Djedefhor or Hordjedef was a noble

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 ...

ian of the

4th Dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other ...

. He was the son of Pharaoh

Khufu Khufu or Cheops was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom period ( 26th century BC). Khufu succeeded his father Sneferu as king. He is generally accepted as having co ...

and his name means "Enduring Like

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...

Biography

Djedefhor was a son of Pharaoh

and half-brother of pharaohs

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. ...

and

Khafre Khafre (also read as Khafra and gr, Χεφρήν Khephren or Chephren) was an ancient Egyptian King (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He was the son of Khufu and the successor of Djedefre. According to the ancient historia ...

., p.58 Queen

Meritites I Meritites I was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 4th Dynasty. Her name means "Beloved of her Father". Several of her titles are known from a stela found at Giza. She was buried in the middle Queen’s Pyramid in Giza (''Pyramid G 1b''). Meritit ...

is named in the tomb G 7220 of Djedefhor and it is possible she is his mother. He is mentioned on an inscription in Wadi Hammamat, his name appears in a

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...

, written after the names of Khufu, Djedefre and Khafre, preceding the name of another of his brothers,

Baufra Baufra (also read as Bauefre and Ra-bau-ef) is the name of an alleged son of the ancient Egyptian king ( pharaoh) Khufu from the 4th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. He is known from a story in the Papyrus Westcar and from a rock inscription at Wadi ...

. There is no evidence that either Djedefhor or Baufra ruled as a pharaoh, even though only pharaohs' names were written in cartouches during the 4th dynasty. The '' Teachings of Djedefhor'', a document of which only fragments remain, is attributed to him. Djedefhor seems to have been deified after his death. The wisdom text by Djedefhor was written as advice to his son, Prince Auibra.

Titles

Djedefhor's titles were: Translation and indexes from Dilwyn Jones.

Burial

He was still alive during the reign of

Menkaure Menkaure (also Menkaura, Egyptian transliteration ''mn-k3w-Rˁ''), was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the fourth dynasty during the Old Kingdom, who is well known under his Hellenized names Mykerinos ( gr, Μυκερῖνος) (by Herodo ...

, Khufu's grandson. Hence he must have been buried towards the end of the

Fourth Dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other ...

. Djedefhor was buried in mastaba G 7210–7220 in the east field which is part of the

Giza pyramid complex The Giza pyramid complex ( ar, مجمع أهرامات الجيزة), also called the Giza necropolis, is the site on the Giza Plateau in Greater Cairo, Egypt that includes the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Men ...

. His sarcophagus is now in the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...

in Cairo.

Appearance in ancient Egyptian fiction

He is one of the main characters in a story included in the

Papyrus Westcar The Westcar Papyrus ( inventory-designation: ''P. Berlin 3033'') is an ancient Egyptian text containing five stories about miracles performed by priests and magicians. In the papyrus text, each of these tales are told at the royal court of king ...

. In the text of that papyrus, Djedefhor is mentioned as one who brought the soothsayer and magician called

Djedi Djedi (also Dedi or Djedi of Djed-Sneferu) is the name of a fictional ancient Egyptian magician appearing in the fourth chapter of a story told in the legendary Westcar Papyrus. He is said to have worked wonders during the reign of king (pha ...

to the court of Khufu. This Djedi was inspired by real

Prince Djedi Djedi was an Egyptian prince who lived during Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. He was a son of Prince Rahotep and Nofret, grandson of pharaoh Sneferu and nephew of pharaoh Khufu. He had two brothers and three sisters. He is depicted in the tomb chapels of ...

, who was a son of

Prince Rahotep Prince Rahotep was a prince in ancient Egypt during the 4th Dynasty. He was probably a son of Pharaoh Sneferu and his first wife, although Zahi Hawass suggests his father was Huni. ''Rahotep'' (''R' htp'') means " Ra is Satisfied". Ra is a god o ...

and nephew to Khufu.

Sources

{{Reflist

External links

The Ancient Egypt Site
Princes of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Khufu