Queen Tausret and the End of Dynasty 19 Author(s): Vivienne G. Callender Source: Studien zur Altgyptischen Kultur, Bd.

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Queen

Tausret

and the End of Dynasty

G. Callender

19*

Vivienne

Abstract In this study, an attempt ismade to set out what is known about the life and times of Queen Tausret, the last ruler of the 19th Dynasty. The seminal work for this period has been R. Drenkhahn's, Die Elephantine Stele des Sethnacht und ihrhistorischer Hintergrund, AA 36,1980, but, as Drenkhahn' swork has now been overtaken by new information from excavation and ostraka studies, it is timely that some reassessment of
this queen be made, current accounts in many cases now being inaccurate or incomplete.

by either scholars or those with a a an era of great confusion,1 although history. general thanks in no small way to the work much clearer picture of those times is now emerging, Frank Yurco, Hartwig Alten of Rolf Krauss, Kenneth Drenkhahn, Kitchen, Rosemary new infor miiller and others. The results of their labours have led to extremely important The years that followed Rameses II are less well known interest in Egyptian It still remains

mation coming to light for this difficult period in Egyptian history. In particular, Alten
miiller' s exemplary has clarified problems relating both to the events and the archaeology in speaking of the time so that, these days, one can feel a little more confident chronology about the history of the last years of Dynasty 19. Major work

in the history of the late 19thDynasty trio takes as its core the well-known of personalities: and Bay. Altenmiiller's excavations of their tombs have, Siptah, Tausret a new understanding to with and other led discoveries scholars, together by investigations true concerning of events at that time. This is particularly the regnant queen Tausret and her career. To date, these results have remained to know the most and those wishing the concerning languages) in and sometimes queen must juggle with a large number of complex arguments polarised on Tausret different is readily available2 der articles. As little material the Lexikon recent books have limited information3 entry is very brief and even the most Agyptologie - a account of what we know of her life is surely timely. detailed studies separate to date and facts theories up within (in a variety of

sincere thanks to Edwin Brock, who kindly read the draft of this article and offered some much appreciated good advice which improved the piece. 1 See, for example, the historical reconstruction given by Petrie in his volume mentioning Tausret's mortuary temple W.M.F. Petrie, Six Temples at Thebes, 1896,16. 2 There is amore comprehensive and reliable account of Tausret' s career given on the internet than there For example, there is no separate entry for is inmany textbooks: see http://www.kv5.com/html/tausert. this queen in the newly-published Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (edited by D.B. Redford, 2001) although she makes an appearance listed under the topic of ?Queens" and ?Sety II", as well as an historical reference in one other place (vol II, 536). 3 Probably, the best general historical account can be found inC. Vandersleyen, L'Egypte et la vallee du Nil II,Nouvelle Clio, 1995,5 84-5 86, while themost thorough detailed study of the reign and the period des Sethnacht und ihr during which the queen flourished is in R. Drenkhahn, Die Elephantine-Stele historischer Hintergrund, AA 36, 1980 (see below). Due to Altenmtiller's research, however, this valuable study of Drenkhahn's now needs a new edition. My

82 V.G. Callender
Background IIwas Rameses

SAK 32

succeeded

long reign of his available records and has no document (King's

by his thirteenth Tausret father. Although

himself son, Merenptah, does not acknowledge knowledge that she may

an aged man after the in any her parentage

to my

it is physically daughter), possible either she may have been a daughter Alternatively, reign), or a child of another of Rameses' offspring

that displays the title of s?t nswt have been that king's daughter. II himself of Rameses (born late in his and therefore not entitled to carry the

title of King's Daughter (see p. 85).

For a number of years after the death of King Merenptah, of Rolf conditions in Egypt were

confused,

if not chaotic, both in regard to the government and for the people living in
Krauss, the correct and Jiirgen Osing in the of succession kings and reign of Amenmesse.

at the time. Despite the considerable efforts Egypt are we even sure not Kenneth about Kitchen, entirely late 19th Dynasty.4 Chief

is the accession among the problems under Merenptah,5 should have succeeded Sety II, given his status in the kingdom was or a year or two,6 we have it but after (whether immediately, Merenptah only directly, no definitive the has confused of the pharaoh Amenmesse the presence information) picture. Egypt, has been The where reign7 of that man, many monuments in Northern however, has been said, by some, to be confined one record think of his are to be found. Thus So far, only it is that some scholars

found

Egypt.8

to Upper of this king that there was a

division within the rule of Egypt at this time (Sety II ruling the northern region, Amen
messe the south9), while others think itmore likely that Amenmesse 2-5 of Sety II.10 Other scholars reigned as sole king between Years 4 usurped suggest the throne and that it ismore

See, for example, R. Krauss, in: SAK 4, 1976, 161-199; in: SAK 5, 1977, 131-174 especially 142f, 149. J. Osing, in: SAK 7,1979,253-271 raised some pertinent questions regarding several of Krauss's conclusions and, in particular, the relevance of the various ostraka in assembling dates for the reign. 5 For attestations of Sety II as Prince Sety-Merenptah, see M. Eaton-Krauss, Sety-Merenptah als Kron in:GM 50,1981,15-21. prinz Merenptahs', Particularly interesting is her recording of the unique title for the prince, hrp Swj nj //./(Controller of the Two Lands of his Father) as well rs r-prt m st Gb (Prince on the Throne of Geb), both titles indicating his selection as the ageing Merenptah's deputy. 6 There is, for example, the untouched date of the Oracle Text of Year 1 at Abu Simbel (KRI IV, 275) and the dateline of the Silsila text for Year 2 with Sety IPs untouched cartouches which suggest an initial reign for Sety, but were these monuments inscribed during the first years of his reign before or after the reign of Amenmesse? R. Krauss, Zur historischen Einordnung Amenmesses und zur Chronologie der 19./20. Dynastie, in: GM 45, 1981, 27-33, with reference to the article by F. Yurko (see n. 14). 8 This was on a wide-bodied jar found by R. Engelbach at Riqqeh (R. Engelbach et al., Riqqeh and 1915, VI, 31, Memphis pi. LI/1). Itwas thought that the jar held the cartouche of Rameses XI but, in name - see J.Aksamit, in: M. de Krzysztof et al. (eds.), Les Civilisations fact, it carries Amenmesse's du Bassin Mediterranean: Hommages a Joachim Sliwa, 2000, 30 (with illustrations). 9 In fact, no dated monuments of Sety II for this time have been found in the northern regions either, so a divided reign is not without question. 10 Eg. Cl. Vandersleyen, L'Egypte II, 1995, 578; this was also the original opinion of K.A. Kitchen, in: LA V, 917. For possible evidence for Amenmesse having replaced cartouches of Sety II, see A. Dodson, in: JEA 81, 1995, 125-128. Significant is the article by Krauss, in:GM 45, 1981, 27-33, esp. 30f. 7

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty likely that Amenmesse
ambiguous reign, however, the name of Sety Amenmesse's

19 83

took the throne immediately after the death of Merenptah.11 So

that none of these claims and titles were erased is impossible. on his monuments After Amenmesse's with and reinscribed

is the evidence his names II.

links are likewise hazy. He could have been the son of a woman family was to be a king's mother, who named Takhat,12 known but was not thought to have had or wife. Krauss,13 any titles as a royal daughter though, had argued that she was a royal and this fact has now been established, strong circumstantial daughter, together with evidence Takhat: that she was Rameses also a royal wife.14 There are several possibilities for the husband of or case. II and have been mounted each for II,Merenptah arguments Sety

At present, the choice still remains controversial. Sety II had a wife of this name, but this not on other records made by Sety II. If is recorded with the title of king's mother queen she were his wife, it is possible that the father of Amenmesse could have been Sety II him self.15 the fact that Amenmesse Despite less about Amenmesse did, we know both to Merenptah to have and Sety is thought to have reigned longer than Sety actually than we do about Sety II. Amenmesse's relationship II are not known: most refer to him as ?a relation". scholars

Although Amenmesse ordered a tomb (KV 10) to be cut in the royal valley, he does not
seem been buried there. All the decoration of his tomb was erased, of a redecoration program,16 and the rulers of the 20th Dynasty disregarded probably his reign as part (as they

