"The Royal Kinship Title 'King's Son of His Body'"

Megaera Lorenz

Saturday, January 7, 2017
5:00 PM
LaSalle Banks room of the Oriental Institute

The Title “The royal kinship title “King’s Son of His Body” has a lengthy history in pharaonic Egypt, first appearing during the early Old Kingdom. The use of the title at various periods suggests a meaning beyond the obvious implication of a blood relationship with a king. I hypothesize, based on my analysis of the use of royal kinship titles during the 18th Dynasty, that the title “King’s Son of His Body” designated the heir to the throne during this period. This hypothesis is based on the correlation between the use of this title and the eventual attainment of kingship, as well as special funerary honors that were given to holders of the title who predeceased their fathers. In this talk I will speculate on the connection between this title and the 18th Dynasty mythos of divine kingship, and more generally on the way the use of the title relates to ancient Egyptian notions of the relationship between father and son. 
 
Megaera Lorenz recently completed her PhD Dissertation, “The Role of Male Royal Offspring in 18th Dynasty Egypt,” at the University of Chicago. She has taught courses on ancient Egyptian language, history and art and architecture at the University of Chicago and Loyola University Chicago, and has participated in fieldwork in Egypt and Sudan.

This lecture is sponsor by the Chicago chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt.