Khereduankh

Khereduankh
Genealogy
Parents	Banebdjedet
Children	Imhotep, Renpetneferet (sometimes)

Khereduankh (also spelled Kheredu-ankh) is a goddess who is credited as being the mother of Imhotep in Late Period and Ptolemaic Period Ancient Egyptian texts. ^[1] There are no texts from the Old Kingdom that mention any woman named Khereduankh so it is likely she was fictional.

Mythology

Reproduction of a relief of Imhotep, Khereduankh and Renpetneferet in the chapel of Deir el-Bahari.

As Imhotep, along with Amenhotep, son of Hapu, was assimilated to Thoth during the Late Period, his mother was also given divine status along with Renpetneferet, who was either Imhotep's sister or wife. ^{[2] [3]} This is not an entirely unique event in Egyptian history. As Amenhotep son of Hapu's mother was also deified though his sister/wife was not. ^[4] Khereduankh was also said to be the daughter of Banebdjedet. ^[5] A demotic papyrus from the temple of Tebtunis, dating to the 2nd century AD, preserves a long story about Imhotep. Which mentions Khereduankh along with the rest of Imhotep's family. ^[6]

See also

• Imhotep
• Renpetneferet

References

1. Crabben, Jan. "Lady Kheredouankh".
2. Budde, Dagmar. Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen. Belgium, Peeters, 2002.
3. Allen, James Peter (2005). The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt. Yale University Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780300107289. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
4. A. von Leiden in The Divine Father: Religious and Philosophical Concepts of Divine Parenthood in Antiquity. Netherlands, Brill, 2014.
5. Warner, Marina; Fernández-Armesto, Felipe (2003). World of Myths. University of Texas Press. p. 296. ISBN   0-292-70204-3.
6. Kim Ryholt, 'The Life of Imhotep?', Actes du IXe Congrès International des Études Démotiques, edited by G. Widmer and D. Devauchelle, Bibliothèque d'étude 147, Le Caire, Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 2009, pp. 305–315.