 Text by Beketaten (Tjia Sithathor) and Ankhie the eldest daughter of Queen Tiye and pharaoh Amenhotep III and the elder sister of Akhenaten. My name means “Daughter of Amun”. My brother Crown Prince Thutmose died before taking the throne. I had five known sisters by my royal parents; Henut-Taneb, Isis, Nebetah, and Beketaten. Although it appears I was the *“heiress princess” there is no evidence that I was one of the wives of my little brother, Akhenaten. His chief wife Nefetiti appears to have been his cousin and a niece to Queen Tiye. I was my father's favorite daughter and he elevated me to as special position in his court, King's Chief Daughter. Later in year 30 of my father's reign, I became one of her father's queens, I received the title “Great Wife of the King” even though my mother the Queen was still alive. Even with this lofty title that I possessed with her mother I never took precedence over Tiye. My sisters Isis and Henut-Taneb also married their father. Many feel Queen Tiye herself encouraged her husband to marry us. Some feel these marriages were symbolic of the goddess Hathor and the Goddess' relationship to her father, husband; as daughter and mother of the God Ra. I possessed my own household palace and estates. I am a possible candidate as the mother of Smenkhkare and Tutankhamun but there is no evidence that suggests I bore her father-husband any children. One of my father's high officials named, Huy, retired to my estate as my “High Steward". Huy is also known as Amenhotep son of Hapu. I am often seen playing the sistrum before my parents. Many of my images show me wearing the lotus crown with royal cobra or gazelle at the brow accompanied by my signature short wig. Some have suggested I was the God's Wife of Amun during Amenhotep's reign. Several objects and cartouches have been found bearing my name the most famous are two wooden chairs that were placed in my maternal grandparents tomb. There are fragments of my name found in the Royal Tomb at Amarna. Few of my monuments survived. Amenhotep III provided a chamber in his tomb for Tiye and myself but my final resting place is unknown. A mummy found with the Elder Lady who is considered by many to be Queen Tiye is thought to be my remains. *The heiress princess theory is based on that many pharaohs married the eldest daughter of the previous pharaoh. Many historians feel this theory is faulty. It was a common practice in the 18th dynasty in particular but it was not always the case. Queen Tiye was not a king's daughter and she was the chief wife of Amenhotep III.
|