Teti

For the Italian comune, see Teti, Sardinia.

Teti
Sistrum inscribed with the name of Teti.
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign	2345–2333 BC, 6th Dynasty
Predecessor	Unas
Successor	Userkare
Royal titulary Nomen: Teti Horus name: Hr Sehetep Tawy Horus, who satisfies (pacifies?) the two lands Nebty name: Sehetep Nebty Who satisfies the two ladies Golden Horus: Hr nebu sema The golden Horus who unites
Consort(s)	Iput I, Khuit, Khent(kaus III), Weret-Imtes?
Children	Userkare, Pepi I, Teti-ankh-kem, Seshseshet Watet-khet-her, Nebty-nubkhet Sesheshet (D), Inty?
Burial	Pyramid of Teti

Teti, less commonly known as Othoes, was the first Pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt and is buried at Saqqara. The exact length of his reign has been destroyed on the Turin King List, but is believed to have been about 12 years.

Biography

Teti had several wives:

• Queen Iput, likely the daughter of King Unas, the last king of the Fifth dynasty. Iput I was the mother of Pepi I
• Queen Khuit, who may have been the mother of Userkare (according to Jonosi and Callender) ^[1]
• Queen Khent (or Khentkaus III). Known from a relief of Pepi I's mortuary temple. She may have been buried in a mastaba.^[1]
• Weret-Imtes? This queen is mentioned in the autobiography of Wenis. It may be a reference to the title of the queen instead of her personal name. She was involved in a harem plot to overthrow Pepi, but apparently was caught before she succeeded. In the tomb of the official Wenis there is mention of “a secret charge in the royal harem against the Great of Sceptre”.

Teti is known to have had several children. He was the father of at least three sons and probably ten daughters.^[2] Of the sons, two are well attested, a third one is likely :

• Pepi I, whose mother is Queen Iput I
• Tetiankh , "eldest King’s son", whose mastaba is located on the east side of Queen Iput’s funerary complex^[3]
• Nebkauhor , with the beautiful name of Idu, "king’s eldest son of his body", buried in the mastaba of Vizier Akhethetep/Hemi, in King Unis’cemetery. He is most probably Teti’s son, born of Queen Iput I and buried in a fallen Vizier’s tomb, within the funerary complex of his maternal grandfather ^[4]

According to N. Kanawati, King Teti had at least 9 daughters, by a number of wives, and the fact that they were named after his mother, Sesheshet, allows to trace his family. At least three princesses bearing the name Seshseshet are designated as " king’s eldest daughter ", meaning that there were at least three different queens. It seems that there was a tenth one, born of a fourth queen as she is also designated as " king’s eldest daughter ".

• Seshseshet whose beautiful name was Waatetkhéthor, married to Vizier Mereruka, in whose mastaba she has a chapel. She is designated as " king’s eldest daughter of his body ". She may have been the eldest daughter of Queen Iput I ^[5]
• Seshseshet with the beautiful name of Idut, "king’s daughter of his body", who died very young at the beginning of her father’s reign and was buried in the mastaba of Vizier Ihy, in King Unis’cemetery. She is most certainly Teti’s daughter, born of Queen Iput I and buried within the funerary complex of her maternal ^[5]
• Seshseshet called Nubkhetnebty, "king’s daughter of his body", wife of Vizier Kagemni, et represented in her husband’s mastaba. She was maybe also born of Queen Iout I ^[6]
• Seshseshet, also called Sathor, married to Isi, resident governor at Edfu and also totled vizier. She also would have been born of Queen Iput I.^[7]
• Seshseshet, with the beautiful name of Sheshit, " king’s eldest daughter of his body and wife of the overseer of the great court Neferseshemptah, and is depicted in her husband’s mastaba. As she is an eldest daughter of the king, she cannot be born of the same mother as Waatkhetethor and therefore may have been a daughter of Queen Khuit ^[8]
• Seshseshet also called Sheshti, "king’s daughter of his body", married to the keeper of the head ornaments Shepsipuptah, and depicted in her husband’s mastaba.^[9]
• Seshseshet with the beautiful name of Merout, entitled " king’s eldest daughter " but without the addition " of his body " and therefore born of a third, maybe a minor queen, and married to Ptahemhat ^[10]
• Seshseshet, wife of Remni, "sole companion" and overseer of the department of the palace guards^[11]
• Seshseshet, married to Pepyankh Senior of Meir ^[12]
• the so called " queen of the West Pyramid in King Pepy I cemetery. She is called " king’s eldest daughter of his body " and kings wife of Meryre mennefer (the name of Pepy I’s pyramid). Therefore she is a wife of King Pepi and most certainly his –half- sister ^[13] As she is also an eldest daughter of the king, her mother must be a fourth queen of Teti

Another possible daughter is princess Inti.[14]

During Teti's reign, high officials were beginning to build funerary monuments that rivaled that of the Pharaoh. His vizier, Mereruka, built a mastaba tomb at Saqqara which consisted of 33 richly carved rooms, the biggest known tomb for an Egyptian nobleman.^[15] This is considered to be a sign that Egypt's wealth was being transferred from the central court to the officials, a slow process that culminated in the end to the Old Kingdom^{[citation needed]}.

