Neferirkare Kakai
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Neferirkare Kakai (known in
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
as Nefercherês, Νεφερχέρης) was an ancient Egyptian
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 ...
, the third king of the
Fifth 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 ...
. Neferirkare, the eldest son of
Sahure Sahure (also Sahura, meaning "He who is close to Re") was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2465 – c. 2325 BC). He reigned for about 13 years in the early 25th century BC during the Old Kingdom Period. ...
with his consort
Meretnebty Meretnebty was a Queen of Egypt as a wife of Pharaoh Sahure. She lived during the 5th Dynasty and was named after Two Ladies, a pair of Egyptian goddesses who protected the pharaoh. Biography Meretnebty's parents are not known. She is depicted w ...
, was known as Ranefer A before he came to the throne. He acceded the day after his father's death and reigned for eight to eleven years, sometime in the early to mid-25th century BCE. He was himself very likely succeeded by his eldest son, born of his queen
Khentkaus II Khentkaus II ( 2475 BC – 2445 BC) was a royal woman who lived in Ancient Egypt. She was a wife of Egyptian king Neferirkare Kakai of the Fifth Dynasty. She was the mother of two kings, Neferefre and Nyuserre Ini.Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, Th ...
, the prince Ranefer B who would take the throne as king
Neferefre Neferefre Isi (; also known as Raneferef, Ranefer and in Greek as , ) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He was most likely the eldest son of pharaoh Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II. ...
. Neferirkare fathered another pharaoh,
Nyuserre Ini Nyuserre Ini (also Niuserre Ini or Neuserre Ini; in Greek known as Rathurês, ''Ῥαθούρης'') was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 35 ye ...
, who took the throne after Neferefre's short reign and the brief rule of the poorly known
Shepseskare Shepseskare or Shepseskara ( Egyptian for "Noble is the Soul of Ra") was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the fourth or fifth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (2494–2345 BC) during the Old Kingdom period. Shepseskare lived in the mid-25th century BC ...
. Neferirkare was acknowledged by his contemporaries as a kind and benevolent ruler, intervening in favour of his
courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...
s after a mishap. His rule witnessed a growth in the number of administration and priesthood officials, who used their expanded wealth to build architecturally more sophisticated
mastabas 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 ...
, where they recorded their biographies for the first time. Neferirkare was the last pharaoh to significantly modify the standard
royal titulary The royal titulary or royal protocol is the standard naming convention taken by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. It symbolised worldly power and holy might, also acting as a sort of mission statement for the duration of a monarch's reign (although so ...
, separating the nomen or birth name, from the
prenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birt ...
or throne name. From his reign onwards, the former was written in a cartouche preceded by the "Son of Ra" epithet. His rule witnessed continuing trade relations with
Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
to the south and possibly with
Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...
on the Levantine coast to the north. Neferirkare started a pyramid for himself in the royal necropolis of
Abusir Abusir ( ar, ابو صير  ; Egyptian ''pr wsjr'' cop, ⲃⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲓ ' "the House or Temple of Osiris"; grc, Βούσιρις) is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality – specifically, an extensive necropolis o ...
, called ''Ba-Neferirkare'' meaning "Neferirkare is a Ba". It was initially planned to be a
step pyramid A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several ...
, a form which had not been employed since the days of the
Third Dynasty The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty III) is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth. The capital during the period of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis. Overview Af ...
circa 120 years earlier. This plan was modified to transform the monument into a true pyramid, the largest in Abusir, which was never completed owing to the death of the king. In addition, Neferirkare built a
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
to the sun god Ra called ''Setibre'', that is "Site of the heart of Ra". Ancient sources state that it was the largest one built during the Fifth Dynasty but as of the early 21st century it has not yet been located. After his death, Neferirkare benefited from a
funerary cult A funerary cult is a body of religious teaching and practice centered on the veneration of the dead, in which the living are thought to be able to confer benefits on the dead in the afterlife or to appease their otherwise wrathful ghosts. Rituals w ...
taking place in his mortuary temple, which had been completed by his son Nyuserre Ini. This cult seems to have disappeared at the end of the Old Kingdom period, although it might have been revived during the
Twelfth Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom by Egyptologists. It often is combined with the Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth dynasties under the group title, Middle Kingdom. Some ...
of the Middle Kingdom, albeit in a very limited form. In all probability, it was also around this time that the story of 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 K ...
was first written, a tale where
Userkaf Userkaf (known in Ancient Greek as , ) was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Fifth Dynasty. He reigned for seven to eight years in the early 25th century BC, during the Old Kingdom period. He probably belonged to a branch of the ...
, Sahure and Neferirkare are said to be brothers, the sons of Ra with a woman
Rededjet Rededjet (also readed as Ruddedet) is the name of a fictitious ancient Egyptian woman appearing as the heroic character in a story told in the legendary Westcar Papyrus. She is said to have fulfilled a prophecy by giving birth to three future ...
.


