Author Description

Queen Ankhesenpepy II was the wife of Pepy I, of Merenre I, and then regent as mother of the young Pepy II, the fifth pharaoh of the 6th Dynasty (ca. 2270-2200 BC). Her funerary complex was located in 1998 by the Mission archeologique francaise de Saqqara, which has now become the Mission archeologique franco-suisse de Saqqara (MafS). This monumental complex includes the first queen's pyramid to be equipped with Pyramid Texts in its substructure, a privilege linked to the exceptional status of Ankhesenpepy II, queen and regent. The present edition provides facsimiles of the four reassembled inscribed walls, reconstructed from the 1 617 fragments discovered during the excavation, as well as the fragments that were not replaced. The preserved text is reproduced in black, and the restored text in red. After a general presentation of Ankhesenpepy II, a great figure in Egyptian history, the text inscription programme and the problem of the destruction of the walls, an analysis of the composition of the walls - 937 columns of text and at least 421 spells - is provided, as well as a translation of the "new" spells (TP 1201-1210) and of those attested in other pyramids but providing new elements.