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129-461: Meritaten was the first of six daughters born to Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife , Nefertiti . Her sisters are Meketaten , Ankhesenpaaten , Neferneferuaten Tasherit , Neferneferure , and Setepenre . Meritaten is mentioned in diplomatic letters, by the name Mayati . She is mentioned in a letter from Abimilki of Tyre. The reference usually is thought to date to the period when Meritaten's position at court became more important, during

258-400: A Akenkheres as a daughter of Oros . He speculated Meritaten might have ruled with the feminine prenomen 'Ankh-et-kheperure' after Akhenaten's death and before Smenkhkare's accession. In his argument, Smenkhkare then takes the masculine form of her prenomen upon gaining the throne through marriage. Although few Egyptologists endorsed the whole hypothesis, many did accept Meritaten at times as

387-413: A central figure of the state, the pharaoh was the obligatory intermediary between the gods and humans. To the former, he ensured the proper performance of rituals in the temples ; to the latter, he guaranteed agricultural prosperity, the defense of the territory and impartial justice. In the sanctuaries, the image of the sovereign is omnipresent through parietal scenes and statues . In this iconography ,

516-677: A co-regent at that time, or otherwise ruled with his wife Meritaten sometime after year 16 of Akhenaten. Meritaten is mentioned on gold daisies that decorated a garment found in Tutankhamen's tomb. She also is mentioned on a wooden box meant to contain linen garments. The box mentions two kings: Neferkheperure-Waenre (Akhenaten) and Ankhkheperure-mr-waenre, Neferneferuaten-mr-waenre and the Great Royal Wife Meritaten. According to some scholars, such as J.P. Allen, Ankhkheperure Smenkhkare ruled together with Meritaten, but in

645-578: A coregent of Akhenaten, a sole ruler, and regent or coregent of Tutankhamun. Despite her highest attested year being Year 3, he suggests she counted her regnal years only after Akhenaten's death, a view put forth by Murnane to account for the lack of double dates in the New Kingdom, even when a coregency is known to exist. Dodson then speculates that she may later have shared Tutankhamun's regnal dating, in effect deferring senior status at least nominally to him. He proposes that Neferneferuaten helped guide

774-600: A decidedly softer line" toward the Amun priesthood. Therefore, Neferneferuaten might have been the Amarna-era ruler who first reached an accommodation with the Amun priests and reinstated the cult of Amun—rather than Tutankhamun as previously thought—since her own mortuary temple was located in Thebes, the religious capital of the Amun priesthood and Amun priests were now working within it. However, Egypt's political administration

903-604: A different passage where he asserts that Darius I was the first ruler of Egypt to be honored as a king. Even after the reign of the Egyptian kings and pharaohs, the notion of Pharaoh's self-notion as a divine being survived and is described in rabbinic literature . In these sources, the Pharaoh is described as hubristically asserting his own divinity and yet, compared to the one true God, is no more than an impotent human. Genesis Rabbah 89:3 invokes Pharaoh describing himself as

1032-518: A great deal of confusion. A number of items in Tutankhamun 's tomb ( KV62 ) were originally inscribed for Neferneferuaten. Among them Carter 261p(1) , a stunning gold pectoral depicting the goddess Nut. Other items include the stone sarcophagus , mummy wrappings, royal figurines; canopic items (chest, coffinettes, and jar stoppers), various bracelets and even shabti figures. Some items are believed to have been at least originally intended for

1161-407: A period of sole reign for Neferneferuaten. Allen offers a possible explanation for the use of the same throne name by two successive kings. He suggested that the almost constant references to Akhenaten may be proclamations of legitimacy on the part of Neferneferuaten, with the epithets functioning to assert her as Akhenaten's chosen successor or coregent. This implies there may have been resistance to

1290-676: A pillared construction that held a painted pavement showing scenes from nature. Meritaten's name seems to replace that of another royal lady in several places, among them in the Northern Palace and in the Maru-Aten . This had been misinterpreted as evidence of Nefertiti's disgrace and banishment from the royal court but, more recently, the erased inscriptions turned out to be the name of Kiya , one of Akhenaten's secondary wives, disproving that interpretation. At some point, Meritaten married Smenkhkare and became his Great Royal Wife. She

1419-435: A portion of her name made her an obvious candidate even before Neferneferuaten's gender was firmly established. Remains of painted plaster bearing the kingly names of Neferneferuaten found in the Northern Palace, long believed to be the residence of Nefertiti, supports the association of Nefertiti as the king. Nefertiti was in the forefront during her husband's reign and even depicted engaging in kingly activities such as smiting

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1548-459: A relationship with Horus . Aha refers to "Horus the fighter", Djer refers to "Horus the strong", etc. Later kings express ideals of kingship in their Horus names. Khasekhemwy refers to "Horus: the two powers are at peace", while Nebra refers to "Horus, Lord of the Sun". The Nesu Bity name, also known as prenomen , was one of the new developments from the reign of Den . The name would follow

1677-500: A rival king to Neferneferuaten. This was offered as a simple and logical reading of the evidence to explain the nature of the epithets, the use of identical prenomens by successive kings and that she was denied a royal burial. However, with no dated evidence of rival or contemporaneous kings it remains conjecture. However, since Smenkhkare disappears from the political scene late in Akhenaten's reign and Neferneferuaten instead appears,

1806-548: A rival king. An Allen-Dodson hybrid could see Tutankhamun succeeding Akhenaten directly as rival to Neferneferuaten. There are almost as many theories and putative chronologies as there are Egyptologists interested in the period. The 2014 publication of an inscription for Nefertiti as Great Royal Wife in Regnal Year 16 of Akhenaten makes it clear Nefertiti was still alive and still Great Royal Wife in Akhenaten's second last year, which could be seen as supporting her candidacy as

1935-474: A single maxim: "Bring Maat and repel Isfet ", that is to say, promote harmony and repel chaos. As the nurturing father of the people, the Pharaoh ensured prosperity by calling upon the gods to regulate the waters of the Nile , by opening the granaries in case of famine and by guaranteeing a good distribution of arable land. Chief of the armies, the pharaoh was the brave protector of the borders. Like Ra who fights

