To her royal spouse the queen is spoken of as “thy beloved sister who fills the palace with light,” or “thy sister who is in thine heart, who sits near thee at the feast,” or “thy beloved sister with whom thou dost love to speak.” A love song in which the woman seems the wooer is preserved and we give one stanza.
“Thou beloved one my wish is to be with thee as thy wife;
That thy arm may lie upon my arm.
Will not my elder brother come to-night?
Otherwise I am as one who lies in the grave.
For art thou not health and light?”
The other ladies of the harem are also occasionally called sisters. “Sutem Mut” was the Royal Mother, “Sutem Hempt,” the Royal Wife. Under the old empire the queen was spoken of as “she who sees the gods, Horus and Set (that is possessor of both halves of the kingdom), the most pleasant, the highly praised, the friend of Horus, the beloved of Ra, who wears the two diadems.” In the New Empire she was designated as “the consort of the god, the mother of the god, the great consort of the king.” She was eligible to all but the highest offices of the priesthood and held forth or played the sacred sistrum to the gods, sometimes dedicating herself to one deity, while her husband served another, and she deemed it the greatest honor to be called “the concubine of the god.”
All women desired the name of Hathor, Isis, the goddess of Love and Fecundity, as in the Middle Ages the name of Mary, the mother of Christ, was specially cherished. Other popular names under the Old Empire signified “Beautiful,” “Strong,” etc. Under the new we also find “Beautiful,” and in addition the names of trees, somewhat in Japanese fashion, with their “Cherry Blossom” and “Plum Blossom,” as “Beautiful Sycamore,” or, hardly admirable in the eyes of the Greeks or ourselves, “Large Headed,” which some of their coiffures and head ornamentations seemed to suggest.
The sons and daughters of the late king were always called the children of the god. The education of both was conducted by the most learned men of the kingdom, frequently priests, and this tutor was spoken of as the “nurse.” The custom of entrusting the royal ladies to such severe training reminds us of the preceptors and studies of Queen Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey. The queen held property in her own right. At one time the revenues from the fisheries of Lake Moeris were appropriated to her. A talent a day, or upwards of 700 pounds a year. Also the returns from certain cities; as, for example, the taxes on wines of the city of Anthylla, were a queen’s dowry for her dress, and this privilege was continued to the queens of Persia after Cambyses conquered Egypt.