Seshemetka 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 Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

from the

First Dynasty of Egypt The First Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty I) covers the first series of Egyptian kings to rule over a unified Egypt. It immediately follows the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, by Menes, or Narmer, and marks the beginning of the Early Dy ...

, a 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 ( ...

Den Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita'' ...

and the mother of

Anedjib Anedjib, more correctly Adjib and also known as Hor-Anedjib, Hor-Adjib and Enezib, is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the 1st Dynasty. The Egyptian historian Manetho named him "Miebîdós" and credited him with a reign ...

.Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2004. Her royal titles were ''Great one of the hetes-sceptre (Weret-hetes, Wr .t- ḥts)'', ''She who sees Horus (Remen-Hor(u), Rmn- Ḥr.( w))'', ''She who carries Seth (Renmet-Setesh, Rn m .t- Stš)''.Grajetzki, Ancient Egyptian Queens: A Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Golden House Publications, London, 2005, Very little is known about Seshemetka besides a

stela A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

discovered near Den's tomb in Abydos. Seshemetka was not the only woman identified from funerary stela. Stelae of royal women named Semat and Serethor were similarly discovered in Abydos. These women may be further wives of king Den, but nothing beyond their names is known about them. Wolfram Grajetzki (referencing Petrie, Troy, and Roth) lists Seshemetka as a wife of King

Djer Djer (or Zer or Sekhty; ) is considered the third pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the mid 31st century BC and reigned for c. 40 years. A mummified forearm of Djer or his wife was discovered by ...

and states that she was buried near Djer's funerary complex in

Umm el-Qa'ab Umm El Qaʻāb (sometimes romanisation, romanised Umm El Gaʻab, ) is an archaeological site located at Abydos, Egypt. Its modern name, meaning "Mother of Pots", refers to the mound made of millions of broken pieces of pots which defines the landsc ...

, Abydos.

References

External links

* Francesco Raffaele
Royal Women in Early Egypt
(English)

30th-century BC women Queens consort of the First Dynasty of Egypt Den (pharaoh) {{AncientEgypt-bio-stub