Throne of Princess Sitamun

The wooden throne of Princess Sitamun is an example of the subtlety and elegance of Egyptian woodwork in the 18th Dynasty. The throne is made from red wood, covered in parts by a 4 mm thick veneer of red wood.

The legs are shaped like lion’s paws. These paws sit atop high bases which are divided by ridges. The legs were originally covered in silver plate – some remains of which survive.

Sitamun, also Sitamen, Satamun; Ancient Egyptian: sꜣ. t-imn, “daughter of Amun” (c. 1370 BC–unknown) was an ancient Egyptian princess and queen consort during the 18th Dynasty.

Sitamun is usually thought to have been the daughter-wife of Amenhotep III. She is said to be the daughter of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye in some inscriptions. Some have speculated that Sitamun was actually the daughter of Thutmose IV and Queen Iaret, but there does not seem to be any firm evidence for this.

Sitamun is known to have married Amenhotep in year 30, probably during the celebration of his first Heb-sed festival. In some of the older literature (Hayes in 1948 f.i.) is is speculated that Sitamun was the mother of Smenkhkare, Nefertiti, Mutnodjemet and Tutankhamen. There is (to my knowledge) no evidence however linking Sitamen to any of these four royal figures.

The famous Amunhotep, son of Hapu was the Steward of Queen Sitamun, and finds at Malqata show that she must have lived in this grand palace on the west bank near Thebes. There are records of jar labels that refer to “The House of the King’s Daughter, Sitamun”.

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III, ca. 1391-1353 BC. Antiquities Service Excavations on Behalf of Theodore M. Davis (1905). From the Tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu (KV46), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 5342; CG 51113