indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Meaning & History
From Egyptian mrt-sgr meaning "she who loves silence", derived from mrt "the beloved" (see mrj "to love") and sgr "silence, quiet". This was the name of a Theban cobra-goddess, guardian of the necropolis at Thebes and the Valley of Kings. She was said to watch over the workers there, punishing thieves and tomb desecrators with blindness and snake or scorpion bites, but healing those who repented. Meretseger was also the name of the wife of the Pharaoh Senusret III, and the first to bear the title Great Royal Wife, which went on to be the standard title for the chief wives of pharaohs. She was also the first queen consort to have her name written in a cartouche. She may have been a later invention of the New Kingdom.