Stele of Kars the Herald

Kars, sometimes translated as Keres, was the herald of one of the queen-mothers named Ahhotep at the beginning of the New Kingdom era. There were two queen-mothers named Ahhotep at the beginning of the New Kingdom era: Ahhotep, the wife of King Amenhotep I, and Ahhotep, the mother of King Ahmose. This stele was erected during regal year 10 of King Amenhotep I, and therefore it is accepted that this Ahhotep was his wife. King Amenhotep I was the king of Egypt between approximately 1557 and 1537 BCE. This date is based on the radiocarbon dating of the mummy of the previous king, Ahmose I, meaning the stele would have been erected circa 1547 BCE.

Kars was a senior member of the Egyptian nobility during the reign of King Amenhotep I; however, his stele was much shorter than the stele of his contemporaries Ahmose pen-Nekhbet and Ahmose pen-Ebana. Unlike his major contemporaries, he would have been a homosexual, and therefore, probably never had any children to maintain his tomb and stele. The stele was erected by the queen-mother after Kars died, which supports the idea that he did not have children. The stele was maintained by the royal court until the reign of Akhenaten, when it was defaced. King Ahkenaten tried to suppress the ancient gods of Egypt in favor of his preferred god: Aten. Several names were destroyed within the text of the stele, mostly the names of gods. Based on the context, the gods' names can be reconstructed as Amen, Aani, and Ma'at.

Kars’ stele was accompanied by a statue of Kars, which Queen-mother Ahhotep had commissioned and erected at his tomb in Abydos. Both the stele and the statue have survived; however, the stele was damaged during the reign of Akhenaten, when the names of the old gods were systematically destroyed in ancient steles. Unfortunately, the stele did not go into great detail about Kars’ life, not even mentioning his last name. It spoke more about Ahhotep, who had commissioned it. Nevertheless, it does give a glimpse into the relationships within the royal court of Amenhotep I circa 1547 BCE.