Khenthap (also writtenKhenet-Hapi) was a hypotheticalqueen ofAncient Egypt. She is said to have lived during the1st Dynasty. Her historical figure is very obscure, since there are no contemporary sources for her name. She appears only once in a much laterinscription.
Egyptologists andhistorians are still debating as to who Khenthap was as a historical figure. Thearchaeologically recorded seal impressions from first dynasty tombs atAbydos never mention her. She appears only in an inscription on thePalermo stone,[2] a stela made of blackschist that lists the kings fromNarmer (1st Dynasty) up to kingNeferirkare (6th Dynasty). Additionally, the stone lists the mother of each king.[3] The inscription spells out Khenthap's name, but doesn't record any of her titles (except for that of a "mother").[4]
The inscription on the Cairo fragment describes Khenthap as the mother of kingDjer.[5]Joyce Tyldesley thinks Khenthap was a wife of kingHor-Aha and that her grandson was kingDjet, for Djet is thought to be the son of kingDjer (Aha's son).[6] Silke Roth instead thinks that Khenthap was a wife of kingTeti I, a king mentioned in theSaqqara Tablet and in theRoyal Canon of Turin. In the latter, he is described as a ruler who held the Egyptian throne for only 1 year and 45 days.[2]
Khenthap's name means "musician of (god)Hapi", which may point to a religious and cultic role for this lady during her lifetime. Her name is connected to a god and may link to the king's title "bull of his mother".[2]
^Silke Roth:Die Königsmütter des Alten Ägypten: von der Frühzeit bis zum Ende der 12. Dynastie. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2001,ISBN3-447-04368-7, p. 378.
^abcSilke Roth:Die Königsmütter des Alten Ägypten: von der Frühzeit bis zum Ende der 12. Dynastie. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2001,ISBN3-447-04368-7, p. 16–18.
^Toby Wilkinson:Royal annals of ancient Egypt: the Palermo stone and its associated fragments. Kegan Paul International, London 2000,ISBN0-7103-0667-9, p. 105.
^Wolfram Grajetski:Ancient Egyptian Queens: a hieroglyphic dictionary. Golden House Publications, London 2005,ISBN0-9547218-9-6, p. 2.
^Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton:The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, London 2004,ISBN0-500-28857-7, p. 48.
^Joyce A. Tyldesley:Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt. Thames & Hudson, London 2006,ISBN0-500-05145-3, p. 29.
