Meritamen
| Meritamen in hieroglyphs | ||||||||||||||
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Meritamen Mrjt Jmn Beloved of Amun |
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| Meritamen | |
|---|---|
| Queen consort of Egypt Great Royal Wife Lady of The Two Lands Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt King’s Daughter, his beloved, etc |
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Statue of Meritamen
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| Died | Thebes? |
| Burial | QV68, Valley of the Queens, Thebes |
| Spouse | Pharaoh Ramesses II |
| Dynasty | 19th of Egypt |
| Father | Ramesses II |
| Mother | Nefertari |
| Religion | Ancient Egyptian religion |
Meritamen (also spelled Meritamun, Merytamen, Merytamun, Meryt-Amen; Ancient Egyptian: Beloved of Amun) was a daughter and later Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Ramesses the Great.
Meritamen was a daughter of Ramesses and his favourite 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.
Meritamen's siblings are relatively well-known to us. 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 24th or 25th regnal year), Meritamen became Great Royal Wife, along with her half-sister Bintanath.
Meritamen is depicted in quite a few scenes in temples and is represented on several statues.
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).
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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