2064-424: A war crown by many, but modern historians refrain from defining it thus. Egyptologist Bob Brier has noted that despite their widespread depiction in royal portraits, no ancient Egyptian crown has ever been discovered. The tomb of Tutankhamun that was discovered largely intact, contained such royal regalia as a crook and flail , but no crown was found among his funerary equipment. Diadems have been discovered. It

2193-452: A woman based on the style even when a name cannot be restored. Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves has suggested that even the famous gold mask may have originally been intended for Neferneferuaten since her royal name in a cartouche, Ankhkheperure, was found partly erased, on Tutankhamun's funerary mask. For some time the accepted interpretation of the evidence was that Smenkhkare served as coregent with Akhenaten beginning about year 15 using

2322-640: A word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler presiding in that building, particularly by the time of the Twenty-Second Dynasty and Twenty-third Dynasty . The first dated appearance of the title "pharaoh" being attached to a ruler's name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun (tenth century BCE) on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals, a religious document. Here, an induction of an individual to

2451-461: A year later, in Year 14 or 15 of Akhenaten's reign, with little firm evidence to argue against it. Gabolde cites the Smenkhkare wine docket to support the idea that Smenkhkare must have succeeded Akhenaten. Finally, Allen has used the wine docket and strong association of Neferneferuaten with Akhenaten in her epithets and on stelae to speculate that both may have succeeded Akhenaten, with one as

2580-419: Is Beneficial for Her Husband", which Gabolde used to prove this king's female identity beyond doubt... However, it is worth noting that this coregency does not seem to have lasted a long time. After Akhenaten's death, Neferneferuaten continued in power as sole ruler for approximately three years. During her sole reign, Neferneferuaten also obtained new epithets. She replaced the name of Akhenaten with references to

2709-557: Is a long hieratic inscription or graffito in the tomb of Pairi ( TT139 ) written by a scribe named Pawah: Regnal year 3, third month of Inundation, day 10. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands Ankhkheperure Beloved of Aten , the Son of Re Neferneferuaten Beloved of Waenre . Giving worship to Amun, kissing the ground to Wenennefer by the lay priest, scribe of the divine offerings of Amun in

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2838-610: Is a possibility that the title pr ꜥꜣ first might have been applied personally to Thutmose III ( c.  1479 –1425 BCE), depending on whether an inscription on the Temple of Armant may be confirmed to refer to that king. During the Eighteenth dynasty (sixteenth to fourteenth centuries BCE) the title pharaoh was employed as a reverential designation of the ruler. About the late Twenty-first Dynasty (tenth century BCE), however, instead of being used alone and originally just for

2967-516: Is actually better documented than that of Semenkhkare. Several attestations were found, revealing some interesting facts about this king's reign. The name is attested in Amarna, Thebes and Tell el-Borg. Mud jar sealings referring to the "(wine of the) estate of Neferneferuaten, beloved of Waenra," were also discovered in Saqqara. Nefertiti, who already played an important role in Amarna, and already bore

3096-531: Is an ornate, triple Atef with corkscrew sheep horns and usually two uraei. The depiction of this crown begins among New Kingdom rulers during the Early Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt . Also called the blue crown, the Khepresh crown has been depicted in art since the New Kingdom. It is often depicted being worn in battle, but it was also frequently worn during ceremonies. It used to be called

3225-468: Is believed to be Tutankhamun , her half-brother by another, unnamed wife of Akhenaten. Archaeologist Alain Zivie asserts that Meritaten also became a foster mother to Tutankhamun, referred to as Maia in some ancient records. Zivie noted that Thutmose , the sculptor appointed vizier by Akhenaten and who was found to be the creator of the famous bust of Nefertiti also created one of Maïa (Bubasteion I.20),

3354-521: Is closer to the truth since it agrees with the historical facts. Regardless of the order of succession, Neferneferuaten's successor seems to have denied her a king's burial based on items originally inscribed with her name, but used for the burial of Tutankhamun. In the reign of Horemheb , the reigns of the Amarna Period kings from Akhenaten to Ay were expunged from history as these kings' total regnal years were assigned to Horemheb. The result

3483-567: Is depicted with him in the tomb of Meryre II , bestowing honors and gifts upon Meryre. The chronology of the final years of the Amarna Period is unclear, however Smenkhkare is believed to have served as a co-regent to Akhenaten. Meritaten was the Great Royal Wife to Smenkhkare, while Nefertiti continued as the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten. Nefertiti still held the Great Royal Wife title in year 16, hence Smenkhkare must have been

3612-406: Is followed by "his son Acencheres for 12 years 5 months, his son Acencheres II for 12 years 3 months", which demonstrates the limits to which Manetho may be relied upon for accuracy about the Amarna Period. Unlike Smenkhkare, there are no known named depictions of Neferneferuaten; she is only securely attested in inscriptions. Of particular interest is the lid of a box (Carter 001k) inscribed with

3741-479: Is left with the question of why this supporter would have chosen to throw his weight behind such a daring scheme". Since Nefertiti has been confirmed to be living as late as Year 16 of Akhenaten's reign however, the Meritaten theory becomes less likely because she would no longer be the most senior living person to be at court using either the name Neferneferuaten nor be identified as "Effective for her husband" as

3870-615: Is no broad consensus as to the succession order of Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten. The period from the 13th year of Akhenaten 's reign to the ascension of Tutankhaten is very murky. The reigns of Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten were very brief and left little monumental or inscriptional evidence to draw a clear picture of political events. Adding to this, Neferneferuaten shares her prenomen (throne name) with Smenkhkare, and her nomen (birth name) with Nefertiti / Neferneferuaten Nefertiti making identification very difficult at times. With little dated evidence to fix their reigns with any certainty,

3999-487: Is presumed that crowns would have been believed to have magical properties and were used in rituals. Brier's speculation is that crowns were religious or state items, so a dead king likely could not retain a crown as a personal possession. The crowns may have been passed along to the successor, much as the crowns of modern monarchies. During the Early Dynastic Period kings had three titles. The Horus name

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4128-689: Is that 3,300 years later, scholars would have to piece together events and even resurrect the players bit by bit with the evidence sometimes limited to palimpsest . Manetho was an Egyptian priest who lived in the third century BC during the time of the Ptolemies , a thousand years after the Amarna Period of the Eighteenth Dynasty when this woman would have been king. He wrote during the Hellenistic period in Ancient Egypt when it

4257-600: Is the oldest and dates to the late pre-dynastic period. The Nesu Bity name was added during the First Dynasty . The Nebty name (Two Ladies) was first introduced toward the end of the First Dynasty. The Golden falcon ( bik-nbw ) name is not well understood. The prenomen and nomen were introduced later and are traditionally enclosed in a cartouche . By the Middle Kingdom , the official titulary of

4386-557: Is the one who sees you, O Amun: he is in festival every day!" For the Ka of the lay priest and scribe of the temple of Amun in the Mansion of Ankhkheperure, Pawah, born to Yotefseneb: "For your Ka! Spend a nice day amongst your townsmen." His brother, the outline draftsman Batchay of the Mansion of Ankhkheperure. Nicholas Reeves sees this graffito as a sign of a "new phase" of the Amarna revolution, with Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten "taking

4515-411: Is the only one that does not rely on someone changing their name in some awkward fashion to assume the role of Neferneferuaten. Akhenaten's choice of her as coregent remains a mystery. She is a less attractive candidate now that the Year 16 graffito for Nefertiti has been verified. Neferneferuaten-tasherit's age is the first objection often raised to this argument. She is thought to have been about ten at

4644-470: The Hut-Benben . The Hut-Benben was a structure associated with Nefertiti, who is the main officiant in the scenes, the great royal wife being the highest priestess. Meritaten appears behind her mother shaking a sistrum . Her younger sisters Meketaten and Ankhesenpaaten also appear in some of the scenes, but not so often as Meritaten. In year five of her father Akhenaten's reign, Meritaten appears on

4773-539: The Tanhuma , in commentary on Ezekiel 29:9, Pharaoh is said to have proclaimed himself as lord of the universe. Pharaoh is represented as a heretical figure who presents himself as divine, and these texts then claim that his claims were exposed when he had to go to the Nile to relieve himself. Neferneferuaten Ankhkheperure-Merit-Neferkheperure/Waenre/Aten Neferneferuaten ( Ancient Egyptian : nfr-nfrw-jtn )

4902-463: The Amarna Period , but on those depicting official ceremonies, as well. The two structures most associated with Meritaten at Amarna are the Northern Palace and the Maru-Aten . The Maru-Aten was located to the south of the city limits of Amarna. The structure consisted of two enclosures containing pools or lakes and pavilions set in an area planted with trees. An artificial island contained

5031-527: The First Dynasty . The was -scepter is shown in the hands of both kings and deities. The flail later was closely related to the heqa -scepter (the crook and flail ), but in early representations the king was also depicted solely with the flail, as shown in a late pre-dynastic knife handle that is now in the Metropolitan museum, and on the Narmer Macehead . The earliest evidence known of

5160-712: The Narmer Palette . The white crown of Upper Egypt, the Hedjet , was worn in the Predynastic Period by Scorpion II , and, later, by Narmer. This is the combination of the Deshret and Hedjet crowns into a double crown, called the Pschent crown. It is first documented in the middle of the First Dynasty of Egypt . The earliest depiction may date to the reign of Djet , and is otherwise surely attested during

5289-561: The Pschent , the combination of both the red and white crowns became the official crown of the pharaoh. With time new headdresses were introduced during different dynasties such as the Khat , Nemes , Atef , Hemhem crown , and Khepresh . At times, a combination of these headdresses or crowns worn together was depicted. The word pharaoh ultimately derives from the Egyptian compound pr ꜥꜣ , * /ˌpaɾuwˈʕaʀ/ "great house", written with

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5418-605: The Septuagint , Koinē Greek : φαραώ , romanized:  pharaō , and then in Late Latin pharaō , both -n stem nouns. The Qur'an likewise spells it Arabic : فرعون firʿawn with n (here, always referring to the one evil king in the Book of Exodus story, by contrast to the good king in surah Yusuf 's story). The Arabic combines the original ayin from Egyptian along with the -n ending from Greek. In English,

5547-519: The Uraeus —a rearing cobra—is from the reign of Den from the first dynasty. The cobra supposedly protected the king by spitting fire at its enemies. The red crown of Lower Egypt, the Deshret crown, dates back to pre-dynastic times and symbolised chief ruler. A red crown has been found on a pottery shard from Naqada , and later, Narmer is shown wearing the red crown on both the Narmer Macehead and

5676-681: The annexation of Egypt by the Roman Republic in 30 BCE. However, regardless of gender, "king" was the term used most frequently by the ancient Egyptians for their monarchs through the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty during the New Kingdom . The earliest confirmed instances of "pharaoh" used contemporaneously for a ruler were a letter to Akhenaten (reigned c.  1353 –1336 BCE) or an inscription possibly referring to Thutmose III ( c.  1479 –1425 BCE). In

5805-402: The boundary stelae designating the boundaries of the new capital to which her father moved the royal family and his administrators. During Akhenaten's reign, she was the most frequently depicted and mentioned of the six daughters. Her figure appears on paintings in temples, tombs, and private chapels. Not only is she shown among images showing the family life of the pharaoh, which were typical of

5934-478: The 12 years, 1 month reported (Africanus and Eusebius cite 32 and 16 years for this person). Akhenaten is not even mentioned in the most accurate 18th dynasty king list of Manetho's Epitome of Aegyptiaca compiled by Josephus in Contra Apionem . Most agree that Rathotis refers to Tutankhamun; therefore, the succession order also supports Acencheres as Ankhkheperure. Inexplicably, Manetho states that Rathotis

6063-418: The Amarna Period. Manetho's Epitome , a summary of his work, describes the late Eighteenth Dynasty succession as Orus or "Amenophis for 30 years 10 months." After Orus, who is most likely Amenhotep III, comes "his daughter Acencheres for 12 years 1 month then her brother Rathotis for 9 years". According to Marc Gabolde, Acencheres is Ankhkheperure with a transcription error converting 2 years, 1 month into

6192-627: The Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of "Pharaoh Siamun ". This new practice was continued under his successor, Psusennes II , and the subsequent kings of the twenty-second dynasty. For instance, the Large Dakhla stela is specifically dated to Year 5 of king "Pharaoh Shoshenq, beloved of Amun ", whom all Egyptologists concur was Shoshenq I —the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty —including Alan Gardiner in his original 1933 publication of this stela. Shoshenq I

