Meresankh III

For other women named Meresankh, see Meresankh (given name).
Meresankh III
Hetepheres II (left) embraces her deceased daughter Meresankh III (right) (MFA 30.1456)
Queen consort of Egypt
Tenurec. 2550 BC
Bornc. 2578 BC
Diedc. 2520 BC (aged c. 53)[1]
SpouseKhafre
IssueNebemakhet
Duaenre
Kenterka
Niuserre (A)
Ankhemre
Shepsetkau
FatherKawab
MotherHetepheres II
ReligionAncient Egyptian religion
Meresankh III in hieroglyphs
mrsanx

Meresankh
Mrs ˁnḫ

Queen Meresankh III (c. 2578 BC - c. 2520 BC[1]) was the daughter of Hetepheres II and Prince Kawab and a granddaughter of the Egyptian king Khufu. She was the wife of King Khafre.

Hetepheres also provided her daughter with a black granite sarcophagus decorated with palace facades for Meresankh's burial.[2]

Her tomb was discovered by archeologist George Reisner on April 23, 1927,[3] with subsequent excavations undertaken by his team on behalf of Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Her sarcophagus and skeleton are today located in the Cairo Museum; the latter reveals that she was 1.54 metres (5'1") tall and between 50–55 years at her death.[1] An anthropological study suggested, that she might have suffered from bilateral silent sinus syndrome.[4]

The tomb also contained a set of the earliest known canopic jars.[5] A limestone statue depicting Queen Hetepheres embracing her late daughter Meresankh was found in her tomb and is today located in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.[6]

  1. ^ a b c Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), p.60
  2. ^ The Tomb of Meresankh III (G 7530-40) at Giza
  3. ^ "Finding the Pharaohs". Archived from the original on 2009-07-26. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
  4. ^ Habicht ME, Eppenberger PE, Galassi FM, Rühli FJ, Henneberg M: Queen Meresankh III – the oldest case of bilateral Silent Sinus Syndrome (c. 2620/10 - 2570 BC)?. Anthropologie (CZ), Vol 56 (2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.26720/anthro.17.09.25.2
  5. ^ Tyldesley, p.48
  6. ^ Dodson & Hilton, p.57