Sources


Contemporaneous sources

Neferirkare is well attested in sources contemporaneous with his reign. Beyond his pyramid complex, he is mentioned in the tomb of many of his contemporaries such as his vizier Washptah, the courtier Rawer and the priest Akhethetep. Neferirkare also appears in the nearly contemporaneous
Giza writing board The Giza writing board (also named Giza king list) is an ancient Egyptian artefact created during the late Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, Fifth Dynasty ( BCE) or early Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, Sixth Dynasty ( BCE). It was found in the burial place of a hi ...
, a short list grouping six kings from different dynasties dating to the later Fifth or early
Sixth Dynasty The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty VI), along with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Dynasty, constitutes the Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egypt. Pharaohs Known pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty are listed in the table below. Manetho acc ...
. The writing board was uncovered in the tomb of a high official named Mesdjerw, who may have composed it for his use in the afterlife.


Historical sources

Neferirkare is attested in two ancient Egyptian king lists, both dating to the New Kingdom. The earliest of these is the Abydos King List written during the reign of
Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The ...
(fl. 1290–1279 BCE). There, Neferirkare's nomen "Kakai" occupies the 28th entry, in between those of Sahure and Neferefre. During the subsequent reign of
Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, wikt:rꜥ-ms-sw, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is oft ...
(fl. 1279–1213 BCE), Neferirkare's
prenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birt ...
was recorded on the 27th entry of the Saqqara Tablet, but this time as a successor of Sahure and predecessor of Shepseskare. Neferirkare was also given an entry in the
Turin canon The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum) in Turin. The papyrus is the most extensive list av ...
, a document dating to the reign of Ramesses II as well. Neferirkare's entry is commonly believed to be in the third column-19th row; unfortunately this line has been lost in a large lacuna affecting the papyrus, and neither his reign length nor his successor can be ascertained from the surviving fragments. The Egyptologist
Miroslav Verner Miroslav Verner (born October 31, 1941 in Brno) is a Czech egyptologist, who specializes in the history and archaeology of Ancient Egypt of the Old Kingdom and especially of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Biography Verner was the director of th ...
has furthermore proposed that the Turin canon makes a new dynasty start with this entry and thus that Neferirkare would be its founder. The division of the Turin canon list of kings into dynasties is a currently debated topic. The Egyptologist Jaromír Málek, for example, sees the divisions between groups of kings occurring in the canon as marking transfers of royal residence rather than the rise and fall of royal dynasties, as this term is currently understood. That usage only began in the Egyptian context with the 3rd-century BCE work of the priest Manetho. Similarly, the Egyptologist Stephan Seidlmeyer, considers the break in the Turin Canon at the end of the Eighth Dynasty to represent the relocation of the royal residence from Memphis to Herakleopolis. The Egyptologist John Baines holds views that are closer to Verner's, believing that the canon was divided into dynasties, with totals for the time elapsed given at the end of each, though only a few such divisions have survived. Similarly, Professor John Van Seters views the breaks in the canon as divisions between dynasties, but in contrast, states that the criterion for these divisions remains unknown. He speculates that the pattern of dynasties may have been taken from the nine divine kings of the Greater and Lesser Enneads. The Egyptologist Ian Shaw believes that the Turin Canon gives some credibility to Manetho's division of dynasties, but considers the king lists to be a form of ancestor worship and not a historical record. This whole problem could be mooted by another of Verner's speculations, where he proposes that Neferirkare's entry may have been located on the 20th line rather than the 19th, as is usually believed. This would credit Neferirkare with a seven-year reign, and would make Sahure the dynasty founder, according to the hypothesis that the canon records such events. Archaeological evidence has established that the transitions from Userkaf to Sahure and from Sahure to Neferirkare were father–son transitions, so that neither Sahure nor Neferirkare can be dynasty founders in the modern sense of the term. Neferirkare was mentioned in the ''
Aegyptiaca Manetho (; grc-koi, Μανέθων ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος) is believed to have been an Egyptian priest from Sebennytos ( cop, Ϫⲉⲙⲛⲟⲩϯ, translit=Čemnouti) who lived in the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the early third ...
'', a history of Egypt written in the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ptolemy II (283–246 BCE) by Manetho. No copies of the Aegyptiaca have survived to this day and it is now known only through later writings by
Sextus Julius Africanus Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160 – c. 240; Greek: Σέξτος Ἰούλιος ὁ Ἀφρικανός or ὁ Λίβυς) was a Christian traveler and historian of the late second and early third centuries. He is important chiefly because o ...
and
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
. The
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
scholar
George Syncellus George Syncellus ( el, Γεώργιος Σύγκελλος, ''Georgios Synkellos''; died after 810) was a Byzantine chronicler and ecclesiastic. He had lived many years in Palestine (probably in the Old Lavra of Saint Chariton or Souka, near Tekoa ...
reports that Africanus relates that the ''Aegyptiaca'' mentioned the succession "Sephrês → Nefercherês → Sisirês" for the early Fifth Dynasty. Sephrês, Nefercherês and Sisirês are believed to be the
hellenized Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in th ...
forms for Sahure, Neferirkare and Shepseskare, respectively. Thus, Manetho's reconstruction of the Fifth Dynasty is in agreement with the Saqqara tablet. In Africanus' epitome of the ''Aegyptiaca'', Nefercherês is reported to have reigned for 20 years.