J. Von Beckerath, Chronologie des pharaonischen Agypten, MAS 46, 1997, 104f; K.A. Kitchen, in: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt II, 537. 12 InKV 10 (Amenmesse's tomb), the sarcophagus lid of a queen named Takhat has been found infrag ments - 30% of the lid ismissing - but the remnants were recently put together by Edwin Brock. The original lid belonged to a certain Inuketemheb (see the article by E. Brock, The Sarcophagus Lid of Queen Takhat, in:Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century, Proceedings of the 8th Congress of Egyptologists I, 2003, 97-102). Inuketemheb might have been a daughter of Rameses II. 13 R. Krauss (in: GM 61, 1983, 51), again drawing attention to an original statue of Amenmesse with a relief depiction of his mother Takhat, inwhich she had the titles of s3t nswt, and mwt nswt. The latter title had been altered into hmt nswt when Sety IIhad the statue recarved and reused. Quite reasonably, Krauss concluded from this alteration, that Amenmesse's Takhat must have also been a king's wife. 14 F.J. Yurco, in:Amenmesse: Six Statues at Karnak, in: MMJ 14,1980,28f, where he considers that she had been either the wife of Merenptah or the wife of Rameses II. I agree with A. Dodson (The Takhats and some other royal ladies of the Ramesside period, in: JEA 73, 1987, 226), that it is extremely un likely that Sety II had two wives named Takhat. As Merenptah's reign is estimated at 12 years, both are II and Takhat to been have bom to his Sety likely prior reign, i.e., neither having been ?born to the as a children the of later would both have been entitled to sS/sSt nswt tiles purple", although king, they
later.

11

Krauss, in: SAK 4, 1976, 167 and in: SAK 5, 1977, 13Iff. (and especially 136, where he identifies Amenmesse with the viceroy of Kush, named Messwy); in: GM 61, 1983, 51; Dodson, in: JEA 73, 1987,226. 16 My warmest thanks to E. Brock for this information. In addition, O. Schaden and E. Ertman report that - see The high on the right thickness of the entrance doorway, his cartouches have been left untouched Tomb of Amenmesse (KV 10), in:ASAE 73, 1998, 122.

15

84 V.G. Callender

SAK 32

did the reigns of all those who followed Sety II).His tomb was redecorated for the burial
a royal mother of two queens, named Takhat, and a royal wife named Baketwerel. These were to consort and taken the Amenmesse. be mother the of persons (Baketwerel) (Takhat) However, recent work carried out in KV 10 now suggests that the women who appear in

Chambers E (Takhat) and F (Baketwerel) are not themother and wife of Amenmesse
previously thought, but are more likely to be two queens from the later 20th Dynasty.17

as

When he finally gained (or regained) political control, Sety worked rapidly to ensure
that his name would places Karnak, throughout just inside found not be forgotten. He his best-known Egypt, contributed monument in various buildings the elegant barque shrine at being as an obelisk and a quay,18 but he also left smallish a few

substantial the records

the first pylon, on monuments decorations under his name

as well

a number of monuments usurped on monuments unaltered cartouches and minor luxury goods about Sety's records in Nubia

of in the temple of Mut and at el Ashmunein. Most for he records (KRI) consist of palimpsests, there are other than those of Amenmesse. Nonetheless, inKitchen's

at Heliopolis, Karnak, Luxor Memphis, Hermopolis, KRI A 246-251 and IV, (see passim). couple of caches of from his reign were found but, apart from these few remains, we know little as a ruler. One gold hoard was found in KV 5619 and the life or his activities as bracelets the name of Rameses II (these hoards will be

two hoards from Tell Basta20 included a few gold and silver items belonging to Sety II and
Tausret, mentioned as well carrying later). In the earlier part of his It is possible named Takhat. originally 17 was entitled

to have been a princess reign, Sety IPs chief queen appears as Takhat that this woman was the mother of Amenmesse, on a now statue stored in Cairo Museum;21 there is King's Mother

18 PMII,9. 19 T.M. Davis (ed.), The Tomb of Siphtah. The Monkey Tomb and the Gold Tomb, 1908, 2f, 31ff. 20 CC. Edgar, The Treasure of Tell Basta, in:G. Maspero, Le Musee Egyptien II, 1907, 93-108. 21 CG 1198, which shows Sety IIwith awife of that name - see L. Borchardt, Statuen und Statuetten von Konigen und Privatleuten IV, CG 1-1294, 1934, 97-99. Although the name of Sety II on this statue group is a palimpsest, the fact that the woman's title of King's Mother was altered into King's Wife argues for Takhat being Sety's wife although it is always possible that another, as yet unidentified or even of wife Rameses II- predated Sety's wife and thatAmenmesse had reused Takhat, Merenptah another ruler's statue. A daughter Takhat features on a list of Rameses IPs offspring (Louvre Ostrakon 666: W. Spiegelberg, Ostraca hieratiques du Louvre, in: RecTrav 16, 1894, 64-67). Yurco, in:MMJ 14,1980,18, reports that his Statue 2 has the king and the figure and titles of Queen Takhat carved in sunk relief. She is identified as King's Daughter and King's Wife. The present second title had been altered into hmt nswt from its previous inscription of mwt nswt (p. 19) Traces ofMn-mi
-Rr-stp-n-Rr can be made out. This is Amenmesse's name. On p. 21, Yurco mentions that Statue 4

in:ASAE 73, 1998, 135-143. It should be borne inmind that the authors claim (p. Schaden/Ertman, 140) that some details of wall decoration in the room of Baketwerel point towork done around the time of Tausret, not Rameses IX, as has been plausibly been argued by Dodson, in: JEA 73, 1987. The question of the date of Baketwerel in particular has therefore not been finally settled.

is

standing with a queen cut in sunk relief behind the king's left leg. Her titles are those of a chief royal wife, but her name has been utterly expunged. Traces of inscription in this half-figure remaining show (p. 22) hmt nswt wrt, hnwt tlwy ?Great royalWife, Mistress of the Two Lands". Yurco thinks the queen

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty

an indication left. The that Amenmesse reinscribed Wife. was the king on this same statue,

19 85
as traces of his name were

statue was

left the title of King's

and struck out the title of King's Mother for Sety II, who woman of this the wife It is therefore presumed that had been

Sety II.
because Takhat died during the first two years of Sety IPs reign, or, for some reason with Amenmesse other Queen Tausret became Sety's Great perhaps associated name on 2 of his Wife Year his with several items (see Tausret's appears by royal reign. with the Year 2, first month of Peret, day 8 date within her and, more particularly, below) Either own tomb. Tausret's no artefact naming her as a King's although assumed has yet been found, it is generally that she was of the granddaughter II. Some support for this claim lies in the fact that Tausret later became pharaoh, origins are unknown; to see the ancient even if they were are Egyptians prepared identifiable. accepting in the past someone to accept who was a commoner queen as a a commoner

Daughter Rameses for

it is difficult as a ruler,

queen

Sety was in in his this claimed that Karnak.23 Merenptah, temple repository boy the child of Tausret, at all regarding but there is no evidence the name of his mother; Tausret is just one possibility. in Sety and Tausret may have had a child who was buried

regent.22 No children

of

this couple

Sety II records It is sometimes

the name

of a son,

KV 56 (?theGold Tomb") in theValley of theKings.24 Itwas from this tomb that somuch
treasure collection scene with Queen Tausret has come. Included and her husband among this of jewellery was a pair of silver bracelets with their images in a time-honoured of a seated pharaoh and his wife, where the queen pours a liquid into the king's cup associated in front of her forehead, with her title, hmt nswt

Tausret her name appears in a cartouche wrt Great Wife of the King it. beside

The inscriptions on the bracelets identify the pharaoh as Sety II and his chief wife (fig. I).25

is Baketwerel. However, there is no name present on the statue and this queen is unlikely to belong to the 19th Dynasty. The titles fit Queen Takhat much better. 22 was a commoner queen of the Old Kingdom who was honoured in her status II Queen Ankhesenmeryre as regent for the young Pepy II, but she was never a ruler (see E. Martin-Pardey, in:Nofret ? die Schone: die Frau imAlten Agypten, Ausstellungskatalog Munchen, 1985,30). Neitkrety, Sobekneferu and Hatshepsut were all royal daughters who became rulers in their own right. 23 H. Chevrier/E. Drioton, Le temple reposoir de Seti II aKarnak, 1933,45,46, pi. VII. Th. Schneider (in: ZAS 130, 2003, 141) suggests that this prince is likely to be a son of Tausret's. 24 For the report on this tomb see T.M. Davis et al., The Tomb of Siphtah; The Monkey Tomb and the Gold Tomb, 1908,2f., 3Iff. It is very unlikely that the queen was buried here, as has sometimes been suggested; the jewellery included a pair of silver ?gloves" which were far too small even for an adult woman; these were clearly the covering for the hands of a child mummy. Even the rings from this treasure seem very tiny for an adult. C. Aldred (in: JEA 49, 1963, 177) suggested that the burial had been for a child and that Tausret's jewellery had been one of the usual ?heirloom" gifts presented during the funerary rites. This explanation fits more comfortably with the evidence, inmy opinion. 25 To my knowledge, the scene first appears in the time of Akhenaten, when it features Akhenaten accepting a cup being poured by Queen Nefertiti, eg., the scene from the tomb of Meryre II, inDavies, The rock Tombs of El Amarna II, 1905, pi. 32.

