Khenthap was a queen consort

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 of ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

. She is said to have lived during the 1st dynasty

First dynasty of Egypt

The first dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the Dynasty II under the group title, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt...

. Her historical figure is very obscure, since there are no contemporare sources for her name. She appears only once in a much later inscription.

Evidence

Egyptologists and historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

s discuss the historical figure of Khenthap. The archaeologically

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 recorded seal impressions from first dynasty tombs at Abydos

Abydos, Egypt

Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...

 never mention her. She appears only in a inscription on the Palermo stone

Palermo stone

The Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stele known as the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. It contains records of the kings of Egypt from the first dynasty through the fifth dynasty....

, a stela made of black schist

Schist

The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...

 that lists the kings from Narmer

Narmer

Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period . He is thought to be the successor to the Protodynastic pharaohs Scorpion and/or Ka, and he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and therefore the first pharaoh of unified Egypt.The...

 (1st dynasty) up to king Neferirkare

Neferirkare

*For the better known Fifth dynasty pharaoh by this name, see Neferirkare KakaiNeferirkare was an Eighth dynasty king of Ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. His name is only clearly attested in the Abydos King List but it is assumed that the reign length figure for the last 8th...

 (6th dynasty

Sixth dynasty of Egypt

The sixth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and V under the group title the Old Kingdom.-Pharaohs:...

). Additionally the stone lists the mother of each king. The inscription spells out Khenthap's name, but doesn't record any of her titles.

About the person

The inscription on the Cairo fragment describes Khenthap as the mother of king Djer

Djer

Djer was the second or third pharaoh of the first dynasty of Egypt, which dates from approximately 3100 BC. Some scholars, however, debate whether the first pharaoh, Menes or Narmer, and Hor-Aha might have been different rulers. If they were separate rulers, this would make Djer the third pharaoh...

. Joyce Tyldesley thinks Khenthap was a wife of king Hor-Aha

Hor-Aha

Hor-Aha is considered the second pharaoh of the first dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the thirty-first century BC.- Name :...

 and that her grandson was king Djet

Djet

Djet, also known as Wadj, Zet, and Uadji , was the fourth Egyptian pharaoh of the first dynasty...

, for Djet is thought to be the son of king Djer

Djer

Djer was the second or third pharaoh of the first dynasty of Egypt, which dates from approximately 3100 BC. Some scholars, however, debate whether the first pharaoh, Menes or Narmer, and Hor-Aha might have been different rulers. If they were separate rulers, this would make Djer the third pharaoh...

 (Aha's son). Silke Roth instead thinks that Khenthap was a wife of king Teti I, a king mentioned in the Saqqara Tablet

Saqqara Tablet

The Saqqara Tablet in the Egyptian Museum contains one of several lists of Egyptian pharaohs surviving from the Ramesside Period. It was found in 1861 in the Saqqara tomb of Tjenry , an official of Ramesses II.The inscription lists 58 kings from Anedjib and Qa'a to Ramesses II...

 and in the Royal Canon of Turin

Turin King List

The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is a hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio at Turin...

. In the latter, he is described as a ruler who held the Egyptian throne for only 1 year and 45 days.

Khenthap's name means ‘musician of (god) Hapi

APIS

APIS may refer to:*Advance Passenger Information System*Armour Piercing Incendiary Shells...

’, which may point to a religious and cultic role for this lady during her lifetime, since her name is connected to a god and links to the king's title ‘bull of his mother’.