#ahhotep

Golden Flies of Valor of Queen Ahhotep

Second Intermediate Period, 17th Dynasty, ca. 1560-1530 BC. From Tomb of Ahhotep, Dra’ Abu el-Naga’, Thebes. Now in the Luxor Museum. JE 4694 - CG 52671

Artefacts I'm Thinking About 7/?

Additionally to the weaponry discovered with the grave goods of Ahhotep, was a necklace with three golden flies. The grave goods found in her tomb at Dra Abu el-Naga, in Western Thebes by Auguste Mariette in 1859 demonstrate her important position during her lifetime.

The fly pendants on the necklace are quite beautiful, each with two pronounced sets of wings, bulging eyes and extended parallel lines down the body portion.

Ahhotep - The queen who protected Egypt

Ahhotep ( c.1560–1530 BCE) was the queen consort of pharaoh Seqenenre Tao II.  She apparently gave birth to two daughters and two sons. Her husband died in battle against the Hyksos, foreign invaders who at that time ruled Northern Egypt. 

A man named Kamose then ascended to the throne. Whether or not he had ties to the royal family or was a warrior of noble birth is unclear. Kamose died in battle against the Hyksos three years later. Ahhotep’s son, Ahmose I, then became pharaoh.

Ahhotep ruled in his stead as a regent. According to a stela recovered from Karnak, she was “one who has accomplished the rites and taken care of Egypt”. The queen also appears to have led troops in battle to defend her capital of Thebes against the Hyksos. The stela indeed says that:

“She has looked after Egypt's soldiers, she has guarded Egypt, she has brought back her fugitives and gathered together her deserters, and she has pacified Upper Egypt and expelled her rebels.”

Her grave goods indeed suggest an active military role. She was buried with three daggers and thirteen axes bearing both the names of Ahmose I and Kamose as well as an archer’s brace and a javelin head. A military decoration, the golden “Flies of Valor”’, was also found in her tomb. This decoration was usually awarded to someone who personally excelled in battle. 

(Some of Ahhotep’s burial goods, including the golden flies)

Bibliography: 

Dean Rebecca A., Women, weaponry and warfare A multidisciplinary study of the use of weapons by women in Dynastic Egypt 

Jewelry and weaponry belonging to Queen Ahhotep

An inscribed ceremonial axe blade made of copper, gold, electrum and wood was decorated with a Minoan style griffin.

Three golden flies were included and were awards usually given to people who served and acquitted themselves well in the army.

Pectoral of Ahmose I, found in the coffin of his mother Ahhotep I

This inlaid pectoral is in the shape of a shrine topped by a cavetto cornice. Its base is decorated with wavy lines in reference to the primeval water.

It is protected by two falcons. In the center of a boat, King Ahmose I is shown with the gods Re and Amun. The two gods are pouring water on the king in the purification process during the coronation ceremony.

Most of the objects found in the tomb of Queen Ahhotep bear the names of her sons, Kamose and Ahmose, the kings that chased the Hyksos out of the country.

Second Intermediate Period, 17th Dynasty, ca. 1560-1530 BC. From Dra’ Abu el-Naga’, West Thebes. Excavated by August Mariette, 1859. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 4683