Mutnedjmet
Encyclopedia
Mutnedjmet an Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

ian queen, the Great Royal Wife
Great Royal Wife
Great Royal Wife or Chief King's Wife is the term used to refer to the chief wife of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. While most Ancient Egyptians were monogamous, the pharaoh would have had other, lesser wives and concubines in addition to the Great Royal Wife...

 of Horemheb
Horemheb
Horemheb was the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty from either 1319 BC to late 1292 BC, or 1306 to late 1292 BC although he was not related to the preceding royal family and is believed to have been of common birth.Before he became pharaoh, Horemheb was the commander in chief...

, the last ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...

. The name, Mutnedjmet, translates as: The sweet Mut
Mut
Mut, which meant mother in the ancient Egyptian language, was an ancient Egyptian mother goddess with multiple aspects that changed over the thousands of years of the culture. Alternative spellings are Maut and Mout. She was considered a primal deity, associated with the waters from which...

.

Titles

Mutnedjemet's titles include: Hereditary Princess (iryt-p`t), Great King’s Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt), Great of Praises (wrt-hzwt), Lady of Grace (nbt-im3t), Sweet of Love (bnrt-mrwt), Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt (hnwt-Shm’w -mhw), Songstress of Hathor (hsyt-nt-hwt-hrw), and Songstress of Amun (Sm’yt-nt-imnw)

Mutnedjmet as Nefertiti's Sister

Some Egyptologists have speculated that Mutnedjemet is identical to Nefertiti
Nefertiti
Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which they started to worship one god only...

's sister Mutbenret
Mutbenret
Mutbenret was an Egyptian noblewoman, and said to be the Sister of the Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. Her name used to be read as Mutnedjemet. The hieroglyphs for nedjem and bener are similar and so is their meaning...

. This identification was partially based on the fact that Mutbenret
Mutbenret
Mutbenret was an Egyptian noblewoman, and said to be the Sister of the Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. Her name used to be read as Mutnedjemet. The hieroglyphs for nedjem and bener are similar and so is their meaning...

's name used to be read as Mutnedjmet. Other Egyptologist such as Geoffrey Martin note that there is no definite evidence to prove this assertion. Martin writes that:
The name Mutnodjmet was not particularly rare in the late Eighteenth Dynasty, and even if she were the sister of Nefertiti her marriage to Horemheb would have had no effect on Horemheb's legitimacy or candidacy since Mutnodjmet (who is depicted in the private tombs at El-Amarna). In any case whatever her antecedents Mutnodjmet could have been forced to marry Horemheb when he became Pharaoh.

Monuments and Inscriptions

Mutnedjmet is known from several object and inscriptions:
  • A double statue of Horemheb and Mutnedjmet was found in Karnak, but is now in the Museo Egizio in Turin (1379). On Mutnedjmet's side of the throne she is depicted as a winged sphinx who adores her own cartouche. As Sphinx she is depicted wearing a flat topped crown topped with plant elements associated with the goddess Tefnut. The back of the statue records Horemheb's rise to power.
  • Horemheb and Mutnodjemet are depicted in the tomb of Roy (TT255) in Dra Abu el-Naga. The Royal couple are shown in an offering scene.
  • One of the colossal statues in Karnak (north side of the 10th pylon) was made for Horemheb
    Horemheb
    Horemheb was the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty from either 1319 BC to late 1292 BC, or 1306 to late 1292 BC although he was not related to the preceding royal family and is believed to have been of common birth.Before he became pharaoh, Horemheb was the commander in chief...

     and depicted Mutnedjmet. The statue was later usurped and reinscribed for Ramesses II
    Ramesses II
    Ramesses II , referred to as Ramesses the Great, was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire...

     and Nefertari
    Nefertari
    Nefertari also known as Nefertari Merytmut was one of the Great Royal Wives of Ramesses the Great. Nefertari means 'Beautiful Companion' and Meritmut means 'Beloved of [the Goddess] Mut'. She is one of the best known Egyptian queens, next to Cleopatra, Nefertiti and Hatshepsut...

    .
  • Mutnedjmet usurped several inscriptions of Ankhesenamun
    Ankhesenamun
    Ankhesenamun was a queen of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. Born as Ankhesenpaaten, she was the third of six known daughters of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti, and became the Great Royal Wife of her cousin Tutankhamun. The change in her name reflects the changes...

     in Luxor
    Luxor
    Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...

