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Nitocris was an ancient Egyptian priestess during the reign of her father, the Pharaoh Amasis II. Her mother was Ankhnesneferibre. Thank god these blurbs are in a written format because I have absolutely no idea how that's supposed to be pronounced. Ankhnesneferibre held the title of God's Wife of Amun, the highest rank in the cult of Amun, traditionally reserved for the wife of the Pharaoh or the Pharaoh's daughter. Nitocris was expected to succeed her mother's position upon her death, but never got the chance to. The king of Achaemenid Iran, Cambyses II, acting on what he perceived to be diplomatic trickery on the part of Amasis, invaded Egypt in 526 BCE. Amasis died before Cambyses himself could reach Thebes, leaving his son Psamtik to battle the Achaemenids and get his ass handed to him. Psamtik was captured, forced to watch his fellow captives be put to the sword, and though the plan was to bring him to the court of the shah as an apprentice, Psamtik opted to take his own life by drinking bull's blood instead. It's not known what became of his sister Nitocris, but Herodotus tells us that Cambyses had all Egyptian noblewomen put in chains, so it's most likely that this was her fate as well. The office of God's Wife of Amun died with her.

Nitocris was a very minor antagonist in my D&D game set in 526 BCE. Some of the party consisted of members of Cambyses's advance force who first secured Thebes. Nitocris was taken prisoner, and while she tried to escape, she was subdued and interrogated about these mysterious reports of rebel activity in the Siwa Oasis. The party was merciful, but Cambyses was not. While the party went away to adventure elsewhere and uncover the plot of the big bad evil guy, they returned to Egypt only to learn that Cambyses had axed her off screen. The party was shocked and appalled, as they had promised her safety, and it was one of many little clues that they may not be able to trust the king or his deteriorating mental health.

Design notes, there's not really any contemporary depictions of Nitocris, at least that I could find. I'd imagine this is because she never actually got to succeed her mother, who does actually have a statue. Instead I kinda just slapped together some design details from various depictions of the God's Wife of Amun throughout history, since they all seem to share a similar wardrobe. By far, that headdress was the biggest pain in the ass of the whole composition. I got there eventually, but tall headwear is always annoying to fit on my reference sheet format. Sadly, all of human history is one long struggle to see who can don the biggest hat, so this won't be the last. God help me if I ever find myself drawing Marie Antoinette-

Description
Nitocris was an ancient Egyptian priestess during the reign of her father, the Pharaoh Amasis II. Her mother was Ankhnesneferibre. Thank god these blurbs are in a written format because I have absolutely no idea how that's supposed to be pronounced. Ankhnesneferibre held the title of God's Wife of Amun, the highest rank in the cult of Amun, traditionally reserved for the wife of the Pharaoh or the Pharaoh's daughter. Nitocris was expected to succeed her mother's position upon her death, but never got the chance to. The king of Achaemenid Iran, Cambyses II, acting on what he perceived to be diplomatic trickery on the part of Amasis, invaded Egypt in 526 BCE. Amasis died before Cambyses himself could reach Thebes, leaving his son Psamtik to battle the Achaemenids and get his ass handed to him. Psamtik was captured, forced to watch his fellow captives be put to the sword, and though the plan was to bring him to the court of the shah as an apprentice, Psamtik opted to take his own life by drinking bull's blood instead. It's not known what became of his sister Nitocris, but Herodotus tells us that Cambyses had all Egyptian noblewomen put in chains, so it's most likely that this was her fate as well. The office of God's Wife of Amun died with her.

Nitocris was a very minor antagonist in my D&D game set in 526 BCE. Some of the party consisted of members of Cambyses's advance force who first secured Thebes. Nitocris was taken prisoner, and while she tried to escape, she was subdued and interrogated about these mysterious reports of rebel activity in the Siwa Oasis. The party was merciful, but Cambyses was not. While the party went away to adventure elsewhere and uncover the plot of the big bad evil guy, they returned to Egypt only to learn that Cambyses had axed her off screen. The party was shocked and appalled, as they had promised her safety, and it was one of many little clues that they may not be able to trust the king or his deteriorating mental health.

Design notes, there's not really any contemporary depictions of Nitocris, at least that I could find. I'd imagine this is because she never actually got to succeed her mother, who does actually have a statue. Instead I kinda just slapped together some design details from various depictions of the God's Wife of Amun throughout history, since they all seem to share a similar wardrobe. By far, that headdress was the biggest pain in the ass of the whole composition. I got there eventually, but tall headwear is always annoying to fit on my reference sheet format. Sadly, all of human history is one long struggle to see who can don the biggest hat, so this won't be the last. God help me if I ever find myself drawing Marie Antoinette-