Karomama Meritmut
| Karomama Meritmut | |
|---|---|
| God's Wife of Amun | |
| Egyptian name | |
| Predecessor | Henuttawy |
| Successor | Shepenupet I |
| Dynasty | 22nd Dynasty |
| Burial | Shaft tomb in the Ramesseum |
| Father | possibly Osorkon II |
Karomama Meritmut (prenomen: Sitamun Mutemhat) was an ancient Libyan high priestess and a God's Wife of Amun during Egypt's Twenty-Second Dynasty.[1] The second “Ma” in her name Karoma(ma) represents her tribal name, showing that she belonged to the ruling Ma tribe. The Ma are among the most ancient Libyan tribes, appearing during Egypt’s Old Kingdom, and they were the founders of the Twenty-Second Dynasty under Sheshonq I, who held the title “Great Chief of the Ma” before becoming pharaoh. According to White/European scholars, Ma is abbreviated from Meshwesh (also known as Weshesh), a white Libyan Berber group that appeared around c. 1200 BC as part of the Sea Peoples, alongside groups such as the Rebu (also known as Libu) and others.[2][3][4]
She is possibly identical with Karomama C, a daughter of Pharaoh Osorkon II, who was depicted in the sed-hall of the pharaoh. She followed Henuttawy as high priestess. She is depicted in the Karnak chapel Osiris-Nebankh ("Osiris, Lord of Life"). A bronze statue of hers, Statue of Karomama, the Divine Adoratrice of Amun (N 500), which she received from her overseer of the treasury Ahentefnakht,[5] is now on display at the Louvre;[1] a votive statue of Maat she also received from him, was found in Karnak, a stela of hers, her canopic jars and ushabtis are in Berlin.[6] She was followed as God's Wife by Shepenupet I. Her tomb was found in December 2014 in the area of the Ramesseum at Thebes.[7]
Sources
- ^ a b Dodson, Aidan; Hilton, Dyan (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05128-3., p.219
- ^ Bates, Oric. The Eastern Libyans: An Essay. Macmillan & Co., 1914, p. 51.
- ^ In The General History of Africa: Studies and Documents, Libya Antiqua: Report and Papers of the Symposium Organized by UNESCO in Paris, 16–18 January 1984. Section: “Formation of the Berber Branch,” p. 67. UNESCO.
- ^ Cooney, W. (2011). Egypt’s encounter with the west: Race, culture and identity (Doctoral thesis, Durham University). Durham e-Theses. p. 167, 168
- ^ Helen Jacquet-Gordon: A Statuette of Ma'et and the Identity of the Divine Adoratress Karomama, in: ZÄS 94 (1967), 86-93
- ^ Dodson & Hilton, p.220
- ^ Karomama tomb discovered in the Ramesseum temple