Maathorneferure

Maathorneferure (Hieroglyphic: Mȝʿt-Ḥr-nfrw-Rʿ, Maʿat-ḥōr-nefrurēʿ) was an ancient Egyptian queen, the Great Royal Wife of Ramesses II (1279–1213 BC, according to the standard "Low Chronology" for Egypt). Maathorneferure was a daughter of the Hittite king Hattusili III and his wife, Queen Puduhepa. She was the sister of the crown prince Nerikkaili of Hatti and the sister of the later Hittite king Tudhaliya IV. The Egyptian sources claim that Maathornefrure was the eldest daughter of her parents, specifically identified as the king and queen of the Hittites. Maathorneferure was married to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II in his Year 34, becoming a senior queen, the King's Great Wife. Ramesses II's mother and first two chief queens had died before Year 34, which carried the potential that Maathornefrure would become the chief queen; nevertheless, she shared the title with several of Ramesses II's daughters. The status of Maathornefrure as the King's Great Wife (unlike Ramesses' other foreign wives), seems to have been a precondition of the marriage alliance, set by her parents. The Hittite princess' original name is not known with certainty, although Elmar Edel has suggested identifying her with the Šauškanu (name partly restored) mentioned in a letter from Hattusili III to Ramesses II. After arriving in Egypt and marrying Ramesses II, she was renamed Maʿat-ḥōr-nefrurēʿ ("One who sees Horus, the splendor of Ra") or Maʿat-nefrurēʿ ("One who sees the splendor of Ra"), depending on whether the falcon sign in the name is read out or not. Alternatively, it is possible that "maʿat-ḥōr" was a queenly title or epithet ("One who sees Horus"), and the new Egyptian name of the princess was more simply Nefrurēʿ ("the Splendor of Ra").