From "SEE Egy" online.
Ali Abu Dashish
August 31, 2019
More than two decades following its discovery, the Ministry of Antiquities will exhibit, for the first time, the sarcophagus of Queen Ta wisrt, the last queen of the 19th dynasty, at Luxor Museum after being transferred from the Tomb of Bay (KV13), where it was discovered.
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| Ta wisrt's sarcophagus. |
Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Mostafa Waziri, said that the transfer took place yesterday evening after the approval of the Permanent Committee of Ancient Egyptian Antiquities and amid security measures by the Tourism and Antiquities Police and under the supervision of a team of archaeologists.
Fathi Yassin, Director General of Qurna Antiquities, revealed that the sarcophagus is made of pink granite and is decorated with a collection of drawings depicting the four protective gods and the four sons of Horus.
The sarcophagus, discovered by German archaeologist Alten Müller in the tomb of King Bay, near Queen Twosret ‘s tomb, was reused by King Ramesses III’s son.
The sarcophagus is 280 cm long, 120 cm wide and 150 cm high. It weighs 6 tons.
This wonderful museum has a well-chosen and brilliantly displayed and explained collection of antiquities dating from the end of the Old Kingdom right through to the Mamluk period, mostly gathered from the Theban temples and necropolis. The ticket price puts off many, but don’t let that stop you: this is one of the most rewarding sights in Luxor and one of the best museums in Egypt.
Contributed by Basant Ahmed
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Sounds pretty good, doesn't it. Egypt honoring and acknowledging an ancient female Pharaoh who ruled during the time the Greeks were attacking Troy.
But but but -- let's talk about what was LEFT OUT from this presumably very important announcement regarding the actual HERstory of this female Pharaoh.
In other words, it pays to do supplementary research when you aren't familiar with the subject, in this case, the female Pharaoh I'd never heard of, Ta wisrt. According to verifiable sources at Wikipedia, "Twosret" as she is called there, declared herself Pharaoh in her own name after the death of her assumed step-son, Siptah, who was 10 or 11 when he assumed the throne of Egypt after the death of Seti II. It is not certain whether Seti II was Siptah's biological father. (Why not??? They have DNA tests in Egypt. Don't they have the bodies of these Pharaohs?)
Whoever Siptah's father may have been, Siptah died at about age 16. He evidently had a severely crippled and deformed left foot as a result of surviving polio. I tell you folks, I read over the Wikipedia entries on these people several times (predecessors and successors), and damn it, I haven't yet figured out who was descended from who or who was married to who and who may have been who's child! In any event, Ta wisrt, the assumed "second wife of Seti II" and Setti II's Chancellor Bay were named as co-regents of Siptah.
The question of who Siptah's mother was thus reigns supreme and it amazes me that even today, it is so often ignored when we KNOW that Egypt's rulers were chosen through matrilineal succession. THAT'S WHY IT WAS SO IMPORTANT FOR MALE PHARAOHS TO HAVE CHILDREN WITH A CLOSE FEMALE RELATIVE - TO SECURE HIS LINE THROUGH HER! Some researchers say Siptah's mother was a concubine from Canaan and he had reddish colored hair (presumably inherited from his mother?). Being a foreign concubine presumably would have disqualified the concubine's son from assuming the throne (but did it, really???) Another researcher claims nope, Siptah's mother was actually one of the wives of Ramses II (making Ramses II's presumed child, therefore, a legitimate successor to a childless predecessor). Keep in mind that in ancient Egypt, the legitimacy of the Pharaoh was determined by who the mother was at least (I assume) until the conquest of the Egyptians by the Persians in the 6th century BCE. Thus, it was not a favored son the reigning Pharaoh may have preferred who was always ultimately declared the successor. Sometimes, however, bloody insurrections and wars arose when various factions among multiple queens, female relatives and even some concubines, backed by ambititious pretenders to the throne, took sides and sometimes advanced their own separate agendas - and son - as the next heir to the throne.
Ta wisrt was said to have reigned for 6 or more years, but she evidently assumed to herself six years that her step-son Siptah reigned before his death at age 16. The most recent archaeological finds suggest that she may have reigned in her own right for at least 2 years, and possible some months longer after that, before she either died from natural causes thus ending her reign - or presumably was killed during a civil war mounted by a challenger to her throne (or perhaps committed suicide after it became clear that her challenger was in sight of her last stronghold), and Seknakhte assumed the throne. He didn't enjoy it very long however, HA!
In true jerk style, Seknakhte and his heirs undertook some major reconstruction of the list of Egyptian Pharaohs (the King's List). As Goddesschess's late Don McLean used to say, history is written by the victors. No wonder none of this makes any fricking sense!
And the part about changing Ta wisrt's gender from female to male: "She is recorded in Manetho's Epitome as a certain Thuoris, who in Homer is called Polybus, husband of Alcandra, and in whose time Troy was taken.[2] " FN 2: J. Tyldesley, Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt, 2006, Thames & Hudson.
REALLY, DUDES?
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