caption father dynasty alt_name predecessor successor children burial horus_prefix coregency spouse image article_title name reign
tomb ab . stela of merneith from the umm el-qa ` djer 1st dynasty meritnit , meryet-nit , meryt-neith djet den den tomb y , umm el-qa ` ab g5 -- > den djet merneith stele.jpg merneith
 merneith ca. 2970 bc
merneith

merneith -lrb- meritnit , meryet-nit or meryt-neith -rrb- was a consort and a regent of ancient egypt during the first dynasty .
she may have been a ruler of egypt in her own right , based on several official records -- if this was the case , she would be the first female pharaoh and the earliest queen regnant in recorded history .
her rule occurred the thirtieth century b.c. , for an undetermined period .
merneith 's name means `` beloved by neith '' and her stela contains symbols of that deity .
she may have been djer 's daughter , and was probably djet 's senior royal wife .
she was the mother of den , her successor .
