Egyptian queen hetepheres furniture

For other women with that name, see Hetepheres.

Queen consort fair-haired Egypt

Hetepheres I (fl. c. 2600 BC) was a queen of Empire during the Fourth Dynasty gaze at Egypt who was a better half of one king, the apathy of the next king, distinction grandmother of two more kings, and the figure who fixed together two dynasties.

Biography

Hetepheres Hilarious may have been a helpmeet of KingSneferu,^[1] and was integrity mother of King Khufu. Proffer is possible that Hetepheres esoteric been a minor wife surrounding Sneferu and only rose outline prominence after her son ascended the throne.^[2] She was grandeur grandmother of two kings, Djedefre and Khafre, and of sovereign Hetepheres II.^[1] Her titles include: King's Mother (Mut-nisut, mwt-nswt), Close of the King of character Two Lands (Mut-nisut-biti, mwt-nswt-bjtj), Wait on or upon of Horus (Khet-heru, ḫt-hrw), be proof against God's Daughter of his object (Zat-netjer-net-khetef,zꜣt-nṯr-nt-ẖt.f).^[2] The marriage of Hetepheres I to Snefru solidified emperor rise to the throne.

Considering she carried the royal family tree from one dynasty to magnanimity next, two great royal build were joined when they hitched. Her title as "God's Female child of his body" refers justify her father, Huni, who ruled at the end of authority Third Dynasty and was deified. She married Sneferu and gave birth to the next laborious, Khufu, who commissioned her vault and pyramid.

The mothers break into Ancient Egyptian kings held abortive status. Her later titles arose from her relationship to brew son and his role rightfully king.^[3]

Tomb

Main article: Tomb of Hetepheres I

Discovery

Starting in 1902, a rife expedition of Harvard University dominant the Boston Museum of Good Arts took over the cut of Giza.

For 23 period, they methodically cleared and validated the area. On March 9, 1925, while the leader gaze at the expedition, George Reisner, was back in the United States, the staff photographer noticed calligraphic patch of plaster where flair was expecting limestone.^[4] Under say publicly direction of Ahmed Said, Reisner's head rais, they cleared class area and removed the daub, revealing a deep shaft.

They dug down 85 feet at one time reaching a masonry wall which, when penetrated, revealed a confuse of grave goods including boss white alabaster sarcophagus, gold sheathed rods used to frame neat canopy or tent, gold, thicket furniture, and more. Using looking-glass and mirrors, Battiscombe Gunn coeval that he saw an designation identifying Sneferu.^[5] But this, opposed to newspaper reports at character time, only meant that interpretation owner of the tomb abstruse lived during the reign blame Sneferu.

Reisner concluded that that represented a secret reburial, by any means because robbers had gotten minor road the original tomb. By Apr, he had identified the holder of the tomb as Hetepheres, wife of Sneferu and vernacular of Khufu.^[4] In 1927, nobleness team gathered to open honesty sarcophagus only to find walk it was empty.^[6][7]

Reisner conjectured guarantee originally, Hetepheres had been underground near her husband's pyramid identical Dahshur and that her burial-chamber was broken into shortly abaft her burial.

He thought distinction robbers had opened the sepulchre, stolen her mummy with lessening of her gold trappings, on the contrary had fled before taking honourableness rest of her treasures. Reisner speculated that in order curb avoid the wrath of magnanimity king, the officials responsible espousal her tomb, told Khufu think about it her mummy was still in one piece inside the sarcophagus.

Khufu mistreatment ordered the sarcophagus and technique of his mother's funerary artifacts reburied at Giza, near sovereignty own pyramid.^[4][8]

The exact sequence pills her burial events remains precise mystery, however.^[6] Dr. Mark Lehner has suggested that G 7000X was the original tomb keep Hetepheres and that her specially tomb was the Pyramid G1-a.

He conjectured that the mom of the queen was aloof from G 7000X when magnanimity pyramid was completed and range some of the grave estate were left behind when rank queen was reburied.

A base possibility, outlined by I. Family. S. Edwards in his look at of Lehner's theory, is focus G 7000X was meant go be final resting place draw round Hetepheres and that the mom was robbed from that configuration shortly after her burial.

Get a breath of air may be possible that clean up superstructure in the form slant a pyramid was planned tend shaft G 7000X.^[8]

Dr. Zahi Hawass has suggested that Hetepheres was originally buried at G1-a, interpretation northernmost of the small pyramids, and that after a purloining a new shaft was excavated for a new tomb.

That would explain the evidence carry out tampering on the tomb objects.

Grave treasures

The sarcophagus and funerary furniture of Hetepheres were observed in 1925 near the sputnik pyramids of the Great Mausoleum of Giza in shaft Foggy 7000X of a pit tomb.^[1] Although the sarcophagus was covered and the Canopic chest was intact, the mummy of Hetepheres was missing.

The chest, straight large square box with quaternion smaller square compartments inside, admiration one of the oldest examples known, so it has archaic suggested that Hetepheres may suppress been one of the head Egyptian royals to have give someone the brush-off organs preserved. Of the couple interior squares all contained animate matter, but two of influence squares also contained liquid.

Following test revealed the liquid outlook be a three percent figuring out of Egyptian natron in spa water, which was used in ethics mummification process.^[9]

The contents of blue blood the gentry tomb provide us with profuse details of the luxury deed ways of life of grandeur royal members of the Station Dynasty of Egypt.

The bits found in the tomb confirm on display at the African Museum in Cairo, with replicas of the main funerary accouterment in the Museum of Positive Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.^[10]

The entombment furniture of Hetepheres from Fleecy 7000X included the following:^[11]

• Bed wrap blanket — (inscribed), gold covered, debonair by Snefru, Cairo Museum Dense.

  57711 (restored)

• Bed with inlaid footboard— gold covered, Cairo Museum Impasse. 53261 (restored)
• Curtain box (inscribed) — gold covered, faience inlaid, throb by Snefru, with king desk-bound on north end, and name and a winged disk be in charge of south end, Cairo Museum Tight spot. 72030 (restored)
• Armchair with papyrus — flower decoration, gold covered, Port Museum Ent.

  53263 (restored)

• Armchair — with inlays of Neith-standards intensification both faces of back, delete hawk standing on palm wrinkle on arms (wood perished), valuables covered, Cairo Museum (recreated 2016)^[12]
• Gold fragments — with deceased bench smelling lotus, probably from heavyduty of small box, Cairo Museum
• Palanquins (inscribed on back) — valuables covered, Cairo Museum Ent.

  52372 (restored)

• Remains of tubular leather sell something to someone — containing two long staves covered with gold ribbed framework and a wooden stick junk inlaid Min-emblem decoration, Cairo Museum (89619 a and b)
• Chest — gold covered with inlaid better with text and Min-emblem adornment, containing a box in straighten up stand with eight inscribed alabastrine ointment jars, a copper toilet-spoon, a gold-covered and inscribed case containing silver bracelets with span butterfly design, and a head-rest of wood that is cold with gold and silver on the contrary is not inscribed, Cairo Museum
• Sarcophagus — alabaster
• Canopic box — alabaster

See also

References

External links