{{short description|Egyptian noblewoman}} {{Infobox Egyptian dignitary | name = Heresankh | birth_date = {{circa}} 249 BC | death_date = {{circa}} 183 BC (aged 66 years, 5 months, 5 days) | death_place = Saqqara, Egypt | burial = Saqqara (exact location unknown) | dynasty = Ptolemaic Period | father = Neferibre | mother = Herankh (Mistress of the House) | children = Nesisti (son) |Pharaoh=Ptolemy II<br />Ptolemy III<br />Ptolemy IV<br />Ptolemy V|image=Statue de femme - Musée du Louvre Antiquités égyptiennes N 2456 ; IM 6165.jpg|caption=Statue of Heresankh, now in Louvre museum. }} '''Heresankh''' (also transliterated as '''Harsynchis''') was an ancient Egyptian noblewoman and high-ranking priestess during the Ptolemaic period, who lived from approximately 249 BC to 183 BC.<ref name="Panov2017a">Panov, M. (2017). ''Die Residenzstadt Memphis im Neuen Reich. Untersuchungen zur Stadtgeschichte und Topographie''. pp. 101–108, 157–158, 167–174, 261–290, 378, 387–389, 394–398.</ref> She held unique religious offices in the Memphite necropolis and is historically the only known female priestess to serve within the region's major sanctuaries, including the Serapeum of Saqqara, the Anoubieion, and the Osirion of Rutiset.<ref name="Panov2017a" /> Additionally, she is the only known female priestess of the mortuary cult of the deified royal princess Philotera.<ref name="Carney2013">Carney, E. D. (2013). ''Arsinoe of Egypt and All Macedonia''. pp. 98, 176.</ref>
== Family == She was born to Neferibre, a temple priest holding the title of "god's servant", and Herankh, titled "mistress of the house".<ref name="Panov2017a" /> She had a full brother named Neferibre.<ref name="Panov2017a" />
Early scholars looked at her family monument (the Vienna 130 stela) and assumed it was carved in the early 4th century BC. Because of this early date, they calculated that Heresankh lived from 330 BC to 263 BC, placing her at the very top of the family tree as a direct ancestor (a great-aunt) to the early High Priests of Ptah. Modern researchers analyzed the handwriting, hieroglyphs, and artistic style of the monument and realized it actually dates to the 2nd century BC. This meant Heresankh and her immediate family actually lived much later—between 249 BC and 183 BC. This proved she belonged to a younger, parallel branch of the family tree that split off from a shared older ancestor named Anemhor.<ref name="Panov2017a" /><ref name="Quagebeur1974">Quaegebeur, J. (1974). "Le chercheur d'or 'jn-nbw' et le dieu 'Mnw-nb-šnwt'". ''Revue d'Égyptologie'', 26, pp. 74–75.</ref>
== Attestations == Heresankh is archaeologically attested by two primary monuments discovered within the Memphite necropolis at Saqqara:
'''Funerary Stela London BM EA 389:''' A round-topped limestone stela measuring 53 cm in height and 34.5 cm in width.<ref name="Panov2017a" /> The top register depicts a winged sun-disc with pendent uraei.<ref name="Panov2017a" /> Below this, a scene shows Heresankh presenting libations before an offering table to the enthroned Osiris.<ref name="Panov2017a" /> The lower section consists of multiple lines of hieroglyphic text documenting her life, family lineage, and funeral.<ref name="Panov2017a" />
'''Standing Statue Louvre N 2456 IM 6165:''' A standing statue recovered directly from the Sarapieion complex at North Saqqara.<ref name="Panov2017a" /> The inscriptions on this monument preserve her detailed sacerdotal titles across various sanctuaries.<ref name="Devauchelle1998">Devauchelle, D. (1998). "Notes sur les inscriptions de la statue Louvre N 2456 IM 6165". ''Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale'', 98, pp. 597–600.</ref>
