Batiires

Batiires , also Bati-ires and, according to another reading, Betrest , is the name of an early Egyptian royal lady-in-waiting who is not directly documented at the time, but appears uniquely in a later source. A grave stele from the 1st Dynasty could, however, be related to her person.

supporting documents

The name "Batiires" appears in an inscription on the Cairo stone , the counterpart to the Palermo stone ( 5th dynasty , reign of Neferirkare ). There she is explicitly titled as the mother of the ruler Semerchet (1st dynasty). Since Semerchet was the direct successor of King Anedjib , it is assumed, conversely, that Batiires was perhaps Anedjib's wife. However, there is currently no evidence for this.

In Abydos , a large, polished tombstone was found in a side grave of the necropolis of King ( Pharaoh ) Den , on which the remains of the name " ... sr.t " and remains of a determinative for a seated woman are preserved. It is now in the Louvre .

About the name

The spelling of Batiire's name on the Palermostein has led to various readings in the course of research. Henri Gauthier reads Tef-ti-iriset , IES Edwards and Toby Wilkinson read Bat-iri-set . Peter Kaplony in turn reads Bat-ir-ites . According to Edwards, Wilkinson and Kaplony, the name means "motherhood is her companion". Silke Roth, on the other hand, transcribes Bati-ires and translates this as "Bati be turned towards her".

identity

There have been attempts to equate the lady on the Cairo stone with the lady from Abydos. The names of both women are spelled with an Aries symbol. The characters on the Cairo fragment show that the ram was read here as "Ba". On the other hand, on the stele it will be read as “ser”, as indicated by the inscription. It was assumed that 500 years later the writers of the Cairo fragment no longer knew the old reading and wrongly gave the ram the reading "Ba".

The lady-in-waiting from Abydos seems to have enjoyed a special position at court, as her grave is unequal to the conventional secondary graves and is located near the main exit of the royal necropolis. However, this description applies to two graves, one of which may have been that of the lady. The geographically and architecturally highlighted grave complex as well as the unusually large and carefully worked stele reinforce the assumption that "Batiires" and "... seret" are one and the same person and Batiires was a royal mother, since the highlighting of the grave of a royal lady-in-waiting at the similar case of Queen Meritneith .

literature

Michael Rice: Who's who in ancient Egypt . Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0415154480
Silke Roth: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt . Wiesbaden 2001, ISBN 3-447-04368-7 , pages 26-30.
Toby AH Wilkinson: Royal annals of ancient Egypt: the Palermo stone and its associated fragments. Taylor and Francis, London 2000, ISBN 978-0710306678 , p. 125.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Silke Roth: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt . Page 382.
↑ Michael Rice: Who's who in Ancient Egypt . Page 37.

personal data
SURNAME	Batiires
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bati-ires, Betrest
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Mother of Pharaoh Semercheti
DATE OF BIRTH	29th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	29th century BC BC or 28th century BC Chr.

[SiRo-1] Silke Roth: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt . Page 382.

[2] Michael Rice: Who's who in Ancient Egypt . Page 37.