Great royal Wife - wikipedia Great royal Wife Great Royal Wife in hieroglyphs Hatshepsut was Great Royal Wife to Thutmose II, then regent for her stepson Thutmose III, before becoming pharaoh in her own right ( Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ) Great Royal Wife, or alternatively, Chief King 's Wife ( Ancient Egyptian : ḥmt nswt wrt ), is the term that was used to refer to the principal wife of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who served many official functions. A simplified form of the term, Great Wife, is applied to more contemporary royal consorts in states throughout modern Africa ( e.g., Mantfombi Dlamini of Swaziland, chief consort of the Zulu King ). Contents 1 Description 2 Great wives today 3 Examples 3.1 Ancient Egypt 3.1. 1 Middle Kingdom 3.1. 2 Second Intermediate Period 3.1. 3 New Kingdom 3.1. 4 Third Intermediate Period 3.1. 5 Late Period 3.2 Elsewhere in Africa 4 See also 5 References Description While most Ancient Egyptians were monogamous, a male pharaoh would have had other, lesser wives and concubines in addition to the Great Royal Wife. This arrangement would allow the pharaoh to enter into diplomatic marriages with the daughters of allies, as was the custom of ancient kings. In the past the order of succession in Ancient Egypt was thought to pass through the royal women. This theory, referred to as the Heiress Theory, has been rejected regarding the eighteenth dynasty ever since a 1980s study of its royalty. The throne likely just passed to the eldest living son of those pharaohs. The mother of the heir to the throne was not always the Great Royal Wife, but once a pharaoh was crowned, it was possible to grant the mother of the king the title of Great Royal Wife, along with other titles. Examples include Iset, the mother of Thutmose III, Tiaa, the mother of Thutmose IV and Mutemwia, the mother of Amenhotep III. Meretseger, the chief wife of Senusret III, may be the earliest queen whose name appears with this title ; she also was the first consort known to write her name in a cartouche. However, she is only attested in the New Kingdom so the title might be an anachronism. Perhaps the first holder of its title was Nubkhaes of the Second Intermediate Period. A special place in the history of great royal wives was taken by Hatshepsut. She was Great Royal Wife to her half - brother Thutmose II. During this time Hatshepsut also became God 's Wife of Amun ( the highest ranking priestess in the temple of Amun in Karnak ). After the death of her husband, she became regent because of the minority of her stepson, the only male heir ( born to Iset ), who eventually would become Thutmose III. While he was still very young, however, Hatshepsut was crowned as pharaoh and ruled very successfully in her own right for many years. Although other women before her had ruled Egypt, Hatshepsut was the first woman to take the title, pharaoh, as it was a new term being used for the rulers, not having been used before the eighteenth dynasty. When she became pharaoh, she designated her daughter, Neferure, as God 's Wife of Amun to perform the duties of high priestess. Her daughter may have been the great royal wife of Thutmose III, but there is no clear evidence for this proposed marriage. Elsewhere, in Kush and other major states of ancient Africa, the rulers often structured their households in much the same way as has just been described. Great wives today The practice of creating great wives has continued to the present day, with the most senior polygamous spouses of contemporary African royals often being referred to by the honorific Great Wife. In addition to the said queen of the Zulus, contemporary holders of the title include the numerous bearers of the Iyaafin chieftaincy of Yorubaland and the principal consort of the Ingwenyama of Swaziland. Examples Ancient Egypt Middle Kingdom Dynasty Name Husband Comments 12th dynasty Meretseger Senusret III Possibly the first holder of the title, but not definitively attested to in contemporary