Queen Neith’s Name Unearthed in Saqqara

By Zahi Hawass

Previously, I announced the unearthing of the unknown Queen Neith’s name, 6th Dynasty’s King Teti’s wife and daughter.

Therefore, this discovery expressed the earliest case of father-daughter marriage in Ancient Egypt as this phenomenon existed heavily in royal families at that time.

The ancient Egyptian kings used to get married to their daughters or sisters inspired by Osiris-Isis mythical sacred marriage.

However, this phenomenon was limited among the common people.

Regarding the story of this discovery, I initiated a number of excavation works beside King Teti’s Pyramid, and I found a small 15-meter high pyramid.

Shortly, I stepped into the pyramid to the burial room that contained a coffin made from granite with a five-ton weight cover.

After opening the coffin, ruins of a royal mummy were found alongside several significant artifacts. However, thieves managed in stealing some antiquities from it a long time ago through a hole made in the coffin.

The name of the pyramid’s owner was not documented inside, so I studied the family tree of King Teti as he had several wives such as Queen Khuit, and Queen Iput.

Queen Khuit and Queen Iput pyramids were previously discovered, however, I didn’t find any documents about the names of any other King Teti’s wives.

But, I discovered King Teti's mother’s name, Sesheshet, therefore, I announced that this pyramid belonged to Queen Sesheshet.

Then, I excavated more nearby the pyramid, and we found the Queen’s funerary temple where we surprisingly unveiled the name of the King’s wife and daughter, Neith, for the first time in the world getting her presence back to the records.

By Zahi Hawass

Contributed by Rana Atef