6321-543: The Aten in her prenomen and nomen. The epithet of her prenomen was then mry-Itn, "Beloved of Aten ", while the epithet of her nomen became HoA-mAat, "Ruler of Truth". The fact that most of Tutankhamun's funerary equipment was originally made or inscribed for the female king Neferneferuaten strongly suggests that Tutankhamun, in fact, directly succeeded Neferneferuaten on the throne after the female king died. This rather suggests this revised Eighteenth Dynasty chronology table below

6450-434: The Aten" and "The Ruler". Allen concluded that the strong affiliation with Akhenaten in the epithets and the number of them made it likely that Neferneferuaten had been his coregent and therefore, preceded Smenkhkare. The "effective..." epithets, then represent a period during which Akhenaten was incapacitated, but may also date from a time after Akhenaten's death. Finally, the less common 'Akhenaten-less' versions represented

6579-475: The Egyptian ruler Djoser , was cast as having had his mother as the Mesopotamian goddess Ninsun alongside his father, the previous human ruler of Uruk. Another Mesopotamian example of a god-king was Naram-Sin of Akkad . During the Early Dynastic Period , the Pharaoh was represented as the divine incarnation of Horus , and the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt. By the time of Djedefre (26th century BCE),

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6708-746: The Khat headdress, has been commonly depicted on top of the Nemes. The statue from his Serdab in Saqqara shows the king wearing the nemes headdress. Osiris is shown to wear the Atef crown, which is an elaborate Hedjet with feathers and disks. Depictions of kings wearing the Atef crown originate from the Old Kingdom. The Hemhem crown is usually depicted on top of Nemes , Pschent , or Deshret crowns. It

6837-459: The Mansion [temple] of Ankhkheperure in Thebes , Pawah, born to Yotefseneb. He says: "My wish is to see you, O lord of persea trees! May your throat take the north wind, that you may give satiety without eating and drunkenness without drinking. My wish is to look at you, that my heart might rejoice, O Amun, protector of the poor man: you are the father of the one who has no mother and the husband of

6966-509: The Pairi inscription is dated using her regnal years. Opinion is more divided on the placement and nature of the reign of Smenkhkare in relation to her. Most Egyptologists see the two names to indicate two separate individuals and consider this as the simplest and more likely view. Most name changes in the Amarna period involved people incorporating -Aten into their name or removing an increasingly offensive -Amun element. The focus now shifts to

7095-514: The Pharaoh also ceased to have a father, as his mother was magically impregnated by the solar deity Ra . According to Pyramid Text Utterance 571, "... the King was fashioned by his father Atum before the sky existed, before earth existed, before men existed, before the gods were born, before death existed ..." According to an inscription on the statue of Horemheb (14th–13th centuries BCE): "he [Horemheb] already came out of his mother's bosom adorned with

7224-460: The Pharaoh was the supreme officiant; the first of the priests of the country. More widely, the pharaonic gesture covered all the fields of activity of the collective and ignored the separation of powers . Also, every member of the administration acts only in the name of the royal person, by delegation of power. From the Pyramid Texts , the political actions of the sovereign were framed by

7353-430: The actual power came into the hands of a small group of high officials at the court. By the late twentieth century, there was "'a fair degree of consensus'" that Neferneferuaten was a female king and Smenkhkare a separate male king, particularly among specialists of the period. Many Egyptologists believe she also served as coregent on the basis of the stela and epithets, although a sole reign seems very likely, given that

7482-480: The archives and placed under the responsibility of the vizier , applied to all, for the common good and social agreement. Sceptres and staves were a general symbol of authority in ancient Egypt . One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos . Kings were also known to carry a staff, and Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks -staff. The scepter with

7611-466: The burial of a family member such as Meketaten , at a time before she was elevated. Meritaten as a candidate for the identity of Neferneferuaten seems to be the most fluid, taking many forms depending on the views of the Egyptologist. She had been put forth by Rolf Krauss in 1973 to explain the feminine traces in the prenomen and epithets of Ankhkheperure and to conform to Manetho's description of

7740-505: The burial of the Great King's Wife, Nefertiti, be made in it, in the millions of years which the Aten, my father, decreed for her. Let the burial of the King's Daughter, Meritaten, [be made] in it, in these millions of years. The royal tomb in Amarna was used for the burial of Meketaten , Tiye , and Akhenaten , and likely was closed after the death and burial of Akhenaten. After that, Meritaten's burial may have been planned for one of

7869-410: The choice of Neferneferuaten, resistance was anticipated. This appears to be supported by her funerary items being usurped to deny her a king's burial. He suggests that adoption of the throne name Ankhkheperure by Smenkhkare was "to emphasize the legitimacy of Smenkh-ka-re's claim against that of Akhenaton's "chosen" (/mr/) coregent". That is, a division in the royal house put Smenkhkare on the throne as

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7998-470: The coregent bore the name Neferneferuaten before her coronation, and since it now seems clear that the coregent was not Nefertiti, she must have been the only other woman known by that name: Akhenaten's fourth daughter, Neferneferuaten Jr. Allen explains the 'tasherit' portion of her name may have been dropped, either because it would be unseemly to have a King using 'the lesser' in their name, or it may have already been dropped when Nefertiti died. This theory

8127-400: The country or attacking others when it was believed that this would contribute to Maat, such as to obtain resources. During the early days prior to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt , the Deshret or the "Red Crown", was a representation of the kingdom of Lower Egypt, while the Hedjet , the "White Crown", was worn by the kings of Upper Egypt. After the unification of both kingdoms,

8256-443: The deified deceased king, before finally changing to 'Beloved of Aten' and 'the ruler' late in her reign. Furthermore, it has been suggested that Smenkhkare may also be Neferneferuaten, a view still held by a few such as Nicholas Reeves and until 2004 by Dodson. The Coregency Stela (UC 410), mentioned earlier, might resolve the question if it were not so badly damaged. The name Neferneferuaten replaced Nefertiti's name on it. How

8385-513: The deities were made of gold and the pyramids and obelisks are representations of (golden) sun -rays. The gold sign may also be a reference to Nubt, the city of Set. This would suggest that the iconography represents Horus conquering Set. The prenomen and nomen were contained in a cartouche. The prenomen often followed the King of Upper and Lower Egypt ( nsw bity ) or Lord of the Two Lands ( nebtawy ) title. The prenomen often incorporated

