Maathorneferure

Maathorneferure in hieroglyphics

Maathorneferure
(Maat-Hor-neferu-Re)
M33.t-Ḥr. (W) -nfr.w-Rˁ
Horus sees the beauty of Re

Maathorneferure, also Maat-Hor-neferu-Re , was the third Great Royal Consort of Pharaoh Ramses II in the New Kingdom , 19th Dynasty . She was the daughter of Sauškanu of the Hittite king Hattušili III.

family

Statue of Ramses II with the figure of the queen

Maathorneferure, the daughter of Hattušili III. and his wife Puduhepa , with whom Ramses II. in 1259 BC Had concluded a peace treaty , arrived in the 34th year of Ramses II's reign , in the month of Pamenoth (December 1246 BC) with a large retinue in Piramesse . Hattušili III. had proposed marriage to his daughter in the year of death of the great royal wife Isisnofret in order to deepen the alliance between the two countries. Long negotiations about the bride price had previously taken place:

“Doesn't my brother Ramses II own anything? Only those who have nothing ask for such a high price. Do you want to enrich yourself with us? "

- Puduhepa

Although Hattušili III. promised a large dowry , but Ramses II's expectations seemed even greater. After all, the dowry had grown to a value that surpassed all previously customary bride prices. The background will have been the unique position that Sauškanu was supposed to occupy in Egypt . If in the past foreign princesses only rose to the rank of concubine , it was agreed in the contractual terms between Ḫatti and Egypt that Sauškanu should be the first foreign princess to receive the title of Great Royal Wife .

Ramses II did not mention the contractual clauses on the so-called marriage stele , but presented the situation differently:

“Hattušili III. and Puduhepa gave their eldest daughter as an honorable gift to the living God so that he might give them peace and they can live in peace. "

- Ramses II

The stele also tells of the princess' convoy to Egypt, which was accompanied by soldiers, herds of animals, slaves and rich tribute gifts.

Ramses II was impressed by Sauškanu's beauty and accordingly gave her the Egyptian name Maat-Hor-Neferu-Re . She became pregnant and even before the birth of her daughter Neferu-Re , Ramses II asked in Hatti whether, in the case of a son, an agreement could not be made that he could then have the right to heir to the throne in Ḫatti . The answer from Hattušili III. is not known and a son was not born to Ramses II of Sauškanu.

family tree

The following family tree was created after publications by Volkert Haas and Jörg Klinger .

1. Ḫinti

2. Tawananna

Zida

Zannanza

1./2. Gaššulawiya

2nd / 3rd Danuḫepa

Mrs. Šattiwazzas

Mrs. Ammistamrus II.

Hints

The date of birth and death as well as the burial place are still unknown. Maathorneferure is only mentioned on inscriptions up to around six years after her marriage to Ramses II. She seems to have lived in a palace on Fayyum . In Gurob (Merwer) took a papyrus with their name.

literature

JH Breasted : Marriage Stela. In: Ancient records of Egypt: historical documents from the earliest times to the Persian conquest. Part 3: The nineteenth dynasty. Russell & Russell, New York 1962, § 415ff.
M. Lichtheim: The Bentresh Stela. In: Ancient Egyptian Literature. Volume III: The Late Period. University of California Press, Berkeley CA 2006, ISBN 978-0-520-93307-1 , pp. 90ff.
Kenneth Anderson Kitchen : Ramesside inscriptions. Historical and biographical. 8 volumes, Blackwell, Oxford 1976–1978.
Trevor Robert Bryce: Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East: The Royal Correspondence of the Late Bronze Age. Routledge, London / New York 2003, ISBN 978-0-203-50498-7 , pp. 117ff.
Trevor Robert Bryce: The Kingdom Of The Hittites. Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2005, ISBN 978-1-4294-6980-7 , p. 283.
Birgit Brandau, Hartmut Schickert: Hittites. The unknown world power. Piper, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-492-04338-0 .
Joyce Tyldesley : The Queens of Ancient Egypt. From the early dynasties to the death of Cleopatra. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 2008, ISBN 978-3-7338-0358-2 , pp. 158–159.

Individual evidence

↑ Heike. C. Schmidt, J. Willeitner: Nefertari, wife of Ramses'II. von Zabern, Mainz 1994, ISBN 3-8053-1529-5 , p. 33.
↑ Wilfried Seipel : Marriage stele. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume II, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977, ISBN 3-447-01876-3 , Sp. 1107-1108.
↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-11-018877-6 , page 91.
↑ Jörg Klinger: The Hittites. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-53625-0

personal data
SURNAME	Maathorneferure
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Maat-Hor-neferu-Re
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Third Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Ramses II.
DATE OF BIRTH	13th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	13th century BC Chr.

[1] Heike. C. Schmidt, J. Willeitner: Nefertari, wife of Ramses'II. von Zabern, Mainz 1994, ISBN 3-8053-1529-5 , p. 33.

[2] Wilfried Seipel : Marriage stele. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume II, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977, ISBN 3-447-01876-3 , Sp. 1107-1108.

[3] Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-11-018877-6 , page 91.

[4] Jörg Klinger: The Hittites. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-53625-0