>>When the office originated in the 18th dynasty she was 'traditionally' a
>>descendent or other heir of Ahmose Nefertari the first holder of the office,
>>(whose family seems to have originated in the Theban area and were at odds
>>with the Nubian chiefs who their descendants conquered later in the Dynasty)
>>There don't seem to have been any holders after Merytre Hatshepsut.
>>The office was revived in a new form by the Kushite Dynasty, (I think). A
>>virgin daughter of the Pharaoh was set up as 'Great Wife' and viceroy in the
>>South while her father and later brother ruled in the North. Eventually she
>>would be suceeded by a niece.

The office of God's wife of Amun lasted until the Saite period.
But the concept of Queen mother, Great Wife, or God's Wife was not the same as
that of England or elsewhere. As I said, Isis was the epitome of the concept
of the woman as the throne of kingship. These other titles are only variations
on the theme and reflect that the woman was the one who birthed the king to
the throne. Therefore, it wasnt some sort of office to represent foreigners or foreign marriages in Egypt, it wasused as a way to represent legitimacy for the rulers of Egypt.

[en.wikipedia.org]

When I say that many of these women were southerners, I dont necessarily mean from outside of Egypt, but to the south of Egypt. But this does include the area between Luxor and the first cataract, which was part of Egypt for most of the dynastic period.


> The wives of the Kings of the 12th and 13th
> dynasties were often depicted as jet black, like
> princes Kemsit of Mentuhotep I, which is again
> showing how Egypt was 'renewed' from the South.

Actually the black is symbolic of ressurection, no doubt why we
find such statues in a mortuary context.

> This 'renewal' was reinforced in the religious
> iconography, where black was a sign of renewal a
> sign of the Nile silt and a sign of Southern
> ancestry.

All true, except for the 'southern ancestry' bit.

Blackness was also a sign of southern ancestry and renewal just as people to the south were depicted as jet black. The point being that the Nile was the source of renewal which deposited the black silt that became identified with resurrection. However, the Nile was also seen as the clay from which mankind was made by Khnum which is a way of saying that not only was the Nile a conduit for the silt, but also the men and women of the silt the people of the Nile which originated in the South. And this association between the Nile as a sign of renewal along with the people is seen strongly in periods following strife where Southerners in Egypt regained power.