The Problem of Amenirdis ii and the Heirs to the Office of God's Wife of Amun during the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty *

Abstract

A discussion of the evidence for the career of Amenirdis II, daughter of Taharqa, and adopted daughter of the God's Wife of Amun Shepenwepet II. Consideration of the monuments and the titles used by the God's Wives and their heirs leads to the conclusion that Amenirdis never advanced to the position of God's Wife, but instead held a secondary office, signified by the title ‘God's Hand’, successively under Shepenwepet II and Nitokris I. It is also argued that a figure on Cairo lintel JE 29254B, usually identified as Shepenwepet II, is actually a hitherto-unknown Shepenwepet IV, a prematurely deceased heir of Nitokris.