Merneith: Mysterious Queen In The Land Of The Pharaohs Could Be Earliest Attested Female Ruler

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - Queen Merneith is one of the most disputed individuals in the history of ancient Egypt. She was buried along with 118 servants who followed her into the afterlife. Obviously, she must have been an important person, but historians still debate whether this intriguing individual was a female or male.

Something archaeologists discovered at Abydos, Egypt, confused scholars, and the history of Queen Merneith is still shrouded in mystery.

Who Was Queen Merneith?

Queen Merneith lived during Egypt’s Early Dynastic Period, spanning the era from c. 6000-3150 B.C.

What historians agree on is that she was the mother of King Den, one of Egypt's first Pharaohs of a unified ancient Egypt. King Den used the title "King of Lower and Upper Egypt" and ruled from about 2970 BC.

A seal discovered in the tomb of King Den was engraved with the text "King's Mother, Merneith".

However, determining the identity of her father and husband is more complicated. It is possible although it has never been determined that she was the daughter of Djer, the third pharaoh of the First Dynasty.

Her husband could have been King Djet, the fourth pharaoh of the First Dynasty, but that too is undetermined. Some Egyptologists maintain that she was the consort of Djer and not Djet. Still, since King Den was the son of Djet, it makes more sense that Queen  Merneith was the wife of Pharaoh Djet.

Queen Merneith’s name is mentioned in the famous Palermo Stone that states the list of kings of early Egypt.

Palermo Stone - Cairo Fragment CF1 lists, among others, the start of the reign of Horus Djer. Credits: ancient-egypt.org

This suggests that in time she became a ruler in her own right. If this was the case, then she may have been the first female pharaoh and the earliest queen regnant in recorded history.

Her rule occurred around 2950 B.C. for an undetermined period. It is believed that Merneith ruled probably as regent when her son and successor, Den, was very young.

Strange Discovery At Abydos Necropolis Questions Merneith’s Gender

While excavating at Abydos necropolis, archaeologists unearthed artifacts that mentioned the name ‘Merneith’ (in male form) and ‘Merytneith’, in female form. Had historians been mistaken? Was Queen Merneith a male?

Tomb stela of Merneith from the Umm el-Qa'ab. Credit: Public Domain

In Umm El Qa'ab, a necropolis where the kings of the First and Second Dynasties rested, archaeologists located the tomb of Queen Merneith with help of two stelae. On these two stelae, her name is not inscribed in ‘serekh’, as kings' names were at that time, even if she was included in the king list. This indicated that she was a regent, ruling for her infant son Den. There is also no Horus falcon on the stelae which shows that Merneith was a woman.

However, it doesn’t explain why her name appeared in a male and female form on other artifacts.

118 Servants Were Sacrificed To Follow Queen Merneith Into The Afterlife

In 1900, the famous archaeologist and Egyptologist Flinders Petrie examined Queen Merneth's tomb, which was one of the best-preserved tombs in the area. Inside the tomb with an overall size of 19.2m x 16.3m, there was a boat pit (empty) but it was 17.8 m (58ft) long and it was large enough to have held a real boat.

Her tomb was constructed in the shape of a house or mastaba. It was extraordinary, like a palace with many rooms and doorways.

We may never know the entire history of Queen Merneith.

Next to her large tomb, there were several burials of her servants. As many as 41 males and 77 female servants had to follow her on her journey into the afterlife.

The size of her tomb suggests that she was a woman of importance (perhaps a reigning monarch) and she did rule for quite some time. Unfortunately, her tomb is one of many that has been plundered.

Queen Merneith lived so long ago that there are not many details about her life and putting together her life story based on a few damaged artifacts is extremely difficult. Unfortunately, the history of mysterious Queen Merneith is incomplete and it’s unlikely we will learn more about her any time soon.

Written by  Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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