86 V.G. Callender

SAK 32

Fig. 1:Depiction of Tausret and Sety IIfrom one of the silver bracelets found inKV 56 (redrawn by the author, after the illustration of E.H. Jones, in:Davis et al., The Tomb of Siphtah, unnumbered plate) The other treasure associated with Sety II and Tausret, the Bubastis hoards, were not

discovered in any building remains but according to Edgar, bore all the signs of having been hidden in the ground.26One of the hoards had been found by railway workers, who
shared ed. The royal name, Yet the finds second between hoard, themselves in Edgar's a gold from and it is clear that some of the items were ametalworker's hoard, engraved not recover stock with than any Tausret's opinion, more resembled lotus cup in this second

treasury. double

There was feathers

and sundisc.27

this will be (although Sety's reign needs to be mentioned more discussed and that is part of a door lintel containing fully under Tausret's biography) the names of both Sety II and Tausret in the Ramesside that was found recently city ruins

one more monument

of Qantir: it is thought to be part of a religious building erected by Sety II and is remarkable for being the first discovery of evidence for a building erected by this king in the Delta
region.28

26

Edgar, Le Musee Egyptien II, 97. Drenkhahn's explanation of how the Bubastis treasure came to be where itwas found is colourful, but without foundation (Elephantine-Stele, 72f). Not only was Bay stock dead by this time, but the contents of the hoard do indeed more closely resemble ametalworker's with its broken pieces of metal. Or, perhaps the collection had been removed from temple service and was ear-marked for ritual burial, as was the case with out-dated and broken items that had been used in the Egyptian temples. If this were the case, then some temple official or workman is equally likely to have stolen the hoard. The presence of these two hoards so close to the Bubastis temple ismore suggestive of temple treasure stolen or hoarded than treasure given out as ?Geld" to Asiatic raiders. 27 Edgar, Le Musee Egyptien II, pi. XIV (JdE 30708). 28 E.B. Pusch, Tausret und Sethos II. in der Ramses-Stadt, in:Agypten und Levante 9, 1999, 101-109.

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty Siptah

Sety

19 87

a probable succeeded 6-year reign, c.1198 BC,29 and was by Rameses suggested Siptah. Once again, the origins of this king have been much disputed. Gardiner30 mother of Siptah might have been a Syrian concubine. long ago that the [then unknown] died after

It is now realised that a relief currently in the Louvre [E 26901] provides the name of the
that of his mother, hmt nswt Soteraja.31 Her name underlines prince, together with it is that, during Siptah's and fact Gardiner's this suspicions, explain why might reign, the was so come to much he have able the Near for from too, may chancellor, power, Bay, gain East. He boasted of having put Siptah on the throne of his father.32 As mentioned been Merenptah, in Kheb, earlier, Sety father Siptah's II or Amenmesse. is as yet uncertain: Petrie observed a king, that Amenmesse he was but could erected have a stele

at the temple of Sety I (LD III, 201c) inwhich Amenmesse

Although as brothers, now El Heybeh. Petrie suspected this reference Siptah that these might well took as his ka name Kha two citations indicate

?states that he was brought up

em Kheb, 'rising in Kheb'..."33 the two rulers indicated a link between father and son. Another clue

that they were

thatmight help solve the parentage dilemma is the hostile reaction of theDynasty 20 kings
of Sety II. Had Siptah been a son of Sety, there should be no reason the next dynasty should shun his memory when we know that Queen why particularly Tausret was at least once mentioned.34 The damnatio memoriae for Siptah thus encourages towards the successors us to think that he could have been Amenmesse's son.

If themummy35 labelled as that of King Siptah has been correctly identified, Siptahmust
have been a child show of about ten years 1.6 metres aquiline defect, of age when in height, he came a head to the throne. His mummified of thick, curly reddish-brown that he had suffered from from a woman remains that he was with

hair and a rather narrow, poliomyelitis. This physical

nose.36 His

left foot

showed

his questionable

father

and his descent

Both the relative dating and the absolute dating for this period have been for some time in a state of flux - see and R. Krauss, in: SAK 4,1976,161-199; id., in: SAK 5,1977, Osing, in: SAK 7,1979,253-271 131-174, and id., in:GM 45,1981, 27-33, especially 30. 30 A.H. Gardiner, in: JEA 44, 1958, 18 suggested that her name Su-tai-lja means ?a cutting" or ?little refined plant" (see n. 70 inDrenkhahn, Die Elephantine-Stele, 11). Schneider, in: ZAS 130,2003,140 this interpretation to Soteraja, a Canaanite name. 31 J.Vandier, in: RdE 23, 1971, 177 (see also Drenkhahn, Die Elephantine-Stele, 11, citing Vandier). 32 LD III, 202.C. (The citation inDrenkhahn, op.cit., is clearly a misprint.) 33 W.M.F. Petrie, A History of Egypt III, 1905, 121. 34 On a later occasion, a painted, wooden statue of Rameses VI was specifically singled out for offerings which had been abandoned since the time of the queen. The use of Tausret's name shows that her memory had not suffered damnatio memoriae on this occasion, at least. The record is contained in an unpublished papyrus, Pap. Turin 32 (translated inHelck, Materialien II, 197). The mummy thought to be that of Siptah shows a youth of perhaps sixteen years of age; he has a club foot and is thought to have suffered from poliomyelitis. See G.E. Smith, in: Catalogue General Anti 1912, 71; id., in: The Royal Mummies, quites Egyptiennes du Musee du Caire, Nos. 61051-61100, Duckworth reprint of the 1912 ed., 2000, 70ff. 36 71. Smith, The Royal Mummies, 35

29

88 V.G. Callender
of

SAK 32
the ruling classes of Egypt - a statement

his acceptance have made among Syrian origin might and for his need for insecure hence, perhaps, support Bay's statement usually made by the gods.37

extraordinary

Tausret's

Perhaps the boy was name was One".

regency as a consequence in need Ti-wsrt;

of this lineage, of a regent who was, her regency

she is sometimes

and certainly because of his age at Sety II's death, as usual, the chief wife of the deceased king. Her or Tausert/Tausret called ?Twosret" ?the Powerful was ti rpt rit n ti nb Great Regent of all the land.38

Her main

title during

A pair statue of Tausret and Siptah (Munich Glyptothek no. 122), typical of regency
a number of years ago by its cartouches chiselled out, was analysed statues,39 but with von as This limestone Beckerath.40 group statue shows the queen larger in size than Jiirgen

the king, whose dependence upon his regent is indicated by Siptah being depicted as a small child on the knees of his female protector. Significantly, it is the queen who is seated on the throne of Egypt: the young boy is seated on her knees and out of direct contact with
the throne. legs to such an extent that only traces of her queen's figure has been destroyed name was after revealed his back remain. Siptah's and part of her arm supporting The

cleaning.

