{{For|other women with the same name|Meritites}} {{Infobox person | name = Nefertkau I<br>{{center|<hiero>mr:r-t:t:f-s</hiero>}}<br>''Mrj.t jt=s'' | alt = Name of Nefertkau, Princess of Egypt | caption = Name of Nefertkau, Princess of Egypt | burial_place = Giza, Giza Governorate, Egypt | years_active = {{circa}} 2550 BC | spouse = Akhethotep }} [[File:Antico regno, IV dinastia, rilievo parietale dalla tomba di akhethotep, 2640-2520 ac ca, da mastaba G 7650 a giza.jpg|thumb|Relief depicting Meritites' husband Akhethotep, from their mastaba G 7650, and now in the Museo Barracco, Rome (Inv. No. MB 3)]] '''Meritites II''' ('''Merytytes, Meritetes, Meretites, Merytiotes, Mertiotes, ''' or '''Meritites A''' ("beloved of her father"; {{fl.|{{circa}} 2550 BC}})<ref name="LF" /> was a 4th Dynasty princess of ancient Egypt, probably a daughter of King Khufu. She may have been a daughter of Meritites I based on the fact that this queen is mentioned in mastaba G 7650.<ref>Digital Giza: [http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/ancientpeople/2326/full/ ''Meretites (G 7650)''] Retrieved September 25, 2025.</ref> She married the Director of the Palace, Akhethotep (a non-royal court official), and she had several children with her husband. Meritites and her husband shared a mastaba G 7650 in Giza.
== Family and early life == Meritites II was probably a daughter of Khufu, as she was said to be a ''King's daughter of his body'' and as the location of her tomb indicates a relation to Khufu.<ref name="LF"/> She was a Prophetess of Khufu, Hathor, and Neith.
Meritites was married to Akhethotep, who was a director of the palace.<ref>Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan: ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt.'' Thames & Hudson, London 2004, {{ISBN|0-500-05128-3}}, pp. [https://archive.org/details/completeroyalfam0000dods_a3h8/page/52/mode/2up 52], [https://archive.org/details/completeroyalfam0000dods_a3h8/page/56/mode/1up 56], [https://archive.org/details/completeroyalfam0000dods_a3h8/page/60/mode/1up 60], ''Internet Archive'' Retrieved September 25, 2025.</ref> Further titles of Akhethotep include ''Sole friend'', ''Priest of the Bas of Nekhen'', and ''Overseer of fishers/ fowlers''.<ref name="LF">Flentye, Laurel: ''The Mastabas of Ankh-haf (G 7510) and Akhethetep and Meretites (G 7650) in the Eastern Cemetery at Giza. A Reassessment.'' In: Zahi A. Hawass, Janet Richards (eds.): ''The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt. Essays in Honor of David B. O’Connor.'' Volume I (= ''Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte.'' Cahier No. 36). Cairo, Conseil Suprême des Antiquités de l’Égypte 2007, ISBN 977-437-241-7, pp. 291-292, 294-298, 301-303, figs. 1, 3, 6, 7 [https://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/flentye_fs_oconnor.pdf PDF] from ''Digital Giza – The Giza Project at Harvard University'', 10,3 MB Retrieved September 25, 2025.</ref> In the tomb, several children are depicted. A block formerly in the McGregor collection, but now in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon (Inv. No. 159) shows two daughters.<ref name="PM"/> One daughter is named Hetepheres and only a partial name has been preserved for the second girl: Khufu[...].<ref>Reisner, ''A History of the Giza Necropolis'', Volume II, Appendix B: Cemetery 7000, Retrieved from [http://gizapyramids.org The Giza Archives] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011131428/http://www.gizapyramids.org/ |date=2008-10-11 }}</ref>
== Burial == [[File:Carte-nécropole-khéops2 copie.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Meritites is located near the east side(depicted in green) compared to the Great Pyramid of Giza as shown in the centre of the picture.]] Akhethotep and Meritites were buried at Giza in tomb G 7650. The mastaba is stone built and the interior offering room is decorated. Akhethotep is depicted with his wife Meritites and attendants in some of the scenes. In one scene, Akhethotep is accompanied by two daughters. A red granite sarcophagus with a palace facade was discovered in shaft C, now Brooklyn Museum, New York City (Inv. No. 48.110).<ref name="PM">Porter, Bertha and Moss, Rosalind L. B. with Burney, Ethel W.: ''Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings.'' Volume III: ''Memphis.'' Part I: ''Abû Rawâsh to Abûṣîr.'' 2nd edition, revised and augmented by Jaromír Málek. Clarendon Press / Griffith Institute / Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 1974, pp. 200–201, Map XXXI [http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/topbib/pdf/pm3-1.pdf PDF] from ''The Digital Topographical Bibliography'', 20,3 MB Retrieved September 25, 2025.</ref>
== Literature == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meritites 02}} Category:Princesses of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Category:26th-century BC women Category:3rd-millennium BC births Category:3rd-millennium BC deaths Category:Children of Khufu