Great Royal Wife Totally Explained

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Great Royal Wife or Chief King's Wife (Ancient egyptian: ḥmt nswt wrt) is the term used to refer to the chief wife of an Egyptian pharaoh on the day of his coronation. The first holder of its title was perhaps Nubkhaes of the Second Intermediate Period. Meretseger, the chief wife of Senusret III, who was also the first queen consort to write her name in a cartouche is only attested in the New Kingdom.
   The Great Royal Wife was an official state consort and would often be a sister or even daughter of the king, to keep the royal bloodline pure. While most Egyptians were monogamous, the pharaoh would have had other, lesser wives (and concubines) in addition to the Great Royal Wife. This would allow the pharaoh to enter into diplomatic marriages with the daughters of allies, as was the custom of kings.
   The order of succession in Ancient Egypt passed through the royal women. Marriage to a queen of the royal lineage was necessary, even if the pharaoh came from outside of the lineage as happened occasionally. Secondary unions to other women in the royal family assured that there would be heirs from the lineage and women who could become the royal wives. This is the reason for all of the intermarriages. The royal women also played a pivotal role in the religion of ancient Egypt. The Great Royal Wife officiated at the rites in the temples, as priestess, in a culture where religion was inexorably interwoven with the roles of the rulers. The mother of the heir to the throne wasn't always the Great Royal Wife, but once a pharaoh was crowned, it wasn't unknown to grant his mother the title of Great Royal Wife, along with other titles, even if she wasn't entitled to it during her husband's lifetime (an example is Mutemwia, the mother of Amenhotep III), and sometimes the title was given posthumously to a king's mother (such as Iset, the mother of Thutmose III).
   The greatest summit of power reached by any Great Royal Wife was by Hatshepsut, who after the death of her husband, Thutmose II became regent during the minority of her stepson, Thutmose III, eventually assuming the title of pharaoh herself and ruling in her own right as a true queen regnant. Though other queens had ruled Egypt, Hatshepsut was the first woman to actually take the title of pharaoh.
   During the Amarna period, the pharaoh Akhenaten elevated his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti to a position very near his own, so that she could be said to be a co-regent with him, and shared much more prominently in religious rituals than any other Great Royal Wife before or since.
   Although Ramasses II didn't grant his Great Royal Wife Nefertari any extraordinary powers, he'd great love for her and built for her her own temple at Abu Simbel, an act of devotion unheard of in the history of ancient Egypt.
   The pharaoh's secondary wives are often not mentioned in monumental inscriptions; an exception is Kiya, a secondary wife of Akhenaten, who granted her the unique title of Greatly Beloved Wife.

Great Royal Wives

Middle Kingdom

Dynasty	Name	Husband	Comments
12th dynasty	Meretseger	Senusret III	Apparently the first holder of the title; though not definitively attested to in comtemporary sources

Second Intermediate Period

Dynasty	Name	Husband	Comments
13th dynasty	Nubhotepti	Hor
13th dynasty	Nubkhaes	Sobekhotep V, Sobekhotep VI or Wahibre Ibiau
13th dynasty	Inni	Merneferre Ai
16th dynasty	Mentuhotep	Djehuti
16th dynasty	Sitmut	Mentuhotep VI (?)
17th dynasty	Nubkhaes	Sobekemsaf I
17th dynasty	Nubemhat	Sobekemsaf II
17th dynasty	Tetisheri	Tao I the Elder	Mother of Tao II the Brave
17th dynasty	Ahhotep I	Tao II the Brave	Mother of Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari

New Kingdom

Dynasty	Name	Husband	Comments
18th dynasty	Ahmose-Nefertari	Ahmose I	Mother of Amenhotep I and Ahmose-Meritamon
18th dynasty	Sitkamose	Ahmose I (?)
18th dynasty	Ahmose-Meritamon	Amenhotep I
18th dynasty	Ahmose	Thutmose I	Mother of Hatshepsut
18th dynasty	Hatshepsut	Thutmose II	Later pharaoh
18th dynasty	Iset	Thutmose II	Received the title from her son Thutmose III
18th dynasty	Neferure (?)	Thutmose III	No actual evidences for their marriage
18th dynasty	Satiah	Thutmose III
18th dynasty	Merytre-Hatshepsut	Thutmose III	Mother of Amenhotep II
18th dynasty	Tiaa	Amenhotep II	Received the title from her son Thutmose IV after her husband's death
18th dynasty	Nefertari	Thutmose IV
18th dynasty	Iaret	Thutmose IV
18th dynasty	Mutemwia	Thutmose IV	Received the title from her son Amenhotep III after her husband's death
18th dynasty	Tiye	Amenhotep III	Mother of Akhenaten
18th dynasty	Sitamun	Amenhotep III	Eldest daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye
18th dynasty	Iset	Amenhotep III	Daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye
18th dynasty	Nebetnehat	Unidentified	She lived during the mid-18th dynasty
18th dynasty	Nefertiti	Akhenaten	Daughter of Ay
18th dynasty	Meritaten	Smenkhkare	Daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti
18th dynasty	Ankhesenamen	Tutankhamen	Daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti
18th dynasty	Tey	Ay
18th dynasty	Mutnedjmet	Horemheb	Probable daughter of Ay and Tey
19th dynasty	Sitre	Ramesses I	Mother of Seti I
19th dynasty	Tuya	Seti I	Mother of Ramesses II
19th dynasty	Nefertari	Ramesses II
19th dynasty	Isetnofret	Ramesses II	Mother of Merenptah
19th dynasty	Bintanath	Ramesses II	Eldest daughter of Ramesses II and Isetnofret
19th dynasty	Meritamen	Ramesses II	Daughter of Ramesses II and Nefertari
19th dynasty	Nebettawy	Ramesses II	Daughter of Ramesses II and Nefertari
19th dynasty	Henutmire	Ramesses II	Sister or daughter of Ramesses II
19th dynasty	Maathorneferure	Ramesses II	Hittite princess
19th dynasty	Isetnofret	Merenptah	Sister or niece of her husband
19th dynasty	Tawosret	Seti II	Later pharaoh
20th dynasty	Tiye-Mereniset	Setnakhte	Mother of Ramesses III
20th dynasty	Iset Ta-Hemdjert	Ramesses III	Mother of Ramesses IV and Ramesses VI
20th dynasty	Henutwati	Ramesses V
20th dynasty	Nubkhesbed	Ramesses VI	Mother of Ramesses VII
20th dynasty	Baketwernel	Ramesses IX

Third Intermediate Period

Dynasty	Name	Husband	Comments
21st dynasty	Nedjmet	Herihor	Probable mother of Pinedjem I
21st dynasty	Mutnedjmet	Psusennes I
23rd dynasty	Karomama	Takelot II	Mother of Osorkon III
25th dynasty	Khensa	Piye
25th dynasty	Peksater	Piye
25th dynasty	Takahatamon	Taharqa
25th dynasty	Isetemkheb	Tanutamon

Late Period

Dynasty	Name	Husband	Comments
26th dynasty	Mehtienweskhet	Psammetichus I	Mother of Necho II
26th dynasty	Takhuit	Psammetichus II	Mother of Wahibre

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