Teti

Teti was an ancient Egyptian King (Pharaoh) of the 6th dynasty (Old Kingdom) and reigned from 2318 to 2300 BC

Origin and family

King Teti, the founder of the 6th Dynasty and the second ruler with this name originally came not from a royal home. He came to power by marrying Iput I., a daughter of Pharaoh Unas, the last ruler of the 5th Dynasty. His father was probably Schepsipuptah, his mother Seschseschet; probably he had a brother named Mehu. Besides Iput Teti had at least two other women: Chuit and a woman, whose name has been handed down only incomplete and perhaps Chentkaus III. was.

From the marriage with Iput I. the later Pharaoh Pepi I. emerged. Teti also had three daughters whose mothers are, however, unknown: Sescheschet Watetchethor, Inti and Nebtinubchet Sescheschet.

His Horus name " The pacified the two countries" suggests that he again achieved a consolidation of the empire.

Rule

The highest occupied government date of this Pharaoh is the year of the sixth count, but according to Manetho he reigned but 30 years. This could well be possible, since the number of viziers who served under Teti, is considerable: Kagemni, Mereruka, Chnumneti, Nefersechemre, Nefersechemptah, Ankhmahor, Chentikai.

Death

According to Manetho, Teti was assassinated by his bodyguards in a conspiracy. This could be the reason that his successor for a short period of otherwise unknown Userkare was. Teti's son and legitimate successor of Pepi I came only afterwards on the throne.

Construction

The Teti Pyramid

The Pyramid of Teti at Saqqara measured 78.8 m × 78.8 m and was 52 m high. Today, it is quite dilapidated, just like the three satellite pyramids for the queens. In one of these was found the mummy of Queen Iput I. in a wooden coffin. The lined with limestone and granite interior walls of the pyramid of Teti Pyramid Texts contain.

Further evidence

In Heliopolis a broken obelisk of Teti was found recently.

Statuary

The only known about plastic image of Teti is a standing figure, which was found by James Edward Quibell during the excavation season 1906/ 07 at Saqqara just east of Teti Pyramid in the fill of a grave shaft Eighth. It is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo ( JE 39103 Inv ). The statue is made of red granite and has a preserved height of 74 cm. The legs below the knees have not survived. The statue has a back pillar, showing the king in border posture with forward set, left leg. He has his arms tightly attached to the body and hands clenched into fists. The king wears a towel on his head and the white crown of Upper Egypt. The eyelids and eyebrows are drawn up plastic. A beard does not seem to have been present. An inscription, which would assign the statue clearly Teti is not obtained. Quibell saw in it so any portrait of Merikare from the First Intermediate Period. The write-up of Teti was carried out by William Stevenson Smith basis of two criteria: first, the Auffindungsort, which is very close to the Teti Pyramid. On the other hand the quality of work he appeared significantly higher than in comparable statues of the First Intermediate Period.

Teti in memory of Ancient Egypt

The eponymous General Sasenet - - the spirit of the late King Teti in the necropolis of Memphis in the produced in the Middle or New Kingdom, and only partly preserved history of Neferkare and Sasenet one of the main characters appear. This section of the story, however, is only very fragmentary and the exact process of this encounter, therefore, can not be reconstructed.

Well at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty was the medical Papyrus Ebers. This includes in section 468 ( column 66, lines 15-18) a recipe for a hair restorer, whose invention Teti's mother Seschseschet (here called Sesch ) attributed.

Later in the 18th dynasty was the reign of Thutmosis III. the so-called King List of Karnak mounted in Karnak temple, in which the name of Pepi I. is called. Unlike other ancient Egyptian king lists, these are not a complete list of all rulers, but a selection list that lists only those kings, for during the reign of Thutmose III. Sacrifices were offered.