Kemsit was an ancient Egyptian queen consort, the wife of

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...

Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep II ( egy, Mn- ṯw- ḥtp, meaning "Mentu is satisfied"), also known under his prenomen Nebhepetre ( egy, Nb- ḥpt- Rˁ, meaning "The Lord of the rudder is Ra"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Eleventh D ...

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 l ...

. Her tomb (

TT308 The Theban Tomb known as TT308 is located in Deir el-Bahari. It forms part of the Theban Necropolis, situated on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor. The tomb is the burial place of the Ancient Egyptian Kemsit, who was King's Beloved ...

) and small decorated chapel were found in her husband's

Deir el-Bahari Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri ( ar, الدير البحري, al-Dayr al-Baḥrī, the Monastery of the North) 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 ...

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

Henhenet Henhenet was an ancient Egyptian queen consort, a lower ranking wife of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II of the 11th dynasty The Eleventh Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XI) is a well-attested group of rulers. Its earlier members before Phara ...

Kawit Kawit, officially the Municipality of Kawit ( tgl, Bayan ng Kawit), is a first-class municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 107,535. It is one of the notable places that had ...

, Sadeh and Mayet. Most of them were priestesses of

Hathor Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major 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 ...

, 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, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

. 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''. 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 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, and was at that point very powerful ...

''(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