Iput I was a

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, a daughter of King

Unas Unas or Wenis, also spelled Unis ( egy, wnjs, hellenized form Oenas or Onnos), was a pharaoh, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Unas reigned for 15 to 30 years in the mid-24th century BC (circa 23 ...

, the last king of the

Fifth Dynasty of Egypt The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and VI under the group title the Old Kingdom. The Fifth Dynasty pharaohs reigned for approximately 150 years, from the early 25th century BC until ...

. She married

Teti Teti, less commonly known as Othoes, sometimes also Tata, Atat, or Athath in outdated sources, was the first king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt. He was buried at Saqqara. The exact length of his reign has been destroyed on the Turin King List bu ...

, the first

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

of the

Sixth Dynasty of Egypt The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty VI), along with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Dynasty, constitutes the Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egypt. Pharaohs Known pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty are listed in the table below. Manetho acc ...

. Their son was

Pepi I Meryre Pepi I Meryre (also Pepy I) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, third king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled for over 40 years at the turn of the 24th and 23rd centuries BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom period. He was the son of ...

.Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2004. She possibly ruled as regent for her son Pepi I.

Life

Iput was a daughter of the Fifth Dynasty King

. Her mother was

Nebet Nebet (“Lady”) was created vizier during the late Old Kingdom of Egypt by Pharaoh Pepi I of the Sixth Dynasty, her son-in-law. She is the first recorded female vizier in Ancient Egyptian history; the next one was in the 26th Dynasty.Naguib Kan ...

Khenut Khenut was the Queen of Egypt, the wife of King Unas. She lived during the time of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. She was a suspected mother of Queen Iput. Burial Khenut was buried in a double mastaba with another queen named Nebet next to the Pyra ...

. She married King

, who was the first king of the

. Their son was King

Pepi I Pepi I Meryre (also Pepy I) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, third king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled for over 40 years at the turn of the 24th and 23rd centuries BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom period. He was the son of ...

. Iput is depicted with her son Pepi on a decree-stela from

Koptos Qift ( arz, قفط ; cop, Ⲕⲉϥⲧ, link=no ''Keft'' or ''Kebto''; Egyptian Gebtu; grc, Κόπτος, link=no ''Coptos'' / ''Koptos''; Roman Justinianopolis) is a small town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about north of Luxor, situated un ...

. The skeletal remains found at her pyramid show she died as a middle-aged woman. Iput had another son, Nebkauhor. She had several daughters:

Seshseshet Waatetkhethor Sesheshet, occasionally known as Sesh, was the mother of King Teti, the first and founding pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was instrumental in enabling her son to gain the throne and reconciling two warring factions of the r ...

Seshseshet Idut Sesheshet, occasionally known as Sesh, was the mother of King Teti, the first and founding pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was instrumental in enabling her son to gain the throne and reconciling two warring factions of the ...

Seshseshet Nubkhetnebty Sesheshet, occasionally known as Sesh, was the mother of King Teti, the first and founding pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was instrumental in enabling her son to gain the throne and reconciling two warring factions of the ...

and

Seshseshet Sathor Sesheshet, occasionally known as Sesh, was the mother of King Teti, the first and founding pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was instrumental in enabling her son to gain the throne and reconciling two warring factions of the ...

Titles of Iput I

Iput I held several titlesGrajetzki, Ancient Egyptian Queens: A Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Golden House Publications, London, 2005, because she was the daughter of a king: ''Daughter of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt'' (''s3t-niswt-biti''), ''King’s Daughter of his body'' (''s3t-niswt-nt-kht.f''), ''God’s Daughter'' (''s3t-ntr''), ''This God’s Daughter'' (''s3t-ntr-wt''). Other titles are because she was married to a pharaoh: ''King’s Wife, his beloved'' (''hmt-nisw meryt.f''), ''Companion of

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...

'' (''smrt-hrw''), ''Great one of the hetes-sceptre'' (''wrt-hetes''), ''She who sees Horus and Seth'' (''m33t-hrw-stsh''), and ''Great of Praises'' (''wrt-hzwt''). Iput gained even more titles when her son Pepi I took the throne: ''King’s Mother'' (''mwt-niswt''), ''Mother of the Dual King'' (''mwt-niswt-biti'') and ''King’s Mother of the pyramid Mennefer-Pepy'' (''mwt-niswt-mn-nfr-ppy''). Pyramide Ipout I 2

Burial

Iput was buried in

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. ...

, in a pyramid near that of Teti. The pyramids of Iput and

Khuit Khuit II was a wife of King Teti, the first pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt. Biography Khuit may have been the first prominent royal wife from the reign of Teti. If so, her position would later be taken over by Iput. Khuit may have been t ...

were discovered between July 1897 and February 1899 by Victor Loret. The burial chamber contained a limestone sarcophagus, and a cedar coffin. Remains of a middle-aged woman were found. Some of her funerary equipment has survived. These include canopic vessels, a headrest, and a gold bracelet.Verner, Miroslav. The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments. Grove Press. 2001 (1997). Her remains are in the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. The gold bracelet was found on Iput's arm. The chamber further contained several vessels including polished red pottery and a rock crystal cup. Model vessels and tools were included in the burial as well. Some of these had originally been covered in gold.

References

{{Queens of Ancient Egypt Ancient women regents Princesses of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt Women rulers of Egypt Queens consort of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt 24th-century BC women