited sacral duty, in which the role of "God's Wife" passed from mother to daughter. The role could also exist among siblings, as in the case of the role of "God's Wife" being shared or passed by daughters of Ahmose-Nefertari, Sitamun and her sister, Ahmose-Merytamun. The role of "God's Wife" is not the same as the title " God's Wife of Amun", which is a separate sacral title, involved in the "Divine Cycle" myth of the

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

. Only two Eighteenth Dynasty queens held this title, Ahhotep I and Ahmose-Nefertari.Troy, L. 1986. ''Patterns of Queenship: in ancient Egyptian myth and history'': Appendix A, 18.2 and 18.3. BOREAS14. Uppsala: ACTA Universitatis Upsaliensis

References

{{Ancient Egyptian royal titulary Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ancient Egyptian titles