Egyptian Dreams

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

Queen Mutnodjemet (= Mutnodjmet = Mutnezmet) was the Great Wife of Horemheb.
She is mentioned on his Coranation Inscription.
She was buried in Horemheb's tomb in Memphis with a baby.
She may have been Aye's daughter.
There's a possibility that Horemheb was her second husband.
She may be the same person who is found in Aye's tomb in Amarna, and be the Mutnodjmet who is described as the "Queen's Sister" (i.e. Nefertiti's sister).

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

There is not much information from the rule of Aye.
This is the text from a Stela from year 3 of Aye's reign. He records the gift of land to an official, who's name is lost (all we know is that his name ends in an "n"). What is recorded is that this official is married to a lady Mutnezmet.
Coincidence? Could this be the future Queen with her first husband? They are important enough to appear on this stela.

It could of course be someone else, but it's intriguing.

Sesen · Vizier Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 1048 Location: Luxor

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

The rest of the inscription (I did not include that part of the text) says something about the boundaries of the plot of land given to the couple.
The boundaries of the plot of land were formed by fields of "the house of" Thutmosis I, Thutmosis IV and the house of Ptah.

Breasted's text notes in the footnotes that the stela was found near the Great Pyramid, and it is now located in Cairo museum.

I have no idea what this means though. My first impression is that this is a plot of land to build a temple and / or tomb ???? But that is total guesswork on my part. Very Happy

Sesen · Vizier Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 1048 Location: Luxor

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

Sesen · Vizier Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 1048 Location: Luxor

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

I have to read Martin's book a little bit more carefully, but I think that Horemheb had been working on his tomb in Saqqara for a long time. There's evidence of depictions of Akhenaten, Tutankhamen etc. Martin also mentions that the tomb seems to have gone through 3 or 4 stages.
And during Aye's reign I believe Horemheb was still married to Amenia, his first wife. Amenia was supposedly buried in the tomb during Aye's reign.

That doesn't seem to fit with the land being deeded to him in year 3 of Aye's reign.

I also had the impression that Horemheb married Mutnodjmet as part of his coronation ritual.

I'll have to do some "homework" Very Happy

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Sesen · Vizier Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 1048 Location: Luxor

Aahhh oh well, it would have been nice to have an inscription match the land gifted - eh? But it certainly doesn't look like that dates work at all.
I must do a bit more reading on the temple too.

Still pondering this 'district called the field of the Keta'. I'm wondering; since it appears to be a reference to the Hittites or perhaps more significantly their god Sutekh (Egyptian version is Seth). The Hittites were feared, respected (as a powerful foe) and more than likely maligned. Seth's domain was the desert, place for the necropolis.
Could it be a tongue in cheek term for the previously defeated enemy, or their god Sutekh Lord of Heaven/Storms?
Also wondering if the 'House of Ptah' might be Imhotep's Step Pyramid built for Zjoser, or the tomb of Imhotep himself. Imhotep is depicted as a son of Ptah and was later deified, though I'm not sure when.
Still leaning towards this land being near/at Saqqara.
LOL...I should really move all my 'wonderings' to one of the other threads!
_________________
Priestess of Hathor, Superior of the Harem of Min, dedicated to Maat, beloved of Seshat and Nekhbet.
I enter as a hawk, I come out as a benu bird in the morning.-- Pert em-Hru, ch. 13

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

"The Field of the Kheta" is a strange designation.
I'm not sure when the Hittites take over power from the Mitanni. It must be sometime during this period. i.e after the reign of Amenhotep III (he was allied with the Mitanni through marriages) and before Ramses II (as he went to was with the Hittites)

I wonder if there was just an area where many of these "Northerners" lived? Many Mitanni had come to Egypt, quite a few in the entourage of Gilukhepa and Tadukhepa. There may have been a sizable neighborhood of these immigrants.

But that's just my guess. Very Happy

The only fields I have read about that have religious significance are the "Field of Reeds", "The Field of Grasshoppers" and the "Elysian Fields". These are all meant to depict some heavenly lands in the afterlife I think.

Considering that the Kheta are the enemy. The Field of the Kheta sounds more like a purgatory. Very Happy

But then again you don't award people lands in "purgatory".

You mention Seth. Seth was on the rise at that point in time, so you guess that it's related to this god might be a good guess.

But the short answer is that I just plainly don't know....
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Math and Art: http://mathematicsaroundus.blogspot.com/

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

I believe it was Aidon Dodson who theorized that Mutnodjmet was first married to Nakhtmin. Some see Nakhtmin as the son of Aye and Tey.
I think that all of these theories are based on partial inscriptions.

Nakhtmin was a general I believe. He was an important person at the court of Thutankhamen. He provided the King with a beautiful ushabti.

There is a statue of him and his wife in the museum of Cairo. The back of his statue names him as King's son of _____
The blanks have been filled in by some as King's son of his body, making him Aye's son and heir.
Others have filled in the blanks as King's son of Kush. This would have made him Viceroy of Nubia.
I always thought that the Viceroys during that period were the brothers Huy and Amenhotep (I may remember the names wrong here)

The statue of the wife is damaged so that the name is not to be found anymore.

The statues of Nakhtmin and his wife do show signs of what I think they refer to as damnatio memorae (I'm probably spelling that incorrectly).
But there are signs of deliberate destruction of the statues. Eyes are cut, mouth is damaged. Of Nakhtmin only his head survives, a little more survived of the wife. It was once a dyad, but the statue has been broken to separate the two figures. Would be interesting if that latter fact was intentional!
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Math and Art: http://mathematicsaroundus.blogspot.com/

Sesen · Vizier Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 1048 Location: Luxor

Have you ever read of Mutnodjmet having the title of Songstress of Amun?
I don't have any titles for her before her marriage to Horemheb

Sesen · Vizier Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 1048 Location: Luxor

Dammit!! where is my head today- Grrrrr. Of course Mutnodjmet had the title 'Songstress', for some reason I was half thinking of the Mutnofret daughter of Sennefer. Got the Muts mixed! [/quote]
_________________
Priestess of Hathor, Superior of the Harem of Min, dedicated to Maat, beloved of Seshat and Nekhbet.
I enter as a hawk, I come out as a benu bird in the morning.-- Pert em-Hru, ch. 13

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

Oh forgot: Anen died somewhere in the last decade of Amenhotep III's reign. It is quite possible for him to leave behind some very young children. Nakhtmin may have been older, but Nefertiti and Mutnodjemet would have been very young at that time.

But that's just my personal little theory.
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Math and Art: http://mathematicsaroundus.blogspot.com/