God's Wife Explained

God's Wife (Egyptian ḥmt nṯr) is a title which was often allocated to royal women during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. The term indicates an inherited sacral duty, in which the role of "God's Wife" passed from mother to daughter. The role could also exist among siblings, as in the case of the role of "God's Wife" being shared or passed by daughters of Ahmose-Nefertari, Sitamun and her sister, Ahmose-Merytamun.^[1]

The role of "God's Wife" is not the same as the title "God's Wife of Amun", which is a separate sacral title, involved in the "Divine Cycle" myth of the deity Amun.^{[2] [3]} Only two Eighteenth Dynasty queens held this title, Ahhotep I and Ahmose-Nefertari.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Troy, L. 1986. Patterns of Queenship: in ancient Egyptian myth and history: 98. BOREAS14. Uppsala: ACTA Universitatis Upsaliensis
2. Gitton, M. 1984. Les divine éspouses de la 18e dynastie. Centre de Recherches d'Histoire Ancienne 61/Annales Littéraires de l'Université de Besançon 306. Paris: Les Belles-Lettres.
3. Robins, G. 1983. The God's Wife of Amun in the 18th Dynasty in Egypt. In A. Cameron and A. Kuhrt, Eds., Images of Women in Antiquity: 65-78. Cranberra: Croom Helm.
4. Troy, L. 1986. Patterns of Queenship: in ancient Egyptian myth and history: Appendix A, 18.2 and 18.3. BOREAS14. Uppsala: ACTA Universitatis Upsaliensis