Rechetre

Rechetre in hieroglyphics
Rechetre (Rechet Re) Rḫ.t Rˁ Acquaintances of Re

Rechetre was a queen of the ancient Egyptian 4th Dynasty . She bears both the title of a natural king's daughter and that of the king's wife. Due to the position of her grave, Pharaoh Chephren can be assumed as her father with some certainty . Her husband, however, is unknown; Chephren's successors Bicheris , Mykerinos or Schepseskaf come into question .

tomb

Rechetre owns a rock tomb on Central Field in Giza . It was discovered and examined for the only time to date by Selim Hassan in 1934/35 . Today the grave is inaccessible. It consists of two structures: the actual rock grave and a limestone built over it - mastaba . A 53.6 m long path leads to the grave, which runs almost parallel to the path of the Chephren pyramid and opens into a small forecourt. The entrance to the grave is on the south side of this courtyard. From there a corridor leads into the interior, which is separated from a small antechamber by a single-leaf wooden door. The entrance to the actual rock grave is on the west side of the antechamber. Here is a door roll that gives the name and title of the grave owner. There are three larger rooms behind the entrance. On the south wall of room A there is an unfinished niche that was probably intended to hold a statue. In the north a ledge of limestone blocks leads to room B. In the west it is separated from room C by three pillars. From room C a shaft leads into the sarcophagus chamber below. The sarcophagus was found empty, but bones were found around it, possibly from Rechetre's burial.

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 , p. 515 ( PDF; 16.7 MB ).
• Aidan Dodson , Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt . The American University in Cairo Press, London 2004, pp. 52-61, ISBN 977-424-878-3
• Selim Hassan : Excavations at Giza . Vol. 6, Oxford / Cairo 1932–1960, pp. 3–8.
• Peter Jánosi : Giza in the 4th dynasty. The building history and occupancy of a necropolis in the Old Kingdom. Volume I: The mastabas of the core cemeteries and the rock graves . Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2005, pp. 416–418 ISBN 3700132441 , ( PDF; 8.9 MB )
• Bertha Porter , Rosalind LB Moss : Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, pp. 249–250 ( PDF 30.5 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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Silke Roth: The royal mothers of ancient Egypt . Page 397.