Neferneferuaton

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Neferneferuaton is the name of a royal person from the ancient Egyptian Amarna period (around 1330 BC). Her name affix Achetenhyes ("who is good for her husband"), which is known from a seal imprint, reveals that she was female. The name is written within a cartouche (the oval that frames the royal name), which is why it can be classified as royal.

background

Cartridges from Amarna : with female indicators in the Epiphet (93), in the name and Epiphet (94) and without (95)

A major problem with research on the Amarna period is that it was erased from history only a few decades later by the subsequent kings.

In addition, there is the difficulty that the unknown Neferneferuaton shares her throne name with her contemporary Semenchkare : Neferneferuaton's name is called "Anchet-cheperu-Re (merit wa-en-Re)" ( ˁnḫ.t-ḫpr.w-Rˁ [mrj. t wˁ n Rˁ] ), while Semenchkare uses the masculine form “Ankh-cheperu-Re”. This is extremely unusual, as throne names were usually unique. In the figure on the right, three variants are shown, all of which are now assigned to Neferneferuaton and not to Semenchkare. The names can be distinguished mainly by the fact that Semenchkare's throne name is never accompanied by an epithet .

Due to the difficult evidence, the name, gender, identity and the existence in principle of Neferneferuaton have been questioned and discussed by Egyptologists in the past decades.

Finds and research history

In Tutankhamun's grave KV62 there were several objects that can be assigned to either Neferneferuaton or Semenchkare. Both the throne name Ankh-cheperu-Re and the proper name Neferneferuaton can be reconstructed on them. Tutankhamun's sarcophagus does not seem to have originally been intended for him either, research by Marianne Eaton-Krauss reveals that it was modified. The cartouches were overwritten with the name of Tutankhamun, but the original name can no longer be reconstructed. The same applies to the viscera coffins found in the treasury, which show the facial features of a king, which differ from other depictions of Tutankhamun.

In grave TT139 in Thebes , which belonged to a priest named Pairi, there is at the beginning of an inscription the following time information for the events described there:

"Government year 3, third month of flooding , day 10. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Countries Anchcheperure meri Aten , the son of Re Neferneferuaton meri Waenre ."

Until the 1980s, based on these finds, the names Neferneferuaton and Semenchkare were equated. As early as 1973, the Egyptologist John R. Harris found that some cartouches had female forms of the name "Anch et -cheperu-Re" or the epithet "meri t ". This led to discussions about whether it was a woman or a man, or whether he was homosexual. Rolf Krauss suggested in 1978 that Neferneferuaton and Semenchkare were two different people. This was supported by James P. Allen in 1988, who stated that the throne name "Anch (et) -cheperu-Re" was almost always accompanied by an epithet that referred to Akhenaten when he appeared with the name "Neferneferuaton". In contrast, this epithet was always missing when “Ankh-cheperu-Re” was coupled with the name “Semenchkare”.

Marc Gabolde came to the conclusion in 1998 that the inscriptions on some objects from Tutankhamun's grave assigned to Neferneferuaton originally read differently: Instead of "meri nefer-cheperu-Re" ("loved by Nefer-cheperu-Re "), the epithet "Achetenhyes" (“She is good for her husband”). This inscription only fits one woman. A few years later, a seal was found in Tell el-Borg on the Sinai Peninsula , which also reproduces the name in this form ( Nfr-nfrw-Jtn 3ḫt-n-hy = s ).

Stele No. 17813 in the Neues Museum Berlin

The Canadian Egyptologist Valérie Angenot examined in 2019 in a semiotic study several royal busts from the Amarna period and the stele no. 17813, on which a person with the Pschent a person with khepresh stroking his chin. This unusually intimate gesture is only attested in this form for depictions of the daughters of Akhenaten. By comparing the proportions of the statues with known statues of princesses, she sees the Akhenaten bust from Hanover as a representation of one of his daughters and as a representation of a transition from the status of princess to pharaoh.

Identity and position

There are several theories about this person.

Based on the representation of her name in a cartouche, it can be assumed that Neferneferuaton ruled as the sole ruling pharaoh, since princess names were usually not written in cartouches. This is also suggested by the inscription from the tomb of Pairi. In fact, according to general consensus, there is a period of one to four years between the reigns of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun , about which several theories exist.

The fact that Neferneferuaton's name additions mostly refer to Akhenaten could not only indicate a close relationship, but according to Allen it could also be an attempt to legitimize their claims to the throne. Semenchkare could have been a direct competitor for the throne. According to another reading, Semenchkare was the direct successor of Akhenaten, but soon died and Neferneferuaton succeeded him. According to some Egyptologists, the epithets could also mean that Neferneferuaton was Akhenaten's co-regent for some time.

The fact that a large part of her grave goods were finally reworked and used at Tutankhamun's funeral suggests that Neferneferuaton's successor refused to give her a pharaoh burial.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Matthew Flinders Petrie : Tell el-Amarna. With chapters by AH Sayce , Francis Llewellyn Griffith and FCJ Spurrell. Methuen, London 1894, plate 16, pp. 92-93.
  2. ^ JDS Pendlebury : The City of Akhenaten. Volume III, No. 2: The Central City and the Official Quarters. Egypt Exploration Society (EES), London 1951, p. 44, plate 108.
  3. ^ JR Harris: Neferneferuaten . In: Göttinger Miscellen . No. 4 , 1973, p. 15-17 .
  4. ↑ James P. Allen: Two Altered Inscriptions of the Late Amarna Period . In: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt . No. 25 , 1988.
  5. ^ Marc Gabolde: D'Akhenaton à Tout-ânkhamon . Ed .: Université Lumière-Lyon 2, Institut d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'Antiquité, Lyon. diff. de Boccard, Paris 1998, ISBN 978-2-911971-02-0 , pp. 153-157 .
  6. ^ JK Hoffmeier, J. van Dijk: New Light on the Amarna Period from North Sinai. In: Journal of Egyptian Archeology. Volume 96, 2008, pp. 201-202
  7. ↑ a b Une historienne de l'art de l'UQAM découvre une pure-pharaon inconnue jusqu'à ce jour. April 15, 2019, accessed April 27, 2019 (French).
  8. ^ M. Gabolde: D'Akhenaton à Toutânkhamon. Lyon, Paris 1998, pp. 183-185
  9. ^ JP Allen: The Amarna Succession. In: PJ Brand, L. Copper (Ed.): Causing His Name to Live. Leiden 2009, ISBN 978-9004176447 , pp. 18-19
  10. ↑ Aidan Dodson: Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation. Cairo 2009, ISBN 978-9774163043 , pp. 42-46
  11. ↑ Aidan Dodson: Amarna Sunset . The American University in Cairo Press, 2009.
personal data
SURNAME Neferneferuaton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Achetenhyes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ancient egyptian royal woman
DATE OF BIRTH 14th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 14th century BC Chr.