Nitocris

Nitocris (Greek: Νίτωκρις) has been claimed to have been the last pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty. Her name is found in the Histories of Herodotus and writings of Manetho, but her historicity is questionable. She might have been an interregnum queen. If she is in fact a historical person, then she may be the sister of Merenre Nemtyemsaf II and the daughter of Pepi II and Queen Neith.

Ancient records

According to Herodotus (Histories ii-100), she invited the murderers of her brother, the "king of Egypt", to a banquet, then killed them by flooding the sealed room with the Nile.

Then, to avoid the other conspirators, she committed suicide (possibly by running into a burning room). Manetho claims she built the "third pyramid" at Giza, which is attributed by modern historians and archaeologists to pharaoh Menkaure of the Fourth dynasty. Manetho was most likely confused by the similarity of the names Menkara (the prenomen or "throne name" of Nitocris) and Menkaure. Herodotus also has a Babylonian queen of the same name and talks of her constructions in Babylon, mainly connected with diverting the Euphrates. His story about her tomb and the inscription on it which fooled Darius into opening it, only to have another inscription on the inside that chastised the opener for being so greedy is an early example of a familiar cultural meme.

Nitocris (disambiguation)

Nitocris ordinarily refers to a supposed queen of the Egyptian 6th Dynasty, see Nitocris.

The name may also denote:

Nitocris (band)

Nitocris were an Australian punk and heavy metal band formed in 1992. They were one of the country's first all-female punk rockers of the "grot grrrls" movement (related to the United States riot grrrls). They released their debut album, Screaming Dolorous on Phantom Records in 1994. Their second album, Nitocris, followed in 2000 and they disbanded in November 2001. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2001, Nitocris were nominated for 'Best Independent Release' for "Manic".

History

Nitocris were formed in Sydney in 1992 by Sara Louise Anderson (aka Sara Graye) on bass guitar, Jessamine Jean Finlayson on lead guitar, Andrea Marie Stanway on drums and Kira Taylor on rhythm guitar. The four were classmates at Hunters Hill High School and had an average age of 14. At the time none could play their instruments. The band's name was chosen by Stanway from the semi-legendary female Pharaoh of the same name, which was popularised in fiction by H. P. Lovecraft, as "queen of the underworld". Almost two years later, a newspaper advertisement in Drum Media recruited Morgana Ancone as a vocalist, who was the only member over the age of 18. As four members were under legal age, when Nitocris performed live across Sydney pubs they were sometimes accompanied by their mothers. Ancone's costume included a "designed red tartan bodice and black tutu". The group appeared on-stage alongside Armoured Angel, Frenzal Rhomb and Blitz Babies. Nitocris were influenced by punk rock and heavy metal artists including Black Sabbath, The Clash, Guns N' Roses, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, L7, Slayer and Patti Smith.