King's Ornament or King's Adorner (ancient Egyptian: ḫkr.t-nswt) was an ancient Egyptian honorific title used to refer to the secondary wives and concubines of the Pharaoh. Henry George Fischer translated the title as King's Ornament and saw the women with this title as part of the king's harem.[1] Harco Willems argued that the correct translation is King's Adorner and argued that they were playing some role in the king's cult.[2]
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History[]
The title is known from the First Intermediate Period, less often from the Middle Kingdom, but again often from the Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom. The titleholders are most often married women of high status. In the Eleventh Dynasty, some queens of Mentuhotep II held the title.
See also[]
References[]
Bibliography[]
- Fischer, H.G., 1989: Egyptian Women of the Old Kingdom and of the Heracleopolitan Period. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Willems, H., 2007: Dayr al-Barsha Volume I. The Rock Tombs of Djehutinakht (No. 17K74/1), Khnumnakht (No. 17K74/2), and Iha (No. 17K74/3). With an Essay on the History and Nature of Nomarchal Rule in the Early Middle Kingdom. Leuven.