Khentkaus II ( 2475 BC – 2445 BC) was a royal woman who lived in Ancient Egypt. She was a wife of

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 ...

ian

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Neferirkare Kakai Neferirkare Kakai (known in Greek as Nefercherês, Νεφερχέρης) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the third king of the Fifth Dynasty. Neferirkare, the eldest son of Sahure with his consort Meretnebty, was known as Ranefer A before he ...

of the

Fifth Dynasty The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties Third Dynasty of Egypt, III, Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, IV and Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, VI under the group title the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. The Fifth ...

. She was the mother of two kings,

Neferefre Neferefre Isi (; also known as Raneferef, Ranefer and in Ancient Greek, Greek as , ) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He was most likely the eldest son of pharaoh Nefe ...

and

Nyuserre Ini Nyuserre Ini (also Niuserre Ini or Neuserre Ini; in Greek known as Rathurês, ''Ῥαθούρης'') was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 35 ye ...

.Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), p.66

Biography

Khentkaus II was the wife of Neferirkare Kakai. Her pyramid complex was started during the reign of her husband, when her title was still that of king's wife (''hmt nswt''). The construction of her tomb was halted, possibly when her husband died, and later was resumed during the reign of her son. After the building was resumed her title was ''king's mother'' (''mwt nswt'').M. Verner, Abusir III: The Pyramid Complex of Khentkaus, Czech Institute of Egyptology, Praha, 1995 Khentkaues II is shown on a block with her husband Neferirkare and a son named Ranefer B (The future Pharaoh Neferefre). A limestone fragment was found in the pyramid complex mentioning a king's daughter Reputnebty, who is followed by a king's son Khentykauhor. From context, Reputnebty was a daughter of Nyuserre and hence a granddaughter of Khentkaus II. A further king's son Irenre Junior (''nedjes'') is mentioned.

Titles

Khentkaus II held several titles including the title ''Mwt-neswt-bity-neswt-bity'', which she has in common with

Khentkaus I Khentkaus I, also referred to as Khentkawes, was a royal woman who lived in ancient Egypt during both the Fourth Dynasty and the Fifth Dynasty. She may have been a daughter of king Menkaure, the wife of both king Shepseskaf and king Userkaf (t ...

. This title is not well understood and could mean either mother of the dual kings, or dual king and mother of the dual king. Other titles held by Khentkaus II include great one of the hetes-sceptre (''wrt-hetes''), she who sees

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 ...

and

Seth Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. A ...

(''m33t-hrw-stsh''), great of praises (''wrt-hzwt''), king's wife (''hmt-nisw''), king's wife, his beloved (''hmt-nisw meryt.f''), priestess of Bapef (''hmt-ntr-b3-pf''), priestess of Tjazepef (''hmt-ntr-t3-zp.f''), directress of the butchers in the acacia house (''khrpt-sshmtiw-shndt''), attendant of Horus (''kht-hrw''), God's daughter (''s3t-ntr''), companion of Horus (''smrt-hrw'' and ''tist-hrw''). The king's mother Khentkaus II is mentioned in the

Abusir Papyri The Abusir Papyri are the largest papyrus findings to date from the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt. The first papyri were discovered in 1893 at Abu Gorab near Abusir in northern Egypt. Their origins are dated to around the 24th century BC during ...

Tomb

Khentkaus II had a pyramid complex in

Abusir Abusir ( ar, ابو صير ; Egyptian ''pr wsjr'' cop, ⲃⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲓ ' "the House or Temple of Osiris"; grc, Βούσιρις) is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality – specifically, an extensive necropolis of ...

next to the pyramid complex of her husband Neferirkare Kakai.Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), p.68 The pyramid initially was excavated in 1906 by Borchardt. The structure was then thought to be a double mastaba and was not excavated very thoroughly. Seventy years later the Czech Institute conducted a thorough excavation of the site. The construction of the pyramid was likely started during the reign of her husband

and finished during the reign of her son

. The pyramid was robbed during the First Intermediate Period. During the Middle Kingdom the pyramid was reopened and the sarcophagus reused for the burial of a young child. By the end of the New Kingdom the destruction of the site occurred when stones were taken from the site to be reused elsewhere. The mortuary temple of Khentkaues II was decorated, but the reliefs were damaged and what remains, are a collection of fragments. The scenes included depictions of offerings, a funeral meal, agricultural scenes, the procession of funerary estates, and the family of king Nyuserre greeting his mother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khentkaus 02 Queens consort of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt 25th-century BC women Neferirkare Kakai Ancient Egyptian priestesses

Biography

Titles

Tomb

See also

References