Meritites I

For other women with this name, see Meritites.
Meritites in hieroglyphs
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Meritites (Merit ites)
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Beloved of her father[1]

Meritites I was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 4th Dynasty. Her name means "Beloved of her Father". Several of her titles are known from a stela found at Giza. She was buried in the middle Queen’s Pyramid in Giza (Pyramid G 1b).

Meritites was a daughter of King Sneferu and his consort of unknown name. Meritites married her (half?-)brother, King Khufu.[2] With Khufu, she was the mother of the Crown Prince Kawab, and possibly Djedefre.[3] Both Queen Hetepheres II and Pharaoh Khafre have been suggested as children of Meretites I and Khufu as well,[4] and it is possible that Meritites II was a daughter of Meritites I as well.[5]

Auguste Mariette recorded a stela at Giza in which Meritites is said to be a favorite of both Sneferu and Khufu:

King’s wife, his beloved, devoted to Horus, Mertitytes. King’s wife, his beloved, Mertitytes; beloved of the Favorite of the Two Goddesses; she who says anything whatsoever and it is done for her. Great in the favor of Snefr[u]; great in the favor of Khuf[u], devoted to Horus, honored under Khafre. Merti[tyt]es. [Breasted][6]

Meritites held the titles: "great one of the hetes-sceptre of Khufu" (Weret-hetes-net-Khufu, wrt-hetes-nt-khwfw), great one of the hetes-sceptre of Snofru (Weret-hetes-net-snofru, wrt-hetes-nt-snfrw), king’s wife, his beloved (Hemet-nesu Meritef, hmt-nsw meryt.f), attendant of Horus (Khet-heru, kht-hrw) and consort and beloved of the Two Ladies (Semayt-meri-nebti, smꜣyt-mry-nbty).[7]

  1. ^ Silke Roth: Die Königsmütter des Alten Ägypten von der Frühzeit bis zum Ende der 12. Dynastie (= Ägypten und Altes Testament 46). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2001, ISBN 3-447-04368-7, page 354 - 358 & 388.
  2. ^ Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2004. ISBN 0-500-05128-3
  3. ^ Joyce Tyldesley. Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2006. ISBN 0-500-05145-3
  4. ^ Gundacker: Genealogie. S. 24–26
  5. ^ Gizapyramids website Archived 2008-10-11 at the Wayback Machine, page for G 7650
  6. ^ James Henry Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. 1: The First through the Seventeenth Dynasties, 2001, ISBN 978-0-252-06990-1
  7. ^ Grajetzki, Ancient Egyptian Queens: A Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Golden House Publications, London, 2005, ISBN 978-0-9547218-9-3