- Isetnofret
Isetnofret (or Isis-nofret or Isitnofret) (Ancient Egyptian: "the beautiful Isis") was one of the Great Royal Wives of
Pharaoh Ramesses II and was the mother of his heir,Merneptah . She was one of the most prominent of the royal wives, second only to the pharaoh's favourite,Nefertari , and was the chief queen after Nefertari's death (around the 24th year of the pharaoh's reign). She had at least three sons and one daughter.Her children include:
* PrinceRamesses B , Crown Prince from Year 25-50 of Ramesses II [Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), p.173]
* Princess-QueenBintanath , firstborn daughter and later wife of Ramesses [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.170]
* PrinceKhaemwaset , High Priest of Ptah. Crown Prince from Year 50-55 of Ramesses II [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.170]
* PharaohMerneptah , Ramesses' 13th son and ultimate successor (he outlived the first 12 princes)
* Princess Isetnofret II (?), possible wife of Merenptah [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.171]
* Prince Sethi (?)
* Princess Nebettawy (?) (more likely to be the daughter of Nefertari [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.167] )Queen Isetnofret's titles include: Hereditary Princess (iryt-p`t),Great of Praises (wrt-hzwt), King’s Mother (mwt-niswt), Mistress of the entire Two Lands (hnwt-t3wy-tm), King’s Wife (hmt-nisw), Great King’s Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt)
She is known from several inscriptions and small statues. [ [http://euler.slu.edu/Dept/Faculty/bart/egyptianhtml/kings%20and%20Queens/Isetnofret.html Queen Isetnofret ] ] She is shown on a family stela from
Aswan . The upper register shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Khaemwaset before Khnum. While the lower register shows Princes Ramesses, Merneptah and Princess Queen Bint-Anath. Another family stela (Speos at West Silsila) shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Bint-Anath with a much smaller Khaemwaset before Ptah and Nefertem. The lower register shows Prince Ramesses and Prince Merenptah. [Kitchen, K.A., Rammeside Inscriptions, Translated & Annotated, Translations, Volume II, Blackwell Publishers, 1996.]A daughter of her son Khaemwaset (sometimes called Isetnofret III) was named after her. It is possible that this Isetnofret was Merenptah's wife, not her aunt Isetnofret II [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.171] . A possible daughter of Merneptah also bears this name [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.182] .
Notes
ources
* "Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité", 1991,
Christian Settipani , p. 175
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