Khentkaus I, also referred to as Khentkawes, was a royal woman who lived in ancient Egypt during both the

Fourth Dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other ...

and the

Fifth Dynasty The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and VI under the group title the Old Kingdom. The Fifth Dynasty pharaohs reigned for approximately 150 years, from the early 25th century BC until ...

. She may have been a daughter of king Menkaure, the wife of both king

Shepseskaf Shepseskaf (meaning "His Ka is noble") was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt, the sixth and probably last ruler of the fourth dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He reigned most probably for four but possibly up to seven years in the late 26th t ...

and king Userkaf (the founder of the Fifth Dynasty), the mother of king

Sahure Sahure (also Sahura, meaning "He who is close to Re") was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2465 – c. 2325 BC). He reigned for about 13 years in the early 25th century BC during the Old Kingdom Period. ...

.Michael Rice: ''Who is who in Ancient Egypt'', Routledge London & New York 1999, , see p. 96 Some suggest that she was the regent for one of her sons. Perhaps, in her own right, she may have been the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, which aspects of her burial suggest. Her mastaba at Giza – tomb LG100 – is located very close to Menkaure's pyramid complex. This close connection may point to a family relationship. Although the relationship is not clear, the proximity of the pyramid complex of Khentkaus to that of king Menkaure has led to the conjecture that she may have been his daughter.

Life

Khentkaus's burial complex confirms her royal status. Some of her titles are ambiguous and open to interpretation. She appears to have served as regent and may have taken the title of king. On a granite doorway leading into her tomb, Khentkaus I is given titles that may be read either as mother of two kings of upper and lower Egypt, as mother of the king of upper and lower Egypt and the king of upper and lower Egypt, or, as one scholar reads it, the king of upper and lower Egypt and the mother of two kings of upper and lower Egypt. Furthermore, her depiction on this doorway also gives her the full trappings of kingship, including the false beard of the king. This depiction and the title given have led some Egyptologists to suggest that she reigned as king near the end of the fourth dynasty. That she was the daughter of Menkaure is speculated widely. Much evidence supports the idea. Khentkaus may have been married to king Userkaf and may have been the mother of

and

Neferirkare Kakai Neferirkare Kakai (known in Greek as Nefercherês, Νεφερχέρης) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the third king of the Fifth Dynasty. Neferirkare, the eldest son of Sahure with his consort Meretnebty, was known as Ranefer A before h ...

. Egyptologist

Miroslav Verner Miroslav Verner (born October 31, 1941 in Brno) is a Czech egyptologist, who specializes in the history and archaeology of Ancient Egypt of the Old Kingdom and especially of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Biography Verner was the director of th ...

has stated that it is more likely, however, that Sahure was a son of Userkaf and his wife Neferhetepes. He also suggested that Khentkaus was the mother and regent for her son Thamphthis and the mother of

. Manetho's King List has Menkaure and Thampthis reigning in the Fourth Dynasty, which ties Khentkaus to the end of the Fourth Dynasty, The suggestions of her marriage to Userkaf and having been the mother of Sahure, tie her to the Fifth Dynasty as well.

Titles

*King’s Mother (''mwt-niswt'') *Mother of Two Dual Kings (''mwt-nswy-bitwy'') or Dual King and Mother of a Dual King (''nsw-bity mwt-nsw-bity'') (Dodson and Hilton)Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), pg 68 *King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Junker)

Theories regarding Khentkaus I

The "Khentkaus Problem" has a long history. In the 1930s Selim Hassan proposed that Khentkaus was a daughter of Menkaure, and that she was married first to

and later to Userkaf. Ventikiev was the first to suggest that the title ''mwt nswt bity nswt bity'' should be read as, "The Mother of two Kings of Upper and Lower Egypt".

Hermann Junker Hermann Junker (29 November 1877 in Bendorf – 9 January 1962 in Vienna) was a German archaeologist best known for his discovery of the Merimde-Benisalam site in the West Nile Delta in Lower Egypt in 1928. Early life Junker was born in 1877 in ...

believed that the existence of the pyramid town that is part of her burial temple complex, suggested that Khentkaus was a very important person and that her title should be read as, "the King of Upper and Lower Egypt and the Mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt", indicating that she served as king. He suggested that she was the daughter of Menkaure and the sister of Shepseskaf. Ludwig Borchardt suggested that Shepseskaf was a commoner who married the king’s daughter, Khentkaus. He further thought that

and

were sons of Shepseskaf and Khentkaus. Borchardt conjectured that Userkaf was an outsider who was able to take the throne because Sahure and Neferirkare were too young to ascend the throne when Shepseskaf died. Bernhard Grdseloff proposed that Shepseskaf and Khentkaus were the son and daughter of Menkaure, and that Userkaf was a prince from a collateral branch of the royal family who came to the throne when he married the royal widow and mother of the heirs to the throne, Khentkaus. Hartwig Altenmüller suggested that Khentkaus was none other than the lady, '' Rededjet'', mentioned in the

Westcar Papyrus The Westcar Papyrus (inventory-designation: ''P. Berlin 3033'') is an ancient Egyptian text containing five stories about miracles performed by priests and magicians. In the papyrus text, each of these tales are told at the royal court of king K ...