Another
decoration image (PM

remark made by Gardiner might well be recalled here. In discussing

within one tomb he highlights to the goddess is named Isis, who Tausret's The goddess on this says: scene ?I give is, I feel, thee scene, where as Isis Siptah the great, of Re

the

of Maat 1/2,

an is presenting the god's mother and the years..". asking myself

Gardiner's

527). comment

the duration

perceptive:

?I cannot

help

whether Isis here does not symbolize Twosre in the act of bestowing the kingship on her
41 step-son Siptah." In support of Gardiner's on her knee, while of claim, there are, for example, hundreds of statuettes of Isis with Isis is assigned the epithet: ?She who places her son

Horus

at Dendera,

on the throne of his father" image Isis/Tausret Cleopatra

tomb the in Tausret's II, 36,9). Like Isis at Dendera, (Denderah ensures inheritance. the link between the father and his son's was later to adopt the role of Isis in a similar way with regard to

Queen/Pharaoh

37 J. van Dijk, in: The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 2000, 304. 38 17. She bases this on partially erased inscriptions in the Bilgai Stele Drenkhahn, Die Elephantine-Stele, in in: ZAS Taf. IV). Altenmuller's entrance inscription appears Gardiner, 50,1912,49f, (lines4,10,12 to have a similar initial phrasing (in: SAK 10, 1983, 21). 39 See Martin-Pardey, in:Nofret - die Schone, 30; V.G. Callender, in:Ancient and Modern perceptions of Female Sovereignty in Pharaonic Egypt, Shadow: the newsletter of the Traditional Cosmology Society 9, 1992,49-66. con J. von Beckerath, in: JEA 48,1962,70-74, in particular, 73; R. Drenkhahn (in: GM 43,1981,19) siders itmore likely that the larger figure represents the Chancellor, Bay, but von Beckerath (op.cit., 74) presents cogent reasons why this is unlikely to be the case. 41 Gardiner, in: JEA 44, 1958, 18. 40

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty

her son Caesarion between

19 89

Isis and Tausret

in the temple at Armant.42 There must surely have been some overt link tomb. vis a vis Siptah, here on this wall relief from Tausret's

Chancellor The

Bay other person

associated

with

He had been a King's

royal scribe

scribe and butler during the time of Sety II (ss nswt wdpw nswt posts that were frequently held by Syrians at this time.43 One

Siptah's

accession

to the throne was

the chancellor,

Bay.

and royal butler),

reference he made to himself was kr n pi

northern

ti mhy (a foreigner/visitor/suppliant

of the

be has suggested that this phrase might land). Following Cerny, Altenmuller or either as foreigner" land", the land concerned ?visitor from the northern interpreted or some to It is not too sensational either northern Lower land.44 foreign Egypt being of being a foreigner may have been due whether his mention - or some of the foreign queen who was Siptah's other relation such a relationship, it could explain why he mentions rationale give a convincing his to his being the mother. If there

wonder brother had

been

would and, furthermore, inscriptions would also explain why Siptah on the throne. Such a relationship so on the royal monuments. for dominant made Bay's scriptions Siptah images Under

in foreign origins to put for his efforts the officials who cut in

of the King Siptah, Bay attained his highest office mr sdiwt ntir dr.f- Treasurer r mr n ti dr.f- Great Chancellor Entire Land. Later on, he called himself sdiwt ri of the an as Entire Land (LD III, 202a) of Tausret's ironic echo title regent. Bay is perhaps in several inscriptions remembered the most power, relating to his extraordinary important

of these being on theAswan stele set up by Sety, theViceroy of Kush (LD III, 202c), and at Gebel es-Silsila (LD III, 202a). He is almost certainly represented in theUgaritic texts from theUrtenu archive (RS 86.230), from the time of Ammurapi, the lastking of Ugarit.45
The document comes from some Egyyptian correspondence found in that archive and is a

letter from a high official called Beya, Chief of the troops of the Great King, King of the
land of Egypt. Admittedly, these titles are not otherwise attested for Bay, but we have very was to this important person who, few references later on, and had his clearly punished not at the time status reviled. This title inconsistent with is elevated memory military Bay's and there As is no other known a final prop such a post in other person fulfilling to the argument, the name of Bay was uncommon records from in ancient this period. Egypt then.

J.-F. Champollion-le-Jeune, Monuments de l'Egypte et de laNubie II, 1845, pis. cxlvi, cxlvii, cxlviii; and LD, Abt. V; Cleopatra herself appears in pis. 59, 60, 62, 63, 64 and Texte IV, 3-11. 43 D.B. Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel inAncient Times, 1992,234. Indeed, Bay's position as butler might well indicate that he had come from a noble foreign family, for such positions at the Egyptian court were reserved for distinguished people (loc.cit.). 44 H. Altenmuller, in: SAK 19,1992, 30. The phrase comes from an ostrakon, CG 25766 (Catalogue of Hieratic Ostraca du Mus6e du Caire). See Cerny's later publication in: ZAS 93, 1966, 36-38. Bay's court name, Ramessu-kha-m-netjeru, is also suggestive of a foreign origin for this man. 45 I. Singer, A Political History of Ugarit, in: W.G. Watson/N. Wyatt (eds.), Handbook of Ugaritic Studies, Hd0 39, 1998, 713f.

42

90 V.G. Callender
Most of that Ugaritic letter is destroyed, so we

SAK 32
itwas about, but the

do not know what

Beya of the letter is surely the only person at the beginning of the 12thcentury BC who would be dictating letters to theUgaritic king. If Singer46 is right about the identity, then
a very precise the letter also provides terminus for the end of Ugarit, 193 BC. too, cl The status of the chancellor is also evident in the images that depicted him in usually some respectful attitude the same size as the king and queen. This was up until having - an occurrence. was owner that time like them, he the of a grave Moreover, extraordinary

in theValley of theKings [KV 13- PM 1/2,527]. The fact that his tomb bears great simila
the tombs of Siptah and Tausret gives a good indication of the chancellor's might.47 is unknown. our lack of knowledge in this matter, undoubted

rities with political

Bay was evidently influential, but towhat degree he actually assisted Siptah in attaining
the throne Despite Bay's

power in the land is also indicated by twomore significant records. The first is the cutting of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Although some favoured commoners (eg.
and Thuya, of Akhenaten) did have nurse, Satre/Ini, Yuya Hatshepsut's grandparents was burials tomb As Altenmiiller has demonstrated, the tomb there, Bay's extraordinary. showed close parallels with Tausret's tomb and, above all, was cut to the plan and dimen sions of a kingly monument.48 Further attestation of Bay's in Egyptian unique position comes an a from to Year from when he laid claim share in the 3, history inscription one was not a of another honour for who mortuary temple King Siptah unprecedented

member of the royal family. Altenmuller has suggested that itwas in this year that Bay
a vital discovery this matter, died.49 Regarding however, to the work of Pierre Grandet,50 Thanks two fragments been reunited. The While information the verso that this latest ostrakon of the ostrakon as sensational. recently been made. of a single ostrakon have now has revealed can only be described has

pigs, planks and papyrus workers from the Scribe

has a simple commodities to list referring an recto the announcement contains for the Deir el Medina rolls,51 of the Tomb, Paser:

(1) hi.t-sp 5 ibd 3 smw, sw 27. hrw \p]n \jj-t] {2)jr(w)-n ss Pi-sr n\y] pi h[r\j r-dd: (3)
smipr ?Year come
Bay."53

ri r.w.s hrw 5, third month to announce:

ri Biy*1 of Shemu, ?Pharaoh, day 27: This Life! Prosperity day, the scribe of the Tomb, Paser, has and Health! has killed the great enemy,

46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53

Singer, in:HdO 39,1998, 715. in: SAK 19, 1992, 27f. Altenmuller, H. Altenmuller, in: SAK 21,1994, 1-18. H. Altenmuller, in: GM 171, 1999, 13-18. P. Grandet, in: BIFAO 200,2000, 339-345. As itwas picturesquely described in the abstract of BIFAO 200, 2000, 581. Grandet, in: BIFAO 200, 2000, 341. Author's translation of the text inGrandet, in: BIFAO 200, 2000, 341.

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty While

19 91

the pharaoh is not named, Siptah would undoubtedly have been the king res

ruler did not become for Sethnakhte only reigned for two years, while Twosret ponsible, and Bay until the seventh year of Siptah (and dated all her records from Year 7 onward),

outlived King Sety II, so Sety could not be the king concerned. There is little doubt,
therefore, moreover, to the Deir workers decorating that this ostrakon only el Medina the most name; Bay. ?Bay" was not a common were are ever sent in that named the messages important people there was an urgent reason why the In the case of Bay, workers. at that time excavating and for they were about his execution, refers to Chancellor the of 5 of

should his

know tomb

was sent to stop that work. This message Valley. that Bay had died before Siptah. Moreover, evidence Thus, there is now unequivocal on this ostraka has also had important consequences for our understanding information in the Kings' I (75.1-79.12). By demonstrating that Bay was executed during Year