Family


Parents and siblings

Until 2005, the identity of Neferirkare's parents was uncertain. Some
Egyptologists This is a partial list of Egyptologists. An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. Demotists are Egyptologists who special ...
, including
Nicolas Grimal Nicolas-Christophe Grimal (born 13 November 1948 in Libourne) is a French Egyptologist. Biography Nicolas Grimal was born to Pierre Grimal in 1948. After his Agrégation in Classics in 1971, he obtained a PhD in 1976 and a Doctorat d'État in 1 ...
,
William C. Hayes William Christopher Hayes (March 21, 1903 – July 10, 1963) was an American Egyptologist. His main fields of study were history of Egyptian art and translation/interpretation of texts.W. C. Hayes, ''The Scepter of Egypt'', part II, 4th print ...
, Hartwig Altenmüller, Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, viewed him as a son of
Userkaf Userkaf (known in Ancient Greek as , ) was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Fifth Dynasty. He reigned for seven to eight years in the early 25th century BC, during the Old Kingdom period. He probably belonged to a branch of the ...
and
Khentkaus I Khentkaus I, also referred to as Khentkawes, was a royal woman who lived in ancient Egypt during both the Fourth Dynasty and the Fifth Dynasty. She may have been a daughter of king Menkaure, the wife of both king Shepseskaf and king Userkaf (t ...
, and a brother to his predecessor Sahure. The main impetus behind this theory was the
Westcar Papyrus 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 K ...
, an Ancient Egyptian story narrating the rise of the Fifth Dynasty. In it, a magician prophesizes to
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 c ...
that the future demise of his lineage will be in the form of three brothers – the first three kings of the Fifth Dynasty, born of the god Ra and a woman named
Rededjet Rededjet (also readed as Ruddedet) is the name of a fictitious ancient Egyptian woman appearing as the heroic character in a story told in the legendary Westcar Papyrus. She is said to have fulfilled a prophecy by giving birth to three future ...
. Egyptologists such as Verner have sought to discern a historical truth in this account, proposing that Sahure and Neferirkare were siblings born of queen
Khentkaus I Khentkaus I, also referred to as Khentkawes, was a royal woman who lived in ancient Egypt during both the Fourth Dynasty and the Fifth Dynasty. She may have been a daughter of king Menkaure, the wife of both king Shepseskaf and king Userkaf (t ...
. In 2005, excavations of the causeway leading up to Sahure's pyramid yielded new relief fragments which showed indisputably that pharaoh Sahure and his consort, queen Meretnebty, were Neferirkare's parents. Indeed, these reliefs—discovered by Verner and Tarek El Awady—depict Sahure and Meretnebty together with their two sons, Ranefer and Netjerirenre. While both sons are given the title of "king's eldest son", possibly indicating that they were twins, Ranefer is shown closer to Sahure and also given the title of "chief lector-priest", which may reflect that he was born first and thus given higher positions. Since Ranefer is known to have been the name of Neferirkare before he took the throne, as indicated by reliefs from the mortuary temple of Sahure (see below), no doubt remains as to Neferirkare's filiation. Nothing more is known about Netjerirenre, an observation which has led Verner and El-Awady to speculate that he could have attempted to seize the throne upon the unexpected death of Neferirkare's son and successor Neferefre, who died in his early twenties after two years on the throne. In this conjectural hypothesis, he would be the ephemeral
Shepseskare Shepseskare or Shepseskara ( Egyptian for "Noble is the Soul of Ra") was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the fourth or fifth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (2494–2345 BC) during the Old Kingdom period. Shepseskare lived in the mid-25th century BC ...
. Finally, the same relief, as well as an additional one, record a further four sons of Sahure – Khakare, Horemsaf, Raemsaf and Nebankhre. The identity of their mother(s) is unknown, so they are, at minimum, half-brothers to Neferirkare.


