A mysterious and dramatic Dynasty 6 Queen named Nitocris appears in the works of early travel writers and historians of Egypt. According to the basic story recounted by Herodotus, she was married to King Merenre and assumed the throne when he was assassinated for blasphemy by the Priests of Osiris. He had defiled their temple in anger after the Nile swept away a new bridge. After years of carefully planning her revenge and ingratiating herself with her victims, Queen Nitocris invited the prime suspects in her husband’s murder to a grand banquet in an underground chamber. When the assembled culprits were properly sated with food and drink Queen Nitocris opened a sluice and the Nile flooded in to drown the drunken lot. In true Greek tragic fashion, she then incinerated herself in an oven to avoid any unpleasant repercussions.

It’s a story that hung around. Manetho repeats the story. In his version, Nitocris built the third pyramid and ruled for 12 years. Eratosthanes also wrote about Nitocris. He says her name means ‘Athena the Victorious’. He also says her reign lasted for 6 years.

The tale of Nitocris is a great, thumping tragedy in the Classic Greek style. Think of what a wonderful opera we’d have if Verdi had become interested in Nitocris. The story of Nitocris is almost pure legend but it’s intriguing. Was there a real woman ruler near the end of Dynasty 6 that we can connect to Nitocris? What do these stories tell us about a woman who had a position of power at the end of the Old Kingdom?

They don’t tell us very much. The worthy writers I’ve mentioned and their informants lived over 2000 years after the Lady in question. Skithery ‘facts’ change but some things don’t. Travelers love to relate colorful tales. Local people know that visitors will pay good tips to hear them. (Remember the stories about vomitoria in Pompeii?) Unhappily, the story of Nitocris is about as historically verifiable as many of the legends about King Arthur. Still, legends often hold a kernel of truth. We do have some hints about Nitocris.

The Royal Papyrus of Turin lists a Dynasty 6 ruler named Nitiqret. That’s pretty close to ‘Nitocris’. The name means ‘Neith is excellent’. The Greeks equated Neith with Athena and ‘Neith is excellent’ is pretty close to ‘Athena is victorious’.

Some sources mention that 2 pharaohs ruled after Pepi II, Merenre II and Queen Nitocris, but there is no archaeological evidence for either of them. We therefore assume that the sixth dynasty ended with the death of Pepi II in c.2184.

Acording to Herodotus, queen Nitocris of the 6th dinasty was nicknamed "The Beautiful One With Rosey Cheeks". Arab legends say that her ghost still wonders around the pyramids of Gizeh and that any man that sees it goes insane with love for her.

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Resource Materials:

Newberry, Percy. “Queen Nitocris of the Sixth Dynasty”. IN: JOURNAL OF EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY. V.29 (1943) p.51-54.

Additional information came from:

Lehner, Mark. THE COMPLETE PYRAMIDS London: Thames & Hudson, 1997. P.163.

Rice, Michael. “Neith”. IN: WHO’S WHO IN ANCIENT EGYPT. London: Routledge, 1999.

Smith, William Stevenson. “The Old Kingdom in Egypt and the Beginning of the First Intermediate Period.” IN: THE CAMBRIDGE ANCIENT HISTORY V.1, part 2 (1971) p.196-197.