Meritamen

Meritamen (also spelled Meritamon, Meritamun, Merytamen, Merytamun, Meryt-Amen; ancient Egyptian: Beloved of Amun) was a daughter and later Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Ramesses the Great, born by his first queen Nefertari.

Family

Meritamen was a daughter of Ramesses and his first Great Royal Wife, Nefertari. She appears as the fourth daughter in the list of daughters in Abu Simbel and had at least four brothers: Amun-her-khepeshef, Pareherwenemef, Meryre and Meryatum, as well as a sister named Henuttawy. Meritamen may have had more brothers and sisters, but these five are known from the facade of Queen Nefertari's temple in Abu Simbel.

Her eldest brother, Amun-her-khepeshef, was the crown prince until at least year 25 of the reign of their father. Prince Prehirwenemef is known to have served in the army and is depicted in the battle scenes from Kadesh. The youngest sibling known to us, Prince Meryatum, would later become High Priest of Re in Heliopolis.

Around the time her mother died (around the 23th regnal year), Meritamen became Royal Wife, along with her half-sister Bintanath. In the following years, she, along with her half-sister, was successively promoted to Great Royal Wife.

Depictions of Meritamen

Meritamen is depicted in quite a few scenes in temples and is represented on several statues. Meritamen is well known for her beautiful limestone statue, the White Queen found at the Ramesseum, the temple complex her father had built. In Kitchen's Ramesside inscriptions, the statue is attributed to Queen Tuya (mother of Ramesses II), but it is now generally thought to represent Princess-Queen Meritamen. The dorsal pillar contains the inscription: [...Chief of the Harem] of Amen-Re, Sistrum Player of Mut, Rattle-[player of Hathor ...], [...of Siut/Sai]s, danceuse of Horus... This statue originally depicted Meritamen standing barefoot, with her left leg forward, her right arm hanging by her side, and her left hand placed on her chest, wearing a double-plumed crown. The statue, including its base, stood about 2.25 meters tall, but only 0.75 meters of it remains today. Meritamen appears on multiple lists of royal daughters as the fourth daughter of Ramesses II. Her standard ranking places her after Bintanath, Baketmut, and Nefertari II, but before Nebettawy. However, in some lists of royal daughters, such as the one in the northeast corner of the Luxor Temple, she surpasses her expected position and is elevated to the second place in the sequence. In the temple of Ramesses II in El Kab, there is a depiction of an Iunmutef priest and the Princesses Bint-Anath and Meryetamen. Scene includes cartouches and the princesses carry wands. Bintanat is termed "king's daughter" as well as "king's wife", while Meryetamen's titles are completely lost and have not been preserved. However, her position is arranged before that of Bint-Anath, which indicates that her status was regarded as higher than Bint-Anath’s. Both Merytamen and Bint-Anath have a modius without stalks, shake a sistrum, and carry a gazelle-headed wand. They face Iunmutef ("pillar of his mother"), a solar deity often associated with the crown prince. In the small temple of the Ramesseum, which was dedicated to Queen Nefertari and the King's Mother Tuya, the importance of Meritamen is highlighted. She left a dedicatory inscription there in her own name; originally quite long, only a fragment now remains: "[...] the great royal wife Meritamen, alive (ꜥnḫ.tỉ), stable (ḏd.tỉ), prosperous (wꜣs.tỉ), joyful (šw.tỉ-bꜥtỉ), healthy (šnb.tỉ) [...]". At Deir el-Medina, Meryetamen is attested with the title of “Great Royal Wife” on a stela showing her shaking sistrums before Ahmose-Nefertari and her son Amenhotep I, the deified rulers and protectors of the Theban necropolis. In Luxor, Meritamen is depicted twice on statues of her father/husband. The westernmost colossus before the pylon shows Meritamen next to her father. She is given the titles of King's Daughter and Great Royal Wife. She is also depicted on statuary in the forecourt. On the southern colonnade, eastern statue Meritamen is the queen depicted on the left. Statue in Tanis (from Pi-Ramesse), which attests to the Great Royal Wife Maathorneferure: Meritamen is depicted standing between the legs of her father. She reaches to about knee height, Large statue of the Queen at the Temple of Min at Akhmim, likely to originally have been carved for Tey, the wife of Ay, in the 18th Dynasty. This colossus was discovered alongside Ramesses II’s own statue; This original ensemble may have been arranged during the fifth or sixth decade of the reign, as the inscription on the base of the king’s statue was used approximately between Year 42 and Year 56. On the dorsal pillar, the Queen is identified as "... whose forehead is beautiful bearing the uraeus, the beloved of her Lord, the great one [of the harem of Amen]-Re, [sistrum player] of Mut, menat player of Hathor, songstress of Atum, King's Daughter [beloved of ?] .. [Mr]itmn.w." "the fair of face, beautiful in the palace, the Beloved of the Lord of the Two Lands, she who is beside her Lord as Sothis is beside Orion, one is pleased with what is spoken when she opens her mouth to pacify the Lord of the Two Lands, King's Daughter in the palace [?] of the Lord of many festivals [?] ... The inscription on the right side of the base reads: “the King’s Daughter of his body, his beloved, the Great Royal Wife,” followed by the beginning of a now-lost cartouche. On the back, a double inscription remains to be restored as: “beloved of [ Isis] who resides at Ipou (Akhmim).” A damaged wine receipt from Deir el-Medina mentions ‘the estate of the King’s Daughter and King’s Wife, Merytamon,’ no doubt in connection with her vineyard.