. He suggested that Khentkaus was the mother of Userkaf, Sahure, and Neferirkare Kakai. Arielle Kozloff theorized that Shepseskaf was the son of Menkaure with a minor wife who came to the throne after the death of the king’s son, Khuenre. He also theorized that Shepseskaf married Menkaure’s daughter, Khentkaus, and suggested that upon the premature death of Shepseskaf, Khentkaus married the High Priest of Re to secure the throne for her two sons. Vivienne Callender asserted that since the name of Khentkaus did not appear in a

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...

she never ruled Egypt. Instead, Callender preferred to read the ''mwt nswt bity nswt bity'' title as, the Mother of Two Kings of Upper and Lower Egypt. She thought Khentkaus had to be a daughter of Menkaure and the wife of either Shepseskaf or Thampthis. She pointed to Userkaf and Neferirkare as the two sons referred to in Khentkaus's title.

Tomb

Khentkaus was buried in Giza. Her tomb is known as LG 100 and G 8400 and is located in the Central Field that is part of the Giza Necropolis. The pyramid complex of Khentkaus includes her pyramid, a boat pit, a valley temple, and a pyramid town.

The pyramid complex of Khentkaus I

The

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

complex of Khentkaus consists of the pyramid, a chapel, a solar boat, the pyramid city, a water tank, and granaries.Porter, Bertha, and Rosalind L.B. Moss. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings 3: Memphis (Abû Rawâsh to Dahshûr). Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1931. 2nd edition. 3: Memphis, Part 1 (Abû Rawâsh to Abûsîr), revised and augmented by Jaromír Málek. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1974, pp. 288-289, plans 20, 22, 23. The pyramid originally was described in the nineteenth century as an unfinished pyramid and it had been conjectured that it belonged to king Shepseskaf. The pyramid was excavated by Selim Hassan starting in 1932. The tomb was given the number LG 100 by Lepsius. The chapel consisted of a main hall and an inner chapel. A passage cut in the floor of the inner chapel leads to the burial chamber. The floor of the chapel was covered in Tura limestone. The walls were covered in relief, but the scenes are very badly damaged. Relief fragments were found in the debris when the tomb was excavated by Selim Hassan. The passage to the burial chamber and the chamber itself were lined with red granite. The passageway is 5.6 m long and descends below the main structure of the pyramid. The burial chamber is large and most closely resembles the burial chamber of king

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 ...

. The burial chamber possibly housed an alabaster sarcophagus; many pieces were found in the sand and debris that filled the chamber. The chamber also contained a small scarab made of a brown limestone. Its craftsmanship appears to connect the scarab to the Twelfth Dynasty. The presence of the scarab leads some to believe that her tomb was reused for later burials. Her solar boat is located to the southwest of the pyramid. A pit measuring some 30.25 m long and 4.25 m deep was cut into the rock. The prow and stern of the boat were upraised and the boat appears to have had a roof. It may represent the night-boat of the sun-god Ra. If so, there may be an accompanying day-boat, yet to be found. Immediately to the east of the pyramid lies a pyramid city. The city is laid out along several streets that divide the city into groups of houses. These houses had their own magazines and granaries. The city was constructed from unbaked mud-brick, and surfaces were covered in a yellow plaster. The city was probably the home of the priests and servants of the pyramid complex. The pyramid city was constructed toward the end of the

or beginning of the

and seems to have been functioning well into the

Sixth Dynasty The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty VI), along with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Dynasty, constitutes the Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egypt. Pharaohs Known pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty are listed in the table below. Manetho acc ...

.Hassan, Selim. Excavations at Gîza IV. 1932–1933. Cairo: Government Press, Bulâq, 1930. pp 18-62

The valley temple of Khentkaus I

A causeway connects the pyramid chapel to the valley temple of Khentkaus. The temple lies close to the valley temple of Menkaure, which suggests a close relationship between Khentkaus and Menkaure. In front of the temple a small structure referred to as the "washing tent" of Khentkaus was discovered. This structure was the location where her body would have been taken to be purified before being embalmed. The debris filling this chamber contained many fragments of stone vessels, potsherds, and flint instruments. The floor is the opening of a limestone drain which runs downward under the ground for a distance of 7–20 m., emptying into a large, rectangular basin.Hassan, Selim. Excavations at Gîza IV. 1932–1933. Cairo: Government Press, Bulâq, 1930. pp 53 The drain is covered by arched sections of the same material, the whole forming an almost circular stone pipe. Although by no means the oldest subterranean water-channel known in Egyptian funerary architecture, according to Hassan, it is the earliest of this particular type and construction. The valley temples of Khentkaus and Menkaure were both partially constructed of mud-brick and finished with white limestone and alabaster. The main entrance is located on the northern side, which is a departure from the more common situation where the main entrance is located to the east. Entering the valley temple from the main entrance, one would walk up a “wide brick-paved causeway which runs up from the valley in a westerly direction.” The doorway was embellished with a portico held up by two columns. Once one enters the doorway, “The doorway opens into a vestibule, the roof of which was supported upon four columns. Near the doorway a statue of king Khafre (father of Menkaure) once stood. Remains of a statue of a king (possibly Khafra) and the body of a sphinx statue were found in the vestibule of the temple. The vestibule opens up to a court which in turn led to the magazines."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khentkaus 01 Princesses of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Queens consort of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt 26th-century BC Egyptian people 25th-century BC Egyptian people 26th-century BC women 25th-century BC women rulers 3rd-millennium BC births 3rd-millennium BC deaths Menkaure Regents of Egypt