Meresankh III

Meresankh III in hieroglyphs
Meresankh III in hieroglyphs
	King's Wife of Pharaoh Khafre
	Queen Hetepheres II (left) embraces her deceased daughter Meresankh III (right) (MFA 30.1456)

Queen Meresankh III was the daughter of Hetepheres II and Prince Kawab and a granddaughter of the Egyptian pharaoh 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.^[1]

Her tomb was discovered by archeologist

George Reisner on April 23, 1927,^[2] 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.[3] 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]

Meresankh III's children

The children of Meresankh and Khafre include:

Prince
Prophetess of Hathor
Mistress-of-the-Sycamore in all her places, etc.
Prince Duaenre Mastaba G5110 Vizier of Menkaure. Possibly the father of vizier Babaef.
Prince Kenterka. Mentioned in Meresankh's tomb. Khenterka is assumed by some to be a son of Meresankh III.
Prince Niuserre (A) (Ny-user-Re-ankh (?) is mentioned in Meresankh's tomb) King's son of his body, Chief lector-priest of his father, Treasurer of the King of Lower Egypt, etc. Middle to end of Dyn. IV. (Unfinished Rock cut tomb in central field)
Prince Ankhemre King's son of his body. Mentioned in the inner chapel of his brother Nebemakhet.
Princess Shepsetkau (mentioned in Nebemakhet's Mastaba).

References

^ The Tomb of Meresankh III (G 7530-40) at Giza
^ "Finding the Pharaohs". Archived from the original on 2009-07-26. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
^ Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), p.60
^ 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
^ Tyldesley, p.48
^ Dodson & Hilton, p.57

External links

Virtual exploration of the mastaba of Meresankh III

[1] The Tomb of Meresankh III (G 7530-40) at Giza

[2] "Finding the Pharaohs". Archived from the original on 2009-07-26. Retrieved 2008-09-13.

[3] Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), p.60

[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

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