Cylinder seal with name of Amenemhat II and that of princess Khenemetneferhedjet

The cylinder seal bears two columns of inscriptions. On one side is the throne name of Amenemhat II, while the other gives the title and name of a princess. In the past, the latter inscription has been interpreted in various ways. A drawing of it was published as early as 1907 by Percy E. Newberry, who read it as "Royal Daughter, who is joined to the Beautiful White Crown, NEB-EN." Others agreed that the last part is a name, but suggested that it should be read as Nebta, Nebmen, and Nyetneb. Olivier Perdu, however, convincingly pointed out that the n- and imAx-signs can easily be confused, and suggested that the last part of the inscription should be read instead as the epithet "possessor of reverence." He thus interpreted the preceding part of the inscription as the name of the princess "Khenemetneferhedjet." Perdu’s reading is supported by a careful examination of the seal, which reveals that the disputed sign was incorrectly copied in the only previously published image. Newberry’s drawing shows this sign as a horizontal line with several short vertical strokes, two of which pass through the line and continue below it. As a result, the hieroglyph was misinterpreted as an n-sign, since n-signs are very often depicted using horizontal lines intersected by vertical lines. The disputed hieroglyph on the seal actually consists of a slightly-tilted diagonal line with four short vertical lines extending only above it, indicating that this is a representation of an imAx-sign, which has vertical strokes only above the horizontal. In addition, the left side of the sign curves down towards the bottom of the seal, which is typical for this hieroglyph, leaving no doubt that this an imAx-sign. Study of the inscription on the seal itself thus allows confirmation of Perdu’s suggested reading, and the complete column now can be read securely as "the king’s daughter Khenemetneferhedjet, possessor of reverence." Its placement next to the throne name of Amenemhat II suggests that this princess was his daughter. Khenemetneferhedjet Weret II, the wife of Senwosret III, can be called only Khenemetneferhedjet; she owned scarabs with the name of Amenemhat II, and from a relief fragment found at her pyramid at Dahshur we now know that she was a king’s daughter. This makes her a very likely owner of this cylinder seal.

Isabel Stünkel 2019

Formerly Timmins Collection by 1907. Acquired by for his collection by Lord Carnarvon before 1923. Carnarvon Collection purchased by the Museum from Lady Carnarvon, 1926.

Newberry, Percy E. 1907. The Timins Collection of ancient Egyptian Scarabs and Cylinder Seals. London: Archibald Constable & Co., p. 11; pl. 1, fig. 9.

Hayes, William C. 1953. Scepter of Egypt I: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: From the Earliest Times to the End of the Middle Kingdom. Cambridge, Mass.: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 201.

Perdu, Olivier 1977. "Khenemet-nefer-hedjet: une princesse et deux reines du Moyen Empire." In Revue d'égyptologie, p. 70.

Stünkel, Isabel 2015. "Notes on Khenemet-nefer-hedjet Weret II." In The Art and Culture of Ancient Egypt: Studies in Honor of Dorothea Arnold, edited by Adela Oppenheim and Ogden Goelet. Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar, vol. 19, pp. 635–6, figs. 6–7.