Neferneferuaten:
Glorious is the Splendour
of the Sun
By Robin Gordon
Auksford 2024
©
Copyright
Robin Gordon, 2024
PART II: NEBMAATRE
9.
Mutbenret
As she had promised Queen Tiye sent two carrying chairs for
the
girls the next afternoon. Ay had been out all morning at
court,
and he returned home at midday extremely pleased with himself and
accompanied by a younger man, who seemed to Tadukhepa to be little
better than a thug. She found it difficult to follow
Ay’s
account of his morning’s work as he frisked and sniggered and
whispered to his wife. Something seemed to have happened that
morning that was out of the ordinary. She could imagine how
his
normal day would include buttering up the vizier and other influential
officials and dropping references to his dear sister the Queen into his
conversation, but this morning seemed to be something
special.
She gathered among all the self-congratulatory sniggering that he had
secured a promotion for the younger man, but it wasn’t clear
who
he was or what he had been promoted to.
When the chairs came both Ay and Tey were in the best of
moods and waved her and Pudu off with smiles.
The Queen was not smiling. Her face had an
unusually
ill-tempered look, and Taduḥepa began to think that perhaps she had
been over-confident in trusting a woman to whom her presence must have
been a threat.
“How is my dear brother?” said the Queen.
“He seems very pleased with himself,”
faltered Taduḥepa.
“I expect he is,” snapped the
Queen.
“He’s pulled off another scheme right under my
nose.
He’s got that crony of his, Nakhtmin*1,
promoted to
general. The man’s nothing but a stupid thug, and
to think
that he’ll have authority to order our soldiers around!
“I’m sorry my dear. I
don’t mean to take
out my fury on you, but you can see how cross I am. The
trouble
is, what with his abscesses and his bleeding gums and his opium my poor
old husband is beginning to suffer from dementia, and that slimy
hypocrite Ay knows just how to use it for his own advantage.
We
had our usual business at court, reports from the vizier, the
treasurer, and other officials, and the King was managing to keep his
pain under control quite well, but I could see that it was one of his
forgetful days. Ay could see it too, and right at the end of
the
meeting when we thought it was all finished, he suddenly said: Nnngh,
Your Majesty, remember that
you promised to promote
Nakhtmin to general
today.”
Puduḥepa started in surprise at the Queen’s sudden
switch
to an imitation of Ay. Taduḥepa took her hand to reassure her.
“The King, of course, couldn’t remember
whether he
had made any such promise or not, but he’s well enough aware
that
his mind is going to want to conceal when he forgets things, and Ay
knows it, so before anyone could say anything Ay beckoned Nakhtmin
forward and thrust a general’s baton into the
King’s
hand. Poor old Amenhotep thought he must have forgotten, so
he
went straight into the ceremonial words for conferring new status on a
man, and before we even knew what was happening Nakhtmin had been
confirmed as a general in the royal army. So that’s
why Ay
is so pleased with himself today and why I’m as grumpy as a
hippopotamus with toothache.
“He’d never have got away with a trick
like that even
last year. King Nebmaatre used to have a razor-sharp mind,
and he
could judge a man better than anyone else in the Kingdom, and he was
always on the lookout for good men. That’s how he
found
Amenhotep son of Hapu and raised him from being just a local scribe to
chief minister. He was so good that we granted him his own
funerary temple next to the King’s, and the people loved him
so
much that they worship him as a demi-god.
“Of course the viziers and some of the other
officials are
still on the lookout for talented boys, and I’ve asked them
to
report to me
now that the King can’t manage to concentrate.
In fact only yesterday they brought me word of a very able boy that we
ought to keep our eyes on and promote to better things. Now, what was
his name? Something like Horemheb, I think.
“The King would have been able to judge him much
better
than I can, but now that he’s old some people are taking
advantage of him – people like Ay! When I see it I
could
scream in frustration.
“But enough of that. This is your dear
sister Pudukhepa?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, it’s Puduḥepa, but
she’s
not really my sister. I was surprised when the interpreter
used
that word."
“Here in Kemet,” said the Queen,
“we often call
people sister or brother if we are especially fond of them.
I’ve known young men refer to their sweethearts as sister,
though
they would never dream of embracing their bodily sisters in the way
they embrace their sweethearts.”
“But don’t the Kings often marry their
own sisters
here?” said Taduḥepa. “Oh, I
don’t mean any
harm. I was just puzzled.”
“You must understand,” the Queen
explained,
“that Kings are not ordinary mortals. When they are
crowned
they become gods, and our stories of the creation of the world start
with the creator who gives birth to a brother and sister who unite to
produce another brother and sister, and these unite to give birth to
the next generation of gods. The Kings, as gods, may choose
their
sisters as consorts, and sometimes they are wives and sometimes merely
consorts. Kings even choose their daughters as consorts, but
that
is purely for the sake of having someone to carry out official
duties. My daughter Sitamun often stands in for me at
official
ceremonies. So, Pudukhepa is not your bodily
sister?”
