View source for Meresankh III

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian queen consort}}
{{For|other women named Meresankh|Meresankh (given name)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| type         = 
| consort      = yes
| name         = Meresankh III<br>{{center|<hiero>mr-s-anx</hiero>}}''Mrs ˁnḫ''
| image        = Group of Hetepheres II and Meresankh III-30.1456-IMG 4562-white.jpg
| succession   = [[Queen consort]] of [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|Egypt]]
| reign        = c. 2550 BC
| spouse       = [[Khafre]]
| issue        = [[Nebemakhet]]<br/>[[Duaenre]]<br/>[[Kenterka]]<br/>[[Niuserre (A)]]<br/>[[Ankhemre]]<br/>[[Shepsetkau]]
| father       = [[Kawab]]
| mother       = [[Hetepheres II]]
| birth_date   = c. 2578 BC
| death_date   = c. 2520 BC (aged c. 53)<ref name=":0" />
| place of burial = [[Egyptian Museum]], [[Cairo Governorate|Cairo]], [[Egypt]]
| religion     = [[Ancient Egyptian religion]]
}}

Queen '''Meresankh III''' ({{Circa}} 2578 BC - {{Circa}} 2520 BC)<ref name=":0" /> was the daughter of [[Hetepheres II]] and Prince [[Kawab]] and a granddaughter of the Egyptian king [[Khufu]]. She was the wife of King [[Khafre]].

Hetepheres also provided her daughter with a black granite sarcophagus decorated with palace facades for Meresankh's burial.<ref>[http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/meresankht.htm The Tomb of Meresankh III (G 7530-40) at Giza]</ref>

[[Tomb of Meresankh III|Her tomb]] was discovered by archeologist [[George Andrew Reisner|George Reisner]] on April 23, 1927,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2007/features/pharaohs.html |title=Finding the Pharaohs |access-date=2008-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726173622/http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2007/features/pharaohs.html |archive-date=2009-07-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 [[Egyptian Museum]]; the latter reveals that she was {{convert|1.54|m|ftin}} tall and between 50 and 55 years at her death.<ref name=":0">Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), p.60</ref> An anthropological study suggested, that she might have suffered from bilateral [[silent sinus syndrome]].<ref>Habicht ME, Eppenberger PE, Galassi FM, Rühli FJ, Henneberg M: Queen Meresankh III – the oldest case of bilateral Silent Sinus Syndrome (c. 2620/10 - 2570 BC)?. Anthropologie (CZ), Vol 56 (2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.26720/anthro.17.09.25.2</ref>

The tomb also contained a set of the earliest known [[canopic jar]]s.<ref>Tyldesley, p.48</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=February 2025}} 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, Boston|Museum of Fine Arts]] in [[Boston]].<ref>Dodson & Hilton, p.57</ref>

==Meresankh III's children==
The children of Meresankh and Khafre include:
* [[Nebemakhet]]: Buried in Mastaba 8172. His titles include scribe of the (divine) book, elder of the snwt-house of his father, chief justice and vizier, hereditary prince, king's son of his body, chief lector-priest, khet-priest of the Great One, khet-priest of (?) Temp. Khephren to Menkaure or a little later. In the mastaba Duaenre, and Niuserre are mentioned. As well as a brother named Ankhemre. Nebemakhet's wife was named Nubhotep, [[Prophetess of Hathor]] Mistress-of-the-Sycamore in all her places, etc.
* [[Duaenre]]: Mastaba G5110 Vizier of Menkaure. Possibly the father of vizier [[Babaef II|Babaef]].
* [[Kenterka]]: Mentioned in Meresankh's tomb. Khenterka is assumed by some to be a son of Meresankh III.
* [[Niuserre (A)]] (Ny-user-Re-ankh (?) is mentioned in Meresankh's tomb): King's son of his body, Chief lector-priest of his father, Treasurer of the King of Lower Egypt, etc. Middle to end of Dyn. IV. (Unfinished Rock cut tomb in central field)
* [[Ankhemre]]: King's son of his body. Mentioned in the inner chapel of his brother Nebemakhet.
* [[Shepsetkau]]: mentioned in Nebemakhet's Mastaba.

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|align=center|collapsed=yes
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
|'''Meresankh III'''
|[[Kawab]]
|[[Hetepheres II]]
|[[Khufu]]
|[[Meritites I]]
|[[Khufu]]
|
|
|
|[[Sneferu]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=d42fuVA21To&fbclid=IwAR2yO8l8Kj_2cmMyCeVva0IlEaw0gQkOlGiDEhRC5hOOg8mQaaD7zZYmfng Virtual exploration of the mastaba of Meresankh III]
{{Queens of Ancient Egypt}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meresankh 03}}
[[Category:Queens consort of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:26th-century BC women]]
[[Category:25th-century BC women]]
[[Category:Khafre]]
[[Category:3rd-millennium BC births]]
[[Category:3rd-millennium BC deaths]]