# Meresankh I
Meresankh I was an ancient Egyptian royal woman of the late Third Dynasty, presumed to have been a wife of the king Huni and, as attested on the [Palermo Stone](https://www.edgepedia.org/palermo-stone), the mother of his successor Sneferu, the founder of the Fourth Dynasty.[1](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html) • [2](https://www.francescoraffaele.com/egypt/hesyra/dyn3-Huni.htm) • [7](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15369) Neither attribution rests on a contemporary inscription naming her in those roles; her motherhood of Sneferu is attested on the Palermo Stone, while her identification as Huni's wife remains an inference drawn from the succession between the two dynasties.[1](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html) • [7](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15369) She is not to be confused with the much better-attested Fourth Dynasty royal women [Meresankh II](https://www.edgepedia.org/meresankh-ii) and [Meresankh III](https://www.edgepedia.org/meresankh-iii), who were buried at Giza.[3](https://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/126/full/)
| Key facts | Detail |
|---|---|
| Identity | Royal woman of the late Third Dynasty, mother of Sneferu, perhaps wife of Huni[1](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html) • [7](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15369) |
| Nature of the attributions | Motherhood of Sneferu is attested on the Palermo Stone, whereas the marriage to Huni is conjectural[1](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html) • [7](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15369) |
| Possible attestation | An estate of Meresankh I may be named in the Saqqara tomb of Pehernefer[1](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html) |
| Chronological frame | Turin Canon entries 3.8 (Huni, 24 years) and 3.9 (Sneferu, 24 years) in direct succession[4](http://narmer.pl/listy/turyn_en.htm) |
| Status debate | Described variously as a wife of Huni or as a lesser wife or concubine[1](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html) • [5](https://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/huni.htm) |
| Namesakes | Meresankh II and Meresankh III, Fourth Dynasty royal women at Giza[3](https://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/126/full/) |
## Attestations
The direct record naming Meresankh I is thin. An estate of Meresankh I may be named in the tomb of Pehernefer in Saqqara.[1](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html)
## The Huni–Sneferu succession and the family question
The traditional reconstruction runs as follows. The Papyrus Prisse (II, 7) names Huni as Sneferu's predecessor; the Palermo Stone identifies Meresankh I as Sneferu's mother, while Huni's paternity remains conjectural. Sneferu married [Hetepheres I](https://www.edgepedia.org/hetepheres-i), identified in the traditional reconstruction as Huni's daughter and the future mother of Khufu.[2](https://www.francescoraffaele.com/egypt/hesyra/dyn3-Huni.htm) • [7](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15369) If the assumptions hold, Sneferu was the son of his predecessor, linking the end of the Third Dynasty to the start of the Fourth through Meresankh I.[1](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html)
The genealogical frame against which this claim is weighed was fixed by the excavation publication of Hetepheres I's burial equipment. The 1927 Bulletin of the [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston](https://www.edgepedia.org/museum-of-fine-arts-boston) records Hetepheres I as a king's daughter of Huni, described there as the last king of Dynasty III, and as queen of Sneferu.[6](https://gizapyramids.org/static/pdf%20library/bmfa_pdfs/bmfa25_1927_63to79.pdf)
Sources differ on her status. The Ancient Egypt Site presents her as a wife of Huni, which would make Sneferu the son of his predecessor.[1](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html) Tour Egypt reports instead that Meresankh was probably either a lesser wife or a concubine of Huni's, in which case Sneferu would have married his half sister Hetepheres I, Huni's daughter.[5](https://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/huni.htm) The discrepancy is unresolved.
## Chronology of the Dynasty 3–4 transition
The king-list frame places the transition late in the Third Dynasty. In the Turin Canon, Huni is entry 3.8 with a reign of 24 years and Sneferu is entry 3.9, also with 24 years, in direct succession.[4](http://narmer.pl/listy/turyn_en.htm) Huni is credited with a possible reign of 24 years according to the Turin Canon, though doubts persist over his ownership of the Meidum pyramid and few concrete proofs of his reign survive.[2](https://www.francescoraffaele.com/egypt/hesyra/dyn3-Huni.htm) The writing of the name Huni is found in the Turin Papyrus and the Saqqara king list, while it is absent from the Abydos king list.[2](https://www.francescoraffaele.com/egypt/hesyra/dyn3-Huni.htm)
## The other Meresankhs: Dynasty 4 namesakes
Meresankh I is distinguished from two far better-documented royal women of the Fourth Dynasty who bore the same name. The 1927 Giza excavation report distinguishes several royal women with related names at Giza, including [Hetepheres II](https://www.edgepedia.org/hetepheres-ii), Meresankh II, and Khamerernebti I, and identifies the tomb it published as belonging to Meresankh III, a great-granddaughter in the line of Hetepheres and Sneferu.[6](https://gizapyramids.org/static/pdf%20library/bmfa_pdfs/bmfa25_1927_63to79.pdf)
Meresankh III, the owner of the underground chapel G 7530-7540 at Giza, was a granddaughter of King Khufu and the wife of either Khafre or Menkaure.[3](https://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/126/full/) Her titles inscribed in the chapel include "king's daughter of his body" and "beloved king's wife", the kind of titulary a Fourth Dynasty royal woman bore; no comparable titulary survives for Meresankh I.[3](https://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/126/full/) Her black granite sarcophagus (Cairo JE 54935) was found in situ in the burial chamber, and a pair statue of Meresankh and Hetepheres II (MFA 30.1456) was found in the debris of the main room.[3](https://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/126/full/)
## References
1. [Meresankh I, The Ancient Egypt Site](https://ancient-egypt.org/who-is-who/m/meresankh-i.html)
2. [HUNI / NISWTH (Ny-Swteh) / Njswt Hwj / HW, Francesco Raffaele](https://www.francescoraffaele.com/egypt/hesyra/dyn3-Huni.htm)
3. [Digital Giza | Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 25, No. 151 (October 1927)](https://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/126/full/)
4. [Ancient Egypt, History and Chronology (Turin Canon transcription)](http://narmer.pl/listy/turyn_en.htm)
5. [Huni, the Last King of Egypt's Third Dynasty, Tour Egypt](https://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/huni.htm)
6. [Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 25 (1927), pp. 63–79, 'The Tomb of Meresankh'](https://gizapyramids.org/static/pdf%20library/bmfa_pdfs/bmfa25_1927_63to79.pdf)
7. [onlinelibrary.wiley.com](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15369)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Periods and civilizations › Ancient Near East, Egypt, Nubia, and the Punic world › Ancient Egypt › Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period › Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period: rulers and royal family*
*Initially written Sep 19, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Sep 19, 2026*
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