Abstract
The article deals with the problem of interpretation of a scantily investigated title of ancient Egyptian royal women ‘god’s mother’ (mwt nṯr). As the author suggests the correct understanding of the title’s signifi cance largely depends on the interpretation of the term ‘god’ (nṯr) that was frequently used in Egyptian texts as a designation of a king’s person and that of a particular deity. The historical survey of this title application to the royal women (primary of the New Kingdom Period) allows to conclude that under the designation ‘god’ a king was undermined and not a ‘real’ god. In connection with that the author distinguishes the title ‘god’s mother’ and the titles ‘god’s mother of (the divinity) N’ – i.e. the titles containing the proper name of the deity. In particular, the difference between the title ‘god’s mother’ and the title ‘god’s mother of Khonsthe- child’ held by the XXI Dynasty Theban high priestesses is stressed. A special attention in the article is paid to the eventual link of the title ‘god’s mother’ with the sacral role of the future king’s mother which the New Kingdom temple scenes of theogamia demonstrate. An analysis of the epigraphic and fi gurative evidence has led the author to the conclusion that the title ‘god’s mother’ primary refl ected a theological role of a king’s mother or king’s wife as an earthy embodiment of the goddess-mother (Isis, Hathor, Mut) and can be interpreted in the context of two ancient Egyptian mythico-theological models – the so-called ‘osirian’ and ‘solar in its Theban version. Thus, the author interprets the sense of the title “god’s mother’ in the context of the idea of the divine motherhood of the ruling king as an earthy manifestation of the god.
Keywords
god’s mother, title, Ancient Egyptian titles, Ancient Egyptian Queenship, religion of Ancient Egypt
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