A number of princes can be documented for the reign of Amenhotep II: Amenhotep, Thutmose, Khaemwaset(?), Amenemopet, Ahmose, Webensenu, and Nedjem, as well as the unnamed Princes A and B known from stelae left at Giza. Perhaps another, named Aakheperura, was born late in Amenhotep’s reign, or in Thutmose IV’s. In striking contrast to earlier reigns, princesses are difficult to document. The plurality of young royal males is in contrast to the earlier part of the dynasty when adult princes appeared to be scarce, perhaps because they died on military campaigns, or from childhood illnesses. The scarcity of princes, perhaps due in part to the dynastic preference for princess sisters as queens, may have inspired rulers to take minor queens in addition to their great royal wives. These ‘royal wives’, such as Nebetta and the three Levantine queens of Thutmose III, all mentioned above, were probably distinct from court females of unknown rank with whom the kings had sexual liaisons. The latter women, such as Mutnofret, Isis, Tiaa, and Mutemwiya, produced sons who became king and promoted their mothers as queens. It is not known, however, which women (apart from Tiaa, mother of Thutmose IV) were the mothers of Amenhotep IPs numerous offspring.
It was not only his able procreative powers that separated Amenhotep II from his predecessors. Unlike those before him, this king had no publicly acknowledged wife other than his mother, Merytra, who served as ‘great royal wife’ for much of Amenhotep’s reign. The absence of wives might be considered a conscious rejection of the dynastic role played by princesses as queens and ‘god’s wives of Amun’ from the establishment of the dynasty through to the reign of Hatshepsut. Perhaps Thutmose 111 and Amenhotep II now realized that queens like Hatshepsut, who represented the dynastic family, could be dangerous if they were too wealthy and powerful. In addition the queen-turned-king’s usurpation of the throne may have given Thutmose III and Amenhotep II a particular incentive to produce sons. This conclusion further motivated kings to choose as great royal wives women from outside the main royal line, as did Thutmose III in choosing Sitiah and Merytra.
World History
