Ashayet or Ashait was an ancient Kemetic queen consort, and wife of Mentuhotep II in the 11th Dynasty. She shared a tomb with four other women in their twenties, Henhenet, Kawit, Kemsit, Sadeh and Mayet which were her sister wives. The shrine's and burials were found in Mentuhotep II's Deir el-Bahari temple complex.
The nine shrines were built in the First Intermediate Period, prior to Mentuhotep II's reunification of Kemet (Egypt). She and three other women of the six bore queenly titles, and most of them were Priestesses of Het-Heru (Hathor). The location of their burial is significant to their titles as Priestesses of Het-Heru as the cliffs of Deir el-Bahri were sacred from the Old Kingdom onwards.
Title: Painting on the inner front side of the sarcophagus of Queen Ashayet
Accession Number 48.105.32 Collection The Met Museum
Reign: Dynasty 11, Reign of Mentuhotep II
Date: 2051–2030 BC
DESCRIPTION
Object name/Title Facsimile, Aashyt, sarcophagus
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Dimensions H. 36.3 × W. 109.5 cm (14 5/16 × 43 1/8 in.); Framed: H. 38.1 × W. 111.5 cm (15 × 43 7/8 in.); Scale. 1:2
Medium Tempera on paper
PLACES AND DATES
Place of Discovery Thebes West, Deir el-Bahari, Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep II
Period Middle Kingdom - 11th Dynasty
