Shepenupet I or Shapenewpet I was God's Wife of Amun during the Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt.[3]
| Shepenupet I | |
|---|---|
| God's Wife of Amun of Thebes | |
 Shepenupet I at Karnak. | |
| Divine Adoratrice of Amun God's Wife of Amun | |
| Predecessor | Karomama Meritmut |
| Successor | Amenirdis I
|
| Burial | |
| Dynasty | 23rd Dynasty |
| Father | Osorkon III |
| Mother | Karoadjet |
Biography
editShe was the first “hereditary” God's Wife or Divine Adoratrice of Amun to wield political power in ancient Thebes and its surrounding region. She was the first to take on complete royal titulary with names in two cartouches (her prenomen Khenemetibamun means 'she who is one with the heart of Amun'), and although her successors followed her example, she remained the only one who also bore the royal titles “Lord of the Two Lands” and “Lord of Appearances”, also, the only one whose throne name refers to Amun, not to his wife Mut.[4]
She was the daughter of Osorkon III and Queen Karoadjet, and the (half-)sister of Takelot III and Rudamun.[5] She was God's Wife during her father's whole reign. When Kashta, a Kushite monarch, extended his influence to the Theban area, she was compelled to adopt Kashta's daughter Amenirdis I as her successor and name her as her chosen heir. Shepenupet and Amenirdis are depicted together in Wadi Gasus.[3]
Shepenupet is known to have survived into the reign of Shebitku since she is depicted on a section of a wall Temple J which was decorated under this Nubian king.
Sources
edit- ^ a b von Beckerath, Jürgen (1999). Handbuch der Ägyptischen Königsnamen (in German). Mainz am Rhein, Von Zabern. ISBN 3-8053-2591-6., pp. 198-99
- ^ KAWAI, Nozomu (1998). "Royal Tombs of the Third Intermediate and Late Periods". Orient. 33: 33–45. doi:10.5356/orient1960.33.33. ISSN 1884-1392.
- ^ a b Dodson, Aidan; Hilton, Dyan (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05128-3., p.231
- ^ László Török: The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization. ISBN 90-04-10448-8, p.148
- ^ Dodson & Hilton, pp.226-227