Manetho states that Teti was murdered by his palace bodyguards in a harem plot, but he may have been assassinated by the usurper Userkare . He was buried in the royal necropolis at Saqqara. His pyramid complex is associated with the mastabas of officials from his reign. Teti's Highest date is his Year after the 6th Count 3rd Month of Summer day lost (Year 12 if the count was biannual) from Hatnub Graffito No.1.^[16] This information is confirmed by the South Saqqara Stone Annal document from Pepi II's reign which gives him a reign of around 12 years.

3rd "subsidiary" pyramid to Teti's tomb

Teti's mother was the Queen Sesheshet, who was instrumental in her son's accession to the throne and a reconciling of two warring factions of the royal family.^[17] Sesheshet lived between 2323 BC to 2291 BC. Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced, on November 11, 2008, that she was entombed, in a 4,300-year-old headless 5 metre (16-foot-tall) Saqqara most complete subsidiary pyramid. This is the 118th pyramid discovered thus far in Egypt, the largest portion of its 2 metres wide beautiful casing was built with a superstructure 5 metres high. It originally reached 14 metres, with sides 22 metres long.^[18][19]

The ruins of Teti's pyramid (Saqqara)

Pyramid texts from Teti I's pyramid at Saqqara

Once 5 stories tall, it lay beneath 23 feet (7 meters) of sand, a small shrine and mud-brick walls from later periods. The 3rd known "subsidiary" pyramid to Teti's tomb, was originally 46 feet (14 meters) tall and 72 feet (22 meters) square at its base, due to its walls having stood at a 51-degree angle. Buried next to the Saqqara Step Pyramid, its base lies 65 feet underground and is believed to have been 50 feet tall when it was built.^[20][21][22]

See also

• List of Egyptian pyramids
• List of megalithic sites

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Miroslav Verner, The Pyramids,1994
2. ^ N. Kanawati, Mereruka and King Teti. The Power behind the Throne, 2007
3. ^ N. Kanawati, Conspiracies in the Egyption Palace. Unis to Pepy I. 2003, p. 139
4. ^ N. Kanawati, Mereruka and King Teti. The Power behind the Throne, 2007, p. 14 et 50
5. ^ ^{a b} N. Kanawati, Mereruka and King Teti. The Power behind the Throne, 2007, p. 14, 20 et 50
6. ^ N. Kanawati, Mereruka and King Teti. The Power behind the Throne, 2007, p. 20, 32 et 50
7. ^ N. Kanawati, Mereruka and King Teti. The Power behind the Throne, 2007, p. 21-22 et 50
8. ^ N. Kanawati, Mereruka and King Teti. The Power behind the Throne, 2007, p. 20, 32 et 35
9. ^ N. Kanawati, Mereruka and King Teti. The Power behind the Throne, 2007, p. 20, 32 et 36
10. ^ N. Kanawati, Mereruka and King Teti. The Power behind the Throne, 2007, p. 20-21
11. ^ N. Kanawati, The Teti Cemetery at Saqqara, Volume 9: The Tomb of Remni, 2009
12. ^ Ali El-Khouli & Naguib Kanawati, Quseir El-Amarna: The Tombs of Pepy-ankh and Khewen-Wekh, 1989
13. ^ C. Berger, A la quête de nouvelles versions des textes des pyramides, in Hommages à Jean Leclant, 1994, p 73-74
14. ^ Dodson and Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2004
15. ^ Christine Hobson, Exploring the World of the Pharaohs, Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1997. p.85
16. ^ Anthony Spalinger, "Dated Texts of the Old Kingdom," SAK 21, (1994), p.303
17. ^ "Egypt: 4,300-year-old pyramid discovered". CNN.com (CNN). 2008-11-11. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/11/11/egypt.pyramid.discovery.ap/index.html. Retrieved 2008-11-11. ^{[dead link]}
18. ^ ph.news.yahoo.com, 4,300-year-old pyramid discovered in Egypt
19. ^ africa.reuters.com, Egypt says has found pyramid built for ancient queen
20. ^ sfgate.com, Under tons of sand, a treasure of history
21. ^ news.nationalgeographic.com, New Pyramid Found in Egypt: 4,300-Year-Old Queen's Tomb
22. ^ euronews.net, Pyramid find to shed light on last pharaoh dynasty

Further reading

• Naguib Kanawati, Conspiracies in the Egyptian Palace: Unis to Pepy I, Routledge (2002), ISBN 0-415-27107-X.

External links

• The South Saqqara Stone: Sixth Dynasty Annals
• BBC, In pictures: New pyramid found