Khentkaus I

Khentkaus I in hieroglyphs
Khentkaus
Mut-nesut-biti-nesut-biti Mw.t-nsw-bi.tj-nsw-bi.tj Title of Khentkaus I and Khentkaus II
Queen Khentkaus depicted on her tomb

Khentkaus I, also referred to as Khentkawes, was a Queen of Ancient Egypt during the 4th dynasty. She may have been a daughter of pharaoh Menkaure, wife of both kings Shepseskaf and Userkaf and mother of Sahure. Her Mastaba at Giza - tomb LG100 - is located very close to Menkaure's pyramid complex. This close connection may point to a family relationship, but it is not quite clear exactly what that relationship is.

The proximity of Khentkaus' pyramid complex to that of King Menkaure has led to the conjecture that she may have been his daughter. She may have been married to King Userkaf and may have been the mother of Sahure and Neferirkare Kakai. Verner has stated that it is more likely however that Sahure was a son of Userkaf and his wife Neferhetepes. It has also been suggested Khentkaus was the mother and regent for her son Thampthis and the mother of Neferirkare Kakai instead. Manetho's King List has Menkaure and Thampthis reigning in the fourth dynasty, which ties her to the end of the fourth dynasty.

Khentkaus appears to have served as a regent and may have even taken on kingly titles. Some of her titles are ambiguous and are apparently open to interpretation.

The "Khentkaus Problem" has a long history. In the 1930s Hassan proposed that Khentkaus was a daughter of Menkaure, and married first to Shepseskaf and later to Userkaf. Ventikiev was the first to suggest that the title mwt nswt bity nswt bity should be read as "The Mother of two Kings of Upper and Lower Egypt".

Junker believed that the existence of the pyramid town suggested that Khentkaus was a very important person and that the title should be read as "the King of Upper and Lower Egypt and the Mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt". He suggested that she was the daughter of Menkaure and the sister of Shepseskaf.

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