Funerary cone for Amenirdis a royal princess - daughter of a king!

Davies and Macadam (and Dibley and Lipkin!) No. 584

It reads:

dwAt nTr Drt (?) jmn-jr-dj=s mAa-xrw sAt-nswt nb tAwj kA-S-tA dj anx Dt (?), wbA Drt-nTr [...

Worshiper(sometimes translated as "butler") of the god's hand (?), Amunirdies, a daughter of the king, lord of the Two Lands, Kashta given life forever (?). Chief of the court, the god's hand (?)[...].

Had an obviously pretty old but completely faded museum or collection label still on it: but this removed by last owner.

Unusually complete without any loss of the tip.

A better example than they have on display in the Metropolitan Museum!(Though they have  another four of them as well)

125m x 75mm

740 BC â€" 700 BC (25th Dynasty)

Amenirdis (usualy called Amenirdis I) also Khaneferumut, was titled amongst other things as a "God's Wife of Amun" She was a Kushite princess, the daughter of the Pharaoh Kashta and Queen Pebatjma. She is likely to have been the biological sister of the pharaohs Shabaka and Piye. Kashta, or possibly Piye arranged to have her adopted by the Divine Adoratrice of Amun, Shepenwepet I, at Thebes as her successor. It is not known when Shepenwepet I died and when Amenirdis became God's Wife, but it may have been during the reign of Shabaqa.  If it had been  in the reign of Kashta it would suggest that he already controlled Upper Egypt before the reign of Piye, his successor. These titles are important in understanding the continuation of the authority and power in ancient Egypt. King Kashta for example wrote on a stele in the Khnum temple in Elephantine that he was King of Upper and Lower Egypt. This is supported by the fact that he could legitimately place one of his daughters, Amenirdis I, as God's Wife of Amun.

She ruled as high priestess approximately between 714 BC and 700 BC, under the reigns of Shabaka and Shabataka, and she actually adopted Piye's daughter Shepenwepet II as her successor as high priestess. This high priestess function was associated with the Temple of Amun at Karnak and was the highest ranking priestess of the cult. The title developed into one that required celibacy for its bearers and was thus passed down by “adoption”, the heirs being chosen  by the king. As heiress she would have been given the title of Adorer of the God (dwat-netjer) and indeed this title can be seen on the cone's inscription at the top, right hand side. Amenirdis held both prestigious titles of God's Wife of Amun and God’s Hand as is indeed also in this inscription . It is possible that this title was an intermediate one before the death of the current God’s Wife. Whether these titles formed a hierarchy or were synonymous is uncertain, but both attest to the power given to certain women at this time in Egypt.

She was buried in a tomb in the grounds of Medinet-Habu but the specific tomb has not been identified.

£705

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http://www.egyptianfunerarycones.com/

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