    .
  • Statues (fragments) and other items including alabaster fragments naming Mutnodjemet were found in Horemheb
    Horemheb
    Horemheb was the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty from either 1319 BC to late 1292 BC, or 1306 to late 1292 BC although he was not related to the preceding royal family and is believed to have been of common birth.Before he became pharaoh, Horemheb was the commander in chief...

    's Saqqara
    Saqqara
    Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of...

     tomb. Some items bear funerary texts.

Death and Burial

Mutnedjmet died soon after Year 13 of her husband's rule in her mid-40s based on a wine-jar docket found in a burial chamber of Horemheb
Horemheb
Horemheb was the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty from either 1319 BC to late 1292 BC, or 1306 to late 1292 BC although he was not related to the preceding royal family and is believed to have been of common birth.Before he became pharaoh, Horemheb was the commander in chief...

 tomb
Tomb of Horemheb (Memphis)
The Memphite tomb of Horemheb is located in the Saqqara necropolis, near Memphis, Egypt. It was constructed before Horemheb ascended to the throne, and was never used for his burial. His two wives Mutnedjmet and Amenia were buried within the structure....

 at Saqqara
Saqqara
Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of...

, in Memphis and a statue and other items of hers found here. The mummy was found in King Horemheb
Horemheb
Horemheb was the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty from either 1319 BC to late 1292 BC, or 1306 to late 1292 BC although he was not related to the preceding royal family and is believed to have been of common birth.Before he became pharaoh, Horemheb was the commander in chief...

's unused Memphite tomb along with the mummy of a still-born, premature infant. She appears to have been buried in the Memphite tomb of Horemheb, alongside his first wife Amenia
Amenia, Wife of Horemheb
Amenia was an Egyptian noble woman and the first wife of Horemheb, the last ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty.Very little is known about her, and she seems to have died during the reign of Ay, before Horemheb ruled as pharaoh. She was buried in the Memphite tomb of Horemheb, alongside his second wife...

. Mutnedjmet's mummy shows she had given birth several times, but the last King of the 18th dynasty did not have a living heir at the time of his demise. It has been suggested that she had a daughter who was simply not mentioned on any monuments. The presence of the infant along with Mutnedjmet in the tomb suggests that this queen died in childbirth. A canopic jar of the Queen is now located in the British Museum.

It is possible that the tomb QV33 in the Valley of the Queens
Valley of the Queens
The Valley of the Queens is a place in Egypt where wives of Pharaohs were buried in ancient times. In ancient times, it was known as Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning –‘the place of the Children of the Pharaoh’, because along with the Queens of the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties many princes and princesses...

 was originally built for her. The tomb is known as the tomb of an otherwise unknown Tanedjmet, but both cartouches with her name are damaged and the similar hieroglyphs for ta and mut allow for this interpretation.

In popular culture

  • The South African artist Winifred Brunton
    Winifred Brunton
    Winifred Mabel Brunton née Newberry was a painter most famous for her portraits of Egyptian pharaohs, published as Kings and Queens of Ancient Egypt and Great Ones of Ancient Egypt . She married Egyptologist Guy Brunton on 28 April 1906...

     painted a portrait of this queen during the 1920s.
  • In Michelle Moran
    Michelle Moran
    Michelle Moran is an American novelist. She was born in California's San Fernando Valley. She took an interest in writing from an early age, purchasing Writer's Market and submitting her stories and novellas to publishers from the time she was twelve...

    's novel, Nefertiti: A Novel, Mutnedjmet is the principal character as the younger sister of Queen Nefertiti
    Nefertiti
    Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which they started to worship one god only...

    . She is also referenced in Moran's second novel, The Heretic Queen, as the mother of the principal character, Princess and later Queen Nefertari
    Nefertari
    Nefertari also known as Nefertari Merytmut was one of the Great Royal Wives of Ramesses the Great. Nefertari means 'Beautiful Companion' and Meritmut means 'Beloved of [the Goddess] Mut'. She is one of the best known Egyptian queens, next to Cleopatra, Nefertiti and Hatshepsut...

    .
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