== Titles == Unlike noble women of this era who were typically restricted to the role of a basic musician or sistrum player (such as the consorts of the High Priests of Ptah), Heresankh attained full priestly standing as a female god's servant (''ḥm.t-nṯr'').<ref name="Panov2017a" /> According to the text on her Louvre statue, her complete titles were: * Perfect player of the sistrum of Min, lord of Senut * Priestess of Isis and Nephthys * Priestess of the House of Osiris-Apis (Sarapieion) * Priestess of the House of Osiris at Rutiset * Priestess of the House of Anubis who is on his hill (Anoubieion) * Female god's servant of the king's daughter Philotera.<ref name="Panov2017a" />
== Cult of Philotera and Succession == Philotera was the deceased and deified sister of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II.<ref name="Pfeiffer1922">Pfeiffer, S. (1922). ''The Decrees of the Memphite Priesthood''. pp. 14–37.</ref> Heresankh is unique as the only recorded female priestess of her mortuary cult.<ref name="Carney2013" /> Across Egypt, only two other indigenous individuals are known to have officiated for Philotera, both of whom were male High Priests of Ptah: Nesisti-Pedubast and his great-grandson Nesisti (the son of Horemakhet).<ref name="Panov2017a" />
The revised chronology changes the historical understanding of her career, positioning Heresankh as the successor of High Priest Nesisti-Pedubast.<ref name="Panov2017b">Panov, M. (2017). "The Family of High Priests of Memphis in the Ptolemaic Period". ''Journal of Historical Researches'', 29, pp. 43–49.</ref> Nesisti-Pedubast was initially appointed by Ptolemy II around 266/265 BC following a royal decree (the Sais Stela) that mandated the introduction of the dynastic cults of Arsinoe II and Philotera into traditional Egyptian temples.<ref name="Collombert2008">Collombert, P. (2008). "La stèle de Sais et l'instauration du culte d'Arsinoé II". ''Revue d'Égyptologie'', 59, pp. 83–99.</ref>
Following Nesisti-Pedubast's death around 248 BC, the independent titles for Philotera's cult at Memphis were transferred to Heresankh's family.<ref name="Gorre2009">Gorre, G. (2009). ''Les relations du roi ptolémaïque avec les temples égyptiens''. pp. 222–223, 285–296, 293–294, 456–459.</ref>
While the priests Anemhor II and Horemakhet only served the cult of Arsinoe II, she was the one who served Philotera's cult contemporarily.<ref name="Panov2017a" />
Upon Heresankh's death in 183 BC, the office returned to the main lineage via the younger High Priest Nesisti, who reunited the cults of Philotera and Arsinoe II under a single administrative title.<ref name="Panov2017b" /> Thus he served both cults at the same time.<ref name="Panov2017b" />
== Death == Heresankh's funerary stela records that she died at the precise age of 66 years, 5 months, and 5 days, and that her funeral rites were performed by her son, Nesisti, during the 22nd regnal year of an unnamed Ptolemaic king.<ref name="Panov2017a" /> The inscription reads:
{{Blockquote|text=Year 22...day 3 was the day of the burial of the deceased, beautiful musician of Min... Heresankh, justified, born to the lady of the house Herankh, justified. After she had spent 70 days being embalmed, she was given a beautiful burial, through the work of Anubis, by her eldest beloved son, the sem priest, priest of Ptah, Nesisti, after she had lived on earth 66 years, 5 months and 5 days}}
An early consensus in modern historiography identified the unnamed king as Ptolemy II Philadelphus, which placed her lifespan between c. 330 BC and 263 BC.<ref name="DeMeulenaere1959">De Meulenaere, H. (1959). "Trois stèles de basse époque". ''Journal of Egyptian Archaeology'', 45, pp. 244–246.</ref>
However, alternative research originally advanced by Peter Munro and corroborated by Mikhail Panov successfully reassessed the date to the 22nd regnal year of Ptolemy V Epiphanes (183 BC), establishing her revised lifespan from 249 BC to 183 BC.<ref name="Munro1973">Munro, P. (1973). ''Die spätägyptischen Totenstelen''. pages 162, 166, 340.</ref>
== See also ==
* Taimhotep * Pasherienptah III
== References == {{reflist}} {{Ptolemaic Kingdom}}
Category:2nd-century BC Egyptian people Category:3rd-century BC Egyptian people Category:2nd-century BC Egyptian women Category:3rd-century BC Egyptian women