Hetepheres I.

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Hetepheres I. in hieroglyphics
Surname
Htp
t p 		Mr
r 		s

Hetepheres
(Hetep heres)
Ḫtp hr.s
Her countenance is gracious
1st title
M23
X1 		L2
X1 		G14

Mut-nesut-biti
Mw.t-nsw.t-bjtj
mother of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt
2nd title
R8 G39
X1

Satellite netjer
S3.t-ntjr
God daughter

Hetepheres I. is the name of an ancient Egyptian queen. She was probably the wife of Sneferu and mother of Cheops ( 4th Dynasty ) ( Old Kingdom ).

supporting documents

Hetepheres I is best known for her burial equipment, which was found in a shaft grave in Giza . Numerous pieces of furniture and clay seals from there bear her name. Hetepheres I. may also be mentioned on the Palermostein . Her name can be found - albeit heavily damaged - above the annual windows of Cheops , together with the king's name bandarole (now lost), so that her motherhood with Cheops is considered certain.

family

Not much is known about the person of Hetepheres, except that she was the mother of Cheops, hence it has also been assumed that she could have been the wife of Sneferu. This is indicated by the tent-shaped canopy and a box in which the tent fabrics were stored. Both chattels bear the name of Sneferu's cartouche . Such valuable pieces of furniture are usually given to wives as gifts. The consort theory is based on this fact. But there are also doubts about a marriage bond between Hetephernebti I and Snofru, since she does not have a title that explicitly refers to the status of a royal consort . In return, she is the first royal lady to bear the title of “ God's Daughter ”, which was reserved for royal mothers in the Old Kingdom .

dig

In the rather small burial chamber there were numerous piled objects.

The organic materials found in the finds had already turned to dust and tiny pieces. The floor of the whole room was filled with sheet gold that came from the gold-studded furniture that was once deposited here. Assembling these tiny fragments was considered impossible by Egyptologists and archaeologists, and Reisner was advised against it. But he recorded the exact location of the individual fragments and even managed to reconstruct the grave equipment. Although reconstructions of fragments are part of the everyday life of archaeologists and some Egyptologists, this work is a particularly outstanding achievement.

Grave equipment

Reconstructed bed with headrest
Reconstructed litter

Accordingly, two armchairs, a canopy, a bed and a litter were placed in the chamber. Chests with jewelry and numerous ceramics were also found . The bed, completely recreated, is a frequently photographed example of the sleeping habits of the ancient Egyptians.

On the wall of the burial chamber was the sarcophagus of Hetepheres, which, to the surprise of the excavators, was empty. The whereabouts of the mummy is still unclear and gave rise to various theories, some of which even question its motherhood or identity.

literature

  • Michel Baud : Famille royale et pouvoir sous l'Ancien Empire égyptien. Tome 2 (= Bibliothèque d'Étude. Volume 126/2). Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Cairo 1999, ISBN 2-7247-0250-6 , pp. 525-527 ( PDF; 16.7 MB ).
  • Silke Roth: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt from the early days to the end of the 12th dynasty . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2001, ISBN 3-447-04368-7 .
  • Mark Lehner : The Pyramid Tomb of Hetep-heres and the Satellite Pyramid of Khufu . German Archaeological Institute Cairo Department, Special Edition 19, von Zabern, Mainz 1985, ISBN 3-8053-0814-0 ( PDF; 55 MB ).
  • George Andrew Reisner : A history of the Giza necropolis. Vol. 2: The tomb of Hetep-Heres, the mother of Cheops: a study of Egyptian civilization in the Old Kingdom. completed and revised by William Stevenson Smith, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1955 ( PDF; 76.9 MB ).
  • William Stevenson Smith: The Tomb of Hetep-heres I . In: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts. Volume 51, No. 284, Boston 1953, pp. 23-30 ( PDF; 2.3 MB ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Silke Roth: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt. Wiesbaden 2001, p. 388.
  2. ↑ Silke Roth: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt . Wiesbaden 2001, p. 71.
  3. ^ R. Gundacker: Hetepheres I. and the riddle of their burial , In: Sokar 12 (2006), pp. 30-39
  4. ↑ Silke Roth: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt . Wiesbaden 2001, pp. 71, 72 & 388.
personal data
SURNAME Hetepheres I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hetepheres
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Consort of the Pharaoh Sneferu, mother of Cheops
DATE OF BIRTH 27th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 27th century BC Chr.