Nakhtubasterau was one of the wives known for Pharaoh Amasis II.[3] She is known from a stela from the Serapeum of Saqqara. She held the titles king's wife, his beloved, great one of the hetes sceptre and great of praises.[1]
She was the mother of two sons:
Pasenenkhonsu, the king's son who donated the Serapeum stela.
Nakhtbastetiru, commonly transliterated in modern scholarship as nḫt-bꜣstt-r.w from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, is the personal name of the queen known in Greek sources as Nakhtubasterau. The name is theophoric, incorporating elements dedicated to the goddess Bastet, a major deity in Egyptian religion. It breaks down into nḫt, meaning "victorious" or "strong," combined with bꜣstt, the name of Bastet, and the suffix -r.w, which often indicates possession or relation in Late Period nomenclature, yielding an overall meaning of "Bastet is victorious" or "the victorious one of Bastet."[3][4] This construction honors Bastet, who was revered for her roles in protection, fertility, and domestic well-being, reflecting the cultural practice of invoking divine favor through personal names.[5]
During the Late Period (c. 664–332 BCE), including the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, Egyptian naming conventions emphasized theophoric elements to link individuals to deities, ensuring spiritual protection and social identity. Names like Nakhtbastetiru followed patterns where a divine name was paired with an epithet or quality, such as victory or strength, to express devotion and invoke the god's attributes in daily life and afterlife perpetuity. This era saw increased use of such formulae in inscriptions on statues and monuments, where names served not only identification but also ritualistic purposes, perpetuating memory through recitation and offerings.[6] The prevalence of Bastet-related names, particularly in Lower Egypt near her cult center at Bubastis, underscored regional piety and the goddess's enduring popularity among elites and commoners alike.
Transliteration variations arise from the evolution of writing systems and scholarly conventions. In hieroglyphic Egyptian, the name appears as a sequence of signs representing the sounds and determinatives for "victorious-Bastet-belonging to her." Greek renderings, such as Nakhtubasterau, adapt these to phonetic approximations, influenced by how classical authors like Herodotus transcribed foreign names, though direct attestations for this queen are scarce in Greek texts. Modern Egyptology standardizes forms like Nakhtbastetiru for precision, distinguishing it from earlier or later dynastic variants while preserving the original's symbolic intent.[4]
الألقاب الملكية
Nakhtubasterau held the prestigious title of King's Wife (ḥmt-nswt), denoting her position as a principal consort to Pharaoh Amasis II during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.[2] This designation underscored her elevated role within the royal household, aligning with Saite Period conventions where such titles affirmed the legitimacy and divine favor of the pharaoh's chosen partner. Additionally, she bore the title Lady of Honour (nbt pr), a common epithet for high-ranking women that highlighted her authority in domestic and ritual spheres.[7]
Evidence for these titles derives primarily from inscriptions on her black granite anthropoid sarcophagus, discovered in Giza tomb LG 83 and now housed in the Hermitage Museum (inventory no. 767). The sarcophagus lid features four vertical columns of hieroglyphic text, including a standard offering formula (ḥtp-ḍỉ nswt) addressed to the god Geb, which invokes celestial passage and protection for "Nekhtubasterau, justified" (m3ʿ.t-ḥrw), emphasizing her posthumous veneration and spiritual elevation.[7] The deliberate defacement of personal suffixes in the inscription suggests attempts to erase or protect her identity amid ancient tomb disturbances, yet the surviving elements reinforce her royal associations through references to the Ennead and solar motifs typical of elite Saite burials.[7]
These designations not only symbolized Nakhtubasterau's intimate connection to Amasis II but also served political functions in the Saite Period, bolstering the dynasty's legitimacy by linking the royal couple to protective deities and afterlife provisions. The sarcophagus's Memphite stylistic influences, including depictions of the goddess Nut with outstretched wings, further illustrate how her titles were embedded in artifacts that perpetuated her status beyond death.[7]
الدفن
Nakhtubasterau was buried in Giza in a rock-cut tomb now numbered G 9550. Her anthropoid black granite sarcophagus is now in Saint Petersburg (767).[1] She was buried with her son Ahmose – sometimes called Amasis – who was a general.[5] The name of the cat-goddess Bastet was chiseled out of Nakhtubasterau's sarcophagus.[6]
المراجع
^ أبتGrajetzki, Ancient Egyptian Queens: A Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Golden House Publications, London, (2005), ISBN978-0-9547218-9-3.
^Porter, Bertha, and Rosalind L.B. Moss. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings 3: Memphis (Abû Rawâsh to Dahshûr). Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1931. 2nd edition. 3: Memphis, Part 1 (Abû Rawâsh to Abûsîr), revised and augmented by Jaromír Málek. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, (1974), pp. 289-290, plan 3.