sources Second Intermediate Period Dynasty Name Husband Comments 13th dynasty Nubhotepti Hor 13th dynasty Nubkhaes Sobekhotep V, Sobekhotep VI or Wahibre Ibiau 13th dynasty Ineni Merneferre Ai 13th dynasty Nehyt ( ? ) Only known from two scarab seals 13th dynasty Satsobek ( ? ) Only known from one scarab seal 13th dynasty Sathathor ( ? ) Only known from one scarab seal, reading of name not fully certain 16th dynasty Mentuhotep Djehuti 16th dynasty Sitmut Mentuhotep VI ( ? ) 17th dynasty Nubemhat Sobekemsaf I 17th dynasty Sobekemsaf Nubkheperre Intef Sister of an unknown king, buried in Edfu 17th dynasty Nubkhaes Sobekemsaf II 17th dynasty Tetisheri Tao I the Elder Mother of Tao II the Brave 17th dynasty Ahhotep I Tao II the Brave Mother of Ahmose I and Ahmose - Nefertari New Kingdom Dynasty Name Husband Comments 18th dynasty Ahmose - Nefertari Ahmose I Mother of Amenhotep I and Ahmose - Meritamon 18th dynasty Sitkamose Ahmose I ( ? ) 18th dynasty Ahmose - Henuttamehu Ahmose I ( ? ) Daughter of Queen Inhapi 18th dynasty Ahmose - Meritamon Amenhotep I 18th dynasty Ahmose Thutmose I Mother of Hatshepsut 18th dynasty Hatshepsut Thutmose II second great royal wife to her father, Thutmose I, and later, ruling pharaoh with her daughter, Neferure, as great royal wife 18th dynasty Iset Thutmose II Received the title from her son Thutmose III after he became pharaoh 18th dynasty Neferure ( ? ) Thutmose III No evidence documents their marriage 18th dynasty Satiah Thutmose III 18th dynasty Merytre - Hatshepsut Thutmose III Mother of Amenhotep II 18th dynasty Tiaa Amenhotep II Received the title from her son Thutmose IV after her husband 's death - Amenhotep II tried to break the royal lineage by not recording any of his wives, who may not have been royal, and Tiaa was identified only later, by her son 18th dynasty Nefertari Thutmose IV 18th dynasty Iaret Thutmose IV 18th dynasty Tenettepihu Thutmose IV ( ? ) Known from a shabti and funerary statue, thought to date to the time of Tuthmosis IV ( ? ) 18th dynasty Mutemwia Thutmose IV Received the title from her son, Amenhotep III, after her husband 's death to make his own birth seem royal 18th dynasty Tiye Amenhotep III Mother of Akhenaten 18th dynasty Sitamun Amenhotep III Eldest daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye 18th dynasty Iset Amenhotep III Daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye 18th dynasty Nebetnehat Unidentified Known from cartouche found on canopic fragments, she lived during the mid to late 18th dynasty 18th dynasty Nefertiti Akhenaten Mother of Meritaten and Ankhesenamun, possible daughter of Ay, likely became pharaoh in her own right as King Neferneferuaten 18th dynasty Meritaten Smenkhkare Daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti 18th dynasty Ankhesenamen Tutankhamen Daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti 18th dynasty Tey Ay 18th dynasty Mutnedjmet Horemheb Probable daughter of Ay and Tey 19th dynasty Sitre Ramesses I Mother of Seti I 19th dynasty Tuya Seti I Mother of Ramesses II 19th dynasty Nefertari Ramesses II 19th dynasty Isetnofret Ramesses II Mother of Merenptah 19th dynasty Bintanath Ramesses II Eldest daughter of Ramesses II and Isetnofret 19th dynasty Meritamen Ramesses II Daughter of Ramesses II and Nefertari 19th dynasty Nebettawy Ramesses II Daughter of Ramesses II and Nefertari 19th dynasty Henutmire Ramesses II Sister or daughter of Ramesses II 19th dynasty Maathorneferure Ramesses II Hittite princess 19th dynasty Isetnofret II Merenptah Sister or niece of her husband 19th dynasty Tawosret Seti II Later pharaoh 19th dynasty Takhat Seti II ( ? ) Depicted as the wife of Sety II on a ( usurped ) statue, may have been the mother of Amenmesse ( ? ) 20th dynasty Tiye - Mereniset Setnakhte Mother of Ramesses III 20th dynasty Iset Ta - Hemdjert Ramesses III Mother of Ramesses IV and Ramesses VI 20th dynasty Henutwati Ramesses V Queen mentioned in the Wilbour Papyrus 20th dynasty Nubkhesbed Ramesses V Mother of Princess Isis, who later, would be