Khenthap (also written Khenet-Hapi) was allegedly a

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

of Ancient Egypt. She is said to have lived during the 1st Dynasty. Her historical figure is very obscure, since there are no contemporary sources for her name. She appears only once in a much later inscription.

Evidence

Egyptologists and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

s are still debating as to who Khenthap was as a historical figure. The archaeologically recorded seal impressions from first dynasty tombs at

Abydos Abydos may refer to: *Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz *Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor * Abydos (''Stargate''), name of a fictional planet in the ''Stargate'' science fiction universe ...

never mention her. She appears only in an inscription on the Palermo stone, a stela made of black

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

that lists the kings from

Narmer Narmer ( egy, Wiktionary:nꜥr-mr, nꜥr-mr, meaning "painful catfish," "stinging catfish," "harsh catfish," or "fierce catfish;" ) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period (Egypt), Early Dynastic Period. He was the successor ...

(1st Dynasty) up to king Neferirkare ( 6th Dynasty). Additionally, the stone lists the mother of each king. The inscription spells out Khenthap's name, but doesn't record any of her titles (except for that of a "mother").

Biography

The inscription on the Cairo fragment describes Khenthap as the mother 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 ...

. Joyce Tyldesley thinks Khenthap was a wife of king

Hor-Aha Hor-Aha (or Aha or Horus Aha) is considered the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt by some Egyptologists, while others consider him the first one and corresponding to Menes. He lived around the 31st century BC and is thought to have ...

and that her grandson was king

Djet Djet, also known as Wadj, Zet, and Uadji (in Greek possibly the pharaoh known as Uenephes or possibly Atothis), was the fourth pharaoh of the First Dynasty. Djet's Horus name means "Horus Cobra" or "Serpent of Horus". Family Djet's queen wa ...

, for Djet is thought to be the son of king

(Aha's son).Joyce A. Tyldesley: ''Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt''. Thames & Hudson, London 2006, , p. 29. Silke Roth instead thinks that Khenthap was a wife of king ''Teti I'', a king mentioned in the

Saqqara Tablet The Saqqara Tablet, now in the Egyptian Museum, is an ancient stone engraving surviving from the Ramesside Period of Egypt which features a list of pharaohs. It was found in 1861 in Saqqara, in the tomb of Tjuneroy (or Tjenry), an official ("chief ...

and in the

Royal Canon of Turin The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum) in Turin. The papyrus is the most extensive list ava ...

. In the latter, he is described as a ruler who held the Egyptian throne for only 1 year and 45 days. Khenthap's name means "musician of (god) Hapi", which may point to a religious and cultic role for this lady during her lifetime. Her name is connected to a god and may link to the king's title "bull of his mother".Silke Roth: ''Die Königsmütter des Alten Ägypten: von der Frühzeit bis zum Ende der 12. Dynastie.'' Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2001, , p. 16–18.

References

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