8514-553: The discovery of their names on amphorae at Tell el-Borg , is unwarranted." Gabolde likewise considered a coregency or regency unlikely. Van der Perre considers it likely Nefertiti assumed the royal office using the name Neferneferuaten, adopting the throne name briefly used by Smenkhkare in combination with her own name, but that the chance of a co-regency period is slim. References to Akhenaten that were added to her names as epithets, confirm her legitimacy. The epithets changed over time: initially conferring legitimacy, then linking to

8643-534: The divinity of the Pharaoh, though this may reflect Greek notions of divine kingship just as much as it could reflect Egyptian ones. The historian Herodotus explicitly denies this, claiming that Egyptian priests rejected any notion of the divinity of the king. The only explicit classical Greek source which describes the divinity of Pharaoh is contained in the writings of Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BCE, who in turn relies on Hecataeus of Abdera as his source of information. Diodorus slightly contradicts himself in

8772-569: The early dynasties, ancient Egyptian kings had as many as three titles : the Horus , the Sedge and Bee ( nswt-bjtj ), and the Two Ladies or Nebty ( nbtj ) name. The Golden Horus and the nomen and prenomen titles were added later. In Egyptian society, religion was central to everyday life. One of the roles of the king was as an intermediary between the deities and the people. The king thus

8901-400: The enemies of Egypt. The core premise is that her prominence and power in the Amarna Period was almost unprecedented for a great royal wife, which makes her the most likely and most able female to succeed Akhenaten. Until 2012, Nefertiti's last dated depiction was from Year 12 of Akhenaten's reign, suggesting that she died shortly after. However, she is now known to have still been alive in

9030-570: The epithet of a ruling female pharaoh. Secondly, both Aidan Dodson and the late Bill Murnane have stressed their opinions that the female ruler Neferneferuaten and Meritaten cannot be the same person. As Dodson writes: ...the next issue is clearly her [i.e., Neferneferuaten's] origins. Cases have been made for her being the former Nefertiti (Harris, Samson and others), Meryetaten (Krauss 1978; Gabolde 1998) and most recently Neferneferuaten-tasherit, [the] fourth daughter of Akheneten (Allen 2006). Of these, Meryetaten's candidature seems fatally undermined by

9159-462: The existence of the KV62 box fragment JE61500, which gives the names and titles of Akhenaten, Neferneferuaten and Meryetaten as clearly separate individuals. In 2009, James Allen proposed a new reading of events, suggesting that Neferneferuaten was Akhenaten and Nefertiti's fourth daughter, Neferneferuaten-tasherit . Tasherit meaning the lesser . The evidence presented in favour of this identification

9288-473: The existence of versions of the first cartouche that seemed to include feminine indicators. These were linked with a few items including a statuette found in Tutankhamun's tomb depicting a king whose appearance was particularly feminine, even for Amarna art that seems to favor androgyny . In 1988, James P. Allen proposed that it was possible to separate Smenkhkare from Neferneferuaten. He pointed out

9417-613: The female king Neferneferuaten and the direct successor to Akhenaten. In this situation, Akhenaten had chosen Smenkhkare as his successor in his Year 12 but Smenkhkare predeceased Akhenaten, which forced Akhenaten to elevate Nefetiti to the throne as Neferneferuaten to secure his legacy. Nozomu Kawai writes: ...it can be suggested that Akhenaten appointed Nefertiti as his coregent after the demise of his male coregent, Smenkhkare. Smenkhkare's widowed queen, Meritaten, seems to have kept her title as his great royal wife. Simultaneously, Neferneferuaten obtained another epithet, Axt-n-H(j)=s, "One Who

9546-401: The floor of the tomb intended for her shows signs of cuts being started for the final placement of her sarcophagus. A single ushabti for Nefertiti seems scant evidence for her death, given there are about 200 shabti for Akhenaten. It is possible the two pieces belonged instead to two separate shabtis, one of Nefertiti and the other of Meritaten. Alternately, it may have been a votive placed in

9675-518: The following: King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Living in Truth, Lord of the Two Lands, Neferkheperure-Waenre Son of Re, Living in Truth, Lord of Crowns, Akhenaten , Great in his duration King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands, Ankhkheperure Mery-Neferkheperre Son of Re, Lord of Crowns, Neferneferuaten Mery-Waenre Great Royal Spouse, Meritaten , May she Live Forever The most definitive inscription attesting to Neferneferuaten

9804-520: The form of "desired of ...", but were occasionally replaced by "effective for her husband". In a few cases, the names can be followed by 'justified' using feminine attributes. The term 'justified' ( maet kheru ) is a common indicator that the person referenced is dead; a similar reference associated with Hatshepsut in the tomb of Penyati is taken to indicate she had recently died. Finally, a few of Neferneferuaten's cartouches bear unique epithets not associated with Akhenaten at all. These include "desired of

9933-420: The foster mother of Tutankhamun and who, in fact, was "Merytaten, the elder daughter of Akhenaten", "who sat briefly on the throne". The texts of its boundary stele mention that Meritaten was meant to be buried at Akhet-Aten (modern Amarna). Let a tomb be made for me in the eastern mountain of Akhetaten. Let my burial be made in it, in the millions of jubilees which the Aten, my father, has decreed for me. Let

10062-451: The glyphs for the "Sedge and the Bee". The title is usually translated as king of Upper and Lower Egypt. The nsw bity name may have been the birth name of the king. It was often the name by which kings were recorded in the later annals and king lists. The earliest example of a Nebty ( Two Ladies ) name comes from the reign of king Aha from the First Dynasty . The title links the king with

10191-431: The god over the Nile river. In Exodus Rabbah 10:2, Pharaoh boasts that he is the creator and owner of the Nile. God is then said to have responded to this statement by challenging the Pharaoh over who owns the Nile, as God proceeds to create a disaster by bringing forth frogs from it that consume Egypt's agriculture. In other midrashic texts, Pharaoh asserts himself as the creator of the universe and even of himself. In

10320-407: The goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nekhbet and Wadjet . The title is preceded by the vulture (Nekhbet) and the cobra (Wadjet) standing on a basket (the neb sign). The Golden Horus or Golden Falcon name was preceded by a falcon on a gold or nbw sign. The title may have represented the divine status of the king. The Horus associated with gold may be referring to the idea that the bodies of

