Berlin; her ushabtis are scattered in many directions, and if they are called to answer the queen's summons, must do it from opposite ends of the earth.

When the Arabs broke into her tomb half a century ago, if the body of the queen still lay there, the intruders probably destroyed it; at present no trace of it is known, and the location of the tomb has been lost.

A sister of queen Ka-ra-maat is said to have been that daughter of a Pharaoh whom King Solomon married, and took "into the city of David, until he had made an end of "building his own house, and the house of the Lord."3 Soon after, Pasebkhanu II. conquered the city of Gezer, and gave it "for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife."

After Ka-ra-maat, there follows a group of several queens, the wives and mothers of the kings of the XXIInd dynasty; but of these royal women, no more is known than their names.

THENT-SA and TASHEDKHONSU were wives of King Uasarkon I., and both are mentioned as the mother of his successor, Takeleth I. On the ruins of the ancient quay at Karnak, Thent-sa appears, while the Horpasen stela is authority for the existence of Tashedkhonsu as a second queen of Uasarkon I. The assertion that she was the mother of his son Takeleth, is probably a mistake."

HENT-TAUI, one of Takeleth's queens, is likewise no more than a name, appearing only as the mother of his son Uasarkon, another high priest of Amen.

8

MUTEMHAT KAROMAMA, "Great Royal Royal Wife; Princess; Great Lady; Mistress of the Country of the South."

1 L., D., 256 b, c.

2 WIEDEMANN, A.G., 541; M.'s S.N., 738, 764, 772.

1st Kings iii, I.

3 A.Z., xxxiv, IIII.

1 P., H.E., III, 243.

B., H.E., vi, 88.

1st Kings ix, 16.

• M., S, xxxi.

• L.B., D., 1010.

These titles are accompanied by double cartouches naming the princess as the beloved of Amen and of Mut. She was one of the famous heiresses who were included among the Theban priestesses, and was the daughter of Nemart, a grandson of Sheshenq and his queen Ka-ra

maat.

Karomama married her cousin, Takeleth I., and was the mother of his son Uasarkon II. It was formerly thought that this queen lived at a somewhat later period, but her position seems now to be established from contemporary inscriptions on the quay at Karnak.1

Her tomb has not been discovered, but several records perpetuate her name; she is found in the temple of Karnak, as well as on the quay; a kneeling figure in the Berlin Museum mentions her; and her ushabtis are also known. The most beautiful existing memorial of Karomama is a fine gold-inlaid bronze statue in the Louvre, which is inscribed with her full regal titles, and was dedicated to her memory by one Aah-dufnekht.3

Takeleth I. was succeeded in office by his son Uasarkon II., the history of whose family is somewhat involved. The sovereign seems to have taken into his harem several wives.

KA-RA-MA was the chief one of these, and although her affiliation is unstated, her name suggests that she was a daughter of the same stock as Karomama. Her family consisted of four daughters, the most important of whom was her heiress Shepenapt (I.), and one son Sheshenq, who afterwards became the second king of that name.

Sculptures at Bubastis represent a great religious festival of Uasarkon and his queen Ka-ra-ma. In these scenes the king is several times depicted, always.

1 L., D., iii, 256 a, 257 a ; P., H.E., iii, 246; A.Z., xxxiv, 111. 2 L., D., iii, 256 h.

3 P., R., i, 40; M.'s P.E., 117.

♦ N., F.H.; N., B., 50.

accompanied by the queen, in the performance of official ceremonies.

The temple of Osiris at Karnak has a memorial of Kara-ma, and her tomb was at Thebes. For many years it was known to the Arabs, and must have been a rich treasurehouse to them; as early as 1843, Lepsius bought ushabtis belonging to Ka-ra-ma, at Thebes. After more than 40 years the stock was not yet exhausted, for in 1887, more figurines of the series were sold in the same place.1

A lapis-lazuli seal in the form of a scarab was given by prince Sheshenq to his mother Ka-ra-ma, the inscription suggesting that it was a New Year's gift. The queen's eldest daughter Shepenapt, occupied the position of heiressqueen, probably even during her mother's lifetime. The other daughters, Tasha-kheper, Karamat, and . . . armer, are known only from the festival scenes at Bubastis.

