Sithathoriunet (her name means “daughter 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 ...

of Dendera”) was an Ancient Egyptian ''king's daughter'' of the

12th Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom by Egyptologists. It often is combined with the Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth dynasties under the group title, Middle Kingdom. Some ...

, mainly known from her

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

El-Lahun El Lahun ( ar, اللاهون ''El Lāhūn,'' alt. Illahun, Lahun, or Kahun (the latter being a neologism coined by archaeologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie) is a workmen's village in Faiyum, Egypt. El Lahun is associated with the Pyramid ...

in which a treasure trove of jewellery was found., p.99 She was possibly a daughter of Senusret II since her burial site was found next to the pyramid of this king. If so, this would make her one of five known children and one of three daughters of Senusret II—the other children were

Senusret III Khakaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of ...

, Senusretseneb, Itakayt and Nofret. Pectoral and Necklace of Sithathoryunet with the Name of Senwosret II MET DT531

Sithathoriunet was buried in the Kahun pyramid complex. She must have died while Amenemhat III was pharaoh, since objects with his name were found in her tomb. Her name and titles survived on her

canopic jar Canopus (, ; grc-gre, Κάνωπος, ), also known as Canobus ( grc-gre, Κάνωβος, ), was an ancient Egyptian coastal town, located in the Nile Delta. Its site is in the eastern outskirts of modern-day Alexandria, around from the cent ...

s and on an alabaster vessel found in her tomb. The tomb was excavated in 1914 by

Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Flinders Petrie, was a British Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egyp ...

and Guy Brunton. It had previously been robbed in antiquity but a niche in the burial site escaped the looters' attention. In this niche were found remains of several boxes filled with jewellery and cosmetic objects, such as razors, a mirror and vases. The jewellery found there is considered to be among the highest quality examples ever found in Ancient Egyptian tombs.Cyril Aldred: ''Jewels of the Pharaohs, Egyptian Jewellery of Dynastic Period'', London 1971 , p. 192 Also found were two pectorals, one with the name of Senusret II, the other with the name of Amenemhat III. There was also a crown and several bracelets inscribed with the name of Amenemhat III. Most of the objects are made of gold with inlays of precious stone (

cloisonné Cloisonné () is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstone ...

). Today the majority of the finds are located in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

although the crown is located 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 ...

References

Literature

*G. Brunton: ''Lahun I: The Treasure'' (BSAE 27 en ERA 20 (1914)), London 192
the book online
*H. E. Winlock: ''The Treasure of el Lahun'', New York 1973 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sithathoriunet Princesses of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt 19th-century BC women