10449-465: The gods and man. This institution represents an innovation over that of Sumerian city-states where, though the clan leader or king mediated between his people and the gods, did not himself represent a god on Earth. The few Sumerian exceptions to this would post-date the origins of this practice in ancient Egypt. For example, the legendary king Gilgamesh , thought to have reigned in Uruk as a contemporary of

10578-401: The identity of Neferneferuaten, with each candidate having its own advocate(s), a debate that may never be settled to the satisfaction of all. Even among Egyptologists who advocate for the identification of Nefertiti as Neferneferuaten, the exact nature of her reign can vary. Nefertiti was an early candidate for King Neferneferuaten, first proposed in 1973 by J. R. Harris. The apparent use of

10707-418: The image of Nefertiti was changed to match the new inscription could settle matters if her image was not missing. If her entire image was replaced it would mean Nefertiti was replaced by someone else called King Neferneferuaten and perhaps that she died. If just a new crown was added to her image, it would argue quite strongly that Nefertiti adopted a new name and title. As it is, the scene seems to be another of

10836-491: The latter part of the reign of Akhenaten. It is possible, however, that the letter refers to the birth of Meritaten. She was married to Akhenaten's successor, the Pharaoh Smenkhkare . Inscriptions mention a young princess named Meritaten Tasherit , who may be the daughter of Meritaten and Smenkhkare . Inscriptions from Ashmunein suggest that Meritaten-tasherit is the daughter of Meritaten. The scene dates to

10965-419: The longest history seems to be the heqa -sceptre, sometimes described as the shepherd's crook. The earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to prehistoric Egypt . A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to Naqada III . Another scepter associated with the king is the was -sceptre . This is a long staff mounted with an animal head. The earliest known depictions of the was -scepter date to

11094-468: The most likely explanation is that Smenkhkare--who is attested in an unfinished durbar scene from the Tomb of Meryre II (TA2) at Amarna dated to Year 12 of Akhenaten--must have died perhaps 1 or 2 years after since this relief scene was never finished by the craftsman. Athena Van der Perre observes that: After the death of Semenkhkare, the royal family had to face the problem of succession again. Akhenaten

11223-463: The name 'Ankhkheperure' was rendered differently depending on whether it was associated with Smenkhkare or Neferneferuaten. When coupled with Neferneferuaten, the prenomen included an epithet referring to Akhenaten (such as 'desired of Wa en Re'). There were no occasions where the 'long' version of the prenomen (Ankhkheperure plus epithet) occurred alongside the nomen 'Smenkhkare', nor was the 'short' prenomen (without epithet) ever found associated with

11352-589: The name Ankhkheperure. He also identifies her as the subject of the Dakhamunzu affair, with the Hittite prince Zannanza ascending the throne as Smenkhkare. As there is no evidence as to when or where he died nor that he was murdered, Gabolde believes that he completed the trip and died only after becoming king. The proposal continues that, after his death, she adopts full pharoanic prerogatives to continue to rule as King Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten. Since Tutankamun

11481-482: The name Neferneferuaten as coregent and using her birth name in the role of royal wife to Akhenaten. He has also proposed that the Meryre drawing was executed in advance of an anticipated coronation that ended up not taking place due to his death. Most recently, Gabolde has proposed that Meritaten was raised to coregent of Akhenaten during the final years of his reign and that she succeeds him as interregnum regent using

11610-404: The name Neferneferuaten, is in my view the most likely candidate for this function....After her husband's death, Nefertiti would reign the country herself.. The Egyptologists, Rolf Krauss and Nozomu Kawai both assign the female king Neferneferuaten an independent reign of between 2 and 3 years between Akhenaten and Tutankhamun. Athena Van Der Perre writes: The attestations of the name confirm

11739-405: The name being translated is "Ankhkheperure", it could be related to one of two people. Advocates for Smenkhkare as the direct successor of Akhenaten make the case that since she is attested as Great Royal Wife, what we would associate with queen , just before the start of Akhenaten's final regnal year, then Smenkhkare is more likely to be Akhenaten's direct successor. Prior to 2014, Neferneferuaten

11868-410: The name of Re . The nomen often followed the title, Son of Re ( sa-ra ), or the title, Lord of Appearances ( neb-kha ). In Ancient Egypt , the Pharaoh was often considered to be divine. This precept originated before 3000 BCE and the Egyptian office of divine kingship would go on to influence many other societies and kingdoms, surviving into the modern era . The Pharaoh also became a mediator between

11997-512: The nomen 'Neferneferuaten'. Additionally, a feminine 't' glyph is often present in the prenomen, nomen, or epithets. Later, the French Egyptologist Marc Gabolde noted that several items from the tomb of Tutankhamun, originally inscribed for Neferneferuaten and initially thought to read "...desired of Akhenaten", when translated correctly, were inscribed as Akhet-en-hyes or "effective for her husband". His reading

12126-438: The order depends on how the evidence is interpreted. Many encyclopedic sources and atlases will show Smenkhkare succeeding Akhenaten on the basis of a research tradition dating back to 1845, and some still conflate Smenkhkare with Neferneferuaten. The lack of unique names continues to cause problems in books and papers written before the early 1980s: an object might be characterized as bearing the name of Smenkhkare, when, if in fact

12255-402: The other royal tombs in Amarna . Pharaoh Pharaoh ( / ˈ f ɛər oʊ / , US also / ˈ f eɪ . r oʊ / ; Egyptian : pr ꜥꜣ ; Coptic : ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ , romanized:  Pǝrro ; Biblical Hebrew : פַּרְעֹה ‎ Parʿō ) is the vernacular term often used for the monarchs of ancient Egypt , who ruled from the First Dynasty ( c.  3150 BCE ) until

12384-559: The palace, it began to be added to the other titles before the name of the king, and from the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty (eighth to seventh centuries BCE, during the declining Third Intermediate Period ) it was, at least in ordinary use, the only epithet prefixed to the royal appellative. From the Nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ꜥꜣ on its own, was used as regularly as ḥm , "Majesty". The term, therefore, evolved from