Pap. Harris

Siptah, Grandet has shown thatBay could not possibly have taken the throne after the death
as has been previously It is also clear now that the Syrian of Tausret, assumed.54 su in the Harris papyrus cannot have been Bay, as Drenkhahn and others have because covery, Bay the alleged died before Tausret even came to the throne. As rebellion named Ir supposed, a consequence of this dis could not have been directed

against Bay Schneider has

or his

against the forces of Sethnakhte Thomas of Grandet's either. As a consequence supporters, discovery, an earlier a new argument, now suggested idea that the Irsu endorsing has undergone alterations since Drenkhahn's

mentioned above was more likely to be King Siptah himself.55 Thus the history relating to
the latter years of the 19thDynasty important major study of this period. Yet one other reconsideration to CG 25766. Posener This ostrakon of years was ago.56

of the ostraka material the subject

this time referring might be made, a for discussion stimulating by the late Georges

a number

CG 25766 had been found by Davies in the Valley of the Kings in 1905/6 and was The first linewas mutilated, but Cerny was able to decipher the name published by Cerny ,57
even have been an autograph of Bay, perhaps deposited Cerny thought that itmight of a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. during an inspection not to tomb-building: it was a The ostrakon, did contain material however, relating text reads: ?... Bay, he says 'Come ...[to me, Amon and save me]'.58 After the prayer whose of Bay.

initial appeal to the god, Bay has added: T am a foreigner/visitor/suppliant59 from the
54 But not Altenmuller, in: GM 171, 1999, 18. 55 Schneider, in: ZAS 130, 2003, 135-141. 56 G. Posener, in: J.Assmann et al. (eds.), Fragen an die altagyptische Literatur, Gs Otto, 1977,385-397. 57 J. Cerny/A.H. Gardiner, Hieratic Ostraca 1,1957, 7, 3. See also Cerny's later publication in: ZAS 93, 1966,36-38. 58 The words in brackets represent a lacuna, but they are characteristic of prayers known elsewhere that say, ?Come tome, Amen, and save me in the year of [my] affliction." [P.Anastasi IV, 10,1], according
59 to Posener, For 388. op.cit., a discussion on this word and other literary implications, see Posener, op.cit., 389f.

92 V.G. Callender
northern on...'". land. Come The text is not and allow so much me to see Ne (Thebes) as unreadable

SAK 32
the beautiful. When that I look

towards the bottom edge of the incomplete he said that the ostrakon. the sentence because by adding ?its women" completed Cerny was can mean us hm also let certain.60 ?wife", (The sign remember.) sign This is a strange piece of literature. As Posener remarked,61 the wish to sojourn in a great texts, but it is absurd to write out a prayer to city is a theme well known from Ramesside Amen on the West Bank, when all Bay needed to do was take the ferry, cross the Nile and

be in the city he longed for within a very short time! While Posener then pursued other
avenues present by a frivolous for the understanding article, although most of this prayer, important and he goes these discussions is his suggestion on to suggest that itwas are not germane to this that this ostrakon was prompted not written that while by Bay this conclusion at all,

motivation,62 but by a Theban writer who was mocking Bay.63 He adds seem surprising, we must bear inmind that it is conjectural

d'un motif serieux attribue a Bay pour justifier possibility ne sans cesser pour autant d'etre une invention texte serait petit plus une simple moquerie locale. La raison qui aurait incite son auteur a l'ecrire serait a chercher dans peut-etre l'emoi provoque de se rendre a par la nouvelle que Bay se trouvait dans l'impossiblilite Thebes Vallee ou on aurait des Rois."64 pris 1'habitude de le voir venir pour inspecter les travaux dans

may la and ?on ne peut pas exclure sa supplication. Dans ce cas, le

la

are to view this text as a real cri de cour and to to Posener, my inclinations Contrary as Posener that Bay may not have been able to revisit Thebes, above. suspect suggested was carried out according Now to the king's wishes, that we know Bay's this execution prayer may may have Posener that was awaiting him. He prior to the trial and execution - as been inspecting in the excavations the royal valley both Cerny and came return to to court. when for him he orders (or some friend suggested Maybe have been written indeed there as a votive

of his) hastily scrawled out the prayer before Bay left the scene, perhaps leaving the
involved is reminiscent of the process (Such a scenario with the oracles of the gods.) Whether this interpretation is valid or not, this small historical record from the time of the man in question is both evocative and fascinating and I suspect ostrakon prayer. that its meaning is far less frivolous than Posener considered it to be. in so Young Siptah died soon after Bay, having reigned almost six years;65 he was buried were no other male KV 47. Apparently, II remaining, there descendants of Rameses Tausret then assumed the titles of an Egyptian monarch.

60
61 62 63 64 Posener, Posener,

Cerny,
Posener, Posener,

in: ZAS 93, 1966, 37, n. 11.

op.cit., op.cit., op.cit., op.cit., 392. 394. 395. 396.

65

We know this from an inscription inWadi Haifa - see Drenkhahn, Die Elephantine-Stele,

14, 80.

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty

Tausret's Tausret's those when already The on one Mistress titles titles come from several sites and record both those

19 93

of her

status

as wife

and have

she had become

first regent,

then ruler. Both and

Petrie66

and Drenkhahn67 to repeat

documented

the instances

of her name

it is unnecessary

them here,

but the following notes highlight themore interesting details.

in her tomb (and of her title of King's Great Wife as as Two Lands and the of the well famous dated ostrakon, J 72.452), titles, Lady are all common titles of Ta-mery, which of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Mistress queen retains several instances

for themajor wives of New Kingdom kings. The title of Great Regent of all the land has
already been mentioned. In the temple at Amada,68 as well as God's Great Wife, Amen was inNubia, Wife. a damaged inscription This title of chief priestess gives her the title of King's with the god in association it considerable wealth and one of the may have

not only ritually prestigious, but also brought with therefore influence lifetime. This title might also provide during the queen's reasons for Sety's elevation to hmt nswt wrt: the Amen of Tausret priesthood

been expected to provide its support for their chief priestess and Sety II is likely to have
needed Sety's Tausret's Karnak included favoured that support if he had indeed been ?out in the cold" during Amenmesse's reign. wife Takhat does not carry the title of hmt ntr.69 It is of interest to see that one of later epithets, triad of gods; wife ?Beloved it also her of Mut" recalls the is present on this occasion and it hints at the who customarily image of Queen Nefertari, - as was Tausret did. As Nefertari the most

of is that Tausret was the favoured wife implication status during her time as either consort or regent, this elevated sacerdotal Sety II. Despite on which on monuments there are few occasions Tausret of either Sety II or appeared II, the Siptah.

that epithet within of Rameses

cartouche

On a purely hypothetical
Takhat

level, given that the title of King's Great Wife belonged to

tomb took place during the second initially, and given that the cutting of Tausret's we can of detect of the king here the favouritism year Sety's reign (Year 2,1 peret, day 8), towards a junior wife? Takhat was not honoured in this way; indeed, we do not even know she was buried.70 Or, was Sety II doing what Thutmose I did when he began his own

where

66

67 24f. Drenkhahn, Die Elephantine-Stele, 68 H. Gauthier, Le temple d'Amada, Temple immerges, 1913, 109. 69 This title may have been given to Tausret because she was a king's daughter; such women were the favoured recipients of the office of God's Wife. In Tausret's case, the title of sit nswt is not known perhaps due to the paucity of monuments prior to her reign. Takhat, however, did have the title of King's Daughter, so itwould be surprising if a non-royal queen held the title instead of her. 70 as was once thought, and no other tomb for a queen of She was not buried in the tomb of Amenmesse,
this name is known, but see n. 12.

Petrie, Six Temples at Thebes, pis. XVI, XVI. Both the si Rr and sit Rr names are present collection of material.

in this

94 V.G. Callender
dynasty? Ahmose Thutmose,

SAK 32

to a princess and the father of two sons, took his sister already married even though she was not a princess. to be his chief wife, Tausret's title of Great Regent of the Entire Land appears very seldom during the time as protector of Siptah, but Drenkhahn71 has pointed out that there are traces of

she acted

this phrase on the Bilgai Stele. The title is also found in an incomplete state at theAmada What the title implied in terms of temple, at the top of the inscription referring to her.72
actual duties and powers we do not know, regency but the regency to this period the powerful She took of time. That lasted until Year statue already mentioned belongs the Wadi Haifa 6, taking into account her regency into a monarchy.

inscription of Siptah (BAR II, 650). Then, after the death of her protege Siptah and with
chancellor already dead, Tausret changed

the names,

Horus: Ki nht mryMi% nb rnm nswt mi Tm, ?Strong Bull: Beloved of Maat, the Lord
beautiful An of appearance, the ruler like Atum". that was used was Ki nht mry Mirt. These forms are that of Rameses II and Thutmose the Bull name following I; Tausret's clearly masculine, husband's Bull name was mry Rr, but on two occasions the name mry Sety II substituted abbreviated form of this name

Mirt.73

Nebty: She

is the only

grgt Kmt wcfhiswt, ruler to have

Egypt and conquering ?Founding this particular name, which might were

the Foreigners."74 reflect incursions

into Egypt,

if not some unpopularity of Asiatics at the time. As the Elephantine Stele of Sethnakhte
was to emphasise, 20. Also Dynasty blamed for disorder in Egypt at the commencement of name is the between Tausret's and the significant Nebty Nebty similarity name of Sety II. His third choice of Nebty name was mkKmtwcfhiswt so once [CG 1198], was an to her deceased allusion husband. again, Tausret calling up Asiatics Horus: not recorded.

