Shepset-ipet (also read as Shepsetipet and Shepset-ipwt) was an

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian princess living during the late 2nd Dynasty. She may have been the daughter of king (

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

) Peribsen or Khasekhemwy. She is known by her decorated slab stela.

Identity

Shepset-ipet may have been the daughter of either Peribsen or (more likely) Khasekhemwy. The artistic layout and the body proportions represented on her slab stela were common during the late 2nd Dynasty. During this era, slab stelas depicting the deceased sitting before an offering table became very popular and they were displayed in special niches inside the burial chamber.Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. Thames & Hudson, London 2004, , p.47 & 48.

Titles

As a princess, Shepset-ipet bore several elite and pious titularies: * ''Daughter of the king'' (Egyptian: ''Sat-nesw''). * ''Sister of the mayor'' (Egyptian: ''Khebed- hatia'').

Attestations

Next to nothing is known about Shepset-ipet's career, except for her titles. She is attested by several earthen jars labelled with black ink and by her slab stela. All things were found in her mastaba tomb at

Saqqara Saqqara ( : saqqāra ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in the markaz (county) of Badrashin in the Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for ...

.W. Stevenson Smith: ''The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt''. Penguin Books Ltd., New Haven/London (UK) 1998, , p. 22 & 47. Her slab stela was found by

Walter Bryan Emery Walter Bryan Emery, CBE, (2 July 1903 – 11 March 1971) was a British Egyptologist. His career was devoted to the excavation of archaeological sites along the Nile Valley.Archaic Egypt (bio), Walter B. Emery, Pelican Books, London, 1963. During ...

at the entrance of mastaba S-3477 in 1902. It is made of fine polished

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. Shepset-ipet is depicted as a seated woman, she wears a finely curled hair fashion ending in long, delicate dreadlocks. She is dressed in a tight gown which is knotted together above her left shoulder, the knot is made of a lanyard in shape of the '' Tijt''-knot. The lady also wears a delicate pearl necklace. Shepset-ipet looks to the right and reaches out for some sort of bread or cake on an offering table. The right half of the stela is decorated with the common arrangement of offering foods. The spot where Shepset-ipet's name was encarved shows traces of revisions, thus the stela was possibly once created for another person.Joann Fletcher: ''The Story of Egypt''. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., London (UK) 2015, , p.74.

Tomb

Shepset-ipet's tomb was -with some certainty- mastaba tomb S-3477 at Saqqara. The tomb is heavily damaged and most of the interior has collapsed. The burial chamber is thought to be the original place of display for the slab stela, as it was usual for the second dynasty. The remains of a sixty years old woman were also found inside the tomb. She had apparently suffered from a badly deformed jaw.

References

{{Second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt Princesses of the Second Dynasty of Egypt 27th-century BC Egyptian people