The Story of Princess Scota – Princess Meritaten
In 1955, archaeologist Dr. Sean O’Riordan of Trinity College, Dublin, made an interesting discovery during an excavation of the Mound of Hostages at Tara, site of ancient kingship of Ireland. Bronze Age skeletal remains were found of what has been argued to be a young prince, still wearing a rare necklace of faience beads, made from a paste of minerals and plant extracts that had been fired.
The skeleton was carbon dated to around 1350 BC. In 1956, J. F. Stone and L. C. Thomas reported that the faience beads were Egyptian: “In fact, when they were compared with Egyptian faience beads, they were found to be not only of identical manufacture but also of matching design.
The famous boy-king Tutankhamun was entombed around the same time as the Tara skeleton and the priceless golden collar around his mummy’s neck was inlayed with matching conical, blue-green faience beads”. An almost identical necklace was found in a Bronze Age burial mound at north Molton, Devon.
Lorraine Evans in her compelling book, Kingdom of the Ark, reveals archaeological connections between Egypt and Ireland. Evans argues that the connections between the two distant lands were plausible and there is archaeological evidence to support the theory.
In 1937 in North Ferriby, Yorkshire, the remains of an ancient boat were discovered. While thought to be a Viking longship at first, continued excavation produced additional ships, wrecked in a storm.
Further investigation showed that the boats were much older than Viking ships and were of a type found in the Mediterranean. It was concluded that these boats originated from 2000 years before the Viking age and were radiocarbon dated to around 1400 to 1350 BC.
Evans then makes connections to argue that these boats could originate from Egypt, as the timeframe fits the dating of the faience beads.
While investigating the origins of the people of Scotland in the Bower manuscript, the Scotichronicon, she discovers the story of Scota, the Egyptian princess and daughter of a pharaoh who fled from Egypt with her husband Gaythelos with a large following of people who arrive in a fleet of ships. They settled in Scotland for a while amongst the natives, until they were forced to leave and landed in Ireland, where they formed the Scotti, and their kings became the high kings of Ireland. In later centuries, they returned to Scotland, defeating the Picts, and giving Scotland its name.
{The Scotichronicon is a 15th-century chronicle by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of John of Fordun’s earlier work Chronica Gentis Scotorum. The National Library of Scotland has called it “probably the most important mediaeval account of early Scottish history”, noting that it provides both a strong expression of national identity and a window into the world view of mediaeval commentators.}
Evans then posits the questions: Was the Tara necklace a gift from the Egyptians to a local chieftain after their arrival? Or was the Tara prince actually Egyptian himself? According to Bower’s manuscript, Scota’s descendants were the high kings of Ireland. In her quest to discover the true identity of ‘Scota,’ as it was not an Egyptian name, she finds within Bower’s manuscript that Scota’s father is actually named as being Achencres, a Greek version of an Egyptian name. In the work of Manetho, an Egyptian priest, Evans discovers the translation of the name—the pharaoh Achencres was none other than Akhenaten, who reigned in the correct timeframe of 1350 BC. Evans believes that Scota was Meritaten, eldest daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.
Princess Meritaten
The third eldest daughter, Ankhesenpaaten, married her half-brother, King Tutankhamun, son of Akhenaten and his secondary wife, Kiya. The controversial religious shift to the god Aten caused conflict with the Amun priesthood, who reasserted their authority after Akhenaten’s reign ended and he disappeared from history. This conflict and the rumored deaths by plague would have been sufficient motivation for the pharaoh’s eldest daughter to accept a foreign prince in marriage, rather than being Tut’s wife as would have been normal protocol, and to flee from the conflicted country.
What happens to Scota and her people? For this, we must return again to the myths of the people inhabiting Ireland at the time, the Tuatha de Danaan, the magical children of the Goddess Danu: “It was they who originally established the site of Tara, in the Boyne river valley, as the ritual inauguration and burial place of the ancient kings of Ireland. They were generally regarded as the gods and goddesses of the Celtic tribes, but it is believed that their true origins date far back into prehistory”.
In the Annals of the Four Masters, dating to 1632-36, Scota’s husband is named Eremon, and it is Eremon and Eber who divide the land of Ireland between them, with Eremon in the north and Eber in the south. What is interesting to me about this version is the similarity between the division of Ireland and the division of Egypt itself. Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt, unified by a central connecting city, Memphis. If we consider the existing myths of Ireland’s legends, it, too, was divided to have a central site of unity, known as Mide, the omphalos of Ireland. Within Mide is where the Hill of Tara is situated, as a site of the High Kingship, representing the unity of the land and all of its people.
Sadly, it is in the battle for Ireland at Slieve Mish, as recorded in the Lebor Gabala, that Scota meets a tragic end and is killed. After her death in this battle, the war continued on at Tailtinn against the three kings of the Tuatha de Danaan, the husbands of the Goddesses Banba, Fodla, and Eriu: MacCuill, MacCeacht, and MacGreine. The sons of Mil, after prolonged battle, conquered the de Danaans and took the seat of Tara. According to the Bower manuscript, Scota was buried “between Sliab Mis and the sea,” and her grave, Fert Scota, is found in a glen located in Glenscota.
The exact location of Scota’s resting place remains a mystery, much like the particulars of her past, which are slowing being unveiled. As with many myths, a real person lent her persona and identity to the landscape of the land she became a part of, giving Scotland her name, giving the Celts an additional layer to their unique heritage that is unsung and still somewhat new in theory, as the truths of history do their slow unraveling of their yarns.
All I know is my DNA is Bradley like my Great Grandmother. I have a German name. She had red hair. My sister and her daughter have red hair. Four of my cousins have red hair and we are RH-. The Bradley’s trace relative to King Cole but are Anglo Saxon now in America since 1600’s. My DNA has trace amounts of Greek, Italian, Iberian and Scandinavian, Jewish. I have a genealogical research document many years old indicating we originated in Egypt??
Blessed Love Brethren and Sistren. For all souls who are offended by this article… NEVER once did this article say Egyptians derived from “White” genetics. It specifically states that Irish gene’s have African Roots due to Scota and her Kings that inhabited the area. More proof that ALL “Races” have roots from AFRICA. Everyone needs to remove this “Colorism” mindstate. The Kebra Negast is proof of Africa being Origin, but this information should never be offensive to the I dem as it is UNIFYING creation.
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“I MUST SAY THAT BLACK AND WHITE, AS FORMS OF SPEECH, AND AS A MEANS OF JUDGING MANKIND, SHOULD BE ELIMINATED FROM HUMAN SOCIETY. HUMAN BEINGS ARE PRECISELY THE SAME WHATEVER COLOR, RACE, CREED OR NATIONAL ORIGIN THEY MAY BE.” -Haile Selassie I
I n I Give thanks to our most Divine, Loving Creator, Haile Selassie I. King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah. The Light of the World.
Not one of you mentioned the Long Ship. It was possible to sail that far and take up residence in Great Britain. Is it impossible to believe there is a blend of blood from Egyptians. I think not.
And yes, I agree, she would have taken slaves, which could have originally come from GB. That could account for a the Caucasian / red head DNA in Egypt.
Obviously she knew where to sail and returned to a place Egyptians had been before.
I do think that there is no reason at all to just dismiss this story….the people’s of the ancient world are being shown to have got all over the place, across huge seas & many, many miles. If they could have packed enough food & water for a long journey & had the right mental state to take on a very long journey, and met reasonable weather, there is no reason at all why some of them could not get from Egypt to Ireland & thence Scotland. The more that studies are done of humans all over the world via genetics etc the more we realize just how mobile they really were !!!