Meritites I

Meritites I 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 of the 4th Dynasty. Her name means "Beloved of her Father". Several of her titles are known from a stela found at Giza. She was buried in the middle Queen’s Pyramid in Giza (''Pyramid G 1b''). Meritites was a daughter of King

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 ...

and his consort of unknown name. Meritites married her (half?-)brother, 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 ...

. With Khufu, she was the mother of the Crown 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 possibly

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 ...

. Both Queen Hetepheres II and

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 ( ...

Khafre have been suggested as children of Meretites I and Khufu as well, and it is possible that Meritites II was a daughter of Meritites I as well.

Auguste Mariette François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette (11 February 182118 January 1881) was a French scholar, archaeologist and Egyptologist, and the founder of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, the forerunner of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Earl ...

recorded a stela at Giza in which Meritites is said to be a favorite of both Sneferu and Khufu:

King’s wife, his beloved, devoted to
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 ...
, Mertitytes. King’s wife, his beloved, Mertitytes; beloved of the Favorite of the Two Goddesses; she who says anything whatsoever and it is done for her. Great in the favor of Snefr great in the favor of Khuf devoted to Horus, honored under Khafre. Merti yts. reasted/blockquote> Meritites held the titles: "great one of the hetes-sceptre of Khufu" (''Weret-hetes-net-Khufu, wrt-hetes-nt-khwfw''), great one of the ''hetes''-sceptre of Snofru (''Weret-hetes-net-snofru'', ''wrt-hetes-nt-snfrw''), king’s wife, his beloved (''Hemet-nesu Meritef, hmt-nsw meryt.f''), 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-heru, kht-hrw'') and consort and beloved of the Two Ladies'' (Semayt-meri-nebti, smꜣyt-mry-nbty).''

Pyramid

Pyramid G1-b G1-b is one of the subsidiary pyramids of the Giza East Field of the Giza Necropolis immediately to the eastern side of the Great Pyramid of Giza, built during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. It is the central of the three pyramids of the queens, ...
is thought to be the tomb of Meritites. The queen's pyramids were often constructed to the south of the king's pyramid, but a quarry located to the south of Khufu's pyramid caused the location of the smaller pyramids to shift to the east. Reisner placed the construction of the pyramid of Meritites in circa year 15 of the reign of Khufu. The construction of her pyramid would have started very soon after the construction of
Pyramid G1-a G1-a is one of the subsidiary pyramids of the Giza East Field of the Giza Necropolis, located immediately to the eastern side of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was built during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. The tomb is the northernmost of the thr ...
. The queen's pyramids are part of the East Field at Giza, which also includes some royal mastabas. Pyramid G1-a (the northernmost of three small pyramids east of the
Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. Built , over a period of about 26 years ...
) was at first thought to belong to Meritites, but it is now thought to belong to Khufu’s mother, Hetepheres I. More recently, Pyramid G1-b is thought to be the tomb of Meritites. It had a small mortuary temple and a boat pit associated with it. No boat was found in the rock-cut boat pit however. The mortuary temple was decorated with scenes. Relief fragments from a
false door A false door, or recessed niche, is an artistic representation of a door which does not function like a real door. They can be carved in a wall or painted on it. They are a common architectural element in the tombs of ancient Egypt, but appeared p ...
and walls were recovered during excavations. The title of queen was preserved in a fragment 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 ...
(27.1321). Further fragments include parts of an offering list, men bringing offerings and animals, and a boat being paddled.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 Dr Jaromir Malek, 1974. p. 16. Retrieved from gizapyramids.org.

Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meritites 01 Queens consort of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt 26th-century BC women Khufu Sneferu Mothers of monarchs