Ashayet

Relief of Ashayet from her limestone sarcophagus

Ashayet in hieroglyphs

Ashayet or Ashait was an ancient Egyptian queen consort, a lower ranking wife of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II of the 11th dynasty. Her tomb (DBXI.17) and small decorated chapel were found in her husband's Deir el-Bahari temple complex,^[1] behind the main building, along with the tombs of five other ladies, Henhenet, Kawit, Kemsit, Sadeh and Mayet. Ashayet was the oldest of them, she was about 22 years old when she died. She and three other women of the six bore queenly titles, and most of them were priestesses of Hathor, so it is possible that they were buried there as part of the goddess's cult, but it is also possible that they were the daughters of nobles the king wanted to keep an eye upon.

Ashayet's stone sarcophagus is one of the better known artifacts of this period. It included a wooden coffin with the queen's body. A wooden statue of hers was also found in the tomb.^[2] Her mummy, sarcophagus and coffin are now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.^[1]

Her titles were: King's Beloved Wife (ḥmt-nỉswt mrỉỉ.t=f ),^[3] King's Sole Ornament (ẖkr.t-nỉswt wˁtỉ.t), Priestess of Hathor (ḥm.t-nṯr ḥwt-ḥrw), Priestess of Hathor, great of kas, foremost in her places (ḥm.t-nṯr ḥwt-ḥrw wr.t m [k3.w]=s ḫntỉ.t m swt=s), Priestess of Hathor, great of kas, foremost in her places, Lady of Dendera (ḥm.t-nṯr ḥwt-ḥrw nb.t ỉwn.t wr.t k3.w=s ḫntỉ.t m swt=s).^[4]

Sources

1. Dodson, Aidan, Hilton, Dyan. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05128-3 (2004), p.88
2. Grajetzki, Wolfram. Ancient Egyptian Queens: A Hieroglyphic Dictionary. London: Golden House Publications. ISBN 0-9547218-9-6 (2005), p.28
3. Grajetzki, p.55
4. Grajetzki, op.cit., p.27