Consort and children

As of the early 21st century, the only known queen of Neferirkare is
Khentkaus II Khentkaus II ( 2475 BC – 2445 BC) was a royal woman who lived in Ancient Egypt. She was a wife of Egyptian king Neferirkare Kakai of the Fifth Dynasty. She was the mother of two kings, Neferefre and Nyuserre Ini.Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, Th ...
. This is due to the position of her pyramid next to that of Neferirkare as was normal for the consort of a king, as well as her title of "king's wife" and several reliefs representing both of them together. Neferirkare could possibly have had at least one other spouse, as suggested by the presence of a small pyramid next to that of Khentkaus, but this remains conjectural. Neferirkare and his consort Khentkaus II were, in all likelihood, the parents of prince Ranefer B, the future pharaoh
Neferefre Neferefre Isi (; also known as Raneferef, Ranefer and in Greek as , ) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He was most likely the eldest son of pharaoh Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II. ...
. This relationship is confirmed by a relief on a limestone slab discovered in a house in the village near Abusir depicting Neferirkare and his wife Khentkaus with "the king's eldest son Ranefer", a name identical with some variants of Neferefre's own. This indicates that, just as for Neferirkare, Ranefer was Neferefre's name when he was still only a
crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...
, that is, before his accession to the throne. Neferirkare and Khentkaus II had at least one other child together, the future pharaoh
Nyuserre Ini Nyuserre Ini (also Niuserre Ini or Neuserre Ini; in Greek known as Rathurês, ''Ῥαθούρης'') was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 35 ye ...
. Indeed, Neferirkare's consort Khentkaus II is known to have been Nyuserre's mother, since excavations of her mortuary temple yielded a fragmentary relief showing her facing Nyuserre and his family. Remarkably, on this relief both Khentkaus and Nyuserre appear on the same scale, an observation which may be connected with Khentkaus' enhanced status during Nyuserre's reign, as he sought to legitimise his rule following the premature death of Neferefre and the possible challenge by Shepseskare. Further evidence for the filiation of Nyuserre are the location of his pyramid next to that of Neferirkare, as well as his reuse for his own valley temple of materials from Neferikare's unfinished constructions. Yet another son of Neferirkare and Khentkhaus has been proposed, probably younger than both Neferefre and Nyuserre: Iryenre, a prince ''
iry-pat Iry-pat ( egy, jrj-pꜥt "member of the elite") was an ancient Egyptian ranking title, that is a title announcing a high position in the hierarchy of the country. Iry-pat was indeed the highest ranking title at the royal court, and only the mos ...
'' whose relationship is suggested by the fact that his
funerary cult A funerary cult is a body of religious teaching and practice centered on the veneration of the dead, in which the living are thought to be able to confer benefits on the dead in the afterlife or to appease their otherwise wrathful ghosts. Rituals w ...
was associated with that of his mother, both having taken place in the temple of Khentkaus II. Finally, Neferirkare and Khentkaus II may also be the parents of queen
Khentkaus III Khentkaus III, often called Khentakawess III by news media, was an ancient Egyptian queen who lived during the Fifth Dynasty, around 2450 BC. Khentkaus was very likely a daughter of king Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II, while her husb ...
, whose tomb was discovered in Abusir in 2015. Indeed, based on the location and general date for her tomb, as well as her titles of "king's wife" and "king's mother", Khentkaus III was almost certainly Neferefre's consort and the mother of either
Menkauhor Kaiu Menkauhor Kaiu (also known as Ikauhor and in Greek as Mencherês, Μεγχερῆς) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Old Kingdom period. He was the seventh ruler of the Fifth Dynasty at the end of the 25th century BC or early in the 24t ...
or
Shepseskare Shepseskare or Shepseskara ( Egyptian for "Noble is the Soul of Ra") was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the fourth or fifth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (2494–2345 BC) during the Old Kingdom period. Shepseskare lived in the mid-25th century BC ...
.


