Meritmaat

Meritmaat was the village leader of Kerke in Atef-Pehu Nome, Egypt during the 1st century BCE.

Biography[edit | edit source]

During the 1st century BCE, Meritmaat lived in the village of Kerke, which was famous for its honey and opium. At some point, she became the leader of the village and had a daughter. Many years prior to 48 BCE, a Ptolemaic Commander received word of the village's honey and opium production, leading him to attempt a takeover of the village. Several villagers attempted to resist the takeover, causing them to be branded as rebels and hunted down by the Ptolemies.^[1]

To ensure that no villagers were further harmed, Meritmaat negotiated a deal with the Ptolemaic Commander: the village would supply him and his camp with honey and opium in exchange for his protection, which he accepted. Behind the Commander's back, Meritmaat also secretly supplied the goods to the villagers who had fled north to become rebels. The Commander eventually discovered this, and took Ipy hostage and meant to kill her as a lesson to Meritmaat, and to assure her compliance in the future. In reality, the Commander did not kill Meritmaat 's daughter and instead adopted her as his own as a replacement for his own daughter who'd died young. Meritmaat was unaware of this, and thus continued to comply with the Commander's deal, ensuring that no villagers were taken hostage once again.^[1]

Despite her efforts however, another villager, Henuttawy, was taken hostage and held at the nearby camp in 48 BCE. Fortunately, the Medjay Bayek of Siwa chanced to hear about this, and offered to rescue the girl, and later to kill the Commander. Meritmaat accepted his offer.^[1]

After killing the Commander in his home in Memphis, Bayek learned the truth about Ipy, and sought her out. He revealed to her the lie she'd been living in, and directed her to Kerke, telling her her mother was still alive, and missing her daughter.^[1]

Eventually, Ipy reached Kerke and found her mother. Though she was confused at what to think about it all, Ipy was willing to get to know Meritmaat, make up for the time they'd lost. Sometime later Bayek happened to visit the town and saw them; he wished them good luck, happy to see such an ending to the story. ^[2]