(fl. 15th century B.C.E.) Royal woman of the Eighteenth Dynasty
A’ahset was a lesser ranked wife or concubine of TUTHMOSIS III (r. 1479–1425 B.C.E.). Her tomb has not been discovered, but a funerary offering bearing her name was found at THEBES. Such an offering indicates a rank in the court, although her name on the offering bears no title. It is possible that A’ahset was a foreign noble woman, given to Tuthmosis III as tribute or as a cementing element of a treaty between Egypt and another land. Such women received elaborate burial rites and regalia in keeping with their station in the royal court.
a’akh (a’akhu; akh) A spirit or spirit soul freed from the bonds of the flesh, a’akh means “useful efficiency.” The name was also translated as “glorious” or “beneficial.” The a’akh, had particular significance in Egyptian mortuary rituals. It was considered a being that would have an effective personality beyond the grave because it was liberated from the body. The a’akh could assume human form to visit the earth at will.
It was represented in the tomb in the portrait of a crested ibis. The spirit also used the SHABTI, the statue used to respond to required labors in paradise, a factor endorsed in cultic beliefs about the afterlife.
