| Intro | Pharaoh of Egypt | ||||||
| A.K.A. | Raneferef | ||||||
| Is |
Politician Statesperson |
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| From | Egypt | ||||||
| Type | Politics | ||||||
| Gender | male | ||||||
| Family |
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Neferefre Isi (also known as Raneferef and in Greek as Cherês, Χέρης) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the fourth or fifth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He was the eldest son of pharaoh Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II.
Family
Parents and siblings
Menkauhor Kaiu might have been a son of Neferefre and Khentkaus III
Neferefre was the eldest son of his predecessor pharaoh Neferirkare Kakai with queen Khentkaus II, as shown by a relief on limestone slab depicting Neferirkare and his wife Khentkaus with “the king’s eldest son Ranefer”, the future pharaoh Neferefre. Neferirkare and Khentkaus had at least another son, the future king Nyuserre Ini. In addition, since the relation between Shepseskare and Neferefre remains uncertain, it is possible that the two were brothers too, as suggested by the Egyptologist Silke Roth, although the hypothesis laid out by Miroslav Verner that Shepseskare was a son of Sahure and hence Neferefre’s uncle is now dominant. Finally, yet another brother, possibly younger than both Neferefre and Nyuserre has also been proposed: Iryenre, a prince Iry-pat whose filiation is suggested by the fact that his funerary cult was associated with that of his mother, both having taken place in the temple of Khentkaus II.
Consort and child
Until 2015, no consort of Neferefre was known. In January of this year however, the mastaba of Khentkaus III was discovered by archaeologists from the Czech Institute of Egyptology working in Abusir, south east of Neferefre’s pyramid. Inscriptions found in the tomb strongly suggest that Khentkaus III was Neferefre’s queen. Indeed, not only is her tomb located in close proximity to Neferefre’s own, but she also bore the title of “King’s wife”, proving that she was indeed a queen.
In addition, Khentkaus III was also called “King’s mother” by inscriptions in her tomb, indicating that her son had become pharaoh. Since Neferefre’s successors Shepseskare and Nyuserre Ini are known not to have been his sons, being rather an uncle and a brother respectively, and since Khentkaus III was likely buried during Nyuserre’s reign, as indicated by mud seals, this only leaves Nyuserre’s successor Menkauhor Kaiu as a possibility. This would also make him a son of Neferefre.
Reign
Accession to the throne
The circumstances surrounding the beginning of Neferefre’s reign have been ascertained via archaeological evidences. First of all, a limestone relief discovered in Abusir presents a crown prince, Neferirkare’s eldest son, as a certain Ranefer, a name compatible with the variants of Neferefre’s own. This indicates in all probability that Ranefer was Neferefre’s name before his accession to the throne. As the eldest son of the previous king, and being furthermore 18 to 20 years old at the death of his father, Neferefre was thus in optimal position to ascend the throne. These evidences strongly suggest that Shepseskare succeeded rather than preceded Neferefre to the throne and that the historical accounts of the Saqqara tablet and Manetho are flawed in this respect.
Reign duration
Schist statue of Neferefre wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt discovered in his pyramid complex at Abusir, Egyptian Museum
While Neferefre is given a reign of some twenty years in Manetho’s Epitome, this number is a substantial overestimation of his true reign length; the current academic view is that he enjoyed a very short rule based on the completely unfinished state of his intended pyramid. A visual examination of the partly damaged data for Neferefre’s reign in the Turin King List shows only a single vertical stroke for this king (each vertical stroke signifies one year). This would give him a reign of about 1 or 2 years which agrees well with the archaeological evidence. The Czech Egyptologist, Miroslav Verner, who has been excavating at Abusir since 1976, states in a 2001 journal article that:
“The shape of the tomb of Neferefra…as well as a number of other archaeological finds clearly indicate that the construction of the king’s funerary monument was interrupted, owing to the unexpected early death of the king. The plan of the unfinished building had to be basically changed and a decision was taken to hastily convert the unfinished pyramid, (of which only the incomplete lowest step of the core was built), into a “square-shaped mastaba” or, more precisely, a stylized primeval hill. At the moment of the king’s death neither the burial apartment was built, nor was the foundation of the mortuary temple laid.”
Verner concludes that based on the position of a mason’s inscribed Year 1 date from Neferefre’s reign which was found “on a large corner block situated at the end of the tunnel for the [pyramid’s] descending corridor…at about two thirds of the height of the extant core of the monument”, Neferefre reign lasted “not longer than about two years.”
The only known date from his reign is the aforementioned mason’s inscription from his first Year in the foundation of his pyramid tomb. Little else is known about Neferefre. While the name of Neferefre’s undiscovered sun temple is known to be Hetep-Re, no such structure has yet been discovered owing perhaps to the short length of his reign.
A significant cache of administrative papyri–comparable in size to the Abusir Papyri found in the temple of Neferirkare–was discovered at Abusir by a 1982 University of Prague Egyptological Institute excavation from a storeroom of his mortuary temple.
Pyramid complex
Ruins of the unfinished pyramid of Neferefre in Abusir
Neferefre started the construction of a pyramid for himself in the royal necropolis of Abusir, where his father and grandfather had built their own pyramids. It was known to the Ancient Egyptians as Netjeribau Raneferef meaning “The bas of Neferefre are divine”.
Planed with a square base of 108 m (354 ft), the pyramid of Neferefre was to be larger than those of Userkaf and Sahure, but smaller than that of his father Neferirkare. Because of his unexpected death however, his successor hastily completed work on Neferefre’s pyramid at Abusir, which acquired the form of a mastaba. Although it may share the same resemblance to a mastaba tomb, it is not situated north-south, and it is not rectangular in shape, but square on all sides. Known as the “Unfinished Pyramid”, it stands just seven meters high, but from the constructed portions, the walls slope at a 64° angle. Similarly to other sites of other Ancient Egyptian pyramids, the burial site of Neferefre contains more than one pyramid, and his lines up the three pyramids, similarly to the Great Pyramids. Artifacts found at the site show that the name of his pyramid was called “Divine is Neferefre’s Power.” All the other buildings of Neferefre’s mortuary complex were erected under the reign of his brother, Nyuserre Ini. While exploring ruins of the mortuary complex, a Czech archaeological expedition discovered papyri of temple accounts, statues of the king, decorated plates and many seal prints.
Mummy of Neferefre
Fragments of mummy wrappings and cartonnage, a piece of skin and five bones were discovered on the east side of the burial chamber of the pyramid. These fragments were located in the same archaeological layer as broken pieces from a red granite sarcophagus as well as what remained of the funerary equipment of the king, hinting that they could indeed belong to Neferefre. This was further confirmed by subsequent studies of the embalming techniques used on the mummy, found to be compatible with an Old Kingdom date, and finally by radiocarbon dating, which yielded a 2628–2393 BCE interval for the human remains in close correspondance with estimated dates for the Fifth Dynasty. Thus, Neferefre is, with Djedkare Isesi, one of the very few Old Kingdom pharaohs whose mummy has been identified with certainty.
A bioarchaeological analysis of Neferefre’s remains revealed that the king did not partake in strenuous works, died in his early twenties at between 20 and 23 years old and that he may have stood 167 cm (66 in) to 169 cm (67 in) in height.
The remains of a second individual were discovered in the burial chamber, but those proved to belong an individual from the late Medieval era, who likely lived during the 14th century CE. He had simply been laid on rags and covered with sand for his burial.
Notes, references and sources
Notes
References
Sources
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| Preceded by Neferirkare Kakai |
Pharaoh of Egypt Fifth dynasty |
Succeeded by Shepseskare |