Meritamen (also spelled Meritamon, Meritamun, Merytamen, Merytamun, Meryt-Amen; ancient Egyptian: Beloved of Amun) was a daughter and later Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Ramesses the Great, born by his first queen Nefertari.
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Family
Meritamen was a daughter of Ramesses and his first Great Royal Wife, Nefertari. She appears as the fourth daughter in the list of daughters in Abu Simbel and had at least four brothers: Amun-her-khepeshef, Pareherwenemef, Meryre and Meryatum, as well as a sister named Henuttawy. Meritamen may have had more brothers and sisters, but these five are known from the facade of Queen Nefertari's temple in Abu Simbel.
Her eldest brother, Amun-her-khepeshef, was the crown prince until at least year 25 of the reign of their father. Prince Prehirwenemef is known to have served in the army and is depicted in the battle scenes from Kadesh. The youngest sibling known to us, Prince Meryatum, would later become High Priest of Re in Heliopolis.
Around the time her mother died (around the 23th regnal year), Meritamen became Royal Wife, along with her half-sister Bintanath. In the following years, she, along with her half-sister, was successively promoted to Great Royal Wife. Like Nefertari and Tuya, who shared a Mammisi at the Ramesseum, Meritamen also had a small chapel within the Ramesseum. It is believed that this chapel originally housed the statue of Meritamen as the White Queen. Later, the White Queen statue was removed from its original location for preservation and placed in a building initially named the White Queen Chapel, which was subsequently renamed the Meritamen Chapel. However, this building was actually constructed during the reign of Akhenaten, leading some scholars to suggest that her statue was relocated to this site at an uncertain later date. Nevertheless, like Nefertari and Tuya, Meritamen was worshipped in some form within the Ramesseum.
Depictions of Meritamen
Meritamen is depicted in quite a few scenes in temples and is represented on several statues.
Meritamen is well known for her beautiful limestone statue, the White Queen found at the Ramesseum, the temple complex her father had built. In Kitchen's Ramesside inscriptions, the statue is attributed to Queen Tuya (mother of Ramesses II), but it is now generally thought to represent Princess-Queen Meritamen. The dorsal pillar contains the inscription: [...Chief of the Harem] of Amen-Re, Sistrum Player of Mut, Rattle-[player of Hathor ...], [...of Siut/Sai]s, danceuse of Horus, ... This statue originally depicted Meritamen standing barefoot, with her left leg forward, her right arm hanging by her side, and her left hand placed on her chest, wearing a double-plumed crown. The statue, including its base, stood about 2.25 meters tall, but only 0.75 meters of it remains today.
Meritamen appears on multiple lists of royal daughters as the fourth daughter of Ramesses II. Her standard ranking places her after Bintanath, Baketmut, and Nefertari II, but before Nebettawy. However, in some lists of royal daughters, such as the one in the northeast corner of the Luxor Temple, she surpasses her expected position and is elevated to the second place in the sequence.
Meritamen is mentioned in the Turin Papyrus, which relates to a temple ritual invoking the royal ancestors during the Ramesside period. Among the queens of Ramesses II, her name is listed second, after her mother Nefertari and before her sisters Nebettawy, Bintanath, and a princess-queen whose name is partially damaged.
In the temple of Ramesses II in El Kab, there is a depiction of an Iunmutef priest and the Princesses Bint-Anath and Meryetamen. Scene includes cartouches and the princesses carry wands. Bintanat is termed "king's daughter" as well as "king's wife", while Meryetamen's titles are completely lost and have not been preserved. However, her position is arranged before that of Bint-Anath, which indicates that her status was regarded as higher than Bint-Anath’s. Both Merytamen and Bint-Anath have a modius without stalks, shake a sistrum, and carry a gazelle-headed wand. They face Iunmutef ("pillar of his mother"), a solar deity often associated with the crown prince.
Titles
Hereditary Princess, the great first one (iryt-p`t-tpit-wrt)
ruling the Harim
the great one of the harem of Amen-Re
greatly favored/Great of Praises(wrt-hzwt)
who fills the columned hall with the scent of her perfume
Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt (hnwt-Shm’w -mhw)
King’s Daughter (s3t-niswt), var.: King's Daughter in the palace [?] of the Lord of many festivals [?]
Great King’s Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt)
Lady of The Two Lands (nbt-t3wy)
whose forehead is beautiful bearing the uraeus
the beloved of her Lord, var.: the Beloved of the Lord of the Two Lands
Lady of the Rattle and Mistress of the Sistrum
Prophetess of Hathor
Princess-child of Horus
[Sistrum player] of Mut
Chantress of Mut
Menit player of Hathor
Songstress of Atum
The fair of face beautiful in the palace, she who is beside her Lord as Sothis is beside Orion, one is pleased with what is spoken when she opens her mouth to pacify the Lord of the Two Lands
Burial in the Queens Valley
The exact time of Meritamen's death remains uncertain, but it could not have been earlier than the 50th year of Ramesses II’s reign. There is no reason to assume that the promotion of younger princess‑queens coincided with the retirement or death of older ones. Records of Meritamen, Bintanath, and Henutmire during the reign of Ramesses II can be traced as late as between the 42nd and 56th years. They likely all outlived their father‑husband. Meritamen’s tomb later received an additional small chamber, which was left unfinished, suggesting that she underwent a change in status shortly before her death. She probably died in the early part of Merneptah’s reign, while Henutmire lived on into the reign of Amenmesse.
Meritamen was buried at QV68 in the Valley of the Queens. The tomb of Meritamen was described by Lepsius.
An interesting scene in the tomb shows Meritamen consecrating cloth-boxes to Osiris and Hathor. The inscriptions identify the Queen as The Osiris, King's Daughter, Great Royal Wife, Lady of Both Lands, Merytamen, may she live. She is said to be "Bringing a box of clothing, eternally; consecrating the box of clothing three times" (sic).
Here, Meritamen assumes a strikingly dynamic pose, raising the ḥrp-scepter high above her head with her back arm. The image resembles the typical stance of the Canaanite goddess Anat—Meritamen lifts the scepter above her head just as Anat would hold an axe. There is no comparable example in any of the queenly tombs of the 18th or 19th Dynasties, making this pose truly unique. This may be because Anat was a goddess especially revered by Ramesses II, and it could also reflect Meritamen’s personal devotion.
The sarcophagus-lid is now in Berlin (15274). Meritamen's titles on the sarcophagus lid are given twice. At the head she is described as: "[King's Daughter], Great [Royal Wife], Lady of Both Lands, Merytamen, justified". Over the head she is described as: "The Osiris, King's Daughter beloved of him, Great Royal Wife, Lady of Both Lands, Merytamen, justified".