Meresankh III
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Meresankh Mrs ˁnḫ |
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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.
Her parents were brother and sister. She married the pharaoh Khafra of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt and bore him four sons: Nebemakhet, Niuserre, Khenterka and Duaenre as well as a daughter named Shepsetkau. She held the royal titles of King's Daughter and King's Wife, Great of Scepter.
When she died some time shortly after the reign of Khafra, Meresankh was buried in an extensively decorated mastaba tomb at Giza along with a rock-cut chapel (G7530-5440). Inscriptions on the tomb provide both the time of her death and the date for her funeral, which followed some 272 days after her death. She apparently died during the first regnal year of an unnamed king, possibly the pharaoh Menkaure.
This tomb was originally planned for her mother Hetepheres II, but she instead donated it for her daughter's use—which suggests that Meresankh's death was sudden and unexpected. Hetepheres also provided her daughter with a black granite sarcophagus decorated with palace facades for Meresankh's burial.
Her tomb was discovered by archeologist George Reisner on April 23, 1927, 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. The tomb also contained a set of the earliest known canopic jars. 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.
The children of Meresankh and Khafre include:
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