Ahmes Nefertari (Ahmose Nofertari)

There are several very important female members of the royal family at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty appearing on many contemporary and later monuments, suggesting that they played some political role in their time. The most important of these is Ahmose Nefertari, the daughter of king Seqenenre, and his wife Ahhotep, the mother of king Amenhotep I. She was the wife of Ahmose, who was responsible for the defeat of the Hyksos. On monuments she is mentioned as 'king's daughter, king's sister, king's great wife, God's wife of Amun and mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt'. In later inscriptions she also appears with the title king's mother. The title god's wife is her most important, and even in contemporary inscriptions people refer to her as god's wife (and not as king's wife or king's mother). Together with Amenhotep I, Ahmose Nefertari was worshipped as deity in Thebes after her death.

Some objects mentioning Ahmose Nefertari in the Petrie Museum
(click on the images to see a larger picture)

together with Amenhotep I	seals and small glazed objects			ostracon; a person stands before the queen, who occupies the position of a goddess

Gitton 1975 (monograph on the queen)