A Homoerotic Plot in Ancient Egyptian Literature: Pharaoh Pepi II Neferkare and General Sasenet
And their secret nighttime meetings.
- 14 min
Ancient Egyptian literature rarely portrayed pharaohs as central characters; in this respect, Pepi II is an exception. Particularly notable is the homoerotic Tale of King Neferkare and General Sasenet: for its period, narratives of this kind are seldom preserved in written sources.
To begin, it is useful to clarify who the main figure is.
Who Was Pepi II
Pharaoh Pepi II Neferkare, also known as Pepi, came to the throne during the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. His throne name was Neferkare, meaning “Beautiful Is the Ka of Ra” (the ka is a person’s vital spirit or life-force in ancient Egyptian belief).
He began to rule in the 2180s BCE — several centuries after the Great Pyramid of Khufu was built. He is thought to have ascended the throne at about six years of age; during the early years of his reign, his mother likely played a decisive role.
In foreign policy, he largely maintained the approach of his predecessors. In the Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian expeditions continued to extract valuable resources, while trade with Nubia in the south kept developing.
During Pepi II’s reign, the Old Kingdom weakened noticeably. Authority gradually shifted toward local elites: the nomarchs (provincial governors) gained influence, entered into conflicts with one another, and the central administration increasingly lost control over the regions. Soon after the pharaoh’s death, Egypt fragmented, and the First Intermediate Period began.
The length of his reign remains disputed. The priest Manetho, writing in the 3rd century BCE, claimed that the king ruled for 94 years, which would be exceptional. However, only 62 years are reliably attested.
Relatively few material traces of Pepi II have survived. Three statues are known: one in the Brooklyn Museum — seated on his mother’s knees; one in Cairo — depicted as a naked child; and one in the Metropolitan Museum — preserved only as a head. His funerary complex included a pyramid (now in ruins) and a temple, but on a smaller scale than the monuments of his predecessors.
Pepi II is the central figure of the ancient Egyptian Tale of King Neferkare and General Sasenet (also known as The Petitioner from Memphis), in which their homosexual relationship becomes the primary theme.
The Tale’s Plot: Key Episodes
The story opens by introducing Pharaoh Neferkare — ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt, son of the god Ra, and described as “true of voice” (a traditional Egyptian epithet meaning the person is “justified” or “vindicated,” often used for the dead, but sometimes also as a title of moral legitimacy). The source presents him as a kind and well-disposed king.
Before the main plot unfolds, the text includes an episode about a certain “petitioner from Memphis.” He attempted to address the court, but palace musicians drowned out his voice. Both the pharaoh and General Sasenet appear in this scene, which suggests that the petitioner was deliberately prevented from speaking.
One may suppose that the petitioner’s speech contained a protest against the ruler’s relationship, which had already become the subject of rumors. If so, the episode may reflect public reaction and introduce a moral dimension to the narrative. In the end, the petitioner, unable to hold back his tears, left Memphis.
The subsequent narrative concentrates on the pharaoh and Sasenet. When the general first appears, the text notes that he “had no wife” (jw-nn-wn-st-hmt m […]). The phrase may be restored as “there was no wife [with him]” (m[-=f]) or “there was no wife [in his household]” (m-[pr=f]). For an Egyptian, this situation was unusual: without a wife and an heir, there would be no one to maintain his posthumous cult (the offerings and rites believed to sustain a person after death).
Sasenet’s high status and lack of a spouse may suggest that his portrayal is connected with attraction to his own sex. At the same time, it remains unclear what is primary — his unmarried state or his sexual preferences.
Notably, the text does not mention Neferkare’s own marital status, although he is known to have had several wives.
A new character then enters the story — Tjeti (also spelled Cheti), son of Henet. He is a commoner, yet he receives a rare opportunity to see the pharaoh:
“Then he, Tjeti, noticed His Majesty, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Nefer-ka-Ra, who had gone out alone for a walk, with no one at all with him. Tjeti withdrew before the king, not letting him see him. Tjeti, son of Henet, stopped and thought: ‘If this is so, then the rumors that he goes out at night are true.’ Then Tjeti, son of Henet, followed this god [the pharaoh], not letting his heart reproach him, in order to observe his (that is, the king’s) every deed.
Then he [the pharaoh] reached the house of the general Sasenet. He threw a brick, stamping with his foot. Then a ladder was lowered to him, and he climbed up. Meanwhile, Tjeti, son of Henet, waited until His Majesty came out. After His Majesty had done what he wished to do with him (that is, with the general), he went to his palace, with Tjeti behind him. Only after His Majesty reached the Great House [the palace] — may he live, be healthy, and be prosperous — did Tjeti go home.”
— The Tale of Tjeti, Son of Henet (Middle Kingdom): the episode of the pharaoh’s nighttime meeting with Sasenet
Particular attention should be paid to the word “desire” (mrwt) used in the text. It most likely indicates the nature of the relationship between the king and Sasenet. In this context, the term carries a clearly sexual sense, and the active role is attributed to the pharaoh. The sexual act is conveyed indirectly, without explicit language — a feature that distinguishes this text from a number of other works from the same period.