12513-610: The period of Persian domination of Egypt. The Persian emperor Darius the Great (522–486 BCE) was referred to as a divine being in Egyptian temple texts. Such descriptions continued and were designated to Alexander the Great after his conquest of Egypt, and later still for the rulers of the Ptolemaic Kingdom that succeeded Alexander's rule. Descriptions of the divinity of the Pharaoh are much more infrequent in sources from Classical Greece . One Ptolemaic-era hymn describes

12642-423: The pharaoh is invariably represented as the equal of the gods. In the religious speech, he is however only their humble servant, a zealous servant who makes multiple offerings. This piety expresses the hope of a just return of service. Filled with goods, the gods must favorably activate the forces of nature for a common benefit to all Egyptians. The only human being admitted to dialogue with the gods on an equal level,

12771-408: The presence of epithets in both cartouches. She is suggested to have been either Smenkhkare's wife, Meritaten or, his predecessor's widow, Nefertiti . If this person is Nefertiti ruling as sole king, it has been theorized by Egyptologist and archaeologist Zahi Hawass that her reign was marked by the fall of Amarna and relocation of the capital back to the traditional city of Thebes . There

12900-405: The prestige and the divine color ..." Inscriptions regularly described the Pharaoh as the "good god" or "perfect god" ( nfr ntr ). By the time of the New Kingdom , the divinity of the king was imbued as he possessed the manifestation of the god Amun-Re ; this was referred to as his 'living royal ka ' which he received during the coronation ceremony. The divinity of Pharaoh was still held to during

13029-522: The probable or possible candidate for a female Ankhkheperure ruling for a time after Smenkhkare's death and perhaps, as regent to Tutankhaten. The primary argument against Meritaten, either as Krauss's pro tempore Ankh-et-kheperure before marriage to Smenkhkare or as Akhenaten's coregent King Neferneferuaten, is that she is well attested as wife and great royal wife to Smenkhkare. For her to have later ruled as king means necessarily, and perhaps incredibly for her subjects, that she stepped down from King to

13158-687: The reformation in the early years of Tutankhaten and conjectures that the return to the dominence of the Amun priesthood is the result of her 'rapid adjustment to political reality'. To support the Nefertiti-Tutankhamun coregency, he cites jar handles bearing her cartouche and others bearing those of Tutankhaten from Northern Sinai. This is not a view shared by the excavators, who note that sealings and small objects such as bezel rings from many Eighteenth Dynasty royals including Akhenaten, Ay, Queen Tiye, and Horemheb were found, and that "linking Tutankhamun and Neferneferuaten politically, based on

13287-429: The reign of Den . The khat headdress consists of a kind of "kerchief" whose end is tied similarly to a ponytail . The earliest depictions of the khat headdress comes from the reign of Den , but is not found again until the reign of Djoser . The Nemes headdress dates from the time of Djoser . It is the most common type of royal headgear depicted throughout Pharaonic Egypt. Any other type of crown, apart from

13416-441: The reign of Akhenaten, and this means the father of the young princess could be Akhenaten. If so, this means Akhenaten took his own daughters as wives. Another princess named Ankhesenpaaten Tasherit had been suggested as an additional daughter of Meritaten, but it is more likely that she is a daughter of Ankhesenpaaten. Meritaten most likely was born in Thebes , early in her father's marriage to Nefertiti, perhaps before he assumed

13545-474: The reign of Neferneferuaten, which, if this was Nefertiti, could not have started until after the 1st month of the 16th year of Akhenaten, as has been shown in the quarry inscription at Dayr Abū Ḥinnis. So far, no evidence has been found about the queen's demise. The most likely possibility is that she died after reigning at least 3 years. After her death, Tutankhaten―now a boy approximately 8 years old―would start his own reign. With no queen-mother left to guide him,

13674-506: The role of King's Wife. This view places Smenkhkare after Neferneferuaten, which requires the Meryre depiction to be drawn 5–6 years after the 'Durbar' depiction it is alongside, and several years after work on tombs had stopped. The counter to this argument comes from Marc Gabolde, who offers political necessity as the reason for Meritaten's demotion. He sees the inscribed box (Carter 001k tomb naming her alongside Akhenaten and Neferneferuaten) as depicting Meritaten in simultaneous roles using

13803-408: The royal family including at least Meritaten. Replacing the name Nefertiti with the name King Neferneferuaten in a depiction of the royal family, still seems to favor Nefertiti as the new king. The primary argument against Nefertiti had been that she likely died sometime after Year 12, which was the last known dated depiction of her until 2012. However, an inscription discovered in 2012 showed that she

13932-456: The royal palace and not a person. Sometime during the era of the New Kingdom , pharaoh became the form of address for a person who was king. The earliest confirmed instance where pr ꜥꜣ is used specifically to address the ruler is in a letter to the eighteenth dynasty king, Akhenaten (reigned c.  1353 –1336 BCE), that is addressed to "Great House, L, W, H, the Lord". However, there

14061-438: The ruler consisted of five names; Horus, Nebty, Golden Horus, nomen, and prenomen for some rulers, only one or two of them may be known. The Horus name was adopted by the king, when taking the throne. The name was written within a square frame representing the palace, named a serekh . The earliest known example of a serekh dates to the reign of king Ka , before the First Dynasty. The Horus name of several early kings expresses

14190-534: The second to last year of Akhenaten's reign and still bearing the title of Great Royal Wife, based on an ink inscription dated explicitly to 'Year 16 III Akhet day 15' in a limestone quarry at Dayr Abū Ḥinnis. This inscription would argue against a coregency of more than about a year, if at all, as the inscription attests to Nefertiti's position as Akhenaten's great royal wife just before the start of his final year. This affects theories proposed by some Egyptologists, such as Aidan Dodson, who see Neferneferuaten as both

14319-399: The serpent Apophis , the king of Egypt repels the plunderers of the desert, fights the invading armies and defeats the internal rebels. The Pharaoh was always the sole victor; standing up and knocking out a bunch of prisoners or shooting arrows from his battle chariot . As the only legislator, the laws and decrees he promulgated were seen as inspired by divine wisdom. This legislation, kept in

14448-656: The term was at first spelled "Pharao", but the translators for the King James Bible revived "Pharaoh" with "h" from the Hebrew. Meanwhile, in Egypt, *[par-ʕoʔ] evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ pərro and then ərro by rebracketing p- as the definite article "the" (from ancient Egyptian pꜣ ). Other notable epithets are nswt , translated to "king"; ḥm , "Majesty"; jty for "monarch or sovereign"; nb for "lord"; and ḥqꜣ for "ruler". As

