Naunakhte
Naunakhte (fl c. 1100s BCE) was an Egyptian woman of the 20th Dynasty, who is best known from her will.[1][2]
Life[edit]
She lived in the workers' village at Deir el-Medina, and was married twice. Her first marriage was to Qenhirkhopsef, the head scribe of Deir el-Medina, who owned a large library of texts (and carved many pieces of graffiti around the area of the Valley of the Kings).[3] When they married, Naunakhte was only 12-years-old, while her husband was in his 50s. After her first husband died, she married Khaemnun, a village workman.[1][4][3] She had several children - most likely from her second marriage - totalling 4 sons and 4 daughters.[1][5]
In the 1920s, archaeologists working at Deir el-Medina discovered 4 papyri that dealt with the inheritance of the estates of Naunakhte: the document as a whole is commonly known as the Will of Naunakhte.[1] The so-called will is a transcript, recording the verbal statements Naunakhte made at court in Deir el-Medina, in October 1145 BCE, in the 3rd year of the reign of the pharaoh Ramses V.[1][6][7]
Naunakhte, who was at that time quite elderly, probably around 80-years-old, stated that four of her children should not inherit any of her property, because they had not taken care of her in her old age.[4][3] Though these children would inherit the property that once belonged to their father - Naunakhte's second husband Khaemnun - they would inherit nothing from her estate or that of her first husband.[1][2]
Another court record, dating from a year later, suggests that Naunakhte had died, as Khaemnun returned to court, and requested that everything be done as Naunakhte had wished.[4]
This will gives insight into the rights of Egyptian women during the 20th Dynasty, as well as law, and family dynamics, including expectations of children's behaviour towards elderly parents.[3] For instance, the will shows that Naunakhte was able to inherit property from her own father, and that property remained hers during both of her marriages.[3][1][2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g Heel, Koenraad Donker van (2014). Missis Tsenhor. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-977-416-634-1.
- ^ a b c McDowell, A. G. (1999-10-15). Village Life in Ancient Egypt: Laundry Lists and Love Songs. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-158826-6.
- ^ a b c d e Middleton, Guy D. (2023-02-09). Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World: From the Palaeolithic to the Byzantines. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-57486-0.
- ^ a b c Sabbahy, Lisa K. (2022-03-22). Daily Life of Women in Ancient Egypt. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 979-8-216-07152-5.
- ^ The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. SAGE Publications, Limited. 2007.
- ^ Eyre, Christopher (October 2013). The Use of Documents in Pharaonic Egypt. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-967389-6.
- ^ Barbieri-Low, Anthony J. (2021-07-17). Ancient Egypt and Early China: State, Society, and Culture. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-74890-0.