The Donation Stela of Ahmose I

[Year x] month three of Inundation, day

7 under the majesty of the king of Upper
and Lower Egypt, Nebpehtyre, the son of
Re, Ahmose, living forever and ever.
Done in the presence 2 of [the council?]
of the lands of the city and the servants of
the temple of Amun. What was said in the
majesty of the palace, 3 (life!, prosperity!,
health!), in... [saying]: ...[I have given]
the office of the second priest of Amun to
the gods wife, great royal wife, 4 she
united to the beauty of the white crown,
Ahmose-Nofretari, may she live! [It] was
done for her in an imyt-per, from son to
son, heir to heir 5 [without allowing a
challenge] against it by anyone forever
and ever, because the office ////////// I
have seen //////////// 7 before me.
1

The list thereof:

gold: 8 160 pieces (shenau, possibly a
writing of seniu)
silver: 250
copper: 67 of an object made of copper,
each one of 6 shenau.
I have given it to her for 9 4 (pieces),
totaling 200.
Clothing (d3iw), 200 with the value of
400 shenau. I have given them for 200.
Wigs, 80, 10 with the value of 210 shenau,
reckoning of it as 150.
Ointment, 13 pots for 78; reckoning of it
as 50.
Grand total 11 in shenau: 1,010.
I have given to her male and female
servants, and four hundred oipe of barley
and six arouras of inundated land as an
excess over 12 the 1010 shenau. Her
office will be at the value of 600 shenau.
The office is completed for her, it being
endowed.
13

She said: "Indeed I am satisfied with

month three: Bernadette Menu [1]: "4th

month"
Ahmose: Ahmose I ca 1570-1546 BCE
the council?: Menu: "the magistrates"
the city: Thebes
servants: Menu: "hour priests"
[I have given]: Gitton [4] thought that
this destroyed passage should be rendered as
having belonged or the like, meaning that the
office of the of second priest of Amen had
belonged to Ahmose Nefertary, the God's
Wife, and that she was selling it.
the office of the second priest of Amun:
The office of god's wife of Amen is not
attested before the New Kingdom (Bryan).
imyt-per: lit. "that which is in the house".
Menu speaks of a deed which ensures the
rights of inheritance of the holder's
descendants.
Ahmose as a private person and husband of
Ahmes Nefertari, buys the office from
Ahmose the king and head of the
administration and donates it to his wife.
I have seen: Menu proposes "I have seen
god (?)"
shenau: if these refer to seniu, each would
equal 1/12 of a deben, about 7.6 gr. Menu:
"shati"
copper: Menu: "bronze"
object made of copper: Menu: "diadem"
4: Menu: "3 (?)"
wigs: Menu: "head scarves"
shenau: 1,010: 8,416 deben of copper at
the New Kingdom silver to copper ratio of
1:100.
male and female servants: Menu: "one
male and one female servant".
four hundred oipe: equal to 100 khar. An
oipe was about 20 litres.
arouras: an aroura was about 2,700 m
inundated land: Menu: "low land". Low
lying land was worth twice as much as land
which was not regularly inundated.
With this donation Ahmose created an estate
for the office of the God's Wife of Amen.
This estate continued to be enlarged during
the New Kingdom.
The office is completed...: Menu:
"completely (acquired)". By paying above
normal requirements Ahmose made sure
there would be not doubts as to who the
proprietor of the office was.
Gitton interprets this as She has renounced
the office which has completely been paid
for.
Let it be done according to it: According

the price. Let it be done according to it,

without allowing that it be 14 challenged
by anyone forever and ever."
She gave an oath concerning it: "as my
lord lives for me."
She came at the front of 15 the council of
the city (of Thebes) together with the
servants of the temple of Amun in order
to record in writing the office which was
placed under the control of the gods
wife, great royal wife 16 AhmoseNofretari, may she live!, clothed in a
shawl (d3iw) deriving from the exchange
price, consisting of one of the 200 shawls
17 which my majesty gave. For she is a
nemhet, without anything.
Indeed my majesty has caused that one
build 18 a house for her separate from
any petition which she says, consisting of
what a brother gives to her in order to
make revenue for her, it being removed
from challenge.
19 Then she praised god on behalf of his
majesty in the presence of the courtiers,
saying: "He clothes me, while I have
nothing; 20 he causes that I am rich,
while I am orphaned (nmH.kwj)."
Sealed in the presence of the king
himself. 21 [One gave] the imyt per in the
presence of the portable bark of Amun at
his festival of Choiak 22 [in the] southern
festival hall in the presence of the king
himself, in the presence of the gods wife
and great royal wife Ahmose Nofretari,
may she live!, in front of /// /// 23 all
together, and the courtiers who are in the
following of his majesty [remainder of
column empty; continues horizontally
below], 24 and the entire council of
magistrates (djadjat).
Then the majesty of this god said: "I am
her protector. A challenge to her shall not
occur forever by any king who shall arise
in the following of future generations.
But only the gods wife Nefertary. It
belongs to her from son to son forever
and ever in accordance 25 with her office
of gods wife. There is not one who shall
say, 'Except for me. There is not another
who can speak."

to Menu this is not part of the speech

anymore. She translates it as "One acted
accordingly".
challenged: Menu: "annulled"
She came at the front of...: Menu: "The
magistrates ... approached her"
servants: Menu: "hour priests"
she is a nemhet: nemhet can refer to a
poor, an orphaned or a free person (a
citizen), here apparently referring to
someone without means or standing. Menu:
"she was without wealth and position (sans
situation)"

separate from any petition which she

says...: Menu: "to prevent any complaint she
might express, giving her her brother to
serve her and to remove any claims".
rich, while I am orphaned: Menu:
"powerful, when I was without wealth and
position (sans situation)".

portable bark: Menu: "tabernacle"

festival of Choiak: or festival of Sokar.
Major feast associated with Osiris.

this god said: B. Bryan: this appears to

be an oracle coming from the portable bark
of Amun.
There is not one who shall say ... : Menu:
"No one will decide but me; no other king
will be able to decide concerning it."
Later kings did attempt to influence the
choice of God's Wife and succeeded in
turning the office into an instrument of royal
power [2][3]. It may be symbolic that under
Amenhotep III the Donation Stela was
broken and the pieces used in the building of

a pylon.
Source: Betsy Bryan Property and the God's Wives of Amun
Johns Hopkins University
Women and Property, conference organized by and collection
edited by Deborah Lyons, Raymond Westbrook

[1] Bernadette Menu, La "stle" d'Ahms Nfertary dans son contexte historique et juridique, BIFAO
77, 1976
[4] Michel Gitton, La rsiliation d'une fonction religieuse: Nouvelle interprtation de la stle de
donation d'Ahms Nfertary, BIFAO 76 (1976)