Baka is the name of an ancient Egyptian prince. He is known for his destroyed statuette. He is also the subject of a theory that claims he was

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

for a very short time. Thus, he might be identical to a scarcely known king named

Bikheris Bikheris is the Hellenized name of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, who may have ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, 4th Dynasty (Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom period) around 2570 BC. Next to nothing is known about this ruler and some ...

Identity

Baka was a prince and son of pharaoh

Djedefre Djedefre (also known as Djedefra and Radjedef – Modern Greek: ) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He is well known by the Hellenized form of his name Rhatoisēs (Ῥατοίσης) by Manetho. ...

. He lived and worked during the 4th Dynasty. His family life is unknown, and the names of his wives and children are lost. Since the names of three other sons of Djedefre, namely Setka, Harnit and Nykau-Djedefre, are archaeologically attested, these should be Baka's brothers or half-brothers. The daughters of Djedefre,

Hetepheres III {{Use dmy dates, date=May 2012 Hetepheres is the name of several queens, princesses and noble women from the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. * Hetepheres I, wife of Pharaoh Sneferu and mother of Khufu * Hetepheres A, daughter of Sneferu, wife of Ankhhaf ...

and

Neferhetepes Neferhetepes (''nefer-hetep-es''; '' nfr-ḥtp- s,'' "Her Peace/Grace Is Beautiful") was an ancient Egyptian princess of the 4th Dynasty; a daughter of Pharaoh Djedefre who ruled between his father Khufu and his brother Khafre. Her mother was He ...

, would be Baka's sisters or half-sisters. His mother is unknown, too. She could be one of Djedefre's wives,

Khentetka Khentetka or Khentetenka (fl. 26th century BCE) was a Queen of Egypt; the wife of King Djedefre during the 4th Dynasty. Biography Khentetka's titles include ''King's Beloved Wife'' (''ḥm.t-nỉswt mrỉỉt=f''), ''She who sees Horus and Set ...

Hetepheres II Hetepheres II was a Queen of Ancient Egypt during the 4th Dynasty. Biography Birth and family Queen Hetepheres II may have been one of the longest-lived members of the royal family of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, which lasted from ca. 2723 ...

, but this is highly uncertain.Aidan Dodson: ''On the date of the unfinished pyramid of Zawyet el-Aryan''. In: ''Discussion in Egyptology'', vol. 3. University Press, Oxford (UK) 1985, p. 21–24.

Possible reign as pharaoh

According to

Rainer Stadelmann Dr. Rainer Stadelmann (24 October 1933 – 14 January 2019) was a German Egyptologist. He was considered an expert on the archaeology of the Giza Plateau. Biography After studying in Neuburg an der Donau in 1933, he studied Egyptology, orientali ...

and

George Reisner George Andrew Reisner Jr. (November 5, 1867 – June 6, 1942) was an American archaeologist of Ancient Egypt, Nubia and Palestine. Biography Reisner was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His parents were George Andrew Reisner I and Mary Elizabeth ...

, it is possible that Baka was pharaoh in Egypt for a very short time (maybe one or two years). Their assumption is based on the so-called

Unfinished Northern Pyramid of Zawyet el'Aryan The Unfinished Northern Pyramid of Zawyet El Aryan, also known as Pyramid of Baka and Pyramid of Bikheris is the term archaeologists and Egyptologists use to describe a large shaft part of an unfinished pyramid at Zawyet El Aryan in Egypt. Archaeo ...

, which is located at

Zawyet el'Aryan Zawyet El Aryan () is a town in the Giza Governorate, located between Giza and Abusir. To the west of the town, just in the desert area, is a necropolis, referred to by the same name. Almost directly east across the Nile is Memphis. In Zawyet E ...

. This unfinished pyramid shaft was abandoned shortly after being started and only a dozen of workmen's inscriptions in black

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

were found. These provide a royal cartouche name, which remains partially illegible. The first sign can be identified as a ''Ka''-sign, but the first (and former) sign was copied by the pyramid excavator so fuzzily that it remains undecipherable. According to Stadelmann and Reisner, the first sign shows a walking ram, as it does in the birth name of the prince. Baka simply put his citizen name into a royal cartouche due to his lifetime, but then the name was changed after his death into ''Bakarê'' ("soul and Ka of Râ"). In ancient Greek chronics Baka's name was hellenized into ''Bikheris''. For this reason, the unfinished tomb shaft at Zawyet el'Aryan is also called the "Pyramid of Bikheris".Rainer Stadelmann: ''Die Ägyptischen Pyramiden: vom Ziegelbau zum Weltwunder'' ( = ''Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt'', vol. 30). von Zabern, Mainz 1985, , p. 77, 140-145. This theory is not commonly accepted, though.

Aidan Dodson Aidan Mark Dodson (born 1962) is an English Egyptologist and historian. He has been honorary professor of Egyptology at the University of Bristol since 1 August 2018. Academic career Dodson, born in London on 11 September 1962, studied at Langle ...

is convinced of the depiction of a sitting Seth-animal, reading the royal name as ''Seth-Ka'' ("Seth is mine Ka"). In this case, Setka had actually followed his father onto the throne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baka Pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Princes of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Djedefre