Meritites I

Meritites I was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 4th Dynasty. Her name means "Beloved of her Father". Several of her titles are known from a stela found at Giza. She was buried in the middle Queen’s Pyramid in Giza (''Pyramid G 1b''). Meritites was a daughter of King

Sneferu Sneferu ( snfr-wj "He has perfected me", from ''Ḥr-nb-mꜣꜥt-snfr-wj'' "Horus, Lord of Maat, has perfected me", also read Snefru or Snofru), well known under his Hellenized name Soris ( grc-koi, Σῶρις by Manetho), was the founding phar ...

and his consort of unknown name. Meritites married her (half?-)brother, 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 ...

. With Khufu, she was the mother of the Crown Prince

Kawab Kawab is the name of an ancient Egyptian prince of the 4th Dynasty. He was the eldest son of King Khufu and Queen Meritites I. Kawab served as vizier and was buried in the double mastaba G 7110–7120 in the east field which is part of the Giz ...

, and possibly

Djedefre Djedefre (also known as Djedefra and Radjedef – Modern Greek: ) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He is well known by the Hellenized form of his name Rhatoisēs (Ῥατοίσης) by Manetho. ...

. Both Queen

Hetepheres II Hetepheres II was a Queen of Ancient Egypt during the 4th Dynasty. Biography Birth and family Queen Hetepheres II may have been one of the longest-lived members of the royal family of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, which lasted from ca. 2723 ...

and

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 ...

Khafre Khafre (also read as Khafra and gr, Χεφρήν Khephren or Chephren) was an ancient Egyptian King (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He was the son of Khufu and the successor of Djedefre. According to the ancient historia ...

have been suggested as children of Meretites I and Khufu as well, and it is possible that

Meritites II Meritites II (Merytiotes, Meritetes) or Meritites A ("beloved of her father") was a 4th Dynasty princess of ancient Egypt, probably a daughter of King Khufu. She may have been a daughter of Meritites I based on the fact that this queen is mention ...

was a daughter of Meritites I as well. Auguste Mariette recorded a stela at Giza in which Meritites is said to be a favorite of both Sneferu and Khufu:

King’s wife, his beloved, devoted to
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 ...
, Mertitytes. King’s wife, his beloved, Mertitytes; beloved of the Favorite of the Two Goddesses; she who says anything whatsoever and it is done for her. Great in the favor of Snefr great in the favor of Khuf devoted to Horus, honored under Khafre. Merti yts. reasted/blockquote> Meritites held the titles: "great one of the hetes-sceptre of Khufu" (''Weret-hetes-net-Khufu, wrt-hetes-nt-khwfw''), great one of the ''hetes''-sceptre of Snofru (''Weret-hetes-net-snofru'', ''wrt-hetes-nt-snfrw''), king’s wife, his beloved (''Hemet-nesu Meritef, hmt-nsw meryt.f''), attendant 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 ...
(''Khet-heru, kht-hrw'') and consort and 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 ...
'' (Semayt-meri-nebti, smꜣyt-mry-nbty).''

Pyramid

Pyramid G1-b G1-b is one of the subsidiary pyramids of the Giza East Field of the Giza Necropolis immediately to the eastern side of the Great Pyramid of Giza, built during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. It is the central of the three pyramids of the queens, ...
is thought to be the tomb of Meritites. The queen's pyramids were often constructed to the south of the king's pyramid, but a quarry located to the south of Khufu's pyramid caused the location of the smaller pyramids to shift to the east. Reisner placed the construction of the pyramid of Meritites in circa year 15 of the reign of Khufu. The construction of her pyramid would have started very soon after the construction of
Pyramid G1-a G1-a is one of the subsidiary pyramids of the Giza East Field of the Giza Necropolis, located immediately to the eastern side of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was built during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. The tomb is the northernmost of the thr ...
. The queen's pyramids are part of the East Field at Giza, which also includes some royal mastabas. Pyramid G1-a (the northernmost of three small pyramids east of the
Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, ...
) was at first thought to belong to Meritites, but it is now thought to belong to Khufu’s mother,
Hetepheres I Hetepheres I was a queen of Egypt during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt (c. 2600 BC) who was a wife of one king, the mother of the next king, the grandmother of two more kings, and the figure who tied together two dynasties. Biography Het ...
. More recently, Pyramid G1-b is thought to be the tomb of Meritites. It had a small mortuary temple and a boat pit associated with it. No boat was found in the rock-cut boat pit however. The mortuary temple was decorated with scenes. Relief fragments from a false door and walls were recovered during excavations. The title of queen was preserved in a fragment now in the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
(27.1321). Further fragments include parts of an offering list, men bringing offerings and animals, and a boat being paddled.Porter, Bertha and Moss, Rosalind, ''Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings'', Volume III: Memphis, Part I Abu Rawash to Abusir. 2nd edition; revised and augmented by Dr Jaromir Malek, 1974. p. 16. Retrieved from gizapyramids.org.

Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meritites 01 Queens consort of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt 26th-century BC women Khufu Sneferu