Penebui depicted on a ''year tablet'' with blood streaming from her head Penebui was an early

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 Med ...

ian queen and most possibly the wife of king

Djer Djer (or Zer or Sekhty) is considered the third pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the mid- thirty-first century BC and reigned for c. 40 years. A mummified forearm of Djer or his wife was disco ...

during the 1st Dynasty. Her name was found engraved on several

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals ...

tags.

Identity

There are at least three ivory tags showing queen Penebui. Two were found in the

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

of king Djer at Abydos, one (pretty damaged) at

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, Memphi ...

in an anonymous tomb. The tags, called ''year tablets'', show depictions of several ceremonies, such as a

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherei ...

and the presentation of several cultic objects. The center of the engraving shows two figures of deceased queens. They are shown in shape of busts with female heads and

hairstyle A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the fashion, styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal ...

s, resting on palatial decorated pedestals. There are fountains of blood coming out of their foreheads, symbolising the death of the women. In earlier times these blood fountains were falsely interpreted as flower ornaments or snake diadems. Both ladies names are introduced by a rare hieroglyph similar to the later sign for "excrement", the signs on the labels simply mean "to die" or "death". The former, first depicted lady can be identified as queen ''Penebui'', this name means "seat of the two lords". Her name is also guided by the title ''Weret-hetes'', meaning "great one of the Hetes sceptre", identifying her as a royal spouse. The other lady on the tags must have also been a queen, but of lower rank. Her title was ''Ma'a-heru'', meaning "she who sees Horus". Unfortunately, her name is very difficult to read, it might be written with three fish symbols.Wolfgang Helck: ''Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit'' (= ''Ägyptologische Abhandlungen.'' Bd. 45). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987, , p. 119 & 154.Wolfram Grajetzki: ''Ancient Egyptian Queens A Hieroglyphic Dictionary''. Golden House Publications, London 2005, , p. 65. Penebui's death seems to be recorded on the famous Palermo stone in the 4th year event window of king Djer. Wolfgang Helck suspects that queen Penebui died violently due decapitation, since the sign of a deceased royal lady in the year window is guided by the hieroglyph of an decapitated

lapwing Lapwings ( subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A ...

References

{{Queens of Ancient Egypt 31st-century BC women Queens consort of the First Dynasty of Egypt Djer