Meresankh IV 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 ...

in the

5th Dynasty 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 ...

. Her name means "she loves life". While some sources consider that her husband is unknown,Grajetzki, ''Ancient Egyptian Queens: A Hieroglyphic Dictionary'', Golden House Publications, London, 2005, other sources suggest her husband was Pharaoh

Menkauhor Kaiu Menkauhor Kaiu (also known as Ikauhor and in Greek as Mencherês, Μεγχερῆς) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Old Kingdom period. He was the seventh ruler of the Fifth Dynasty at the end of the 25th century BC or early in the 24 ...

.Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2004. It is also possible that Meresankh was the wife of

Djedkare Isesi Djedkare Isesi (known in Greek as Tancheres) was a pharaoh, the eighth and penultimate ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt in the late 25th century to mid- 24th century BC, during the Old Kingdom. Djedkare succeeded Menkauhor Kaiu and was in tu ...

.Cambridge Ancient History Volume 1 Part 2, 2008 Meresankh IV may have had sons:

Raemka Raemka (Raemkai, Remkuy) was an ancient Egyptian prince of the Fifth Dynasty. He was buried in tomb 80 in Saqqara and was possibly a son of Pharaoh Menkauhor Kaiu and Queen Meresankh IV. Raemkaʻs tomb was originally excavated by Auguste Mar ...

and

Kaemtjenent Kaemtjenent ( Egyptian ''K3(j)-m-ṯnnt'') was an ancient Egyptian official under pharaoh Djedkare Isesi in the late Fifth Dynasty, during the Old Kingdom period. Career He is mainly known from his mastaba (G 7411), that is located north of the ...

. The family relationship between Meresankh and Raemka and Kaemtjenent is based on the general dating of their monuments, mastabas in Saqqara. It is possible that Kaemtjenent may have been a son of Djedkare Isesi rather than Menkauhor Kaiu. The titles of Meresankh IV were: ''Great one of the hetes-sceptre'', ''King’s Wife'', ''Great of Praises'', ''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 ...

'', ''Priestess of

Thoth Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a ...

'', ''Priestess of Tjazepef'', ''Directress of the butchers in the acacia house'', ''Attendant of Horus'', ''Companion of Horus'', ''Consort of the beloved of the

Two Ladies In Ancient Egyptian texts, the "Two Ladies" ( egy, nbtj, sometimes anglicized ''Nebty'') was a religious epithet for the goddesses Wadjet and Nekhbet, two deities who were patrons of the ancient Egyptians and worshiped by all after the unificati ...

'', ''Companion of Horus''. She was buried in tomb 82 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. ...

– tomb D5 in

Mariette Mariette may signify: ;Family name: * Auguste Mariette (1821–1881), pioneering Egyptologist. *Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694–1774), connoisseur and chronicler of artistic life in Paris ;Given name: *Mariette Bosch (died 2001), South African murder ...

's ''Mastaba''. The tomb only had one chamber and there were no inscriptions on the walls. The text recording Meresankh comes from a stela found in the tomb along with a

serdab A serdab ( fa, سرداب, d=Sardāb), literally meaning "cold water", which became a loanword in Arabic for 'cellar' is an ancient Egyptian tomb structure that served as a chamber for the Ka statue of a deceased individual. Used during the Old Kin ...

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meresankh 04 25th-century BC women 24th-century BC women Queens consort of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt