DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4104#0053
44
ABYDOS III.
the part of the courtiers is played by Queen
Aahmes Nefertari, and the god is replaced by
Teta-shera. Both variations strike the note of
the period: the XVIIIth Dynasty is the age of
great Egyptian Queens.
Teta-shera was known to us from two sources,
a wonderful statuette in the British Museum,1
and a fragment of papyrus preserved at Gizeh,2
where she is named together with the princess
Satkames. Her relationship to Aahmes I is
revealed for the first time by our stele : accord-
ing to this she was at once the mother of his
mother, and the mother of his father. Hence
the parents of Aahmes were brother and sister.
Further, if the stele rightly attributes to Teta-
shera the title " great wife of a king," the
grandfather of Aahmes will have been a Pharaoh
of the XVIIth Dynasty. The difficult genea-
logical problems of the period are complicated
still further by this new evidence, and their
solution may best be left to the historian. A
fact that seems to follow from the mention of
Satkames3 together with Teta-shera, may here
be noted : the Pharaoh Karnes must be rele-
gated to at least the second generation before
Aahmes.
The buildings in which Mr. Cukbelly dis-
covered our stele are doubtless the remains of
" the pyramid and chapel " dedicated by Aahmes
to the memory of his grandmother: it will be
interesting to learn what manner of construc-
tions could thus be designated at this period.
The Sacred Land, where they are said to have
1 No. 22, 558. A good photograph, Budge, History IV.
p. 64. On the statuette, Teta-shera is only "king's
mother." On the stele she bears the further title, "great
wife of the king." These facts should be considered in
connection with the theory of Prof. Sethe, who has
sought to show {Untersuchungcn I. p. 2) that where a
princess is named " king's mother " without further title,
she may be presumed to be the wife of a private man.
2 cf. Eeman, A. Z. xxxviii. (1900) p. 150.
3 Her name implies that she was the daughter of
Karnes.
been situated, was part of the Abydene ne-
cropolis, as we are expressly informed by the
stele of king Neferhotep recently published by
Mr. Mace. From the sentence which imme-
diately precedes the mention of this cenotaph,
it would appear that the actual burial-place of
-was
Teta-shera—her tomb-chamber
at Thebes, where most of the princesses of that
time were interred : and that she further owned
a sepulchre
j in the Thinite nome,
i.e. probably at Abydos. These facts are, how-
ever, very obscurely expressed and the sequence
of thought in the narration concealed by the
absence of conjunctions. Perhaps the best way
to render the passage clear will be to reproduce
the translation, inserting in italics such words
as are needful to convey the sense to the modern
reader. " Although her chamber and her
sepulchre are at this present time upon the soil
of the Theban and the Thinite nomes respec-
tively, yet this have I said unto thee, for my
Majesty hath desired to let make for her also a
pyramid and a chapel in the Sacred Land." It
is, nevertheless, strange that Aahmes should
have thought it needful to erect a pyramid and
chapel for Teta-shera at Abydos, if she already
possessed a sepulchre—whatever that may mean
—in that locality.4'
76, We may now turn to the stele itself. The
scenes above the text show Aahmes in the act
of offering to Teta-shera, and form an apt illus-
tration of the last sentences of the text. The
picture is represented in duplicate, for reasons
of symmetry. The reversing of the figures has
caused some change in the position of the
arms, otherwise there is but little variation in
treatment. As usual, the winged disk symbol-
izing the Horus " of Eclfu, the great god," hovers
overhead.
1 This difficulty at first led me to suggest another
rendering: that here given I owe to Prof. Bbeasted.
,li even tnc ^
I* NebpeUira,
z' nf his Majesty
^ presence ol nib J J
other, seeking
i; (which is) the
igofoblations upon
of the stele at the be
{he feast of the N
Jonth, the feast ol
veriest,1 the feast (c
||t fight, (which is) the
;k feast of the 6th c
«>, the feast of Uag, th
ie beginning of every
)oke his sister, she r
Wherefore have the
To what end k
? What (thoug
ighimself, he said t
feofthemotl
;P*ce; we often
,!>^ courtiers
"ft vonita»
',,m a» hiera.
