The nickname of Iset as Taaatimen rejected by Foy Scalf

Until June 2025, the Bab el Gasus Chantress of Amun, Iset (Isis / Ast), was listed on this site as also bearing the nickname tA-aA.t-(m-pr-)-imn, according to Sadek 1985.

“Sadek suggests that Ta-aatimen, ‘la Grande-dans-le-domaine-d’Amon,’ is her nickname and Isis her real name. He writes (translated): ‘It is unlikely that the basalt scarab with the name of Ast (Isis) was usurped. It is also possible to think that this woman, of priestly rank and bearer of an extremely common anthroponym, at one point felt the need to distinguish herself from her many companions who were also called Isis, by being nicknamed “The Great One in the Domain of Amun”—perhaps, moreover, in accordance with a contemporary title of the goddess Isis in the Theban region.’ (See L. Sadek, pp. 120–121)”

In the article by Foy Scalf, it is convincingly argue, at least as a working hypothesis, that Sadek’s widely accepted position, namely that Ast and tA-aA(.t-m-)-pr-imn are the same person, is at the very least debatable.

Scalf’s working hypothesis proposes to abandon this identification and, pending further research, to proceed on the basis that these are separate individuals. In his research, Scalf distinguishes four individuals from Bab el Gasus, for whom various papyri have been found.

Although not definitively proven, Scalf’s working hypothesis is highly plausible and well substantiated. I have therefore decided also to follow his findings on this site and to treat the different ladies mentioned in his research as separate individuals. His study identifies four principal figures. Below are the known papyri that can possibly be associated with these Chantresses of Amen.