Reign


Duration

Manetho's ''Aegyptiaca'' assigns Neferirkare a reign of 20 years, but the archaeological evidence now suggests that this is an overestimate. First, the damaged Palermo Stone preserves ''the year of the 5th
cattle count In ancient Egypt, the cattle count was one of the two main means of evaluating the amount of taxes to be levied, the other one being the height of the annual inundation. A very important economic event, the cattle count was controlled by high offic ...
'' for Neferirkare's time on the throne. The cattle count was an important event aimed at evaluating the amount of taxes to be levied on the population. By the reign of Neferirkare, this involved counting cattle, oxen and small livestock. This event is believed to have been biennial during the Old Kingdom period, that is occurring once every two years, meaning that Neferirkare reigned at least ten years. Given the shape of the Palermo stone, this record must correspond to his final year or be close to it, so that he ruled no more than eleven years. This is further substantiated by two cursive inscriptions left by masons on stone blocks from the pyramids of Khentkaus II and Neferirkare, both of which also date to Neferirkare's fifth cattle count, its highest known regnal year. Finally, Verner has pointed out that a 20-year-long reign would be difficult to reconcile with the unfinished state of his pyramid in Abusir.


Activities in Egypt

Beyond his construction of a pyramid and sun temple, little is known of Neferirkare's activities during his time on the throne. Some events dating to his first and final years of reign are recorded on the surviving fragments of the Palermo stone, a royal
annal Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between anna ...
covering the period from the start of the reign of
Menes Menes (fl. c. 3200–3000 BC; ; egy, mnj, probably pronounced *; grc, Μήνης) was a pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt and as the founder of the ...
of the First Dynasty until around the time of Neferirkare's rule. According to the Palermo stone, the future pharaoh Neferirkare, then called prince Ranefer, ascended the throne the day after his father Sahure's death, which occurred on the 28th day of the ninth month. The annal then records that in his first year as king, Neferirkare granted land to the agricultural estates serving the cults of the Ennead, the Souls of Pe and Nekhen and the gods of Keraha. To Ra and
Hathor Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky ...
, he dedicated an offering table provided with 210 daily offerings, and ordered the construction of two store rooms and the employment of new dependents in the host temple. Neferirkare also commanded "the fashioning and
opening of the mouth The opening of the mouth ceremony (or ritual) was an ancient Egyptian ritual described in funerary texts such as the Pyramid Texts. ''PeseshKaf'' is an instrument used for this ritual, ''psš'' (“an instrument for Opening of the mouth”) + '' ...
of an
electrum Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially, and ...
statue of
he god He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' i ...
Ihy Ihy is a god in ancient Egyptian mythology who represents the ecstasy of playing the sistrum. His name means "''sistrum player''". This is in allusion to his relationship with the goddess Hathor who was often said to be his mother. Ihy's symbols a ...
, escorting tto the ''mrt''-chapel of
Snefru Snefru is a cryptographic hash function invented by Ralph Merkle in 1990 while working at Xerox PARC. The function supports 128-bit and 256-bit output. It was named after the Egyptian Pharaoh Sneferu, continuing the tradition of the Khufu and Kh ...