“No. She’s my dearest friend,
and I would hate
to be parted from her – especially in Ay’s
house.”
“Well,” said the Queen,
“we’d better get
on with our business of getting Amenhotep made joint ruler and you his
queen. I said that I’d introduce you to him today,
and
that’s what I mean to do. He’s a nice boy
really, but
rather shy because of his speech impediment, so I’m going to
get
his sister to fetch him – and this time she really is his
sister,
my youngest daughter Baketaten, though I usually call her Kiya because
she was such a little monkey.” *2
The Queen beckoned to a girl a few years younger than
Taduḥepa
and Puduḥepa who had been waiting in the background.
“This is Baketaten,” she said,
“or
Kiya.” The girl had a mischievous smile, and
Taduḥepa
thought how appropriate her nickname of Monkey must have
been.
While Kiya went off to fetch Amenhotep the Queen explained that the
prince had been devastated by the sudden death of his brother, to whom
he had been very close, and that his little sister, Kiya, was the only
person who could console him. The two had become virtually
inseparable.
The boy seemed very, very shy. He looked at
Taduḥepa with a
longing, worshipping look and muttered something that sounded to her
like “Nefret-utti”
“Nefert-iti,” repeated the
Queen. “The
Beautiful Lady has come. It’s what he said the
first time
he saw you, and he uses it as your name. Your Mitannian names
have that rather peculiar sort of H-sound that we can’t ever
quite get right, and I don’t suppose you like the way we
pronounce them.”
“No,” said Taduḥepa.
“When you say Taduḥepa it sounds more like
Tadukrepa.”
“How awful,” said Queen Tiye.
“You know,
we have a tradition here in the Black Land that the first word a mother
says when she sees her new baby becomes its name. Of course
what
usually happens is that the mother and father choose a suitable name
and the mother makes sure to remember to say it, but we could adapt the
tradition and use as your name the first word your future husband said
when he saw you. How would you like to be called
Nefertiti.
It’s actually quite a popular name here.” *3
“It sounds rather nice,” said Taduḥepa.
“Good,” said the Queen.
“Now what about a
new name for Pudukhepa. Does the name mean
anything?”
“We’re both called after the Mother
Goddess
Ḥepa,” said Taduḥepa. “She’s
the wife of the
chief god Teshub.
“Then we should find you a name with Mut in
it,” said
the Queen. “Mut is the consort of Amun, the most
important
god in Kemet. I know, what about Mutnodjmet?
“Mutnoshmet,” Nefertiti repeated.
“Mutnotsmet,” said Puduḥepa.
“No: Mutnodjmet,” said the Queen.
“Mutnossmet?” said Nefertiti.
“Mutnotissmet?” said Puduḥepa.
“That’s no good,” said Queen
Tiye. We
can’t change you from a name that we can’t say to
one that
you can’t say.
“Mutbenret,” suggested Prince
Amenhotep.
“It’s almost the same thing, but much easier.
“Mutbenret?” queried Taduḥepa.
“Mutbenret,” Puduḥepa repeated.
“Yes, that’s nice.”
“Good,” said the Queen.
“From now on you are Nefertiti and Mutbenret. *4
Nefertiti and Mutbenret returned to Ay’s house, but
it
wasn’t long before the Queen arranged accommodation for them
in
the palace complex, with their own servants and their own
interpreter. Mutbenret was fascinated by two dwarf servants
that
Tiye provided for her, and quickly made them her full-time
attendants. Lessons in the religion and social structure of
Kemet
continued, but now, without the pretence that the girls
couldn’t
understand and had to have everything translated for them, their
progress was now much faster.
Preparations continued apace for the heb-sed or jubilee
to mark
the 37th year of the reign of King Nebmaatre. Unlike the
great
jubilee of year 30 this was to be a very understated affair.
The
King’s health would not allow him to take part in long
ceremonies, and any possibility that he might have considered running
round a course to prove his physical fitness, as some of the early
monarchs were said to have done, would have been quite out of the
question. Queen Tiye and the Viziers of the Two Lands would
take
on as much as possible of the ceremonies, aided by Princess Sitamun,
and, where his interference could not be avoided, by Ay.
Taduḥepa-Nefertiti had written to her father to tell him of
the
new arrangements for her marriage, and he, sorry to hear that his
brother the Great King Nimmureya was so ill, had offered to send a
golden image of Shaushka,*5
goddess of both healing and fertility, who
could at the same time bless his daughter’s marriage.
“May Shaushka, the mistress of heaven, protect us,
my
brother and me, for a hundred thousand years,” he wrote,
“and may our mistress grant us great joy as we are firm
friends,
for she is not just my
goddess but extends her power to my brother as
his
goddess.”
