Kemsit 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

queen consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

, the wife of

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 ( ...

Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep II (, meaning "Mentu is satisfied"), also known under his Prenomen (Ancient Egypt), prenomen Nebhepetre (, meaning "The Lord of the rudder is Ra"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt, Elev ...

of the

11th Dynasty The Eleventh Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XI; ) is a well-attested group of rulers. Its earlier members before Pharaoh Mentuhotep II are grouped with the four preceding dynasties to form the First Intermediate Period, whereas the lat ...

. Her tomb ( TT308) and small decorated chapel were found in her husband's

Deir el-Bahari Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri (, , ) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of the Theban Necropolis. History Deir el-Bahari, located on the west ...

temple complex, behind the main building, along with the tombs of five other ladies,

Ashayet Ashayet or Ashait was an ancient Egyptian queen consort, a wife of Mentuhotep II in the 11th Dynasty. Her tomb (DBXI.17) and small decorated chapel were found in Mentuhotep II's Deir el-Bahari temple complex.Dodson, Aidan, Hilton, Dyan. The Compl ...

Henhenet Henhenet was an ancient Egyptian queen consort, a lower ranking wife of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II of the 11th dynasty. Her tomb (DBXI.11) and small decorated chapel were found in her husband's Deir el-Bahari temple complex,Dodson, Aidan, Hilton, Dyan. ...

Kawit Kawit, officially the Municipality of Kawit (), is an urban municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 107,535. It is one of ...

Sadeh Sadeh ( also transliterated as ''Sade''), is an Iranian festival that dates back to the Achaemenid Empire. ''Sadeh'' is celebrated 50 days before Nowruz. Sadeh in Persian means "hundred" and refers to the one hundred days and nights remaining t ...

and Mayet. Most of them were priestesses of

Hathor Hathor (, , , Meroitic language, Meroitic: ') was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god R ...

, so it is possible that they were buried there as part of the goddess's cult, but it is also possible that they were the daughters of nobles the king wanted to keep an eye upon. Only parts of her sarcophagus have been found, these are now in the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. The queen was also depicted on reliefs in the funerary temple of her husband Mentuhotep II. These depictions are today heavily destroyed, but it seems that she appeared in a scene showing a row of royal women. On the preserved fragments she is shown behind queen

. Her title in the depiction is ''King's Beloved Wife''. ShrineOfKemsit

Kemsit may have been of Nubian origin, as indicated by depictions that show her face as black or dark pink. Her titles were: King's Beloved Wife ''(ḥmt-nỉswt mrỉỉ.t=f ),'' King's Ornament ''(ẖkr.t-nỉswt),'' King's Sole Ornament ''(ẖkr.t-nỉswt wˁtỉ.t),''

Priestess of Hathor Priestess of Hathor or Prophetess of Hathor was the title of the Ordination of women#Ancient Egypt, Priestess of the goddess Hathor in the Temple of Dendera in Ancient Egypt. Title The title is known to be given during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, an ...

''(ḥm.t-nṯr ḥwt-ḥrw).''Grajetzki, op.cit., p.29

Sources

21st-century BC Egyptian people 21st-century BC women Queens consort of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt Egyptian people of Nubian descent Mentuhotep II Ancient Egyptian priestesses Hathor {{Egypt-bio-stub