Meretnebty () was a

queen consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

as a wife of

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Sahure Sahure (also Sahura, meaning "He who is close to Ra, Re"; died 2477 BC) was a pharaoh, king of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, Fifth Dynasty ( – BC). He reigned for around 13 years in the early 25th&nbs ...

. She lived during the 5th Dynasty and was named after Two Ladies, a pair of Egyptian goddesses who protected the king.

Biography

Meretnebty's parents are not known. She is depicted with her husband in his mortuary

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

Abusir Abusir ( ; Egyptian ''pr wsjr'' ' "the resting place of Osiris"; ) is the name given to an ancient Egyptian archaeological pyramid complex comprising the ruins of 4 kings' pyramids dating to the Old Kingdom period, and is part of the ...

. In the temple, she is shown next to the mother of Sahure, Neferhetepes, both holding their hands. That is a highly unusual depiction and might indicate a close relationship between both. Perhaps Neferhetepes was her mother. In the mortuary temple, several sons are mentioned. Their names are Horemsaf, Netjerirenre, Khakare, and Nebankhre. It is not clear if these princes are the sons of Meretnebty or possibly of another wife.Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2004. pp. 62-69, Meretnebty's titles include those of great of praises, she who sees

Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

and

Seth Seth, in the Abrahamic religions, was the third son of Adam and Eve. The Hebrew Bible names two of his siblings (although it also states that he had others): his brothers Cain and Abel. According to , Seth was born after Abel's murder by Cain, ...

, king’s wife, his beloved, and companion of Horus.Grajetzki, Ancient Egyptian Queens: A Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Golden House Publications, London, 2005, p. 15, Sahure and Meretnebty's children may have been Princes Ranefer and Netjerirenre. According to Miroslav Verner, Ranefer took the throne as Neferirkare Kakai, and Netjerirenre may have later taken the throne as Shepseskare. The queen was known for a long time from depictions in the pyramid temple of Sahure. However, the name there was partly destroyed and was reconstructed as Neferet-ha-Nebti or Neferetnebti. In more recent excavations, blocks with depictions of the queen were found and her name is completely preserved as Meretnebty.Vivienne Gae Callender: ''In Hathor's Image I, The wives and mothers of Egyptian kings from Dynasties I-VI'', Prague 2011, , p. 166-171

Sources

External links

Sahure

{{Queens of Ancient Egypt 25th-century BC women Queens consort of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt 3rd-millennium BC births 3rd-millennium BC deaths Mothers of monarchs