]«»V\
pe ** for the first ti
-bitten 0
e4th(%ofthe
ABYDOS III.
the part of the courtiers is played by Queen
Aahmes Nefertari, and the god is replaced by
Teta-shera. Both variations strike the note of
the period: the XVIIIth Dynasty is the age of
great Egyptian Queens.
Teta-shera was known to us from two sources,
a wonderful statuette in the British Museum,1
and a fragment of papyrus preserved at Gizeh,2
where she is named together with the princess
Satkames. Her relationship to Aahmes I is
revealed for the first time by our stele : accord-
ing to this she was at once the mother of his
mother, and the mother of his father. Hence
the parents of Aahmes were brother and sister.
Further, if the stele rightly attributes to Teta-
shera the title " great wife of a king," the
grandfather of Aahmes will have been a Pharaoh
of the XVIIth Dynasty. The difficult genea-
logical problems of the period are complicated
still further by this new evidence, and their
solution may best be left to the historian. A
fact that seems to follow from the mention of
Satkames3 together with Teta-shera, may here
be noted : the Pharaoh Karnes must be rele-
gated to at least the second generation before
Aahmes.
The buildings in which Mr. Cukbelly dis-
covered our stele are doubtless the remains of
" the pyramid and chapel " dedicated by Aahmes
to the memory of his grandmother: it will be
interesting to learn what manner of construc-
tions could thus be designated at this period.
The Sacred Land, where they are said to have
1 No. 22, 558. A good photograph, Budge, History IV.
p. 64. On the statuette, Teta-shera is only "king's
mother." On the stele she bears the further title, "great
wife of the king." These facts should be considered in
connection with the theory of Prof. Sethe, who has
sought to show {Untersuchungcn I. p. 2) that where a
princess is named " king's mother " without further title,
she may be presumed to be the wife of a private man.
2 cf. Eeman, A. Z. xxxviii. (1900) p. 150.
3 Her name implies that she was the daughter of
Karnes.
been situated, was part of the Abydene ne-
cropolis, as we are expressly informed by the
stele of king Neferhotep recently published by
Mr. Mace. From the sentence which imme-
diately precedes the mention of this cenotaph,
it would appear that the actual burial-place of
-was
Teta-shera—her tomb-chamber
at Thebes, where most of the princesses of that
time were interred : and that she further owned
a sepulchre
j in the Thinite nome,
i.e. probably at Abydos. These facts are, how-
ever, very obscurely expressed and the sequence
of thought in the narration concealed by the
absence of conjunctions. Perhaps the best way
to render the passage clear will be to reproduce
the translation, inserting in italics such words
as are needful to convey the sense to the modern
reader. " Although her chamber and her
sepulchre are at this present time upon the soil
of the Theban and the Thinite nomes respec-
tively, yet this have I said unto thee, for my
Majesty hath desired to let make for her also a
pyramid and a chapel in the Sacred Land." It
is, nevertheless, strange that Aahmes should
have thought it needful to erect a pyramid and
chapel for Teta-shera at Abydos, if she already
possessed a sepulchre—whatever that may mean
—in that locality.4'
76, We may now turn to the stele itself. The
scenes above the text show Aahmes in the act
of offering to Teta-shera, and form an apt illus-
tration of the last sentences of the text. The
picture is represented in duplicate, for reasons
of symmetry. The reversing of the figures has
caused some change in the position of the
arms, otherwise there is but little variation in
treatment. As usual, the winged disk symbol-
izing the Horus " of Eclfu, the great god," hovers
overhead.
1 This difficulty at first led me to suggest another
rendering: that here given I owe to Prof. Bbeasted.
,li even tnc ^
I* NebpeUira,
z' nf his Majesty
^ presence ol nib J J
other, seeking
i; (which is) the
igofoblations upon
of the stele at the be
{he feast of the N
Jonth, the feast ol
veriest,1 the feast (c
||t fight, (which is) the
;k feast of the 6th c
«>, the feast of Uag, th
ie beginning of every
)oke his sister, she r
Wherefore have the
To what end k
? What (thoug
ighimself, he said t
feofthemotl
;P*ce; we often
,!>^ courtiers
"ft vonita»
',,m a» hiera.
]«»V\
pe ** for the first ti
-bitten 0
e4th(%ofthe