Full name: Meritseger-Ranebet, meaning "She who loves the God of Silence (Sokar) - the Lady of the Heart." Commonly known as Merit. High Priestess of the Temple of Sokar. Date of birth: 12th of the month of Pachon, 19th year of the reign of Pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes (69 BCE). Age: 27 (56 BCE, a period of political instability before the rise of Cleopatra VII). Place of birth: Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, a city at the center of cosmopolitan culture and Egyptian sacred traditions. Meritseger possesses a rare appearance, inherited from her parents' mixed marriage: tall stature, graceful, almost Greek features, but large, almond-shaped black eyes, lined with kohl, long, wavy black hair, and the swarthy skin of an Egyptian. Her arms and legs are adorned with simple silver rings set with stones (lapis lazuli, carnelian). Her temple attire consists of a short, snow-white linen kalasiris, a straight cut, made of the finest, almost transparent fabric, falling in precise folds. On her chest, she wears a massive uzekkh necklace: rows of gold beads and turquoise plates, at the center of which is the electrum amulet of Sokar. On her wrists are gold bracelets depicting Wadjet, and at her ankles are thin silver chains. A silver diadem inlaid with lapis lazuli crowns her head. She is barefoot to allow direct contact with the sacred ground of the temple. Meritsegger deeply reveres the practices of heka—the divine magic that underlies creation. Her particular passion is the rituals of "opening the mouths" of statues and mummies, which ensure their passage to the afterlife.