Then His Majesty saw that her face was beautiful, like that of a goddess. The daughter of the prince of Khatti was beautiful in the heart of His Majesty. He loved her more than anything else… He had her named Queen Maatnefrure.
King Ramesses II on meeting his Hittite bride
Over a hundred years later, a Hittite princess left her home to become the bride of the 19th Dynasty King Ramesses II. The distant Hittite kingdom had entered into a diplomatic treaty with Egypt in Year 21 of Ramesses’ reign, with both sides pledging to respect each other’s territory and agreeing to act as allies in the event of attack from a third party. To mark the onset of cordial relations between the two lands Ramesses wrote personal letters to both the Hittite King Khattasulis and his queen, Pudukhepa, while the Queen of Egypt, Nefertari, also sent formal letters to the Hittite court. After years these friendly relations were still in place, and to add strength to the alliance Ramesses married the daughter of Khattasulis and Pudukhepa, giving her the Egyptian name of Maatnefrure and uniquely, for a foreigner, allowing her to assume the title of ‘King’s Great Wife’.
The large increase in the numbers of royal women and their associated households now made it logistically impossible for the entire harem to travel around the country with the court. Instead, a select band of women accompanied the king, and permanent harem-palaces were built to house the surplus ladies and their retinues. These harem-palaces were independent, both physically and economically, of the main royal residence. The archaeological site of Medinet el-Ghurab, lying near the village of Kahun, is the best surviving example of such a harem-palace. This settlement, known in ancient times as Mer-Wer, was founded during the reign of Tuthmosis III and remained in constant use until the Late New Kingdom.8 It consisted of a group of mud-brick buildings contained within an enclosure wall. Included in the complex was a central block of living rooms and lofty pillared halls, several narrow storerooms, and even a small mud-brick temple, while extensive cemeteries were situated in the nearby desert sands. Although it was primarily home to a community of women, their children and their servants, men were by no means barred from Mer-Wer, and we know that at least eleven male administrators were seconded to the harem-palace throughout its life. These administrators, who were married men rather than eunuchs, were not guards but scribes and accountants charged with the task of helping to control the considerable business interests of the royal women. As the New Kingdom Wilbour Papyrus confirms, Mer-Wer quickly became an important financial institution, owning all the surrounding land and its crops and with clear rights over the labour of the local peasant farmers.
Beware of loyal subjects who do not really exist! For you will not be aware of their plotting. Trust neither a brother nor a friend and have no intimate companions, for they are worthless.
Extract from the Instructions of King Amenemhat I
Mer-Wer, situated at the mouth of the Faiyum, was obviously isolated from the main centres of Egyptian government. Was this an attempt to provide a stable background for the royal women and their children, away from the bustle of the court? Or should it be interpreted in a more sinister light, as a deliberate attempt to keep royal women out of political life? Certainly the harem-palace, housing ambitious royal wives and their even more ambitious sons, always had the potential of becoming a focus of civil unrest and political intrigue. Treason within the royal household was a very serious matter which was generally hushed-up by government officials as it contradicted the official doctrine of divine kingship. However, we do know of three palace plots which at different times threatened the stability of the country. The first and possibly the least serious of these occurred during the 6th Dynasty rule of King Pepi I. The long autobiography carved in the tomb-chapel of the official Weni tells how the deceased, a favourite of the king, had been asked to adjudicate in a top-secret case of unrest within the women’s quarters. We are not told of the outcome of this trial, although we do know that Weni received royal assistance with the furnishing of his tomb as a reward for his loyal services to the throne:
When there was a secret charge in the royal harem against Queen Weretkhetes, His Majesty made me hear the case alone, without any judge or vizier, because I was firmly planted in His Majesty’s heart and in his confidence. I put the matter in writing, together with an Overseer, even though I was merely an Overseer of the Tenants myself. Never before had anyone in my position heard a secret of the royal harem, but His Majesty asked me to hear it because he regarded me as worthy beyond any official of his, beyond any noble of his and indeed beyond any servant of his.