Golden

King

of (nswt bity, or Throne name): sit Rr mry 'Imn, Daughter of Upper and Lower Egypt of Amen; of Northern or, with the epithet: hnwt ti mhy, Mistress Re, beloved Egypt. Von name. six variations of this this Beckerath75 other is found records, again provides Among as part of the name for her mortuary is a regular title for a queen temple. The epithet
consort.

71 17. Drenkhahn, Die Elephantine-Stele, 72 Gauthier, Le temple d'Amada, pi. 21. 73 J. von Beckerath, in: LA III, 551. 74 KRI IV, 352.9. Curiously, her Nebty name is claimed to be unknown in: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt III, 108). In fact, her Nebty name is preserved on the Tell ed Dab'a statue of the ruler.
75 Loc.cit.

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty

Son

19 95

often supplemented ?chosen of ?Tausret" by stp nMwt of Re (Birth name): Ti-Wsrt, as Son of Re, at other times it this title is written Mut" within the cartouche.76 Sometimes

isDaughter of Re. (The back pillar and the left-hand column of theHeliopolis
the si Rr masculine Beckerath78 title, whilst other six variations provides are accompanied (male) by ?Beloved el Ahmar)." As with other pharaohs, between male Tausret epithets of this name. of Hathor, on Some Mistress this

statue have

are feminine.77) Von sculpture of this name of the representations of the Red Mountain (i.e. Kom she held

is entitled

Lord

of Appearances.

In addition, her

both the title, Lady of the Two Lands and also Lord of the Two Lands, thus continuing the
vacillation Most and female titles which can be detected among inscriptions. of the regal names chosen the head is missing) sandstone the epithet, beloved by Tausret are to be found statue from the Heliopolis Lady on an exquisite region.79 For is added. (but damaged some of these The statue is

names,

of Hathor,

of the Red Mountain

identical in style to the black granite statue of Rameses II inTurin and is just a little smaller
than should life size.80 To date, be noted there are no known statues of this queen in male guise, but it and queens were frequently that kings and Nefertiti the time of Akhenaten onwards to the clothing pharaoh, worn by Rameses her figure to be wearing similar shown dress that is why Tausret's in his Turin statue. Although she

clothing from in the statue is identical wears

the gear of a male monuments }s

however,

is feminine.

Tausret One

of the most

important

discoveries

made

by Altenmuller

was

that, unlike

any other

queen,81 Tausret's original tomb (KV 14)was never destined to be located in theValley of the Queens but, right from the beginning, was destined for theValley of theKings - even
when comes her status was from only that of hmt nswt wrt tomb. An ostrakon (King's the queen's [J 72.452] for this claim Great Wife). Evidence some work records the date on which

on her tomb began in the time of Siptah. Itwas thought from this record that this was the
76 Eg. Qantir foundation block (KRI IV, 352, 3, no. 19) and Heliopolis statue (KRI IV, 352, 6, no. 20). 77 H.S.K. Bakry, in: Revista degli Studi Oriental 46,1971, pi. VII. R. Drenkhahn, (in: GM 43,1981,21) considers this to be amistake, but inmy opinion, it is not. The writing of Tausret's throne name in her mortuary temple deliberately deceives the viewer into thinking the name ismasculine. See also n. 80 in this current article. Moreover, on the Bilgai Stele, the scene at the top represents amale pharaoh (see J. von Beckerath, in: JEA 48, 1962, 70, n. 7). Like Sebekneferu and Hatshepsut, therefore, Tausret changed her identity from time to time. 78 J. von Beckerath, Handbuch der agyptischen Konigsnamen, MAS 20, 1984, 243. 79 Bakry, in:Revista degli Studi Orientalni 46, 1971,17-26. 80 The design of the queen's cartouches also mimicked those of Rameses II - so much so, that Petrie thought at first he was dealing with a building erected by that king Petrie, Six Temples at Thebes, 15. 81 At first sight, itmight be thought that Tomb 55 had been intended for Queen Tiye, as was the earlier opinion, but Marc Gabolde's closely argued analysis of Tomb 55 does give compelling reasons for rejecting Tiye as the intended owner of this tomb. (See M. Gabolde, D'Akhenaton a Toutankhamon, Collection de l'lnstitut d'Archeologie et d'Histoire de l'Antiquite 3, 1999, 231-276.)

96 V.G. Callender
first occasion of such work. However, tomb Altenmtiller82

SAK 32
has shown that Graffito A, at the left

that the grave of the queen had (KV 14), indicates to the throne, and was not first initiated inYear accession already existed prior to Siptah's 2 of Siptah, as previously Instead, work on the tomb was first started in Year 2, thought. the first month of prt, day 8, during the reign of Sety II.83 Later records have shown that work again muller on the tomb was recommenced own in the time of Tausret's has also revealed in the time of Siptah, when Tausret was regent, and carried out by Alten analysis reign.84 The architectural that the tomb underwent five building four of which took phases,

side of the entrance

to Tausret's

place during Tausret's floruit and one in the time of Sethnakhte/Rameses

In the time of Sety II and also during Siptah's reign, work had been

III.85
on a tomb

conducted

for Tausret (KV 14) in theValley of theKings. Sety's own tomb (KV 15) lay near hers, on the opposite side of the tomb of Thutmose I (KV 38). The careful archaeological investi
of the tomb86 has resulted amount in an extraordinary of knowledge about the gation structure and the all-important construction has already stages of the tomb. As Altenmuller ascent to power is reflected in the different ?Tausret's observed, [of her phases building tomb]."87 the earlier phases had seen the creation of a queenly tomb, it seems that in Although own on Years 6 and 7 of Tausret's and lengthening her own reign, further work widening no doubt in consideration tomb was carried out of her new status as ruler. The walls were widened to royal hall. sarcophagus is now dimensions and the tomb was extended and provided with a royal

Both Sety II and Siptah were represented in the decoration of her tomb.Although Siptah
in her tomb decoration, earlier historians only named on two occasions thought that she had been his wife.88 This decoration to a second scheme and, as phase gave way Altenmuller has shown, the representations of Siptah were then altered into those of Sety II, inwhat Her appears to have burial a plan by Tausret a joint burial with her husband. to construct an chamber received extension corridor and the sarcophagus hall been

original

82 in: SAK 21, 1994, 38. Altenmuller, 83 in: SAK 11,1984, 37f.; idem., The Tomb of Tausert and Setnakht, in:K.R. Weeks (ed.), Altenmuller, The Treasures of the Valley of the Kings, 2001, 228. Altenmiiller's reports on the tomb can be found in several volumes: eg. Altenmuller, in: SAK 21, 1994, 27 and Abb. 2; see also id., Bemerkungen zu den neu gefundenen Daten imGrab der Konigin Tawosre (KV 14) im Tal der Konige von Theben, in: (ed.), After Tutankhamun, Research and Excavation in the Royal Necropolis at Thebes, 1992, 141-164; id., The Tomb of Tausert and Setnakht, in:Weeks (ed.), The Treasures of the Valley of the Kings, 222-231. 84 in:Reeves (ed.), After Tutankhamun, 141-164, especially 159-161. Altenmuller, 85 in: Reeves (ed.), After Tutankhamun, 159f. Altenmuller, 86 For these archaeological references, see n. 44 above. There is not space enough in this article to deal with these complex changes as they deserve, and this outline merely serves to draw the reader's atten
tion to the overall results.

CN.

Reeves

87 in: Weeks (ed.), Valley Altenmuller, 88 Gardiner, in: JEA 44, 1958, 21.

of the Kings,

228.

