Menhet, Menwi and Merti

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Menhet, Menwi and Merti in hieroglyphs
Aa15
D38
n		 O4t
N17		 X2B1
[1]
Menhet
mD38
W24		 V4iB1
[1]
Menwi
mD38
E23		 U33iB1
[1]
Merti
Wives of Thutmose III
Diadem with two gazelle heads MET 26.8.99 EGDP013732.jpg
A crown of Menhet, Menwi or Merti

Menhet, Menwi and Merti, also spelled Manhata, Manuwai and Maruta,[2] were three minor foreign-born wives of pharaoh Thutmose III who were buried in a lavishly furnished rock-cut tomb in Wady Gabbanat el-Qurud. Two of their names are West-Semitic in origin, though none are Hurrian.[3] Each were given the title of King's Wife, and were likely only minor members of the royal harem.[4] It is not known if the women were even related since the faces on the lids of their canopic jars are all different.[5]

The tomb of Thutmose III's foreign wives[]

A broad collar with falcon-head terminals from the tomb of Thutmose III's three wives

Their tomb was originally discovered in August 1916 in the desert mountain cliffs in the southwest valley near Luxor and promptly looted by Qurnawi villagers.[6] When the Egyptian antiquities authorities tracked down the burial in September of that year, all that was left at the original site were the objects discarded by the tomb robbers. It is thought that originally there were three intact burials at the site. Only the gold and stone objects had survived as the wood and the mummies and wooden materials had disintegrated due to moisture "from water seeping through the cliffs above."[7] However, most of their surviving funerary remains were tracked down and purchased on the antiquities market at the time and many now reside at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.[8]

Some of the treasures found within their tomb include gold diadems, gilded gold, toe and feet sandals, gold, carnelian and glass bracelets together with other vessels. Each of their bracelets are inscribed with the cartouche of Thutmose III. Other objects found in the tomb include Hathor decorated gold, silver and glass mirrors. While the collection is impressive, none of their headdresses employed the vulture motif used by more senior queens.[4]

Like the cliff tomb of Hatshepsut that Howard Carter found in Wady A, the tomb of Thutmose's foreign wives was also cut into a crevice.[9] Its entrance, though, "was cut into a platform about 10 metres from the wady floor, quite like Thutmosis III's tomb in the Valley of the Kings."[7] Menhet, Menwi and Merti's tomb consisted "of a single undecorated chamber--ca. 5 X 7.5 metres, by 1.5 to more than 2 metres high."[7]

Gallery[]

  • Wig cover, an approximate recreation (from original pieces). Made of gold, gesso, carnelian, glass and jasper.

  • Egyptian Finger and Toe stalls, plus sandals, on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

  • Sheet gold pectoral and other coverings.

Citations[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Tyldesley 2006.
  2. ^ Lilyquist et al 2003, pp. 329.
  3. ^ Lilyquist 1998, pp. 679–680.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Buzby 2002, pp. 16.
  5. ^ Lilyquist 1998, pp. 679.
  6. ^ Lilyquist 1998, pp. 677.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c Lilyquist 1998, pp. 678.
  8. ^ Tyldesley 2006, pp. 111.
  9. ^ Winlock 1948, pp. 5.

References[]

  • Buzby, Russell (October 2002). "Imperialism in Early New Kingdom Egypt" (PDF). Kaleidoscope Eyes. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  • Lilyquist, Christine (1998). "The Tomb of Thutmosis III's foreign wives: A survey of Architectural Type, Contents and Foreign Connections". In Eyre, Chris (ed.). Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists. Leuven Peeters. pp. 679–680.
  • Lilyquist, Christine; Hoch, James E.; Peden, A. J. (2003). The Tomb of Three Foreign Wives of Tuthmosis III. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  • Tyldesley, Joyce (2006). Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05145-3.
  • Winlock, H. E. (1948). The Treasure of Three Egyptian Princesses. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 9 September 2021.

Further reading[]

  • Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson, 2004, ISBN 0-500-05128-3, pp. 138–139
  • Christine Lilyquist, The Tomb of Tuthmosis III's Foreign Wives, New York 2004 ISBN 0-300-10121-X
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