Renpet-neferet1, parentage and chronology unknown, wife of Anemhor2, mother of Nesisti-Pedubast HPM3, here distinguished from4 Renpet-neferet wife of Nesisti HPM, mother of Khonsiu5.
[1] No separate entry in PP but named in PP IX 5361 as the mother of Nesisti-Pedubast. Gr: Rempnophris. Ý
[2] By inference from her maternity of Nesisti-Pedubast. On Anemhor as the father of Nesisti-Pedubast, see stele Vienna 83 and discussion under Neferibre. Ý
[3] Stele BM 379. Ý
[4] On J. Quaegebeur's proposal, JNES 30 (1971) 239, 265 (1) and in D. J. Crawford et al, Studies on Ptolemaic Memphis 47, 51, to identify these two women and to give them a single husband, Nesisti-Anemhor HPM, see discussion under Anemhor.
Our chronological data bearing on the Renpet-neferet problem is as follows:
a) Nesisti-Pedubast's son Anemhor II was born in 289. Anemhor II's grandmother Renpet-neferet is therefore unlikely to have been born much after 330.
b) Nesisti-Pedubast almost certainly reached his most senior positions in and around year 23 of Ptolemy II = 263/2. His death date is unknown, but was certainly well after his son Anemhor II was a mature adult.
c) Khonsiu, son of Nesisti HPM, died in Tybi of year 37 of Ptolemy II = Feb/March 248. His parents Nesisty HPM and Renpet-neferet had both predeceased him.
It is clear that the two references to Renpet-neferet come from the same general period and context. Having ruled out Quaegebeur's reconstruction, we must distinguish between Anemhor husband of Renpet-Neferet, father of HPM Nesisti-Pedubast, and Nesisti HPM, husband of Renpet-Neferet, father of Khonsu. Either:
1) There was one Renpet-neferet who married twice, to HPM Nesisti and to Anemhor, or
2) There were two Renpet-neferets married to two different men.Further, there are three possible chronological relationships between a putative *Nesisti HPM and Nesisti-Pedubast HPM: *Nesisti HPM, father of Khonsiu, must be i) a predecessor of Nesisti-Pedubast, ii) identical to Nesisti-Pedubast or iii) a successor to Nesisti-Pedubast and predecessor of Anemhor II.
On scenario (1) for Renpet-neferet, he can only be a predecessor of Nesisti-Pedubast, who is otherwise the first known Ptolemaic HPM, and Nesisti-Pedubast must be his stepson. Thus, we arrive at the following reconstruction:
Since Khonsiu died well after Nesisti-Pedubast was exercising the highest office, one must then explain why Nesisti-Pedubast HPM succeeded *Nesisti HPM in preference to his own son. This difficulty suggests we should put scenario (1) aside in favour of a simpler explanation.
If *Nesisti HPM was a successor of Nesisti-Pedubast HPM then he was an elder son rather than a younger brother, otherwise we must explain why Anemhor II, who was certainly an adult on succeeding Nesisti-Pedubast HPM, was initially passed over. Thus, we arrive at the following reconstruction:
But, since Khonsiu died after his father, as an adult, we now have to explain why he did not succeed to the position of HPM. One could suppose an elder brother, but now we have three HPMs between Nesisti-Pedubast HPM and Anemhor II HPM: Pedubast, *Nesisty and *(name lost). This difficulty suggests we should put also this scenario aside in favour of a simpler explanation.
Since we have no other reason to suppose that such a separate *Nesisti HPM existed, the simplest solution chronologically is to equate *Nesisti HPM father of Khonsiu with Nesisti-Pedubast HPM. To the possible objection that *Nesisti is not the same name as Nesisti-Pedubast one may note that Nesisti-Pedubast is called by both names on his funerary stele BM 379.
J. Quaegebeur, JNES 30 (1971) 239, 265 (1) considers this possibility but claims that we have no reason to assume it, and that it was simpler to assume a single Renpet-neferet. However, at the time he had not considered the Anemhor named on Vienna 82 as Nesisti-Pedubast's father. With the introduction of Anemhor in the equation, we do have a reason to prefer this approach: the alternatives create more complexity. D. Devauchelle, CdE 58 (1983) 135, 142, who also favours this solution, further notes that Psherenptah III is also known to have married more than one wife. The same view has been adopted by G. Gorre, Les relations du clergé égyptien et des Lagides 290-292.
I therefore assign two wives to Nesisti-Pedubast: his known wife Nefersobek, and the second Renpet-neferet. It is possible that Renpet-neferet is simply a second name for Nefersobek, but, as J. Quaegebeur, JNES 30 (1971) 239, 265 (1), notes, we have no reason to assume this is the case. Ý
Update Notes:
16 March 2002: Created page
14 August 2010: Note that Gorre also accepts
Devauchelle's reconstruction
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