Ankhnesneferibre

Who is Ankhnesneferibre?

Ankhnesneferibre held the office of Divine Adoratrice of Amun during the 26th Dynasty of Egypt from around 586 to 525 BC. During the same time, she also held the office of God's Wife of Amun, which was the highest office in the priesthood of the temple of Amun in Thebes.

The title, Divine Adoratrice of Amun, conveyed even more political authority than the earlier office especially during the Late Libyan period through to the Kushite Dynasty 25 and saite Dynasty 26 period. Ankhnesneferibre was the daughter of Psamtik II and his wife Takhuit. Ankhesenneferibre was dispatched to Thebes and adopted by her predecessor in this office, Nitocris I as a stela from Karnak records. Eight years later, in Year 4 of her brother Apries's reign, she formally assumed the office of Divine Adoratrice of Amun herself when Nitocris I died. Henceforth, she would govern Thebes for a period of 60 years until the Persian conquest of Egypt in 525 BC. After the Persians captured Egypt, the office of the Divine Adoratrice of Amun was abolished and Ankhnesneferibre disappears from history.