Amenirdis I was a God's Wife of Amun

God's Wife of Amun

God's Wife of Amun was the highest ranking priestess of the Amun cult, an important Ancient Egyptian religious institution centered in Thebes during the Egyptian 25th and 26th dynasties...

 in ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

.

She was a Kushite princess, daughter of Pharaoh Kashta

Kashta

Kashta was a king of the Kushite Dynasty and the successor of Alara. His name translates literally as "The Kushite".-Family:Kashta is thought to be a brother of his predecessor Alara. Both Alara and Kashta were thought to have married their sisters...

 and Queen Pebatjma

Pebatjma

Pebatjma was a Nubiaqueen dated to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the wife of King Kashta. She is mentioned on a statue of her daughter Amenirdis I, now in Cairo . She is also mentioned on a door-jamb from Abydos.-Family:...

. She is likely to have been the sister of pharaohs Shabaka

Shabaka

Shabaka or Shabaka Neferkare, 'Beautiful is the Soul of Re', was a Kushite pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt, between according to Peter Clayton .-Family:...

 and Piye

Piye

Piye, was a Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled Egypt from 747 BCE to 716 BCE according to Peter Clayton. He ruled from the city of Napata, located deep in Nubia, Sudan...

. Kashta arranged to have her adopted by the Divine Adoratrice of Amun

Divine Adoratrice of Amun

The Divine Adoratrice of Amun was a second title created for the chief priestess of the ancient Egyptian deity, Amun. During the first millennium BCE, when the holder of this office exercised her largest measure of influence, her position was an important appointment facilitating the transfer of...

, Shepenupet I

Shepenupet I

Shepenupet I was an ancient Egyptian high priestess during the reign of the 23rd dynasty. She was the first “hereditary” God's Wife or Divine Adoratrice of Amun to wield political power in ancient Thebes and its surrounding region...

, at Thebes

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...

 as her successor. This shows that Kashta already controlled Upper Egypt prior to the reign of Piye, his successor.

She ruled as high priestess approximately between 714 and 700 BCE, under the reigns of Shabaka and Shabataka, and she adopted Piye's daughter Shepenupet II

Shepenupet II

Shepenupet II was an Ancient Egyptian princess of the Twenty-fifth dynasty and the Divine Adoratrice of Amun from around 700 BC to 650 BC. She was the daughter of the first Kushite pharaoh Piye, and sister of Piye's successors Taharqa and Shabaka. She was adopted by her predecessor in office,...

 as her successor. Upon her death, she was buried in a tomb in the grounds of Medinet-Habu

Medinet Habu (temple)

Medinet Habu is the name commonly given to the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III, an important New Kingdom period structure in the location of the same name on the West Bank of Luxor in Egypt...

.

She is depicted in the Osiris-Hekadjet ('Osiris, Ruler of Eternity') temple in the Karnak temple complex, and in Wadi Gasus, along with Shepenupet I. She is mentioned on two offering tables, five statues, a stela and several small objects including scarabs.