of the ''nht''-shrine of Hathor". Later in his reign, in the year of the fifth cattle count, Neferirkare had a bronze statue of himself erected and set up four
barques A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...
for Ra and Horus in and around his sun temple, two of which were of copper. The Souls of Pe and Nekhen and
Wadjet Wadjet (; egy, wꜢḏyt "Green One"), known to the Greek world as Uto (; grc-koi, Οὐτώ) or Buto (; ) among other renderings including Wedjat, Uadjet, and Udjo, was originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep. It became part ...
received electrum endowments, while
Ptah Ptah ( egy, ptḥ, reconstructed ; grc, Φθά; cop, ⲡⲧⲁϩ; Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤇, romanized: ptḥ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god and patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the hu ...
was given lands. The fact that the Palermo stone terminates around Neferirkare's rule led some scholars, such as Grimal, to propose that they might have been compiled during his reign.


Administration

Few specific administrative actions taken by Neferirkare are known. One decree of his inscribed on a limestone slab was excavated in 1903 in Abydos and is now in the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
. The decree exempts personnel belonging to a temple of
Khenti-Amentiu Khenti-Amentiu, also Khentiamentiu, Khenti-Amenti, Kenti-Amentiu and many other spellings, is an ancient Egyptian deity whose name was also used as a title for Osiris and Anubis. The name means " Foremost of the Westerners" or "Chief of the Weste ...
from undertaking compulsory labour in perpetuity, under penalty of forfeiture of all property and freedom and be forced to work the fields or in a stone quarry. This decree indirectly suggests that taxation and compulsory labour was imposed on everybody as a general rule. More generally, Neferirkare's reign saw the growth of the Egyptian administration and priesthood, which amassed more power than in earlier reigns, although the king remained a living god. In particular the positions of viziers and overseer of the expedition, that is the highest offices, were opened to people from outside the royal family. In conjunction with this trend, the
mastabas 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 ...
of high officials started to become more elaborate, with, for example, chapels including multiple rooms, and from the mid to late Fifth Dynasty, wide entrance porticoes with columns and family tomb complexes. It is also at this time that these officials started to record
autobiographies An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
on the walls of their tombs.


Modification of the royal titulary

The reign of Neferirkare Kakai saw the last important modification to the titulary of pharaohs. He was the earliest pharaoh to separate the ''nswt-bjtj'' ("King of Upper and Lower Egypt") and ''Z3-Rˁ'' ("Son of Ra") epithets of the royal titulary. He associated these two epithets with two different, independent names: the
prenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birt ...
and nomen, respectively. The prenomen or throne name, taken by the new king as he ascended the throne, was written in a cartouche immediately after the bee and sedge signs for ''nswt-bjtj''. From Neferirkare's time onwards, the nomen, or birth name, was also written in a cartouche systematically preceded by the glyphs for "Son of Ra", an epithet which had seen little use in preceding times.


