Introduction
Reddjedet is the wife of the priest Rauser in the Papyrus Westcar, chosen by the sun god Ra to bear three sons destined to become kings of Egypt.
Family
- Spouse: Rauser (married)
- Children: Userkaf (as told in the Westcar tale), Sahure (as told in the Westcar tale), Neferirkare (as told in the Westcar tale)
A Divinely Assisted Labor
When Reddjedet's labor proves difficult, the god Ra sends the goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, and Heqet, disguised as traveling musicians and a midwife, to assist her; each of the three children is born in turn with visible signs of future kingship, and the goddesses name each child before departing. The tale identifies the three sons as, in real dynastic terms, the historical first three kings of Egypt's 5th Dynasty — Userkaf, Sahure, and Neferirkare — recorded here as their literary, divinely-fathered incarnations rather than the historical figures directly.
This article records a specific literary or theological role — a king-list entry, a court tale, or a royal legitimation narrative — rather than the deity's or ruler's fuller religious identity, which (where applicable) is covered in the separate Egyptian Pantheon project.