Nimaathap (also read as Nima'at-Hapi and Nihap-ma'atSilke Roth: ''Die Königsmütter des Alten Ägypten von der Frühzeit bis zum Ende der 12. Dynastie'' (= ''Ägypten und Altes Testament'', vol. 46). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2001, , p. 383.) 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 at the transition time from

2nd Dynasty The Second Dynasty of ancient Egypt (or Dynasty II, – ) is the latter of the two dynasties of the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, Egyptian Archaic Period, when the seat of government was centred at Thinis. It is most known for its last rule ...

3rd Dynasty The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty III) is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth. The capital during the period of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis. Overview Af ...

. Nimaathap may have acted as regent for her son

Djoser Djoser (also read as Djeser and Zoser) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch. He is also known by his Hellenized names Tosorthros (from Manetho) and Sesorthos (from Euse ...

.Joyce A. Tyldesley, Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt: From Early Dynastic Times to the Death of Cleopatra, Thames & Hudson, 2006 She is known to have enjoyed a long-lasting

mortuary cult A mortuary cult (also called a funerary cult or death cult) is a ceremonial and religious form of a cult fostered over a certain duration of time, often lasting for generations or even dynasties. It concerns deceased people kept in the memories of ...

.Joyce Tyldesley: ''Chronicle of the queens of Egypt: from early dynastic times to the death of Cleopatra''. Thames & Hudson, London 2006, , p. 25 & 35 - 39.

Attestations

Nimaathap's name appears on clay seal impressions discovered mostly in the tomb of king (

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 ( ...

)

Khasekhemwy Khasekhemwy (ca. 2690 BC; ', also rendered ''Kha-sekhemui'') was the last Pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. Little is known about him, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built the mudbrick fort known as S ...

, the last ruler of the 2nd dynasty. Other seals were found at

Beit Khallaf Beit Khallaf (Arabic: بيت خلاف ) is a small rural village located 10 kilometers west of Girga in Upper Egypt. Beit Khallaf is part of the area known as the Hajer line, which is composed of three other villages: Beit Allam, Beit Khuraybi, ...

at the burial sites of the

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 ...

tombs ''K1'' and ''K2''; the relationships of the original tomb owners to Nimaathap are unknown, though. Her name also appears on stone slab fragments from Heliopolis. These show Nimaathap kneeling at the feet of pharaoh

, together with Djoser's wife, queen

Hetephernebti Hetephernebti was a queen of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. She was the only known wife of Pharaoh Djoser. Hetephernebti and a King's Daughter Inetkaes were named on stelae found around Djoser's Saqqara pyramid complex an ...

and Djoser's daughter, princess Inetkaes. The relief is evaluated as proof that Nimaathap was still alive at that time and that she participated in at least one Hebsed ceremony. Nimaathap's name does not appear in the pyramid necropolis of Djoser at

Saqqara Saqqara ( : saqqāra ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in the markaz (county) of Badrashin in the Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for ...

; there, her name was replaced by depictions of the god of grief and mummies,

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 ...

.Toby A. H. Wilkinson: ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, London 2001, , p. 80 - 82, 94 - 97. Nimaathap's name also appears in a tomb inscription of the high official

Metjen Metjen (also read as Methen) was an ancient Egyptian high official at the transition time from Third Dynasty of Egypt, 3rd Dynasty to Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, 4th Dynasty. He is famous for his tomb inscription, which states that he worked and live ...

, who held office under the kings

Huni Huni (original reading unknown) was an ancient Egyptian king, the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom period. Based on the Turin king list, he is commonly credited with a reign of 24 years, ending c. 2613 BC. ...

and

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 ...

. Metjen was "overseer of the ''Ka''-house of Nimaethap"; thus he oversaw and administered the mortuary cult for the queen. Egyptologists take this as a proof of how famous Nimaathap must have been during the Old Kingdom period.

Identity

Personal name

Nimaathap's name is also read as ''Nimaathapi''; her name is connected to the earth god Hapi. This is similar to the name of queen

Khenthap Khenthap (also written Khenet-Hapi) was a hypothetical queen of Ancient Egypt. She is said to have lived during the 1st Dynasty. Her historical figure is very obscure, since there are no contemporary sources for her name. She appears only once i ...

of the 1st Dynasty. In both cases some scholars believe that the connection between the queen's names and the god Apis refers to a somewhat later introduced title of the king: ''bull of his mother''. An old reading once was ''Hepenmaat'', because the syllable ''Hapi'' was not recognized as the name of Hapy yet.

