Tem (queen)

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Tem was the wife of the ancient Egyptian king ( Pharaoh ) of the 11th dynasty Mentuhotep II and mother of his successor Mentuhotep III.

Tem is considered to be his main wife among the seven well-known women of Mentuhoteps II. She is only known from her grave (Naville 15) in Deir el-Bahari , in the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II . In addition, it is still documented on a fragment of a sacrificial plate for her death cult from the same temple.

In the grave, more precisely on her sarcophagus , and on the sacrificial plaque, she bears numerous titles, including that of a king's wife ( Hemet-nisut ) and king's mother ( Mut-nesut ), also in a new - even later only rarely used - form as “mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt ”and“ Wife of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt ”. The inscription on the sarcophagus, which is no longer in existence, proves that Tem survived her husband and was buried by her son.

The grave was discovered as early as 1859 (excavation commissioned by Lord Dufferin ) and later examined several times (the last time in 1968 on behalf of the DAI ). Today the grave serves as a magazine, the grave entrance is inaccessible because it has been buried.

literature

  • Dieter Arnold : The temple of King Mentuhotep by Deir el-Bahari I, architecture and interpretation. von Zabern, Mainz 1974, ISBN 3-8053-0316-5 .
  • Silke Roth: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt from the early days to the end of the 12th dynasty. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2001, ISBN 3-447-04368-7 .

Web links

  • Tem (& m) page with further information about Tem, on mentuhotep.de , accessed on October 5, 2019.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ S Roth :: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt from the early days to the end of the 12th Dynasty. Wiesbaden 2001, p. 197.
personal data
SURNAME Tem
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wife of the ancient Egyptian king of the 11th dynasty Mentuhotep II.
DATE OF BIRTH 21st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH between 2010 BC BC and 2001 BC Chr.