Meresankh II ("She Loves Life"; ) was a

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 ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

who lived during the 4th Dynasty.

Family

Meresankh II's parents are assumed to be King

Khufu Khufu or Cheops (died 2566 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). Khufu succeeded his ...

and Queen Meritites I given that they are mentioned in Meresankh's mastaba. She is never explicitly called their daughter however.Giza pyramids
a website maintained by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; G 7410-7420 Assuming Meresankh's filiation as stated, this would make Meresankh II a sister of Prince

Kawab Kawab ( 2600 BC - 2570 BC) was an ancient Egyptian prince of the 4th Dynasty. He was the eldest son of King Khufu and Queen Meritites I. Kawab served as vizier and was buried in the double mastaba G 7110–7120 in the east field which is part ...

and Queen Hetepheres II. She was also a sister of Princess Meritites II who was later married to the Palace Director Akhethotep (Akhtihotep). Meresankh II shares her name with her great-grandmother Meresankh I, mother of

Sneferu Sneferu or Soris (c. 2600 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch and the first pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, during the earlier half of the Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). He introduced major innovations in the design and constructio ...

. Meresankh III was a niece of Meresankh II. It is assumed that Meresankh II married her half-brother Horbaef and they had children named Djaty, Nefertkau III, and Nebty-tepites. * Prince Djaty U29-t-A-i-i His titles: ''King's son of his body'', ''Overseer of the expedition''. His tomb is mastaba G 7810. The tomb may date to the end of the 4th dynasty or even the beginning of the 5th dynasty. * Princess Nefertkau III nfr-t-kA-w Buried in mastaba G 7820 with her husband Iynefer II.i-i-nfr The mastaba dates to the end of the 4th dynasty or even the beginning of the 5th dynasty. * Princess Nebty-tepites G16-tp-it-a A daughter mentioned in Meresankh's tomb. Meresankh II has the titles of a queen and it is usually assumed that her husband Horbaf died and that Meresankh remarried one of the subsequent kings. It is possible that she married her half-brother

Djedefre Djedefre (also known as Djedefra and Radjedef; died 2558 BC) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. He is well known by the Hellenization, Hellenized form ...

, but it is also possible she married Khafre.

Titles

The titles of Meresankh II include: * Great one of the hetes-sceptre (''weret-hetes,'' '' wrt- ḥts'') * She who sees Horus and Seth (''maat-hor-setekh, mꜣꜣt- ḥrw- stẖ'') * King's Wife (''hemet-nesut, ḥmt-nswt'') * Attendant of

Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

(''khet-hor,'' '' ḫt- ḥr'') * King's Daughter of his body (''zat-nesut-net-khetef, zꜣt nswt-nt- ẖt .f'')Grajetzki, Ancient Egyptian Queens – a hieroglyphic dictionary, London, 2005

Tomb and burial

Meresankh II was buried in a double

mastaba A mastaba ( , or ), also mastabah or mastabat) is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inward sloping sides, constructed out of mudbricks or limestone. These edifices marked the burial sites ...

G 7410–7420 with her first husband Horbaef. The tomb was excavated by George Reisner. Meresankh was buried in a shaft (G 7410B) with two rooms. Horbaef was buried in shaft G 7420A. Meresankh's

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

was found and removed during the 1927 excavations and is now in the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

. The sarcophagus is made of red granite and is inscribed on all four sides. The photograph provided by the BMFA shows a rectangular sarcophagus. The side shown is decorated with a facade of a palace. In the center the doors to the palace are shown. To the left of the palace facade is the inscription "King's Daughter of his body, Meresankh" (''zȝt nsw n ẖt=f mr.s ˤnḫ'') on the right there is an inscription identifying the lady as .."Horus, King's Wife Meresankh". The sarcophagus of Meresankh is decorated with an

Anubis Anubis (; ), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian (), is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine hea ...

-jackal on the lid and offering-lists on ends.Porter, Bertha and Moss, Rosalind, ''Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings'' Volume III: Memphis, Part I Abu Rawash to Abusir. 2nd edition (revised and augmented by Jaromir Malek), 1974. Retrieved fro
gizapyramids.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meresankh 02 Queens consort of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt 3rd-millennium BC births 3rd-millennium BC deaths 27th-century BC women 26th-century BC women Children of Khufu

Family

Titles

Tomb and burial

See also

References