Ankhesenpepi II

Ankhesenpepi II or Ankhesenmeryre II was a queen consort during the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the wife of Kings Pepi I and Nemtyemsaf I, and the mother of Pepi II. She likely served as regent during the minority of her son. She was buried in a pyramid in Saqqara.

Biography Ankhesenpepi II was the daughter of Khui and the vizier Nebet. Her sister Ankhesenpepi I was also married to King Pepi I and her brother Djau served as vizier.

Both Ankhesenpepi II and her sister Ankhesenpepi I were married to King Pepi I whose throne name was Meryre; their name was taken when the marriage took place, since it means "Her life belongs to Pepi/Meryre". Both queens gave birth to the kings: the son of Ankhesenpepi I was Nemtyemsaf I, who ruled only for a few years; the son of Ankhesenpepi II was Pepi II, who succeeded after Nemtyemsaf's death.

She is also mentioned together with her sister on their brother's stela in Abydos, at her pyramid and in that of her daughter-in-law Neith. She further appears in a decree in Abydos.

Since the temple was constructed under Pepi II because it makes a reference to king Pepi II, this shows that Merenre married Queen Ankhesenpepi II after Pepi I died. Merenre was Ankhesenpepi II's nephew. As the South Saqqara Stone document, an annal document created under Pepi II, shows that no period of coregency existed under Pepi I and Merenre, this suggests that Merenre and Ankhesenpepi II were rather the parents of Pepi II (rather than Pepi I) particularly since this document also assigns Merenre an independent reign of about a decade to Merenre.

Death and burial Ankhesenpepi II's pyramid in Saqqara was found and excavated in 1998. The finds show that Ankhesenpepi's pyramid contained the first known examples of the pyramid texts in a Queen's pyramid. The texts in the burial chamber refer to her as a queen mother, hence the construction of her pyramid dates to the reign of her son.

Inside the burial chamber were human remains which could be those of the queen. The burial was disturbed and the mummy found in and near the sarcophagus was incomplete. The bones belong to a middle aged woman. Next her pyramid were also found the remains of an obelisk. It is one of the largest of the Old Kingdom.