gious leader. The God’s Wife also held the title of “Chief-
tainess of the HAREM,” designating her as the superior of
the vast number of women serving the temple as adoratri-
ces, chantresses, singers, dancers, and ritual priestesses.
InKarnak the God’s Wife was called “the God’s Mother”
or “the Prophetess.”
Following the fall of the New Kingdom (1070 B.C.E.),
the role of God’s Wife of Amun took on new political
imperatives, especially in Thebes. Sharing power with the
self-styled “pharaohs” in the north, the Theban high
priests of Amun needed additional accreditation in order
to control their realms. The women were thus elevated to
prominence and given unlimited power in the name of
cultic traditions.
The daughters of the high priests of Amun, such as
the offspring of PINUDJEM(2), were highly educated and
provided with pomp, wealth, and titles. In the Twenty-
first Dynasty (1070–945 B.C.E.) the God’s Wife of Amun
ruled all the religious females in Egypt. AMENIRDIS,
NITOCRIS,SHEPENWEPET, and others held great estates, had
their names enshrined in royal cartouches, lived as
celebrities, and adopted their successors. By the era of the
Twenty-fifth Dynasty (712–657 B.C.E.) such women were
symbolically married to the god in elaborate ceremonies.
All were deified after death. The role of God’s Wife of
Amun did not fare well in the face of foreign invasions
and subsequently lost power and faded from the scene.
Before that, however, the office was a political weapon,
and some God’s Wives were removed from office, sup-
planted by new women who were members of an emerg-
ing dynastic line. The best known God’s Wives, or Divine
Adoratrices of Amun, were Amenirdis I and II, Nitocris,
Shepenwepet I and II, and ANKHESNEFERIBRÉ. Many were
buried at MEDINET HABU, and some were given royal hon-
ors in death as well as deification.
Golden Horus Name See ROYAL NAMES.
goose It was the symbol of GEB, who was called the
great cackler, the legendary layer of the cosmic egg that
contained the sun. The priests of AMUNalso adopted the
goose as a theophany of Amun in the New Kingdom. The
bird was sometimes called KENKEN-UR,the Great Cackler.
“go to one’s ka” An ancient Egyptian expression for
the act of dying. In some periods the deceased were
referred to as having “gone to their kasin the sky.”
See also ETERNITY;KA.
government Basic tenets and autocratic traditions pro-
vided a uniquely competent level of rule in the Nile Val-
ley. The PHARAOH, a manifestation of the god RÉwhile he
lived and a form of the god OSIRISbeyond the grave, was
the absolute monarch of Egypt in stable eras. He relied
upon nondivine officials, however, to oversee the vast
bureaucracy, as he relied upon the priests to conduct cer-
emonies in the temples as his representatives.
Under the rule of the pharaohs the various regions of
Egypt were grouped into NOMES or provinces, called
sepat.These nomes had been designated in the Early
Dynastic Period (2920–2575 B.C.E.), and each one had its
own deity, totems, and lists of venerated ancestors. There
were 20 nomes in Lower Egypt and 22 in Upper Egypt
(this number being institutionalized in the Greco-Roman
Period). Each was ruled by a heri-tep a’a,called “the great
overlord” or NOMARCH. The power of such men was mod-
ified in the reigns of strong pharaohs, but generally they
served the central government, accepting the traditional
role of “Being First Under the King.” This rank denoted
an official’s right to administer a particular nome or
province on behalf of the pharaoh. Such officials were in
charge of the region’s courts, treasury, land offices, mili-
tia, archives, and storehouses. They reported to the vizier
and to the royal treasury on affairs within their jurisdic-
tion.
In general, the administrative offices of the central
government were exact duplicates of the traditional
provincial agencies, with one significant difference. In
most eras the offices were doubled, one for Upper Egypt
and one for Lower Egypt. This duality was carried out in
architecture as well, providing palaces or administrative
offices with two entrances, two throne rooms, etc. The
nation viewed itself as a whole, but there were certain tra-
ditions dating back to the legendary northern and south-
ern ancestors, the semidivine kings of the predynastic
period (before 3,000 B.C.E.), and the concept of symme-
try. Government central offices included foreign affairs,
military affairs, treasury and tax offices, departments of
public works, granaries, armories, mortuary cults of
deceased pharaohs, and regulators of temple priesthood.
Aprime minister, or VIZIER, reigned in the ruler’s
name in most ages. Beginning in the New Kingdom
(1550–1070 B.C.E.) or earlier, there were two such offi-
cials, one each for Upper and Lower Egypt, but in some
dynasties the office was held by one man. The role started
early in the form of CHANCELLOR. Viziers in the Old King-
dom (2575–2134 B.C.E.) were normally related to the
royal house. One exception was IMHOTEP, the commoner
who became high priest of the temple of PTAHand vizier
of DJOSER(r. 2630–2611 B.C.E.) in the Third Dynasty. The
viziers heard all territorial disputes within Egypt’s bor-
ders, maintained a cattle census, controlled the various
reservoirs and food supplies, collected taxes, supervised
industries and conservation projects, and repaired all
dikes. The viziers were also required to keep accurate
records of rainfall (as minimal as it was) and to maintain
current information about the expected levels of the
Nile’s inundations. All documents had to have the vizier’s
seal in order to be considered authentic.
Each vizier was normally assisted by members of the
royal family or by aristocrats. This office was consideredgovernment 153