the God 's Wife of Amun 20th dynasty Baketwernel Ramesses IX 20th dynasty Tyti Ramesses X Possibly a wife of Ramesses X, buried in QV52 20th dynasty Anuketemheb unknown Original owner of sarcophagus and canopic jars later used for Queen Takhat in KV10, dates to the 19th or 20th dynasty Third Intermediate Period Dynasty Name Husband Comments 21st dynasty Nodjmet Herihor Probable mother of Pinedjem I 21st dynasty Mutnedjmet Psusennes I 23rd dynasty Karomama Takelot II Mother of Osorkon III 25th dynasty Khensa Piye 25th dynasty Peksater Piye 25th dynasty Takahatenamun Taharqa 25th dynasty Isetemkheb Tanutamon Late Period Dynasty Name Husband Comments 26th dynasty Mehytenweskhet Psamtik I Mother of Necho II 26th dynasty Takhuit Psamtik II Mother of Wahibre Elsewhere in Africa See also Ancient Egypt portal Monarchy portal Nefertari, the Great Royal Wife of Ramasses II, from the temple he built to honour her at Abu Simbel, she holds a sistrum and a sacred lotus List of consorts of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, for the modern queens and sultanas of Egypt God 's Wife of Amun Divine Adoratrice of Amun Interregnum queen References Jump up ^ Shaw, Garry J. The Pharaoh, Life at Court and on Campaign, Thames and Hudson, 2012, p. 48, 91 - 94. ^ Jump up to : O'Connor and Cline ( Editors ), Amenhotep III : Perspectives on his reign, pg 6 Jump up ^ G. Robins, A Critical examination of the Theory that the Right to the Throne in Ancient Egypt Passed through the Female Line in the Eighteenth Dynasty. GM 62 : pg 67 - 77 Jump up ^ O'Conner and Cline, Thutmose III : A new biography, 2006 Jump up ^ Joann Fletcher : Egypt 's Sun King -- Amenhotep III ( Duncan Baird Publishers, London, 2000 ) ISBN 1 - 900131 - 09 - 9, p. 167 Jump up ^ Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton : The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, 2004, ISBN 0 - 500 - 05128 - 3, pp. 25 - 26 Jump up ^ L. Holden, in : Egypt 's Golden Age : The Art of Living in the New Kingdom, 1558 - 1085 B.C., Boston 1982, S. 302f. Jump up ^ Tyldesley, Chronicle of the Queens of Ancient Egypt, pg 110 Ancient Egypt topics Outline Index Major topics Glossary of artifacts Agriculture Architecture ( Egyptian Revival architecture ) Art Astronomy Chronology Cities ( list ) Clothing Cuisine Dynasties Funerary practices Geography Great Royal Wives History Language Literature Mathematics Medicine Military Music Mythology People Pharaohs ( list ) Philosophy Religion Sites Technology Trade Writing Egyptology Egyptologists Museums Book Ancient Egypt portal WikiProject Commons Ancient Egyptian titulary Royal titulary Great Royal Wife Khenemetneferhedjet Pharaoh Religious titulary Divine Adoratrice of Amun God 's Wife God 's Wife of Amun High Priests of Amun High Priest of Osiris High Priest of Ptah High Priest of Ra Lector priest Servant in the Place of Truth Two Ladies Courtly and administrative titulary Fan - bearer on the Right Side of the King Haty - a High steward Iry - pat Khekeret - nisut Nomarch Overseer of the treasuries Overseer of Upper Egypt Treasurer Viceroy of Kush Vizier Book Ancient Egypt portal Dynasty Name Husband Comments House of Dlamini LaMatsebule Mswati III Queen of Swaziland House of Zulu Mantfombi Dlamini Goodwill Zwelithini Queen of the Zulu people, a condition for her marriage was that one of her sons would be chosen as her husband 's successor. House of Oranyan Abibat Adeyemi Lamidi Adeyemi Queen of the Oyo clan of the Yoruba people Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Royal_Wife&oldid=833451130 '' Categories : Ancient Egyptian queens consort Ancient Egyptian titles Egyptian royal titles Ancient Egypt - related lists Talk Contents About Wikipedia Asturianu Brezhoneg Català Čeština Deutsch Español Esperanto Français Italiano Latina Magyar Nederlands Polski Русский සිංහල Svenska Українська 9 more Edit links This page was last edited on 31 March 2018, at 16 : 50. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what do you call a queen in egypt
Answer: Great Royal Wife