Thutmose I's first wife was Mutnofret, mother to his 4 sons and possibly
Iset I. Mutnofret was a Kings Daughter and should, by right, have been the Chief
Queen. She may have died before Thutmose came to the throne. Strange though,
that her one of her titles include 'Kings Mother'. Unless her son bestowed them
after her death, she could not have borne them before he assumed the double
crown! Egyptologists usually describe her as a younger sister of Ahmose
Tumerisy. The fact is that she WAS a kings daughter and the latter was just a
kings sister. No sisterhood here, folks. Mutnofret also had been married to
Thutmose for a considerable time, before Tumerisy came into the picture!
Thutmose is known to have had a son by a royal concubine named Iset(I). IF she
was a daughter of Mutnofret's, they both were of better blood then Tumerisy and
Hatshepsut! As a pressumed daughter of Ahmose & Ahmose Nefertari, Mutnofret
was fortunate enough to have obtained the coveted title of 'Kings Mother'. It is
a shame she didn't lived long enough to know it.
She was the only child of Thutmose II & Hatshepsut. Taking into
account the now revised length of her father's reign, she was possibly born in
year 12 - 14 of her father's 16 year reign. She was all of 2 years when he died
and her half-brother, Thutmose III became heir at 9 years of age. Hatshepsut may
not have been more then 20 years old when she found herself a widow, then
regent, for her stepson and later son-in-law. Neferure was unfortunate enough to
be a valuable pawn to both parties. When she married Thutmose, she would
effectively legitimize his right to the throne and oust her mother from power.
But while she remained too young to marry, Hatshepsut could use this as bait, to
dangle before Thutmose. Her secret to remaining in power for 21
years?
Neferure disappears from monuments after year 11, which may point to
the year of her marriage to her half-brother. Before this, she was the god's
wife of her mother! Hatshepsut may not have thought it prudent to advertise her
daughter's marriage because of her own position. Neferure may be the mother of
the kings son, Amenemhat and eldest daughter, Ahmose Meritamen II,
wife of
Amenhotep II.
If Neferure was never the 'great wife' of Thutmose III, then the 2nd
direct line ends with her death. She was considered royal on both sides.
Thutmose III's children by any other wife would be royal only on their father's
side, and HALF at that!
Neferure now appears to have been Thutmose III's (invisible) queen for at least 10 years. Plenty of time to have provided several heirs to her husband.
Due to the age at death of Amenhotep II's first wife, she was quite probably the
mother of Ahmose Meritamen II, and Sitamen I also. At one point, in year 15(?)
of her mothers coregency, she appears on a tomb relief with her husband. From
the inscription, it seems as if she was recognized as sharing in this strange
coregency.
This brings us to the female pharaoh herself. She was one of two daughters,
born to Ahmose Tumerisy. While her mother was to become "Great Wife" and "Gods
Wife", she started with the single title of "Kings Sister". This has suggested
to egyptologists that she was the full sister of Thutmose I, born of the
concubine Sensoneb. If he did not marry his sister until he inherited the
throne, Hatshepsut could not have been more then 12 when she found herself
married and queen of egypt. Or was Hatshepsut born towards the end of her
father's reign? She gave birth to just one child, which may point to the fact
that she was not old enough to concieve until late in her husbands reign. If she
reached maturity (13) in Thutmose II's year 10 and conceived in year 12, she
would have been about 19 at his death. Her daughter would then be 4 years old.
Ahmose Meritamen II