The formula “to do what one wants with someone” in the ancient Egyptian language had an explicitly sexual meaning. Comparable expressions appear, for example, in texts describing the union of gods and queens in the “Birth Cycle” of the Eighteenth Dynasty. This passage may parody earlier works that have not survived, or it may allude to ritual love-unions that were traditionally described in a restrained manner.
The story then continues as follows:
“As for His Majesty’s walk to the house of the general Sasenet, it should be noted that four hours of the night had passed. Another four hours he spent in the house of the general Sasenet. And when he entered the Great House, four hours remained until dawn. From that time on, Tjeti, son of Henet, followed him every night, not allowing his heart to accuse him. And only after His Majesty had gone up into the Great House did Tjeti return home …”
— The Tale of Tjeti, Son of Henet (Middle Kingdom), a description of repeated nightly visits
In the ancient Egyptian conception, the night was divided into 12 hours. Tjeti, of course, had no instruments for measuring time precisely, but he could use the stars as a guide — that is, use the stars as a guide.
The ruler’s secret meetings were apparently perceived as a transgression of what was permitted. Their concealment, together with the circulation of rumors about the pharaoh’s nighttime outings, gave the episode the character of a scandal. The text suggests that the visits were regular, and interest in them was sufficiently strong that one of the courtiers decided to follow the king.
Like many other Egyptian works, the Tale of King Neferkare and General Sasenet has not survived in full: the ending of the text is lost.
Head of Pepi II
How Egyptologists Explain It: The Main Interpretations
The translator and historian Posener links Neferkare’s long reign to political decline and argues that the tale has a satirical character. In his view, the text ridicules the morals of the Old Kingdom on the eve of its collapse, although this remains a hypothesis.
Even if the manuscript does condemn the king’s relationship, this does not necessarily mean that Egyptians generally viewed homosexuality as blameworthy. The issue may instead have been the fact that the pharaoh — a sacred figure — entered into a relationship with an ordinary mortal. The king’s status was considered so exceptional that most subjects were likely not even permitted to touch him.
Posener also observes that, in different periods, homosexuality was often interpreted as a sign of decadence. At the same time, ancient texts that depict disorder in the country typically do not connect such relationships with broader social degradation. In this tale, the tone is relatively light, yet there is a hint of scandal — primarily because the pharaoh himself appears in the narrative.
Although the text conveys a degree of disapproval toward homosexual relationships, Neferkare is criticized not for his choice of partner, but for weakness as a ruler. Overall, his portrayal aligns with the literary type of the “bad” king in Egyptian tradition.
Many Egyptologists identify here a motif of “royal corruption.” At the same time, the researcher Greenberg emphasizes that the author avoids direct and harsh judgments. Still, the pharaoh’s effort to conceal the relationship suggests an ambiguous attitude toward such behavior: his attraction was apparently strong enough that he sought ways to meet in secret — until he was exposed.
The Dutch historian Jacobus van Dijk draws attention to the fact that Egyptian art and literature are saturated with symbols and allusions, primarily understood by the educated elite. He suggests that the tale of Neferkare and Sasenet contains precisely this kind of mythological reference.
Van Dijk gives separate attention to the figure of the pharaoh’s lover. In his view, the choice of a military commander may not have been incidental. This role implied not only proximity to the king, but also evoked the ritual humiliation of enemies. Read in this way, the episode acquires a parodic tone, destabilizing familiar ideas about power and submission.
The text may contain an additional parodic layer. The night is divided into three segments of four hours — the same duration that, in mythological tradition, is associated with the mystical union of the gods Ra and Osiris. In the myth, Ra travels through the underworld at night, and Osiris transmits to him the force required for rebirth at dawn. Their secret union lasts exactly four hours — the same amount of time that, in the tale, the pharaoh spends with the commander.
There are no explicit sexual motifs in this myth. Still, ancient texts state that the gods “embraced each other,” and that Ra, becoming one with Osiris, was called “Horus in the embrace of his father.” In the morning, the sun god is reborn, emerging from these embraces. The birth of the young Horus as the son of Osiris may also invite an interpretation as a “bond of a special kind,” even if not in a conventional sense.
This myth, which the Egyptians called “the great mystery,” expressed one of the central dimensions of their religion. Yet in the tale of Neferkare’s nighttime meetings with the general, it is effectively transformed into an object of ridicule. Like the sun god, the pharaoh rises at dawn in his palace, described as “the horizon where Ra dwells.” In this framing, he appears as an embodiment of the father-god.
The sexual subtext of the episode is apparently foregrounded deliberately. Posener compared it with Eighteenth Dynasty texts in which an almost identical formula describes Amun’s union with a queen and the subsequent birth of a divine king: “…after His Majesty had done with her everything he desired.”
According to Van Dijk, the story’s satirical dimension is fairly clear. Neferkare’s conduct is condemned as falling short of the ideal of maat — the cosmic order and justice — especially because he is a king. At the same time, the tale also appears to have been designed to entertain.
