Akhethetep was an ancient Egyptian official of the

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...

, who is known from his burial at

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

, excavated 1929–30 by the Egyptian Egyptologist

Selim Hassan Selim Hassan ( ar, سليم حسن; born on 15 April 1886 – 1961) was an Egyptian Egyptologist. He was the first native Egyptian to be appointed Professor of Egyptology at the University of Cairo, a post he held from 1936 to 1939. He was then ...

. Akhethetep had several rather modest titles, including ''ka-priest of the king's mother'', ''scribe of the treasury'' or ''inspector of the scribes of the granary''. He was also ''inspector of scribes at Akhet-Khufu''. Akhet-Khufu is the pyramid of king

Khufu Khufu or Cheops was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom period ( 26th century BC). Khufu succeeded his father Sneferu as king. He is generally accepted as having co ...

. His wife was a woman called Nikauhathor. In his tomb are also mentioned on a false door a certain Kainefer and a woman called

Peseshet Peseshet, who lived under the Fourth Dynasty (albeit a date in the Fifth Dynasty is also possible), is often credited with being the earliest known female physician in history. Some have credited Merit-Ptah with being the first female physician, ...

. The latter with the title ''overseer of the physicians'', perhaps the first female doctor known by name. The relationship of these two people to Akhethetep is unknown. Selim Hassan wonders whether they were his parents. Akhethetep was buried in a

mastaba A mastaba (, or ), also mastabah, mastabat or pr- djt (meaning "house of stability", " house of eternity" or "eternal house" in Ancient Egyptian), is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inwar ...

, that was partly carved into the rocks, partly built of stones. Only some parts of the inner rooms were decorated and inscribed.Hassan: ''Excavations at Giza, 1929-30'', pp. 73-85 The exact dating of Akhethetep is uncertain.

References

{{Reflist Ancient Egyptian scribes People of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt