The Children of Adam and Eve

Kekheretnebti was a Princess of Egypt, who lived during the Fifth Dynasty. Her father was Pharaoh Djedkare Isesi.

She was buried in a mastaba in the royal necropolis at Abusir, south-east of the mortuary Temple of Niuserre. Her skeletal remains show that she was a slender woman of 30-35 years when she died. Originally the mastaba beLonged only toKekheretnebti but later on the tomb was reconstructed and enlarged on the northern side to include a second burial, that of Kekheretnebti's daughter Tisethor, who had barely reached the age of puberty.

Kekheretnebti was a full sister of princess Hedjetnebu who was buried in a tomb nearby. The examination of the skeletal remains show that the sisters sHowed some similarities and were both clearly related to Djedkare Isesi. Archaeologicalevidence shows that Kekheretnebti's tomb was constructed first, soon followed by the construction of the tomb of her sister Hedjetnebu. A scribe to the royal children named Idu had a tomB.C.onstructed a short time after the tomB.C.onstruction forthe princesses.

The burial mastaba of Kekheretnebti is nineteen meters Long and fifteen meters wide and built of limeStone and brick. It has a single entry on its eastern side which gives access to a suite of rooms arranged in a row. Despite having been lootedby tomb Robbers in ancient times, upon excavation the mastaba was found to be relatively well preserved and in places still had roofing blocks in position. The tomB.C.onsisted of an antechamber, two offering rooms and a serdab which contained thefunerary statue of the princess. The hastily executed decoration of the offering room, roughly cut false door stelae and inferior wall paintings, including an unfinished painting of Kekheretnebti (sitting in a chair and watching wild animals),leads to the assumption that the death of Kekheretnebti was unexpected.