MAETNEFRURE
![](390px-Maathorneferure.jpg)
Maathorneferure
at Tanis
Born
: Hatti
Died : unknown
Burial : unknown
Spouse : Pharaoh Ramesses II
Egyptian name :
![](hiero_F35.png)
Dynasty : 19th of Egypt
Father King : Hattusili III
Mother : Queen Puduhepa
Religion : Ancient Egyptian religion
Maetnefrure
/ Manefrure' / Maathorneferure was an ancient Egyptian queen, the
Great Royal Wife of Ramesses II.
Family
:
Maathorneferure was a daughter of the Hittite king Hattusili III
and his wife, Queen Puduhepa. She was the sister of the crown prince
Nerikkaili of Hatti and the sister of the later Hittite king Tudhaliya
IV.
Maathorneferure
was married to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 34th year
of his reign, becoming the King's Great Wife. Her original name
is unknown, but her Egyptian name translates as "One who sees
Horus, the invisible splendor of Ra".
Life
:
![](Piece_of_papyrus_bearing_the_name_of_Maathorneferura,_the_Hittite_princesess_daughter_of_the_great_ruler_of_Khatti_who_married_Ramesses_II._From_Gurob,_Fayum,_Egypt._The_P.jpg)
Piece
of papyrus bearing the name of Maathorneferura, the Hittite princesess
daughter of the great ruler of Khatti who married Ramesses II. From
Gurob, Fayum, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology,
London.
![](Hittite-marriage.gif)
Maathorneferure
and Hattusili III before Ramesses II
Egypt and the Hittite empire had been increasingly at odds since
the demise of the kingdom of the Mitanni, and Maathorneferure's
marriage to the Egyptian king was the conclusion of the peace process
which had begun with the signing of a peace treaty thirteen years
earlier.
On
the Marriage Stela it is claimed that "The daughter of the
great chief of Kheta marched in [front] of the army [...]"
The
Hittite princess left Hattusa, the Hittite capital, in late 1246
BCE, accompanied by her mother and a huge contingent laden with
gold, silver, bronze, cattle and sheep, and slaves. At the Egyptian
frontier, a message was despatched to the Pharaoh: 'They have traversed
sheer mountains and treacherous passes to reach Your Majesty's border.'
Ramesses sent a welcoming party to escort the princess through Canaan
and into Egypt. She arrived in February 1245 BCE at Pi-Ramesse.
For
Ramesses, the marriage was valuable more for the large dowry he
acquired rather than his new bride, who was despatched to his harem
palace at Mer-wer (today's Gurob). According to another account,
however, Maathorneferure is said to have given Ramesses a baby (a
girl called Neferure, according to the Abydos procession) and died
shortly thereafter.
Maathorneferure
is mentioned on a papyrus found at Gurob. The partial text on the
papyrus states: [...] small bag, the king's wife Maathorneferure
(may she live) (the daughter of) the great ruler of Khatti, [...]
Dayt garment of 28 cubits, 4 palms, breadth 4 cubits, [bag?] of
14 cubits, 2 palms, breath 4 cubits - 2 items [...] palms, breath
4 cubits.
At
Tanis, there is a broken statue of Ramesses that shows her (mostly
destroyed) figure touching his leg, together with her cartouche.
During
the latter half of the first millennium BCE Maathorneferure's marriage
to the pharaoh gave rise to the tale inscribed on the Bentresh stela
in which the sister of a foreign queen is healed by a divine statue
sent from Egypt.
Alternative
spellings :
• Maat-hor-neferure
• Maatnefrure
• Maat-hor-nefrure
• Naptera
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Maathorneferure