Nimaethap
| Nimaathap in hieroglyphs | ||||||
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Personal name:
Nimaathap/Nimaat-Hapi nj-m33.t-Ḥp Truth of Hapi |
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Royal title:
Mwt neswt-bity mw.t-nsw.t-btj Mother of a king |
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Honorary title:
Djet-khetneb-iret-nes ḏt-ḫtnb-jr.t-ns She who says something and it is done (for her) immediately |
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Nimaathap (also read as Nima'at-Hapi and Nihap-ma'at) was an Ancient Egyptian queen consort at the transition time from 2nd dynasty to 3rd dynasty. She is known to have enjoyed a long-lasting mortuary cult.
Nimaathap's name appears on clay seal impressions discovered mostly in the tomb of king (pharaoh) Khasekhemwy, the last ruler of the 2nd dynasty. Other seals were found at Beit Khallaf at the burial sites of the mastaba tombs K1 and K2; the relationships of the original tomb owners to Nimaathap are unknown, though. Her name also appears on stone slab fragments from Heliopolis. These show Nimaathap kneeling at the feet of pharaoh Djoser, together with Djoser's wife, queen Hetepheres and Djoser's daughter, princess Inetkaes. The relief is evaluated as proof that Nimaathap was still alive at that time and that she participated at least one Hebsed ceremony. Nimaathap's name does not appear in the pyramid necropolis of Djoser at Saqqara; there, her name was replaced by depictions of the god of grieve and mummies, Anubis.
Nimaathap's name also appears in a tomb inscription of the high official Metjen, who held office under the kings Huni and Sneferu. Metjen was "overseer of the Ka-house of Nimaethap"; thus he overlooked and administrated the mortuary cult for the queen. Egyptologists take this as a proof how famous Nimaathap must have been during the Old Kingdom period.
Nimaathap's name is also read as Nimaathapi, her name is connected to the earth god Hapi. This is similar to the name of queen Khenthap of 1st dynasty. In both cases some scholars believe that the connection between the queen's names and the god Apis refers to a somewhat later introduced title of the king: bull of his mother. An old reading once was Hepenmaat, because the syllable Hapi was not recognized as the name of Hapy yet.
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