Cent NESU

Cent Nesu, "the king's sister."

  - In the era of the second transition

 The earliest known examples of this title can be traced back to the Seventeenth Dynasty, as it was taken by the two queens, "Sobek M.S. S."  And the queen, “Aah Hatti,” is the wife of the king, “Sqnen Ra the First,” and the mother of the king, “Ahmose the First”.

  - In the era of the modern state

 In the Eighteenth Dynasty, Queen Ahmose Nefertari, wife of Ahmose the First, took this title, as did the daughters of this king, who are: “Merit Amun,” “Sat Amun,” “Sat Khams,” and “Hantat Thameh.” The queen also took it.  Aah Hatta, the second, the wife of the king, “Amnehat the first,”; the two queens, “Aah Mas,” and “Mutt Naft”, the two wives of the king, “Tuthmosis the First,”; Queen “Hatshepsut,” and her daughter, “Nefru-Ra”;  The third, "Queen Aret," wife of King Tuthmosis the Fourth, and Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaten.

 In the nineteenth family, queens did not take this title, while the wives of statesmen were described by the word (his sister).

 In the Twentieth Dynasty, only Queen Teti, wife of King Rameses III, took this title.

 It is worth noting that most of those who took the title (the king's sister) also had the title (the king's wife), or (the king's great wife).  Their assumption of the two titles together calls for thinking about whether the king's wife is really his sister, or that the title (the king's sister) does not mean in most cases that its bearer is really the king's sister, and that it is nothing more than an honorary title, and an honor bestowed upon the queens by the kings.

 In fact, the issue of (wife / sister) has differed according to the opinions of scholars, so the brother’s marriage to his sister, which is now seeing something strange to us, may have been a normal thing in ancient Egypt.  The two deities “Auxerre” and “Set” took from their two sisters “Isz” (Isis) and “Nabet Hat” (Nephthys) as their spouses, and this intermarriage between the deities may have become a model for the Egyptians, especially in the royal family, to preserve the purity of royal blood.

 In the Eighteenth Dynasty, Queen "Ahmose Nefertari" was the husband of her brother, King "Ahmose the First", and the Queen "Aah Hatti the Second" was also the husband of her brother, the King, "Amenah the First", among other examples.

 As for people, it was referred to - in their texts - to the wife as (his beloved sister, his beloved wife);  Sometimes she is referred to only as (his lovely sister);  Sometimes it was referred to as “the sister who occupies your heart”; or: “Your beloved sister who likes to talk to her.” Such phrases were undoubtedly referring to the wife.

 This and if the king’s marriage - if our interpretation of the sources is correct - with his sister aims to preserve the purity of royal blood, then the marriage of an ordinary person to his sister may have been the fruit of intimacy, affection and family bonding, or a desire to preserve the family’s property without squandering it by marrying strangers.

  It is also worth noting that if some of the holders of this title were sisters to their husbands, then some of them were not sisters to the husbands, whether they were kings or persons other than the royal house.  Because it seems that the word (sister) has come to mean (beloved), so the title (sister of the king) is nothing but a description that describes the queen, meaning that she is (the lover), and she is the one who is in the status of a sister.

 What confirms this is that the title (the king's wife) comes in most cases directly after the title (the king's sister), which indicates that both titles complement the other.

 Also, Queen T, the wife of the king, “Gendethe III,” - for example - was described as (his sister), and she is not a full sister or even half-sister of the king.

 Likewise, "Nefertiti" - the wife of "Akhenaten" has taken the title (the king's sister), and there is no evidence that she is the sister of King Akhenaten.

 Likewise, what confirms that the word (sister) has come to mean (beloved) is the Egyptian love songs, in which the lovers used to always address the words (my brother) and (my sister).

  In one of the songs the girl says

 "Brother, it is nice to go to the lake and wash in front of you."

   The boy says

 "When I see my sister coming, my heart rejoices,

 I open my arms to embrace her, and my heart will rejoice in its place. "