Titles

Hereditary Princess, the great first one (iryt-p`t-tpit-wrt) ruling the Harim the great one of the harem of Amen-Re greatly favored/Great of Praises(wrt-hzwt) who fills the columned hall with the scent of her perfume Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt (hnwt-Shm’w -mhw) King’s Daughter (s3t-niswt), var.: King's Daughter in the palace [?] of the Lord of many festivals [?] Great King’s Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt) Lady of The Two Lands (nbt-t3wy) whose forehead is beautiful bearing the uraeus the beloved of her Lord, var.: the Beloved of the Lord of the Two Lands Lady of the Rattle and Mistress of the Sistrum Prophetess of Hathor Princess-child of Horus [Sistrum player] of Mut Chantress of Mut Menit player of Hathor Songstress of Atum The fair of face beautiful in the palace, she who is beside her Lord as Sothis is beside Orion, one is pleased with what is spoken when she opens her mouth to pacify the Lord of the Two Lands

Burial in the Queens Valley Queen Meritamen raises the ḥrp-scepter high above her head with her back arm (as shown in the image above). The exact time of Meritamen's death remains uncertain, but it could not have been earlier than the 50th year of Ramesses II’s reign. She probably died in the early part of Merneptah’s reign, while Henutmire lived on into the reign of Amenmesse.

Meritamen was buried at QV68 in the Valley of the Queens. The tomb of Meritamen was described by Lepsius. An interesting scene in the tomb shows Meritamen consecrating cloth-boxes to Osiris and Hathor. The inscriptions identify the Queen as The Osiris, King's Daughter, Great Royal Wife, Lady of Both Lands, Merytamen, may she live. She is said to be "Bringing a box of clothing, eternally; consecrating the box of clothing three times" (sic). This may be because Anat was a goddess especially revered by Ramesses II, and it could also reflect Meritamen’s personal devotion.

The sarcophagus-lid is now in Berlin (15274). Meritamen's titles on the sarcophagus lid are given twice. At the head she is described as: "[King's Daughter], Great [Royal Wife], Lady of Both Lands, Merytamen, justified". Over the head she is described as: "The Osiris, King's Daughter beloved of him, Great Royal Wife, Lady of Both Lands, Merytamen, justified".

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