While most ancient Egyptians were
monogamous, a male pharaoh would have had other, lesser wives and
concubines in addition to the Great Royal Wife. This arrangement would allow the pharaoh to enter into diplomatic marriages with the daughters of allies, as was the custom of ancient kings. In the past the
order of succession in Ancient Egypt was thought to pass through the royal women. This theory, referred to as the Heiress Theory, has been rejected regarding the Eighteenth Dynasty ever since a 1980s study of its royalty. The throne likely passed to the eldest living son of those pharaohs. Before the title of the Great Royal Wife was created, different titles were given to distinguish the senior most wife of the pharaoh from the other wives, usually by having the most titles. The titles given to the senior most wife included ''Mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Daughter of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, King's Daughter of his body, Beloved by
Isis, She who sees
Horus and
Seth, Great one of the hetes-sceptre, She who is united with the one beloved of the Two Ladies,
the one united with the beauty of the white crown, One great of praise, Priestess of
Hathor, the Greatly loved Wife of the King, the beloved Wife of the King, companion of Horus, etc.'' After the creation of the title of Great Royal Wife, the other titles were not needed and were eventually phased out and not issued again.
Meretseger, the chief wife of
Senusret III, may be the earliest queen whose name appears with this title; she also was the first
consort known to write her name in a
cartouche. However, she is only attested in the
New Kingdom so the title might be an anachronism. Perhaps the first holder of its title was
Nubkhaes of the
Second Intermediate Period. The mother of the heir to the throne was not always the Great Royal Wife, but once a pharaoh was crowned, it was possible to grant the mother of the king the title of Great Royal Wife, along with other titles. Examples include
Iset, the mother of
Thutmose III,
Tiaa, the mother of
Thutmose IV , a crown worn by Great Royal Wives and female pharaohs A special place in the history of great royal wives was taken by
Hatshepsut. She was Great Royal Wife to her half-brother
Thutmose II. During this time Hatshepsut also became
God's Wife of Amun (the highest ranking priestess in the temple of Amun in Karnak). After the death of her husband, she became
regent because of the minority of her stepson, the only male heir (born to Iset), who eventually would become
Thutmose III. During this time Hatshepsut was crowned as
pharaoh and ruled very successfully in her own right for many years. Although other women before her had ruled Egypt, Hatshepsut was the first woman to take the title,
pharaoh, as it was a new term being used for the rulers, not having been used before the eighteenth dynasty. When she became pharaoh, she designated her daughter,
Neferure, as
God's Wife of Amun to perform the duties of high priestess. Her daughter may have been the great royal wife of Thutmose III, but there is no clear evidence for this proposed marriage. In
Kush, the rulers often structured their households in much the same way as has just been described. ==Examples==