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty

mentioned above. It is also

19 97

a sarcophagus for Sety II was thought that, at that same time, have Should a second into her tomb and the tomb was redecorated. moved sarcophagus that idea the this would been in the tomb only to be subsequently removed, Sety II support had at one time shared a double burial with Tausret.89 Later removed scholars on, while consider there was a brief fifth was one sarcophagus it is claimed in which phase, was Most two removed? But which of the sarcophagi

the other was

altered.

to Tausret, 14 to belong but Altenmuller inKV the present sarcophagus that was used that it is more has argued persuasively sarcophagus likely that itwas Sety's was that Tausret's He adds that it is therefore sarcophagus likely that it by Sethnakhte.90 successor. was moved by Sethnakhte's tomb are known: one of these is a limestone block objects other than Tausret's of name that G. A. Gaballa the remains of her with reports came from the excavations is it comes from a building, the nature of which in 1916. Clearly, C. Fisher at Mitrahinah Several unknown, and begins with a htp di nswt formula Itmentions ka of the female pharaoh.91 the royal but which on behalf an offering of Ptah South-of-his-wall to the ka of the queen

regnant. Another block was found in a sakkiyya in the region of Ezbet Ziz in the Tell ed
Dab'a A discovery, giving us further evidence activities of Tausret's during the reign of Sety II, has been found at Qantir. Two limestone This is the first time that from the remains of a gateway were discovered.93 fragments name contrast to at In has been detected Tausret's Queen Tausret, however, Sety II Qantir. away from this latter find, iswell-represented monument The new here in the finds from Qantir,94 and it is clear that the king had founded so far, no date for his records has been revealed. although, is part of the architrave some region.92 short distance a new

royal two fragments

discovery stables that were

smaller piece an inscription identified

to one of the found adjacent of a doorway, uncovered by Edgar Pusch and his team a few years ago. There are a part of the same block. The pieces are not contiguous. The each evidently of the remains of Sety II. The larger block contains the cartouches contains referring to Queen Tausret and part of the depiction of the queen. Evidently,

the block had featured a relief of the queen standing behind the king. The two figures were
just above their heads. Only a partial section of this relief by their titles engraved of Tausret's remains. It bears the top of a cartouche with the beginning name, together with crown worn of the queen. The king is not represented the ?H>(y-feather decoration above the to the usual kingly titles are at all, but his cartouches and part of the royal formula attached preserved. 89 H. Altenmuller, Bemerkungen zu den Konigsgrabern des Neuen Reiches, in: SAK 10, 1983, 42. 90 Ibid., see especially pp. 40-43. 91 and in Cairo Museum, in:BIFAO 71,1972,134 G.A. Gaballa, Some Nineteenth Dynasty Monuments XXVI. pi. 92 in:Agypten und Levante 9, 1999, 109, n. 17. Pusch, Tausret und Sethos II. in der Ramses-Stadt,
93 Pusch, 94 Pusch, op.cit, op.cit., 101-109. eg. 102.

98 V.G. Callender
To assist

SAK 32

our understanding in Abb. 4 of his article a of the scene, Pusch has given about this reconstruction of the door lintel. What is significant schematic reconstruction name has been surmounted offered is that Tausret's by the sun disc with uraei by Pusch to in the middle of with the ruler). These be positioned images appear (usually associated her two above that the sun disc would have been positioned Pusch argues inscription. is of course possible, the hypothetical cartouches of the queen but, while this hypothesis chiselled is not actually present. cartouche Instead, the stone has been deeply right-hand the area below cartouche Should the sun. seems to me to drawing Pusch has offered two need to be be the reconstruction correct, however, questions the wife of the king have two cartouches (queens who are simply in the reconstruction The double

away from

be very unusual. asked:

and, secondly, why has the royal insignia only one cartouche) sun been positioned over of the winged the queen's cartouche? directly a little on the first question, To elaborate if they are queens only have two cartouches As far as we know, Tausret was not a ruler during the lifetime of her hus queens-regnant.

firstly, why would consorts have traditionally

band, Sety II, and it is thought that she assumed the titles of a pharaoh only after the death
of Siptah. Siptah's At Amada (see n. 68), she carries only the single cartouche of a queen during reign. sun marks out a ruler's names, itmay, the second question, while the winged Regarding from time to time, include a short text giving the name and title of a queen.95 That Tausret is more rather than a ruler, is indicated by her double likely to be shown here as a wife, feather headdress. This would usually mean that only one cartouche would be provided, not

two. One would expect, therefore, to find an inscription of the king, followed by the usual
mention damaged visional. Another of ?the Great royal Wife", followed nature of the relief, however, to the extremely Due by her cartouche. at comment be this stage should all regarded as pro

known

now known text to be hers, is a fragmentary and much monument, damaged as the Bilgai Stele,96 found some 14 kms east of Sebennytos. records The inscription It may have been carved the inauguration of an ipt for Amen-of-Setepenre-Merenptah. the stele is so badly damaged however, during the early part of her reign. Unfortunately, formula and the name of any details other than the provisioning saw to the establishment of the who of the stele. The importance the fortress commander some in this region by further monument erected is that it is an indicator of stele, however, that one cannot determine the queen. IIfrom South Saqqara - see A. Labrousse, Les Pyramides Eg. the gate lintel of Queen Ankhesenpepy des Reines, une nouvelle necropole a Saqqara, 1999, 152 and 153; Queen Wedjebten has the vulture with shen ring flying over her titles (Jequier, Les pyramides des reines, 16, fig. 9; Queen Iput has her titles below those of Neferkare Pepy II covered by thewinged sun-disc (ibid., 42, fig. 22; queen Nefer tary stands below the winged sun and the God's Wife, Neferure, stands below a single-winged sun (L. Troy, Patterns of queenship in ancient Egyptian myth and history, 1986, fig. 49a and b). 96 A.H. Gardiner, in: ZAS 50, 1912, 49-57. 95

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty

Although temple was remains Lower Estate Edwin Petrie found a number of foundation

19 99
mortuary

only of the building

discernible

to the archaeologist The Mansion of Millions itself.97

at the site, Tausret's deposits of its foundations; because of Years

of Re Meryet-Amen, Egypt, Daughter of Amen lay south of the Ramesseum, Brock, in a personal memo to me,

of the King the Son of Re Tausret-chosen

nothing of Upper and in the

of Mut

on the plain outside the Valley of the Kings. more out this has pointed that, significantly,

temple lies due north of thememorial temple ofMerenptah,

monarch in considerable esteem. The building

implying thatTausret held that

began after the deaths of

of this monument

both Bay and Siptah, but it is dubious just how much of itwas built in the lifetime of
Tausret. to that of the temple of Merenptah, Its plan is somewhat in design but similar - now inches trenches remain. Two limestone bricks -12x6 today, only the foundation name in the Metropolitan Museum of the temple. They were of Art inNew York carry the in the foundation deposit,98 together with some faience plaques and models of

discovered food

offerings. Three deposits of precious metal items from the era of Tausret are known. The first two come from two separate deposits of gold and silver serving vessels hoards, most likely

from Bubastis (modern Tell Basta, in the Delta), a much plundered site. Some of these
vessels contain the names manship,99 of the cartouches indicative of Sety of continued bear II and Tausret trading the double contacts and some bear evidence beyond Egypt during of a king. The third set of precious cartouches of Syrian work their time. Some

of Tausret

items was found by Ayrton in the flooded remains of KV 56. (For earlier discussion on
these hoards, see p. 86).

Other historical data InYear 2 of Siptah, the first sarcophagus for theGreat Royal Wife Tausret was started100,
but this had to be removed from the tomb when Tausret gave orders for a regal sarcophagus sarco by a

to be made. Subsequently, in excavating the tomb of Chancellor Bay (KV 13) in 1987,101
Altenmuller phagus. Made discovered from among granite, the rubbish the in the tomb the lid of Tausret's the chest) had been queenly usurped lid (and presumably

prince named Amenherkhopeshef. on the lid (see fig. 2) consists The relief decoration in of a queenly image of a woman a lappet wig with her wrists crossed and thumbs uppermost. sleeves She wears theoretically that are decorated with the blue lotus flower linked together and a wesekh collar lies above these. Various Traces gods of her vulture decorate the lower cap can be seen lid. part of her body and the sides of the coffin in the legs of the vulture goddess that still rise above

97 Petrie, Six Temples at Thebes, 13-16, plans XXII and XXVI. 98 Ibid., pis. XVI, XVII. The deposits contained wine dockets from the time of Sety II. 99 See W. Hayes, Scepter of Egypt II, rev. edn. 1990, 358f. 100 in: SAK 10,1983, 39. Altenmuller, 101 in: SAK 21, 1994, 4 and Abb. 2 on p. 5. Altenmuller,