The King was delighted. He had spent many years in
the
worship of Sekhmet, the Lion-Goddess, daughter of the Sun-God Re, who
could bring destruction but also protect from it, and if the goddess of
his friend the King of Mitanni could add her power to the power of the
gods of the Two Lands, all might yet go well with him. He
wrote
back to his brother expressing his thanks and promising that when
Shaushka returned home she would be accompanied by two other solid gold
statues as gifts to mark his gratitude.
The presence and power of Shaushka did little to help the
ailing
King, and by the time of his jubilee he was scarcely able to
concentrate at all on the ceremonies. His toothache was
unceasing
and his memory failing more and more. The royal family moved
into
apartments at the temple complex of Ipet-sut*6
and from there the King
was carried in his chair, plated with electrum*7
and shining like the
dazzling sun. Queen Tiye and Prince Amenhotep were carried in
similar chairs, and, because the King moved from his chair to his
throne and stayed under cover, it was possible for a servant to stand
near him with his flask of opium and pass it too him whenever his pains
seemed beyond his control.
Speeches were made by viziers and other officials praising
the
great King Nebmaatre, during which the King dozed in opium-induced
stupor. He roused himself to proclaim the adoption of his
beloved
son, Amenhotep, as co-ruler, then sat back again in the shadows while
the priests organised the coronation.
From
Nekhen on the upper part of the River came the High Priest
of Hor, bearing the White Crown, Hedjet, made of leather and
symbolising rule over the River valley.
Hedjet
“Hail Kanakht-qai-Shuti, Strong Bull of the Double
Plumes,
he proclaimed. May you rule the land of Nekhbet the
Vulture-goddess as your predecessors have done, upholding Maat,
justice, order and right, and may Hapi*8
grant you good inundations
and prosperity.”
He placed the crown on Amenhotep’s head and the
assembled
crowd cried “Hail to His Majesty: life, prosperity,
health!”
Amenhotep stood, with the White Crown on his head and vowed
to
rule as the Priest had said, then again the crowd cried,
“Hail to
His Majesty: life, prosperity, health!”
After that the remainder of the day was devoted to
feasting. The young King, accompanied by his chosen bride,
circulated among the important officials and ambassadors. The
ordinary people returned to Waset to celebrate with their
neighbours. The old King returned to his palace, accompanied
by
his wife to seek relief from his pain.
The Lord Ay stayed with the young King, flattering him and
offering to serve him in any way he wished.
The following day tributes were brought to King Nebmaatre,
though
not on anything like the scale of the tributes for the jubilee of his
30th year. The King was wary of the plague and weary of
celebration.
When the time came, he again proclaimed the accession of his
beloved son to the position of co-ruler and then retreated into the
shadows.
The High Priest of Hor, accompanied by the High Priests of
Sobek,
Set’kh and Neith,*9
brought forth the Red Crown, Deshret.
Deshret
“Hail Wetjes-khau-em-Iunu-Shemay, Crowned in Iunu
of the
South, they proclaimed and called upon the King to rule the Delta, the
land of Wadjet, the Cobra-goddess, according to the principles of
justice and order upheld by the goddess Maat, daughter of Re.
They placed the crown on the young King’s head and
the
crowds shouted out, “Hail to His Majesty: life, prosperity,
health!”
Again Amenhotep stood up from his throne and promised to rule
the
Delta with due regard for Maat, and again the crowds cried out,
“Hail to his Majesty: life, prosperity,
health.” As
on the previous day the old King retreated to his apartments while the
young King circulated among his feasting guests accompanied by his
chosen bride, and by Ay, who expressed his delight that his beloved
foster-daughter was His Majesty’s chosen Queen and declared
himself His Majesty’s most loyal and devoted follower.
On the third day the First Prophet of Amun accompanied by the
priests of Re and Atum hailed Amenhotep as Wer-nesut-em-Ipet-sut, Great
of Kingship in the Most Holy Place, and set on his head the Sekhemti or
Double Crown, urging him to follow the precepts of Maat as he ruled the
Two Lands.
Sekhemti
Again Amenhotep made his vows, the old
King retreated,
the party began, the young King circulated, and Ay was ever at his side.
On the fourth day the Atef-crown, the crown of
Usír, ruler
of the underworld, king of the dead, first king of Kemet, was placed on
the young King’s head by the High Priest of Usír.
Atef
On the fifth day he received from the High Priest of
P’tah,
the creator of all by speaking the Word, the Blue Crown, Khepresh, a
beautiful helmet of leather encrusted with circles of gold, and he was
called by the name Amenhotep-Netjer-Heqa-Waset, Amenhotep God-King of
Waset, and given also the was-sceptre as a further sign of his kingship.
Khepresh
The party began again, feasting and celebration, eating and
drinking as perhaps only the people of the Two Lands knew
how.
The old King and his Queen retreated. The young King and his
chosen bride circulated, and always close by was Ay, the new
Queen’s foster-father.
The next day saw the marriage of the King and his chosen
Queen
and the hailing of Nefertiti as the King’s Great Wife, while
Ay
kept close by, reminding everyone who would listen that Nefertiti was
his foster-daughter.
Notes
*1
Nakhtmin
A general in Tutankhamun’s
army, and chosen by
King Ay as his successor, Nakhtmin was the son of Iuy, a priestess of
Min and songstress of Isis. Because Ay chose Nakhtmin as his
successor some Egyptologists think that Iuy must have been married to
Ay before he married Tey (and after he had been married to another wife
who might just possibly have been the mother of Nefertiti).
There
is no evidence for any of this, and I have therefore chosen to make
Nakhtmin a younger crony and protégé of Ay, later
adopted
as his son and heir.
Back to text
*2
Baketaten/Kiya
The only records of Baketaten are two
scenes in the
tomb of Huya, Queen Tiye’s steward. They show her
with Tiye
at Akhenaten’s court. She appears to be the
youngest child
of Queen Tiye and Amenhotep III.
It was suggested that Baketaten is the
Younger Lady
found next to the body of Queen Tiye (the Elder Lady) in the royal
cache in the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV35). The Younger Lady is
generally accepted as Kiya, daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye, and
mother of Tutankhamun so that the identification of Kiya with Baketaten
seems not just possible but likely.
Cyril Aldred suggested that the name Kiya is a form of the Egyptian
word for monkey. It would therefore be suitable for use as a
pet
name.
Back to text
*3
Nefertiti
There are three possibilities for what
happened to
Tadukhipa after she arrived in Egypt: like her aunt Gilukhepa she may
have disappeared into the harem and never been heard of again; she may
have become Kiya, and she may have become Nefertiti, whose name means
“the Beautiful One has Come”.
Kiya is now accepted as the Younger Lady whose mummy was found next to
that of Queen Tiye, and the Younger Lady is now known to be both the
mother of Tutankhamun and the full sister of Akhenaten, so clearly not
an incoming princess from Mitanni.
Some Egyptologists believe that Nefertiti was a daughter of Ay, though
not by his wife Tey, nor, by his hypothetical previous wife who they
think may be the mother of Nakhtmin, Ay’s chosen
successor.
There is no real evidence available to support any of this, and
Ankhesenamun’s referral to Ay as “a
servant” rather
than “my grandfather” in her letter to
Suppiluliuma, King
of Hatti, suggests that they were not related. There seems to
be
no compelling reason not to accept Nefertiti as Tadukhepa and take her
name, the Beautiful One has Come at face value.
Back to text
*4
Mutbenret
Nefertiti is often accompanied by her
‘sister’ Mutbenret in tomb-illustrations, and
Mutbenret can
be recognized because she has two dwarfs with her. Some
Egyptologists believe her to be a daughter of Ay, though again there is
no supporting evidence. It is all part of the circular
argument
that justifies Ay’s claim to the throne by relating him to
Yuya,
Tiye and Nefertiti. Mutbenret used to be read as Mutnodjmet,
the
same name as Horemheb’s second wife, which led those who
supported the circular argument to suggest that Horemheb married
Ay’s daughter.
Back to text
*5
Shaushka
The Hurrian goddess of love and war, who
could also
be invoked as a healer. A high-ranking goddess, the sister of
the
Storm-God Teshub.
Back to text
*6
Ipet-sut
Ipet-sut means ‘the Most Holy
Place’ and
the name was applied to the temple complex at Waset (Thebes) now called
Karnak (from the Arabic Khurnaq meaning fortified village).
Back to text
*7
Electrum
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy
of gold and
silver, sometimes with traces of other metals such as copper or
platinum. It is sometimes called green gold.
Back to text
*8
Hapi
Hapi was the god of the annual
inundation of the
Nile, not of the river itself. He was male and wore a beard,
but
had pendulous female breasts, symbolizing the fertility he
brought. He was believed to live in a cavern beneath the
First
Cataract at Aswan.
Back to text
*9
Sobek, Set’kh and Neith
Sobek was the crocodile-headed god who
gave
protection from the dangers of the River Nile. The centre of
his
worship was in the Faiyum.
Set’kh (Seth) was the brother of Usír (Osiris),
who
murdered the rightful King. He was the god of foreigners and
adopted as their chief god by the Hyksos who ruled the Delta in the
Second Intermediate Period. He accompanied Re on his journey
through the Underworld and helped to defend him against the serpent
Apep. He was Lord of the Red Land, Deshret (the desert)
Neith was an ancient goddess worshipped mainly in the western Delta,
where she was regarded as responsible for creation and the maintenance
of cosmic order.
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