231: The Hittite Queen of Egypt

Married before first sight. In regnal year 34 (1259 BCE) Ramesses welcomed a princess of Hatti. Sent by her father Hattusili and mother Puduhepa, the (anonymous) princess came to Egypt and took up the rank of King's Great Wife. Today, she is known by her Egyptian name, MAAT-HOR-NEFERURA "She Who Sees Horus, the Perfection of Ra." This enigmatic woman sits at the centre of a fascinating letter archive and commemorative text. Ramesses celebrated his new bride in grand style... Music by Luke Chaos Extended version of this episode available at Sources Beckman, G. (1999). Hittite Diplomatic Texts (2nd ed.). Brand, P. J. (2023). Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh. Bryce, T. (2003). Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East: The Royal Correspondence of the Late Bronze Age. Archive.org. Edel, E. (1994). Die ägyptisch-hethitische Korrespondenz aus Boghazköi in babylonischer und hethitischer Sprache I: Umschriften und Übersetzungen. Fisher, M. M. (2013). A Diplomatic Marriage in the Ramesside Period: Maathorneferure, Daughter of the Great Ruler of Hatti. In B. J. Collins & P. Michalowski (Eds.), Beyond Hatti: A Tribute to Gary Beckman (pp. 75—119). Jung, C. (2007). Rain in ancient Egypt: A linguistic approach. In H.-P. Wotzka, O. Bubenzer, M. Bollig, & R. Vogelsang (Eds.), Aridity, change and conflict in Africa (pp. 331–344). Available in Open Access pdf at Koeln. Kitchen, K. A. (1975). Ramesside Inscriptions Historical and Biographical (Vol. 2). Kitchen, K. A. (1996). Ramesside Inscriptions : Translations (Vol. 2). Kitchen, K. A. (1999). Ramesside Inscriptions: Notes and Comments (Vol. 2). Mieroop, M. van de. (2016). A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC. Polo, S. S. (2016, January 11). Inside One of Egypt’s Biggest Royal Weddings. National Geographic History. Wong, J. (2020). Have you ever seen the rain? Comments on an underrepresented phenomenon. Nile Magazine, 28, 24—35. Available at Academia.edu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to 231: The Hittite Queen of Egypt online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

231: The Hittite Queen of Egypt is an episode from The History of Egypt Podcast by Dominic Perry.

This episode is 45:17 long.

This episode was published on Apr 13, 2026.

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