How the “Story of Neferkare” was received in Ancient Egypt is difficult to establish. Educated listeners likely grasped its double meaning: for some it may have been amusing, for others — shocking, or even blasphemous. In any case, the author ventured to parody one of the most important myths in Egyptian religion.
How We Know This Tale: Sources and Dating
The French Egyptologist Georges Posener brought this ancient Egyptian literary work — the Tale of King Neferkare and General Sasenet — into academic circulation.
The text survives in three fragmentary copies, dated to the period between 1295 and 656 BCE, that is, the late New Kingdom and the subsequent eras. At the same time, scholars generally assume that the tale itself was composed much earlier. Posener, on the basis of language, style, and references to historical figures, dated it to the end of the Middle Kingdom — long before the Nineteenth Dynasty.
Three sources have survived to the present day:
– a wooden writing tablet from the Eighteenth or Nineteenth Dynasty, kept at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures at the University of Chicago;
– an ostracon (a potsherd used for writing) from the Twentieth Dynasty, found at Deir el-Medina — a settlement of craftsmen who worked in the Valley of the Kings;
– the Papyrus Chassinat I (Louvre E 25351) from the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, preserved in the Louvre. It contains three pages, but the first is almost completely lost.
The tale belongs to an elite written tradition. It was copied and read for centuries, which kept the text present within Egypt’s literary culture.
Full Translation: Surviving Fragments
Fragment, OIC 13539
(Once it happened that His Majesty, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nefer)-ka-Ra, the Son of Ra, True of Voice, was a [gracious] king [throughout this entire land]. Now there was also a hereditary prince (and) /// of His Majesty, (one) ///, named Ity. [/// /// ///] love [///] General Sasenet, who had no wife [in his house].
[And so] General Sasenet [went out for a walk], to amuse himself. [///////] the Son of Ra, Tjeti, True of Voice…
Papyrus Chassinat I = P. Louvre E 25351
… General Sa[senet]. He was discussing [//////] with His Majesty, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nefer-ka-[Ra]. Then General Sasenet proceeded [/////] to the great [///]—the overseer of the king’s musicians (?), the chief steward of the estates, the chamberlain, [//////] the royal scribe, the bearer of the writing board of the royal scribe, the chief of the fields, [//////] the [courtiers (?)] of the re[sidence] and the [council members (?)] of Memphis—without going into [//////] Memphis.
Meanwhile, the [petitioner (?)] from Memphis reached the [overseer of the gate (?)]. He ///// with the singing of singers, with the music of musicians, with the rejoicing of the rejoicers, until the petitioner left Memphis because of their [///]. [They] stopped [//////]. When the petitioner went out from Memphis to speak with the overseer of the gate, he made (?) the singers sing, the musicians play, the rejoicers rejoice, the celebrants celebrate, until the petitioner left Memphis without being heard, when they stopped arguing with him. Weeping bitterly, the petitioner left Memphis; his hair was ///////////////
Then he (a certain Tjeti) noticed (?) His Majesty, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nefer-ka-Ra, who had gone out for a walk alone, without an escort. Tjeti drew back before the king, not letting him see him. Tjeti, son of Henet, stood still, thinking as follows: “If this is so, then the rumors about his nightly walks are true.”
Then Tjeti, son of Henet, followed this god, not allowing his heart to condemn him, in order to observe each of his (that is, the king’s) actions. Then he reached the house of General Sasenet. He threw a brick after stamping his foot. Then they let down a ladder to him, and he climbed up.
Meanwhile Tjeti, son of Henet, waited until His Majesty departed. After His Majesty had done what he wished to do with him (that is, with the general), he went to the palace, and Tjeti followed him. Only when His Majesty reached the Great House — life, prosperity, health — did Tjeti go home.
As for His Majesty’s walk to the house of General Sasenet, it should be noted that four hours of the night had passed. He spent another four hours in the house of General Sasenet. And when he entered the Great House, four hours remained until dawn.
From that moment on, Tjeti, son of Henet, followed him every night, not allowing his heart to condemn him. And only after His Majesty [the king] entered the [Great House, did Tjeti return home…]
🏺 This piece is part of the article series “LGBT History of Ancient Egypt”:
- Divine Homosexuality in the Ancient Egyptian Myth of Horus and Seth
- Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum: The First Same-Sex Couple in History
- A Homoerotic Plot in Ancient Egyptian Literature: Pharaoh Pepi II Neferkare and General Sasenet
- A Possible Scene of Same-Sex Intercourse from Ancient Egypt — The Love Ostracon
- A Queer Lexicon of Ancient Egypt
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References and Sources
- Dijk J. van. The Nocturnal Wanderings of King Neferkare, in Hommages Leclant 4, 387–393, 1994.
- Greenberg D. F. The Construction of Homosexuality, 2008.
- Parkinson R. B. ‘Homosexual’ Desire and Middle Kingdom Literature, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1995.
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- Ancient-Egypt