# Siatum
**Siatum** (Si-atum) was an ancient Egyptian prince of the Eighteenth Dynasty, probably a son of King Thutmose IV (throne name Men-kheperu-re, 'Everlasting are the Manifestations of Re'). He is attested only twice in the whole period: on a limestone relief of his tutor Meryre, now in Vienna, and on the mummy-label of his daughter Nebetia.[1](https://globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5133) • [2](https://www.biographies.net/people/en/siatum) The attribution to [Thutmose IV](https://www.edgepedia.org/thutmose-iv) rests on the style of the relief and on a correspondence between the prince's name and part of the king's Horus name.[2](https://www.biographies.net/people/en/siatum)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Status | Prince ("royal son whom his father loves") of the Eighteenth Dynasty[1](https://globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5133) |
| Putative father | Thutmose IV, by stylistic dating and name correspondence[2](https://www.biographies.net/people/en/siatum) |
| Attestation on a monument | Saqqara relief of the tutor Meryre, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, inv. AS 5814[1](https://globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5133) |
| Attestation on a funerary label | Mummy-label of his daughter Nebetia[2](https://www.biographies.net/people/en/siatum) |
| Dated to | Around the reign of Amenhotep III, by provenance and style[1](https://globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5133) |
| Recorded office | None; no career is known[3](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030751339007600107) |
| Total attestations in the period | Two[1](https://globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5133) • [2](https://www.biographies.net/people/en/siatum) |
## Attestations
The first monument is a limestone relief from the Saqqara necropolis, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna (inventory AS 5814; fragment height 130.2 cm, width 87 cm). It depicts the overseer of the treasury Meri-re receiving mortuary offerings in his prestigious role of royal instructor, with a royal prince sitting in his lap as he offers him fruit. The prince wears the lock of youth.[1](https://globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5133)
The inscription gives Meri-re the titles "overseer of the tutors of the good god" and "Overseer of the Treasury", and names the boy "the royal son whom his father loves, Si-atum". The museum record states that this name is known from the relevant period only from one other source.[1](https://globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5133)
That other source is a mummy-label found on the mummy of Nebetia, a daughter of Siatum, where he is mentioned as her father. The two attestations are separated in kind, a sculptural scene naming a prince and a funerary label naming a private father, and no direct evidence links the person named on the relief with the father of Nebetia.[2](https://www.biographies.net/people/en/siatum)
## Filiation and chronology
The identification of Siatum as a son of Thutmose IV rests on two indirect arguments. First, the relief is dated by provenance and style to the Eighteenth Dynasty, around the reign of [Amenhotep III](https://www.edgepedia.org/amenhotep-iii); Meryre must therefore have been tutor either during Amenhotep III's reign or that of his predecessor Thutmose IV. Second, the name Si-atum corresponds to part of Thutmose IV's Horus name. Neither argument names Siatum's father explicitly.[1](https://globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5133) • [2](https://www.biographies.net/people/en/siatum)
Siatum's floruit therefore depends on the chronology of Thutmose IV's short reign and its successor. One account of the reign, following Manetho's tradition, gives it a length of nine years and eight months; a Year 8 date appears on the Konosso stela, and no records of the king exist after Year 8.[4](https://www.emmabandrews.org/project/files/original/6b3203676b02fd8e7db89361bc2f5ba2.pdf) [Absolute dating](https://www.edgepedia.org/absolute-dating) differs between reconstructions: one specialist account places his rule between 1419 and 1386 BC.[5](https://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tuthmosis4.htm)
The filiation is not confirmed by earlier family records. One historical study of Thutmose IV's tomb and family knows of only one other child of the king besides Amenhotep III, a prince Thutmosis mentioned on a scarab inscription on the island of Sehel; Siatum does not appear in its list of the king's children.[4](https://www.emmabandrews.org/project/files/original/6b3203676b02fd8e7db89361bc2f5ba2.pdf) A princely burial that might otherwise help, the mummy of a boy aged about six to eight years found violated in a secondary vault of Thutmose IV's tomb [KV43](https://www.edgepedia.org/kv43), cannot be assigned by age relative to Amenhotep III, so it cannot be tied to Siatum or to the prince Thutmosis.[4](https://www.emmabandrews.org/project/files/original/6b3203676b02fd8e7db89361bc2f5ba2.pdf)
## Royal sons of Dynasty 18: role and record
The thin record for Siatum is typical of non-reigning princes of the dynasty. In his 1990 study of the crown prince Djhutmose, Aidan Dodson surveyed the role of the royal prince in the Eighteenth Dynasty and appended a full list of such princes; the evidence indicates that many princes remained unrecorded because they lacked political participation outside their father's reign, and only a small number can be directly associated with specific responsibilities.[3](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030751339007600107)
Royal appointments for princes of the period included the civil service, the army, and the priesthood. Djhutmose himself, a son of Amenhotep III, likely served as [High Priest of Ptah](https://www.edgepedia.org/high-priest-of-ptah) at Memphis. Siatum has no recorded office of any kind.[3](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030751339007600107) Burial practices contributed to the scarcity of evidence: royal sons were often interred in their fathers' tombs, which helps explain why separate princely burials and monuments are rare.[3](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030751339007600107)
The comparison with Djhutmose and his priestly office shows how little two private attestations can establish. Siatum belongs among the many princes known only by name.[3](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030751339007600107)
## References
1. The Global Egyptian Museum, record 5814: limestone relief of the tutor Meryre, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, AS 5814. https://globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5133
2. Biography of Siatum, Biographies.net. https://www.biographies.net/people/en/siatum
3. Aidan Dodson, "Crown Prince Djhutmose and the Royal Sons of the Eighteenth Dynasty", Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 76 (1990). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030751339007600107
4. The tomb of Thoutmôsis IV (historical Egyptological text on the tomb and family of Thutmose IV). https://www.emmabandrews.org/project/files/original/6b3203676b02fd8e7db89361bc2f5ba2.pdf
5. "Tuthmosis IV of the 18th Dynasty", Tour Egypt. https://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tuthmosis4.htm
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Periods and civilizations › Ancient Near East, Egypt, Nubia, and the Punic world › Ancient Egypt › New Kingdom › New Kingdom: officials, priests, and private persons › New Kingdom officials and private persons: Dynasty 18*
*Initially written Sep 19, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Sep 19, 2026*
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