Khenemetneferhedjet I Explained

Khenemetneferhedjet-Weret
Great Royal Wife, Khenemetneferhedjet
Native Lang1:Egyptian name
Native Lang1 Name1:ẖnm.t nfr-ḥḏ.t-Wrt
Xnm:t-nfr-HDt-wr:t
Birth Date:20th century BC
Death Date:19th century BC
Place Of Burial:Kahun?
Spouse:Senusret II
Issue:Senusret III
Dynasty:12th Dynasty
Father:Amenemhat II?

Khenemetneferhedjet I Weret was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 12th Dynasty, a wife of Senusret II and the mother of Senusret III.[1]

Biography

She is likely to be same person who is mentioned as the daughter of Amenemhat II on a seal (now located in New York). This would mean she was the sister of her husband. She and Nofret II have been definitely identified as two of the queen consorts of Senusret II; two other possible wives are Khenemet and Itaweret. All were also his sisters. Her name was also a queenly title used in the era: khenemetneferhedjet means “united with the white crown”. Her additional name Weret means “great” or “the elder” and was probably used to differentiate her from others with this name. She is mentioned on a seal found in Kahun (now located in Tonbridge), a papyrus from Kahun (now located in Berlin), a statue (now located in the British Museum) and in her son's pyramid complex. She was probably buried in the Kahun pyramid complex built by her husband.[2]

Her titles were: King's Wife; King's Mother; Lady of the Two Lands; King's Daughter (the latter only if she is the same person as the princess named on the seal of Amenemhat II).

Notes and References

  1. , p.96
  2. Isabel Stünkel, ‘the relief decoration of the cult chapels of royal women in the pyramid complex of Senusret III’, in: Miroslav Bárta, Filip Coppens, Jaromír Krejčí (editors), Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2005, proceeding of the Conference held in Prague (June 27-July 5, 2005), Prague: Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, 2006,, pp. 147-166 (article on her pyramid chapel at Dahshur)