المستخلص: |
Towards the second half of the Old Kingdom and until the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, the priestesses of Hathor had a remarkable importance, and the title hmt-ntr Hwt-hr, was used occasionally by queens and princesses, as an example: Queen Meresankh III, wife of King Chepseskaf and Princess Nefrheteps, daughter of King Djedefrê of the IVth Dynasty. Similarly, during the Middle Kingdom, the elite women who served their gods, were priestesses of music by taking the title Sm3cyt nt-ntr(t) or Sm3cyt, and being part of the Harem. At the end of the XIth Dynasty and by the reign of Sesostris II of the XIIth. Dynasty, the position as Hathor's priestess, had gradually disappeared and became limited to a few provincial centers where the goddess Hathor was venerated. Therefore, it was one of the characteristic manifestations finding the goddess Hathor on the handles of the mirrors and the monumental stones in the places of worship. Some Egyptologists have suggested that the jewels and costumes and other personal belongings of the princesses of this period help the priestesses of Hathor to incarnate in various aspects of divine kingship.
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