MEHTIENUSEKT, a "Divine Wife of Amen," and a "Royal Mother," was a queen who, according to the evidence of the Horpasen stela, lived in the early days of the XXIInd dynasty. She was first attributed to this date by Lepsius, on the evidence of some funeral figures. The stela further states that her husband was a chief Sheshenq, and that her son was prince Na-ro-math, who married the daughter of Uasarkon (II.). To this record must be added that of a stela at Abydos, which gives the same relationships, namely, Sheshenq married to Mehtienusekt, with Na-ro-math as their son.

The Abydos stela contains a long inscription relating to the "Osirian general of the Ma, Na-ro-math." The prince had died young, perhaps in his father's wars, and was buried at Abydos. Subsequently Sheshenq paid a visit to his son's grave, and was greatly incensed at the neglected state in which he found it. He addressed himself to Amen-Ra,

1 PETRIE, H.E., III, 251.

2 F.P. Coll.

Read also Nemart, Nimrod, etc. ♦ M., A., ii, 36; R.P., xii, 95 ; B., H., ii, 199.

saying of Na-ro-math: "Thou hast freed him from attain"ing to an infirm old age while he remained on earth. "Thou hast granted him his rest."

"Oh thou good Lord, put to death (the captain) of the 66 army, the secretary, the land surveyor, and all whom (I) sent to this estate, and who plundered (the property) of the altar of the Osirian "general of the Ma, Na-ro-math, the son of Mehtienusekt, "who is buried in Abydos, and all the people who have "robbed his holy property, his people, his herds of cattle, "his gardens, his offerings, and all that was dedicated for his "honour."

Amen graciously assenting to this request, the priests and attendants left in charge of the tomb, who had neglected their duty, were probably condemned to death. Sheshenq then proceeded to restore the desecrated tomb, and to set up a "statue, in the form of a walking man, of . . Na-ro-math," at Abydos.

66

The statue was brought up the river attended by “a large body of soldiers in many ships, no man knows their "number. It was set down in the splendid royal "chamber of the holy of holies of the right eye of the sun, "to carry the offerings on the altar table of Nifur.

.

"The incense was burnt in the room of the star chamber "for three days,. a memorial tablet was erected, .

containing the command (of the great lord) in his name. And it was laid up in the holy of holies of the gods for 66 ever and ever."

New attendants were appointed for the service of the tomb, and an endowment was made for its maintenance in truly regal fashion. "(This is the catalogue) of that which "was appointed for the altar of the Osirian general Na-ro-math, the son of Mehtienusekt, who is buried at Abydos. There were allotted the people .

66

atut... Khu-amen . . . and Bek-ptah. "of) their purchase makes in silver money.

Airomap(The price

thirty-five

pounds. . an estate (of 100 aruræ) in the region of "the heights to the South of Abydos, and in the region of "the heights to the North of Abydos." To this endowment of lands and slaves was added a "garden situated in the "district of the Northern heights of Abydos," and several servants, including six men, two boys, and four maids. The treasury of Osiris was charged with a large outlay of money for daily supplies of honey, of balsam, and of incense, "for the "altars of the Osirian general Na-ro-math," and provision was made for the " workers in the spice-kitchen, and for the "persons of the labours of the harvest."

A red granite statue in Florence is said by Brugsch to be the statue of Na-ro-math which Sheshenq set up at Abydos.

If Mehtienusekt's son married the daughter of Uasarkon II., this would place the queen, at a considerably later period, as his contemporary. Her funeral figures are similar to those of his queen Ka-ra-ma, and from these circumstances Petrie3 argues that Mehtienusekt was a wife of Uasarkon II., and that the tombs of the two queens must have been near together, and found at the same time by the Arabs who for forty years sold their ushabtis at Thebes.*

Mut-hez-ankhs is another wife of Uasarkon, who is mentioned by the historian of this family, Horpasen. She had a royal daughter named Thentspeh, who was a Prophetess of Hathor," and "Divine Mother;" but the position of Mut-hez-anks does not seem to have been important. An Ast-em-kheb also appears as a wife of Uasarkon; although having ecclesiastical titles, she can scarcely be supposed to have inherited royal blood, nor to have held a high place in the king's harem." She is

1 BRUGSCH, E.P., 370–373.

2 F.A.M., SCHIAPARELLI, Cat. 1521.

3 P., H.E., III.

• They are now in Berlin and in the F.P. Coll. Bought in 1843 by LEPSIUS, and in 1887 by PETRIE.

• M.'s M.R., 748-9.