Titles

As a queen, Nimaathap bore several elite titularies: * ''Mother of a king'' (Egyptian: ''Mwt-neswt-bity''). The most important title of Nimaathap, proving that she gave birth to at least one king. * ''Mother of royal children'' (Egyptian: ''Mwt- mesw-nesw''). This unique title may indicate that Nimaathap gave birth to several throne pretenders. * ''King's wife'' (Egyptian: '' hemet-nesw''). This title appears on a granite mug, but the authenticity of the artifact is questioned by scholars. * ''She who says something and it is done (for her) immediately'' (Egyptian: ''Djed-khetneb-iret-nes''). A seldom mentioned title of executive powers, giving the queen the right to give any command to the royal court.Silke Roth: ''Die Königsmütter des Alten Ägypten von der Frühzeit bis zum Ende der 12. Dynastie'' (= ''Ägypten und Altes Testament'', vol. 46). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2001, , p. 59-61 & 65–67. * ''Sealer of the shipyard'' (Egyptian: ''Sedjawty-Khwj-retek''). It is unclear, if this title actually was one of hers, or if the jar belonging to the seal simply originated from the (unnamed) shipyard official.

Family

Nimaathap is generally viewed as the queen consort of pharaoh Khasekhemwy. This is based on the fact that most of her seals were found in the tomb of Khasekhemwy at Abydos. It is unknown how many children Nimaathap had. Djoser, his immediate successor

Sekhemkhet Sekhemkhet (also read as Sechemchet) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the Third Dynasty of Egypt, 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. His reign is thought to have been from about 2648 BC until 2640 BC. He is also kn ...

, and ''his'' successor

Sanakht Sanakht (also read as Hor-Sanakht) is the Horus name of an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the Third Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. His chronological position is highly uncertain (though he is more likely to have reigned towards the end of th ...

are variably viewed as her sons.

Historical role

Outdated theories once held that Nimaathap was the daughter of Khasekhemwy, that she married a king ''Nebka'' and that Djoser was the "first rightful king" from that bloodline. This would have fit with the Ramesside king lists, which let the 3rd dynasty begin with king Nebka. It would also have matched the chronicles of

Manetho Manetho (; ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος, ''fl''. 290–260 BCE) was an Egyptian priest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom who lived in the early third century BCE, at the very beginning of the Hellenistic period. Little is certain about his ...

, who places a king ''Necherôphes'' before king Djoser (whom he calls ''Tósorthrós''). However these theories are now disproven by the large number of seal impressions (and a few stone bowl inscriptions) bearing Nimaathap's titles "mother of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt", "mother of royal children" and "king's wife". It is now believed that Nimaathap was a

princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

of the Northern royal house. When Khasekhemwy fought the Northern royal house at

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

and was victorious, Nimaathap was handed over as some kind of trophy. Scholars are now also convinced that Djoser was indeed a founder of a new dynasty because Djoser and Nimaathap buried Khasekhemwy at the Thinite cemetery of Abydos, but Djoser founded a new Memphite cemetery at

. Djoser buried his father at the site where Khasekhemwy's house originated from. Together, Djoser and Nimaathap arranged the burial. After this, Nimaathap possibly supported her son for a few years, as the relief fragment from Heliopolis may indicate. After her death, Nimaathap was obviously long remembered and honoured as a co-founder of a new dynasty, as the mortuary service of the 4th dynasty mortuary priest

proves.

Tomb

Nimaathap's tomb has not been identified with certainty. Some Egyptologists consider mastaba ''K1'' at Beit Khallaf to be hers, because a considerable amount of seal impressions with her name were found inside this tomb. Other scholars think that Nimaathap was planned to be buried at Abydos, because of her marriage with Khasekhemwy, but that this plan was never enacted as she outlived her husband. She also may have been buried somewhere at Abusir, because a high ranked official named

was responsible for the mortuary cult around that queen. Usually, the overseer of a mortuary cult was buried close to the tomb he supervised.

References

{{Second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt Queens consort of the Second Dynasty of Egypt Queens consort of the Third Dynasty of Egypt 27th-century BC Egyptian people 27th-century BC women Ancient women regents Regents of Egypt Female regents in Africa African queen mothers