14577-415: The throne name Ankhkheperure. At some point, perhaps to start his sole reign, he changed his name to Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten. An alternative view held that Nefertiti was King Neferneferuaten; in some versions she is also masquerading as a male using the name Smenkhkare. Things remained in this state of interpretation until the early 1970s when English Egyptologist John Harris noted in a series of papers

14706-583: The throne, as she is shown officiating during year five of his reign. The royal family first lived in Thebes and the royal palace may have been part of the Temple Complex of Akhenaten at Karnak . The exact use of the buildings in Karnak is not known, but the scenes decorating the Teni-menu suggest it may have served as a residence. Meritaten is depicted beside her mother Nefertiti in reliefs carved into

14835-400: The time of Akhenaten's death, but Allen suggests that some daughters may have been older than generally calculated based on their first depicted appearance. Their first appearance may have been on the occasion of being weaned, at age three; Neferneferuaten-tasherit may have been as old as 13 by the end of Akhenaten's reign. The later use of the "effective..." epithets may indicate that she too,

14964-634: The two biliteral hieroglyphs pr "house" and ꜥꜣ "column", here meaning "great" or "high". It was the title of the royal palace and was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ꜥꜣ "Courtier of the High House", with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the Twelfth Dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula "Great House, May it Live, Prosper, and be in Health ", but again only with reference to

15093-452: The widow. Pleasant is the utterance of your name: it is like the taste of life... [etc.] "Come back to us, O lord of continuity. You were here before anything had come into being, and you will be here when they are gone. As you caused me to see the darkness that is yours to give, make light for me so that I can see you... "O Amun, O great lord who can be found by seeking him, may you drive off fear! Set rejoicing in people's heart(s). Joyful

15222-467: The year following Akhenaten's death, Smenkhkare died. The theory is, that Meritaten was the 'king's daughter' Akenkeres who is recorded in Manetho's Epitome to have assumed the throne next, in her own right as king and bearing the name Neferneferuaten . Neferneferuaten is assigned a reign of two years and one month and is placed in Manetho's account as the immediate predecessor of the king, Rathothis , who

15351-437: Was a name used to refer to a female king who reigned toward the end of the Amarna Period during the Eighteenth Dynasty . Her gender is confirmed by feminine traces occasionally found in the name and by the epithet Akhet-en-hyes ("Effective for her husband"), incorporated into one version of her nomen (birth name) cartouche . She is distinguished from the king Smenkhkare who used the same throne name, Ankhkheperure, by

15480-417: Was alive and of royal lineage, Gabolde argues that Meritaten's actions almost certainly must be taken as intending to prevent his ascension to king. The Smenkhkare-Zannanza version garners little support among Egyptologists. With the presence of Tutankhamun, Miller points out Meritaten "would presumably have needed the backing of some powerful supporter(s) to carry out such a scheme as the tahamunzu episode, one

15609-473: Was being ruled by a Greek dynasty rather than a native dynasty. His lost work Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt), now known only in fragmentary form from later writers quoting his work, is the sole ancient record available. Because of the deliberate suppression of histories of the Amarna kings by succeeding rulers following them which was unknown to him, the sources Manetho used for his history were not accurate about

15738-474: Was deputised for the deities in a role that was both as civil and religious administrator. The king owned all of the land in Egypt, enacted laws, collected taxes, and served as commander-in-chief of the military . Religiously, the king officiated over religious ceremonies and chose the sites of new temples. The king was responsible for maintaining Maat ( mꜣꜥt ), or cosmic order, balance, and justice, and part of this included going to war when necessary to defend

15867-440: Was later confirmed by James Allen. The use of epithets (or lack of them) to identify the king referenced in an inscription eventually became widely accepted among scholars and regularly cited in their work although a case for exempting a particular inscription or instance will occasionally be argued to support a larger hypothesis. Allen later showed that Neferneferuaten's epithets were of three types or sets. They were usually in

15996-409: Was left with two royal wives (Nefertiti and Meritaten) and one possible future successor, who was still too young to reign (Tutankhaten). At some point after Semenkhkare's disappearance, Akhenaten must have decided that there was only one person capable of reigning and tutoring Tutankhaten after his death. The new regent would use the name Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten. The reign of "king" Neferneferuaten

16125-472: Was solely based on her name. The primary element in the nomen of a pharaoh always corresponds to the name he (or she) bore before coming to the throne; from the Eighteenth Dynasty onward, epithets were usually added to this name in the pharaoh's cartouche, but Akhenaten provides the only example of a complete and consistent change of the nomen's primary element, and even he used his birth name, Amenhotep, at his accession. The evidence of this tradition argues that

16254-418: Was sometimes thought to have ruled between Akhenaten and Smenkhkare as illustrated in a 2011 Metropolitan Museum of Art symposium on Horemheb , the general chronology of the late Eighteenth Dynasty is: Aidan Dodson proposes that Smenkhkare did not have an independent reign and thus, Neferneferuaten must have come after him, the result being that Smenkhkare's reign is entirely that of a coregent, ending about

16383-415: Was still alive in Year 16 of her husband's reign. Evidence put forward to suggest she predeceased Akhenaten includes pieces of an ushabti indicating her title at death was Great Royal Wife; wine dockets from her estate declining and ceasing after Year 13; Meritaten's title as Great Royal Wife alongside Akhenaten's name on items from Tutankhamun's tomb indicating she likely replaced Nefertiti in that role;

16512-442: Was still situated at Amarna rather than Thebes under Neferneferuaten's reign. There are several stele depicting two kings—with each wearing a different traditional king's crown—in various familiar, almost intimate scenes. All of them are unfinished or uninscribed and some are defaced. These include: The clues may point to a female coregent, but the unique situation of succeeding kings using identical throne names may have resulted in

16641-636: Was the second successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the traditional custom of referring to the sovereign as, pr-ˤ3 , continued in official Egyptian narratives. The title is reconstructed to have been pronounced *[parʕoʔ] in the Late Egyptian language , from which the Greek historian Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Koinē Greek : Φερων . In the Hebrew Bible , the title also occurs as Hebrew : פרעה [parʕoːh] ; from that, in

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