Nitocris
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| Nitocris in hieroglyphs | ||||||||||||||
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| Era: Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC) | ||||||||||||||
- For the band Nitocris see Nitocris (Band)
Nitocris (Greek Νίτωκρις) has been claimed to have been the last Pharaoh of the 6th Dynasty of Egypt, and perhaps the first female ruler of Egypt, the first known Queen regnant in the world. Her name is found in the Histories of Herodotus and writings of Manetho. According to Herodotus (Histories ii), she invited the murderers of her brother, the king of Egypt, to a banquet, then killed them by flooding the sealed room with the Nile. Then, to avoid the other conspirators, she committed suicide (possibly by running into a burning room). Manetho claims she built the "third pyramid" at Giza, which is normally attributed to Menkaure.
Unfortunately Nitocris is not mentioned in any native Egyptian inscriptions and "she" probably did not exist. It was long claimed that Nitocris appears on a fragment of the Turin King List, dated to the 19th dynasty, under the Egyptian name of Nitiqreti (nt-ỉqrtỉ). The fragment where this name appears was thought to belong to the 6th Dynasty portion of the king list, thus confirming both Herodotus and Manetho. However, microscopic analysis on the Turin King List suggests the fragment was misplaced and that the name "Nitiqreti" is in fact a faulty transcription of the praenomen of a clearly male king Netjerkare Siptah I, who is named on the Abydos King List as the successor of the 6th dynasty king Nemtyemsaf II. On the Abydos King List, Netjerkare Siptah is placed in the equivalent spot that Neitiqreti Siptah holds on the Turin King List.
In Fiction
- Nitocris (spelt with a "K" instead of a "C") is mention in two separate stories, The Outsider and Imprisoned with the Pharaohs, by H.P. Lovecraft. She is mentioned only in passing and portrayed as an evil Queen reigning over ghouls and other horrors.
- Tennessee Williams' first published work is the 1928 short story The Vengeance of Nitocris, detailing the queen's careful plan for revenge.
- The Queen's Enemies, a play by Lord Dunsany, is also based upon Herodutus' account of Nitocris' murderous activities.
References
- Newberry, Percy Edward. 1943. "Queen Nitocris of the Sixth Dynasty." Journal of Egyptian Archæology 29:51–54.
- Ryholt, Kim Steven Bardrum. 2000. "The Late Old Kingdom in the Turin King-list and the Identity of Nitocris." Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 127:87–100.
- Zivie-Coche, Christiane M. 1972. "Nitocris, Rhodopis et la troisième pyramide de Giza." Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 72:115–138. PDF