100 V.G. Callender

SAK 32

the top of her head, but her wig had been altered on the left side into a princely lock of hair for the prince who usurped her sarcophagus. Only the circular hole where the usual vulture
headpiece would have been inserted remains. Tausret's name has been removed in all but

one place: the foot end of the lid.

s sarcophagus, which had previously been the cover Fig. 2: The cover of Amenherkhopeshef in: SAK 21, 1994, 5, Abb. 2) for Tausret's sarcophagus (after: H. Altenmuller,

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty

19 101

The lid displays the figure asmummiform with stylistic divisions represented by lateral
and vertical mummy bands. On either side of Tausret's head, the mummified ram-headed in each claw, and the shuty feathers is depicted with wings outspread for Tausret's head. In the spaces right and left of Tausret's elbows, protection providing on his shrine, his stand with the imy-wt symbol Anubis is shown recumbent with flagellum form of the sun-god is in front of him. shown with wings are paired on each as a mummiform stands Anubis and Selket are In the panel next to these images the goddesses Neith to the goddesses, In the panel parallel extended. the four sons of Horus side of the main vertical band. Below them, separated by a lateral band, figure facing Horus as amummified figure. Osiris with his

fetish on each side of him flanks those gods in the panels on either side of Anubis and
Horus. Below this lateral band, the orientation of the carvings is inverted. Two wedjat eyes

have below them kneeling figures of Isis andNephthys. An image of the goddess of the east is in the lower left panel and the goddess of the west in the lower right panel.
Undulating There really around

a ka image on the lid - with added safety in theAfterlife.

are very very few queenly It differs special. sarcophagi quite

the edge of the lid is theMehen

snake

to provide

the queen

it is surely

so this one is from the 19thDynasty, preserved from those preceding it and those that substantially

followed and, while it derives its characteristic bandage divisions from earlier lids (such as that of Queen Nefertari), its human effigy and array of gods is not found among any other female royal sarcophagi of the 19th Dynasty.102 The distribution of the godly figures within the panels look forward to the coffin decorations of the 19th, 20th and 21stDynasties,
so it provides periods. Tausret become the essential link between the 19th Dynasty models and those of the later

as her own all of Siptah's she had only just accepted regnal length, although as a reigning queen, she promoted sole ruler late in Year 6.103 Perhaps, the legend as regent who became of Siptah as a crown prince and herself ruler after his rightful it is not impossible death.104 Alternatively, the reign of that Tausret may have absorbed

Siptah (as Horemheb had done with the Amarna pharaohs) in a bid for legitimacy that linked her with her husband, Sety II.All the circumstances of Siptah's reign indicate that
to his claim for the throne; the attitude of the Dynasty 20 rulers impediments seems to this motive for This bid for been the have merely emphasises legitimacy point.105 own tomb, to the cartouches the alteration of Siptah into those of Sety II within Tausret's his tomb to and this is assuredly for transporting the body of her husband from the motive
hers.

there were

like to thank Edwin Brock for pointing out to me that lid of Merenptah has similar bands dividing the decoration. 103 Eg. oCG 25293, where a date in IV. Shemu of Year 8 is recorded. Tausret's earliest recorded date as ruler is from Year 6. 104 in: SAK 10, 1983,43. Altenmuller, 105 the basic problem throughout the years after As argued by T. Schneider, in: ZAS 130,2003,141-143, was legitimacy. Merenptah Iwould

102

102 V.G. Callender

Several dated

SAK 32

of these being recorded for the queen are known, the majority inscriptions of those in her tomb; much of Altenmuller's work has been concerned with the explication no the reign of other major historical information concerning inscriptions.106 We know of as statue treasure the Tausret. Tausret the three the of hoards, mortuary pharaoh, Only temple reign noted deposits as a sovereign. above and the references mentioned on the Bilgai Stele attest to her

Commentary In Drenkhahn's each helping Given

to have coexisted Tausret, Bay and Siptah seemed opinion, the other to stay in power.107 A major support for Drenkhahn's

in harmony, theory is the

fact that Bay died before the other two, but still shared a mortuary temple with Siptah.
no can no longer be maintained: 1864, this assumption report on O.Ifao once have convicted criminal would share a temple with a king. While the temple might were under the had that purpose, it is clear that Bay's discovered foundation deposits Grandet's floor,108 where

to erase signs of they could easily have been overlooked by those seeking so pithily his presence. Above floor level, the so-called that were ?Turin dockets" - now attest to the fact that, as late as Year 4, Bay was still analysed by Altenmuller a no to western overt of that cult in After this there is Thebes. time, sign sending supplies remains. We may thus have to go back to the earlier views held by historians viz that Bay was a man of powerful for some character who, reason unknown, was able to manipulate both Tausret and Siptah until he was removed. As to who gave the orders to whom, we may suspect, but we cannot prove that Tausret was the shared mortuary cult among the other initiating restored force, for Siptah was to peace still a minor.

The founder king of the 20th Dynasty, Sethnakhte, liked to display himself as one who
Egypt and harmony after the reign of Tausret. He certainly seems to have

distorted events in his claim that a hated Syrian named Irsu had been put down by the
some years ago that this Syrian identity must have Egyptian champion. Gardiner suggested been Bay, and this suggestion was later strengthened by Drenkhahn's study of the Elephan we tine Stele. Now that that Chancellor know died in Year 5 of Siptah's Bay certainly we can no that view. The also maintain ostrakon Grandet reign, longer pieced together by the absence of any trace of burial in KV 13. As Siptah then ruled at least a year explains more two after Bay's and since Tausert death, years after that, the Papyrus Harris reigned a rebellion account of Sethnakhte the Syrian Irsu and subsequently mounting defeating cannot a political distorting as referring to Chancellor be justified role prior to Sethnakhte's accession history and using a Active Syrian there another Syrian who played Bay. Was to the Egyptian throne? Or, was Sethnakhte as an excuse for seizing the throne?

106 See especially Altenmuller's article in:Reeves 107 52f. Drenkhahn, Die Elephantine-Stele, 108 Petrie, Six Temples at Thebes, 17.

(ed.), After Tutankhamun,

147-161.

2004 Queen Tausret and the end of Dynasty

Sethnakhte's own reign was not much

19 103

son usurped Tausret's of his father. He must demonstrated most

that is why his longer than two years perhaps into those her figures and transforming tomb, erasing her cartouches too. has As Altenmuller the queen's have desecrated burial, Hartwig the sarcophagus within KV 14 ismore likely to have be

persuasively,

longed originally to Sety II than to Tausret. Despite the length of this article, yet one other footnote to history might be added. A
limestone ostrakon with

Ramesside
metaphorical is a rather catalogue

? period of time perhaps Dynasty 20 and perhaps might shed a little light,
or otherwise, crude sketch on the last days of Tausret's (fig. 3) reign. The picture below that was made from the of the essential parts of that ostrakon

a drawing

in red paint

is now

in Cairo Museum.

It comes

from

the

of an exhibition.109

Fig. 3: Author's line drawing of the upper section of the ostrakon; the lower, unrepresented section has scenes of men engaged in hand-to-hand - die Schone, 1985, 181). (after the photograph in:Nofret The chariots the base scene, which firing line shown arrows is unfortunately at each other. in this sketch, damaged

fighting

on the top right area, shows two people in but below of I have the ostrakon omitted, (Other parts are found on two warriors and further scenes of warfare

the original.) The commentary is an Egyptian

accompanying The

this photograph commentator

in the ?Nofret"

catalogue

interprets

the

scene as the goddess Astarte (on the left) fighting against an opponent (on the right) who
pharaoh. catalogue observes that the artist has shown

Astarte coming to help in the political collapse that occurred at the end of the end of the

109 Schone: die Frau im alten Agypten", 1984,181: photograph Exhibition-catalogue Munich ?Nofret?die of Ostrakon CG 25125 and commentary. The ostrakon measures 25cms in height and is 38cms in breadth. It comes from KV 9 and has been dated to Dynasty 20.

104 V.G. Callender

Ramesside struggle costume era. One that Tausret and headdress could, had however, to face view the scene

SAK 32
as a symbolic of the interpretation wears here the reign, for ?Astarte" it is certainly inexplicable that the

at the end of her queen, and

of an Egyptian as has been

goddess should be fighting against an Egyptian male pharaoh on the right.Whether this
sketch is an allegory, to discover surprising to say, but itwould not be I am not competent assumed, that the artist was thinking of Tausret when he drew this picture.