page_title: Hetepheres I
section_title: Grave treasures
hierarchical_section_title: Hetepheres I / Grave treasures
caption_attribution_description: Wooden bed with headrest from the funerary furniture of Queen Hetepheres, from the 4th dynasty, circa 2575-2528 B.C. Bed length is 177 cm (5ft 9in). Reconstruction of original on display in Cairo, this copy residing in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
context_page_description: Hetepheres I was a Queen of Egypt during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt.
context_section_description: Hetepheres' sarcophagus and funerary furniture were discovered in 1925 near the satellite pyramids of the Great Pyramid of Giza in shaft G 7000X of a pit tomb. Although the sarcophagus was sealed and the Canopic chest were intact, Hetepheres' mummy was missing. The chest, a large square box with four smaller square compartments inside, is one of the oldest examples known, so it has been suggested that Hetepheres may have been one of the first Egyptian royals to have her organs preserved. Of the four interior squares all contained organic matter but two of the squares also contained liquid. Ensuing test revealed the liquid to be a three percent solution of Egyptian natron in water, which was used in the mummification process.
  The contents of the tomb provide us with many details of the luxury and ways of life of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. The items found in the tomb are on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, with replicas of the main funerary furnishings in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.
  The funeral  furniture in G 7000X included the following items:
  Bed canopy — (inscribed), gold covered, presented by Snefru, in Cairo Museum Ent. 57711 (restored).
  Bed with inlaid footboard—  gold covered, in Cairo Museum Ent. 53261 (restored).
  Curtain box (inscribed) — gold covered, faience inlaid, presented by Snefru, with King seated on north end, and names and winged disk on south end, in Cairo Museum Ent. 72030 (restored).
  Armchair with papyrus — flower decoration, gold covered, in Cairo Museum Ent. 53263 (restored).
  Armchair  — with inlays of Neith-standards on both faces of back, with hawk standing on palm column on arms (wood perished), gold covered, in Cairo Museum (recreated 2016).
  Gold fragments — with deceased seated smelling lotus, probably from lid of small box, in Cairo Museum.
  Palanquins (inscribed on back) — gold covered, in Cairo Museum Ent. 52372 (restored).
  Remains of tubular leather case  — containing two long staves covered with gold ribbed casing and wooden stick with inlaid Min-emblem decoration, in Cairo Museum. (89619 a and b).
  Chest — with inlaid lid with text and Min-emblem decoration, gold covered, in Cairo Museum. The chest contained a box with eight alabaster ointment jars (inscribed) in stand, and copper toilet-spoon, a box (inscribed), gold covered, containing silver bracelets with butterfly design, and a head-rest, wood, covered with gold and silver (uninscribed).
  Sarcophagus — alabaster.
  Canopic box — alabaster.
caption: Royal bed with headrest from the funerary furniture of Hetepheres. Bed length is 177 centimeters. Reconstruction of original on display in Cairo, this copy resides in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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