God's Wife of Amun

God's Wife of Amun (Egyptian: ḥm.t nṯr n ỉmn) was the highest-ranking priestess of the Amun cult, an important religious institution in ancient Egypt. The cult was centered in Thebes in Upper Egypt during the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth dynasties (circa 740–525 BC). The office had political importance as well as religious, since the two were closely related in ancient Egypt. Although the title is first attested in the Middle Kingdom, its full political potential was not realized until the advent of the Eighteenth Dynasty. History of the office nTr-N41:X1 The shorter version of the title, God's Wife, is in use by the time of the Twelfth Dynasty, when the title is attested for the non-royal women Iy-meret-nebes and Neferu. As early as the First Intermediate Period, there is mention of A "Wife of the God" in reference to the god Min. The full title of God's Wife of Amun is only used during and after the Eighteenth Dynasty. Rise and fall in the Eighteenth Dynasty At the beginning of the New Kingdom, the God's Wife of Amun royal title started to be held by royal women (usually the wife of the king, but sometimes by the mother of the king), when its extreme power and prestige was first evident. The New Kingdom began in 1550 BC with the Eighteenth Dynasty. These were the rulers who drove the Hyksos out of Egypt and their native city was Thebes, which then became the leading city in Egypt. They believed that their local deity, Amun, had guided them in their victory and the cult rose to national importance. Adjustments to the rituals and myths followed.