::''See also article

Kanefer (High Priest of Ptah) Kanefer was a High Priest of Ptah in Memphis from the reign of Sahure in the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Items from Kanefer's tomb are known from museum. Two offering tables exist at the British Museum and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek of Copenhagen respec ...

.'' Kanefer ("His Ka is beautiful") is the name of an ancient Egyptian

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. He lived during the 4th or early

5th Dynasty The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and VI under the group title the Old Kingdom. The Fifth Dynasty pharaohs reigned for approximately 150 years, from the early 25th century BC until ...

of the Old Kingdom period.Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt.'' The American University in Cairo Press, Kairo 2004, , p. 52–61.Edwards, et al., ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Early History of the Middle East''. Cambridge University Press. 1971. Retrieved vi
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Identity

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

Michael Haase Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

, Kanefer may have been a son of King

Sneferu Sneferu ( snfr-wj "He has perfected me", from ''Ḥr-nb-mꜣꜥt-snfr-wj'' "Horus, Lord of Maat, has perfected me", also read Snefru or Snofru), well known under his Hellenized name Soris ( grc-koi, Σῶρις by Manetho), was the founding phar ...

. Their assumption is based on the architectural features of Kanefer's tomb, which were rather typical for the beginning of the 4th dynasty.Michael Haase: ''Das Feld der Tränen. König Snofru und die Pyramiden von Dahschur''. Ullstein, München 2000, , p. 217–219. Next to nothing is known about his family, the name of his wife is lost due to damages on his tomb stela, but two of her titles, "female member of the elite" and "priestess of Hathor", are preserved. She bore several children to Kanefer – Kawab, Kanefer II and Meresankh.

Career

Kanefer held the position of a

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

. He also was "son of the king", "member of the elite", "army general", "overseer of the commissions" and "leader of the royal archers".

Tomb

Kanefer was interred in

mastaba A mastaba (, or ), also mastabah, mastabat or pr- djt (meaning "house of stability", " house of eternity" or "eternal house" in Ancient Egyptian), is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inwar ...

DAM 15 at

Dahshur DahshurAlso transliterated ''Dahshour'' (in English often called ''Dashur'' ar, دهشور ' , ''Dahchur'') is a royal necropolis located in the desert on the west bank of the Nile approximately south of Cairo. It is known chiefly for several p ...

. In his tomb, heavily broken fragments of a doorslab stela were found.

References

{{Reflist Princes of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Viziers of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Viziers of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt Sneferu Princes of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt