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Meritaten also spelled Merytaten or Meryetaten (14th century BC) was an ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 queen of the eighteenth dynasty, who held the position of Great Royal Wife to Pharaoh
Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
 Smenkhkare
Smenkhkare

Smenkhkare is an ephemeral Pharaoh of the late Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt of whom very little is know for certain. Traditionally he is seen as Akhenaten's co-regent and immediate successor and predecessor of Tutankhamun and is assumed to be a close, male relative of those two kings ....
, who may have been a brother or son of Akhenaten
Akhenaten

Akhenaten , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, who died 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the monotheism worship of Aten, although there are doubts as to how successful he was at this....
.






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Egypte Louvre 169 Buste De Femme
Meritaten also spelled Merytaten or Meryetaten (14th century BC) was an ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 queen of the eighteenth dynasty, who held the position of Great Royal Wife to Pharaoh
Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
 Smenkhkare
Smenkhkare

Smenkhkare is an ephemeral Pharaoh of the late Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt of whom very little is know for certain. Traditionally he is seen as Akhenaten's co-regent and immediate successor and predecessor of Tutankhamun and is assumed to be a close, male relative of those two kings ....
, who may have been a brother or son of Akhenaten
Akhenaten

Akhenaten , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, who died 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the monotheism worship of Aten, although there are doubts as to how successful he was at this....
. Meritaten also may have served as pharaoh in her own right under the name, Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten
Neferneferuaten

Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten was a woman who reigned as pharaoh toward the end of the Amarna era during the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. The royal succession of this period is very unclear....
.

Meritaten was the first of six daughters born to Pharaoh
Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
 Akhenaten
Akhenaten

Akhenaten , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, who died 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the monotheism worship of Aten, although there are doubts as to how successful he was at this....
 and his Great Royal Wife
Great Royal Wife

File:Ah hotep.jpgGreat Royal Wife or Chief King's Wife is the term used to refer to the chief wife of a male pharaoh of Ancient Egypt on the day of his coronation, as her status in the royal lineage was essential to gaining the position of pharaoh....
, Nefertiti
Nefertiti

Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for changing Egypt's religion from a polytheistic religion to a monotheistic religion....
. Her name means "She who is beloved of Aten"—Aten
Aten

Aten was the disk of the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology, and originally an aspect of Ra. He became the deity of the monotheism ? in fact, monism ? religion Atenism of Amenhotep IV, who took the name Akhenaten....
 being the sun-god her father worshipped—introducing monotheism
Monotheism

In theology, monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Neoplatonism concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite....
 into the religion of Egypt. (The male version of her name would be Meryaten, "He who is beloved of Aten.") She was born early in her father's reign, before the royal family moved to the new capital established by her father, Akhetaten. She was shown beside her mother in reliefs carved into the Hut-Benben, a temple devoted exclusively to Nefertiti. She also appears—along with her parents and younger sister Meketaten
Meketaten

Meketaten was the second daughter of six born to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. She was probably born in year 2 or 3 Akhenaten's reign....
—on the boundary stelae
Boundary Stelae of Akhenaten

The Boundary Stelae of Akhenaten map out the boundaries of the Ancient Egypt city of Akhetaten, the capital city of Pharaoh Akhenaten.Many of the stelae are heavily eroded, but two of them have been protected and are easily visited....
 designating the boundaries of the new capital. She had one daughter, who was named after her, Meritaten Tasherit
Meritaten Tasherit

Meritaten Tasherit, which means Meritaten the Younger, is the probable daughter of Meritaten. The father of this child remains under debate....
 ("Meritaten the Younger").

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. She is shown not only on the pictures showing the family life of the pharaoh, which were typical of the Amarna period
Amarna Period

The first recorded formal relations of Egypt with foreign countries were under Amenhotep III. Under his reign, Egypt enjoyed an economic boom. He built many temples and monuments across Egypt to honor his favorite deity, Sobek, who always was depicted as a crocodile....
, but on official ceremonies too. She also is mentioned in diplomatic letters, by the name Mayati.

Meritaten's titles include Great Royal Wife, which can indicate either marriage to her father or to Akhenaten's co-ruler Smenkhkare
Smenkhkare

Smenkhkare is an ephemeral Pharaoh of the late Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt of whom very little is know for certain. Traditionally he is seen as Akhenaten's co-regent and immediate successor and predecessor of Tutankhamun and is assumed to be a close, male relative of those two kings ....
, who some believe was her (half-)uncle or half-brother, although a simpler explanation for the title may be that Meritaten simply assumed her mother's duties and office of "Great Royal Wife".

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
Maru-Aten

Located 3 km to the south of the central city area of the city of Akhetaten , the Maru-Aten, short for Pa-maru-en-pa-aten , is a palace or sun-temple originally thought to have been constructed for Akhenaten's queen Kiya, but on her death her name and images were altered to those of Meritaten, his daughter....
. 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
Kiya

Kiya was a wife of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Little is known about her, and her actions and roles are poorly documented in the historical record in contrast to Akhenaten's first royal wife, Nefertiti....
, one of Akhenaten's secondary wives, disproving that interpretation.

According to some scholars such as J.P. Allen, Ankhkheperure Smenkhkare ruled together with Meritaten, but in the year following Akhenaten's death Smenkhkare himself died. These Egyptologists suggest that Meritaten was the 'king's daughter' Akenkeres who is recorded in Manetho's Epitome to have assumed the throne for herself as the female king Neferneferuaten
Neferneferuaten

Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten was a woman who reigned as pharaoh toward the end of the Amarna era during the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. The royal succession of this period is very unclear....
. Neferneferuaten is assigned a reign of 2 years and 1 month and is placed in Manetho's account as the immediate predecessor of Rathothis, who is believed to be Tutankhamun.

Sources

  • Joyce Tyldesley: Nefertiti – Egypt's Sun Queen
  • Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004) ISBN 0-500-05128-3


External links