Nitocris I (Divine Adoratrice)

Nitocris I
Relief of the Divine Adoratice Nitocris I from her Karnak chapel
God's Wife of Amun Divine Adoratrice of Amun
Tenure	655–585 BC
Predecessor	Shepenupet II (as God's Wife) Amenirdis II (as Divine Adoratrice)
Successor	Ankhnesneferibre Royal titulary Horus name Weret wrt[1] The great one Prenomen  (Praenomen) Nebetneferumut nb(t)-nfrw-Mwt[1] Mistress of the beauties of Mut Nomen Nitiqret Meritmut Nt-jqrt mrj(t)-Mwt[1] Nitiqret, beloved of Mut
Died	585 BC
Burial	26th Dynasty
Father	Psamtik I
Mother	Mehytenweskhet C

Nitocris I (alt. Nitiqret, Nitokris I) (died 585 BC) served as the heir to, and then, as the Divine Adoratrice of Amun or God's Wife of Amun for a period of more than seventy years, between 655 BC and 585 BC.^[2]

Biography

She was the daughter of the

When she was in her eighties, she adopted her great-niece Ankhnesneferibre,^[3] the daughter of Psamtik II, continuing the succession in her family line.

During her tenure, she was attested by several building works around

A stela often referred to as the "Adoption Stela", was unearthed in 1897 by Georges Legrain at Karnak and moved to the Cairo Museum. It is made from red granite and measures roughly 6 ft (1.8 m) in height and 4.5 ft (1.4 m) in width.^[5]

The beginning of the inscription is lost, but the remainder continues with an inscription relating that Pharaoh Psamtik I is reporting to the court his intention to give his daughter to

After sixteen days the flotilla reached Thebes, whose population acclaimed the arrival of the princess. Both Shepenupet II and Amenirdis II met Nitocris. She was adopted formally and both agreed to convey their properties to her (and, indirectly, to Psamtik I).[9]

Then the stela reports a very detailed list with all the daily donations (mainly food) to Nitocris from several officials such as the mayor of Thebes, Mentuemhat, and his family, from the priesthood of Amun that at this time was led by the High Priest of Amun, Harkhebi, as well as from the king and many temples of the whole Land.^[10]

Importance

Shepenupet II and Amenirdis II were the last vestiges of the vanished 25th Dynasty, yet they held this highest position of power in the south and practically controlled the entirety of Upper Egypt. Psamtik I chose not to remove the God's Wife in charge forcefully – an action that would be unpopular – but to make her adopt his daughter as her successor, thus ensuring the future control of Upper Egypt, as well as receiving a considerable number of properties and other goods: beyond the “facade” of the adoption of Nitocris, the stela de facto reports the reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the aegis of Psamtik.^[5][7][11]

Ancestry

References