Nofret was a noblewoman and princess who lived in 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...

 during the 4th dynasty of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

.

Biography

Nofret's parents are not known. Nofret married Prince Rahotep

Prince Rahotep

Prince Rahotep was a Prince in Ancient Egypt during the 4th dynasty. He was probably a son of pharaoh Sneferu and his first wife, although Zahi Hawass suggests his father was Huni.-Biography:...

, who was a son of Pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...

 Sneferu

Sneferu

Sneferu, also spelled as Snephru, Snefru or Snofru , was the founder of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. Estimates of his reign vary, with for instance The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt suggesting a reign from around 2613 BC to 2589 BC, a reign of 24 years, while Rolf Krauss suggests a 30-year reign...

. She had three daughters and three sons with Rahotep.

Nofret was buried with her husband in mastaba

Mastaba

A mastaba, or "pr-djt" , is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's ancient period...

 16 at Meidum

Meidum

Located about 100 km south of modern Cairo, Meidum or Maidum is the location of a large pyramid, and several large mud-brick mastabas.-Pyramid:...

. In 1871, beautiful statues of Rahotep and Nofret were found. Nofret is depicted with a black wig and very fair face. Her titles in hieroglyphs on the back of her chair name her as "King's Acquaintance". The statues are now in the Cairo Museum.

Children

Children of Nofret and Rahotep were:

• Prince Djedi
• Prince Itu
• Prince Neferkau
• Princess Mereret
• Princess Nedjemib
• Princess Sethtet

The 2 statues, Nofret and Rahotep

The pair of statues, for Nofret and Rahotep, have the standard difference of skin color of that time: males are dark because they spend their time in activities in the sun; women always have a fairer skin color, their domain being in the house.

Another major difference in the two statues are the vertical hieroglyph statements. Prince Rahotep has six columns of text, naming his titles and duties, with columns three and six, each ending with his name, Ra-Hotep. Nofret has identical texts, one column both right and left. Her name appears at the bottom, with the determinative

Determinative

A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they may derive historically from glyphs for real words, and...

 for 'women'. Her complete name is "Nsw-r(kh)-t, Nfr-t". The last, nfr-t means "beautiful woman" (the t being the bread bun

Bread bun (hieroglyph)

The Ancient Egyptian Bread bun hieroglyph is Gardiner sign listed no. X1 for the side view of a bread bun. It is also the simple shape of a semicircle....

for feminine); nsw-r(kh)-t, means "king(kingdom's)-wise-woman". Her name stated twice is: "The wise and beautiful woman".