Herneith was a Queen consort of ancient Egypt. She lived during the 1st Dynasty. The name herneith means "The face of

Neith Neith ( grc-koi, Νηΐθ, a borrowing of the Demotic (Egyptian), Demotic form egy, nt, likely originally to have been nrt "she is the terrifying one"; Coptic language, Coptic: ⲛⲏⲓⲧ; also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an early ancien ...

Documents

In the tomb of Herneith in

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, Memphis. ...

her name is found scratched on a vase, while in Abydos the name is found written together with the name of

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 ...

.Emery: Great Tombs III , page 94 However, the interpretation of their names written together remains controversial and it is not even certain that ''Herneith'' refers to a woman, and thus to a queen.

Biography

It is not known who Herneith's parents were. She is thought to be a queen of

but there is no conclusive evidence.

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, southeast of Wigan ...

suggests Herneith as a possible mother of

Den Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita' ...

, but it is more commonly thought that

Merneith Merneith (also written Merit-neith and Meryt-Neith) was a consort and a regent of Ancient Egypt during the First Dynasty. She may have been a ruler of Egypt in her own right, based on several official records. If this was the case and the earli ...

was his mother.J. Tyldesley, Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt, 2006, Thames & HudsonAidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, 2004, Grajetzki mentions that even though Herneith is known from her tomb in

and her name is found together with signs that may refer to her role as a queen, confidently interpreting this information has proven difficult. If the interpretations are correct, Herneith may have held the titles of ''"The First One"'' and ''"Consort of the Two Lords"''.W.Grajetzki, Ancient Egyptian Queens: a hieroglyphic dictionary Golden House Publications, pg. 2 A large tomb in

(tomb S3507) is thought to belong to Herneith. Inscriptions on vases found in the tomb mention King

, King

and King

Qa'a Qa'a (also Qáa or Ka'a) (literal meaning: "his arm is raised") was the last king of the First Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for 33 years at the end of the 30th century BC. Identity Manetho calls Qa'a Biénechês and gives him a reign of 26 y ...

. The tomb is a mudbrick

mastaba A mastaba (, or ), also mastabah, mastabat or pr- djt (meaning "house of stability", " house of eternity" or "eternal house" in Ancient Egyptian), is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inwar ...

. However, a pyramid-like mound was found within the structure, covered with brick. This combination of mastaba and grave mound represents a combination of Northern (mastaba) and Southern (grave mound) tomb architecture.

Literature

* Walter B. Emery: ''Great Tombs of the First Dynasty III''. London 1958, S. 73–97.

References

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