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QV47: Princess Ahmose

Queen's Valley - The Valleys - The Places

Princess Ahmose’s name means “Child of the Moon” and she was graced with the Noble Titles of “King’s Daughter” and “King’s Sister”. She lived in Egypt during the latter years of the 17th Dynasty and was buried at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty, which was also known as the Second Intermediate Period. Princess Ahmose lived during one of the most tumultuous periods of all Ancient Egyptian times.

Her Story

Her father was Theban Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao, the Brave, and her mother was Sitdjehuti who was Pharaoh’s Queen and probably his half-sister. She was the half-sister to Pharaoh Ahmose I and his Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, who were also inter-related. She is believed to have died from heart disease and was buried by her great nephew, Pharaoh Thutmoses I, in the Valley of the Queens.

For a long time, the Hyksos Peoples are accused to have created the First Foreign Takeover of Egypt. Archaeologists have discovered through research and isotype analysis that there was a large community of Hyksos living in the Nile Delta for some time before they took control of the majority of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. Largely meaning that they were welcomed traders and immigrants rather than invaders. According to the Tombs located there, they were employed by the Egyptian State as shipbuilders and craftsmen, Soldier and Sailors. Could the “Hyksos invaders” have actually been a community of foreign immigrants who were born in Egypt but whose Ancestors were from the Levant?

From records, Egyptologists have discovered that there was a line of impotent Pharaohs which led to the period known as the Second Intermediate Period. The settlers known as Hyksos had been trading and settling in the portside city of Avaris for some so when the power vacuum occurred, the probable Egypt born Hyksos were ideally implanted within the community to conquer a weakened state. This created what we know today as the 15th Dynasty.

Their rule of Egypt lasted for over 200 years which may not be considered as a short-lived grab for power. Trade continued between the northern part of Egypt and the Southern City of Thebes, where the Egyptian Pharaoh’s 16th and 17th Theban Pharaohs settled. Use of the Nile in both directions has been recorded for trading purposes. It is thought that Thebes may have paid their due, taxes and have communicated in a friendly manner with the Hyksos. While they remained subordinate to the now Capital City of Avaris, but this cannot be totally confirmed.

The Hyksos Pharaohs engaged in battles with the Theban Pharaohs under Princess Ahmose’s father Theban Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao and her brothers Theban Princes Wadjkheperre Kamose and Ahmose. Her father was killed in battle, succeeded by her eldest brother to become Theban Pharaoh Kamose. He then too was then killed in battle. The Hyksos’ rule drew to a close with the commencement of the New Kingdom Period. This saw their downfall and banishment from Egypt after Pharaoh Ahmose I, Princess Ahmose’s remaining brother, reclaimed Egypt under the Egyptian Pharaohs.

It is believed by many Egyptologists that Princess Ahmose’s influence was felt and treasured within the Royal Court during the turbulent times. For more information about the Hyksos, their rule and their Capital City of Avaris, click here

 Tomb Overview: Thought to be the first Tomb constructed in the Valley of the Queens. Found in the Tomb with her remains were some leather sandals and linen which had 20 Chapters of the Book of the Dead inscribed on them.

Tomb Layout: Located in the “Valley of Prince Ahmose” her Tomb consists of a Chamber and a Burial Shaft.

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