A new look at a 72-year-old photo may have just promoted one of Egypt’s first queens to the ranks of its kings. Researchers say a new digital version of an image published in 1954 of one of 13 jar caps found at the entrance to a tomb at Saqqara and later lost to time suggests that Queen Meretneith, long known as a powerful royal and “mother of the king,” may actually have held full ruling status more than 5,000 years ago, according to Smithsonian. Write in Egyptological studies from PragueThe team says two tiny hieroglyphic panels on the cap, once too blurry to read, now clearly show Meretneith’s name inside the serekhs, a symbol reserved for rulers.
Meretneith, related to King Djer of the First Dynasty, who was perhaps her father and probably regent to her son Den, has previously been introduced as one of the first female pharaohs. The new analysis, which digitally increased the contrast, inverted the colors and converted the photo into a sharp vector image, is presented by co-author Susan Kelly as the closest thing yet to a text designating her as sovereign. “The signs clearly point to Meretneith as one of the earliest rulers of Egypt,” she writes in Conversation. Not everyone is convinced: a Berlin-based historian says the enhanced image only shows Djer’s name. But if the new reading is confirmed, Meretneith’s already lavish legacy – she had a vast burial complex and 41 buried servants – could take on new significance.
Gn world