Trade and military activities

There is little evidence for military action during Neferirkare's reign.
William C. Hayes William Christopher Hayes (March 21, 1903 – July 10, 1963) was an American Egyptologist. His main fields of study were history of Egyptian art and translation/interpretation of texts.W. C. Hayes, ''The Scepter of Egypt'', part II, 4th print ...
proposed that a few fragmentary limestone statues of kneeling and bound prisoners of war discovered in his mortuary temple possibly attest to punitive raids in Libya to the west or the
Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...
and
Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
to the east during his reign. The art historian William Stevenson Smith commented that such statues were customary elements of the decoration of royal temples and mastabas, suggesting that they may not be immediately related to actual military campaigns. Similar statues and small wooden figures of kneeling captives were discovered in the mortuary complexes of Neferefre,
Djedkare Isesi Djedkare Isesi (known in Greek as Tancheres) was a pharaoh, the eighth and penultimate ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt in the late 25th century to mid- 24th century BC, during the Old Kingdom. Djedkare succeeded Menkauhor Kaiu and was in ...
,
Unas Unas or Wenis, also spelled Unis ( egy, wnjs, hellenized form Oenas or Onnos), was a pharaoh, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Unas reigned for 15 to 30 years in the mid- 24th century BC (circa ...
,
Teti Teti, less commonly known as Othoes, sometimes also Tata, Atat, or Athath in outdated sources, was the first king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt. He was buried at Saqqara. The exact length of his reign has been destroyed on the Turin King List bu ...
,
Pepi I Pepi I Meryre (also Pepy I) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, third king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled for over 40 years at the turn of the 24th and 23rd centuries BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom period. He was the son of ...
and
Pepi II Pepi II Neferkare (2284 BC – after 2247 BC, probably either  2216 or  2184 BC) was a pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty in Egypt's Old Kingdom who reigned from  2278 BC. His second name, Neferkare (''Nefer-ka-Re''), means "Beautiful is ...
as well as in the tomb of vizier Senedjemib Mehi. Trade relations with
Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
are the only ones attested to during Neferirkare's reign. The archaeological evidence for this are seal impressions and
ostracon An ostracon (Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ston ...
bearing his name uncovered in the fortress of
Buhen Buhen ( grc, Βοὥν ''Bohón'') was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated on the West bank of the Nile below (to the North of) the Second Cataract in what is now Northern State, Sudan. It is now submerged in Lake Nasser, Sudan; as a resu ...
, on the Cataracts of the Nile, second cataract of the Nile. Contacts with
Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...
on the Levantine coast might also have happened during Neferirkare's rule, as suggested by a single alabaster bowl inscribed with his name unearthed there.


Personality

Neferirkare's reign was unusual for the significant number of surviving contemporary records which describe him as a kind and gentle ruler. When Rawer (5th Dynasty), Rawer, an elderly nobleman and royal courtier, was accidentally touched by the king's mace during a religious ceremony—a dangerous situation which could have caused this official to be put immediately to death or banished from court since the pharaoh was viewed as a living god in Old Kingdom mythology—Neferirkare quickly pardoned Rawer and commanded that no harm should occur to the latter for the incident. As Rawer gratefully states in an inscription from his Giza tomb: Similarly, Neferirkare gave the Priest of Ptah Ptahshepses the unprecedented honour of kissing his feet rather than the ground in front of him. Finally, when the vizier Washptah suffered a stroke while attending court, the king quickly summoned the palace's chief doctors to treat his dying vizier. When Washptah died, Neferirkare was reportedly inconsolable and retired to his personal quarters to mourn the loss of his friend. The king then ordered the purification of Washptah's body in his presence and ordered an ebony coffin made for the deceased vizier. Washptah was buried with special endowments and rituals courtesy of Neferirkare. The records of the king's actions are inscribed in Washptah's tomb itself and emphasize Neferirkare's humanity towards his subjects.


Building activities


Pyramid complex


Pyramid

The Pyramid of Neferirkare Kakai, known to the Ancient Egyptians as ''Ba-Neferirkare'' and variously translated as "Neferirkare is a Ba" or "Neferirkare takes form", is located in the royal necropolis of Abusir. It is the largest one built during the Fifth Dynasty, equalling roughly the size of the Pyramid of Menkaure. Workers and artisans who built the pyramid and its surrounding complex lived in pyramid town "Neferirkare-is-the-soul" or "Kakai-is-the-soul", located in Abusir. The pyramid construction comprised three stages: first built were six steps of rubble, their retaining walls made of locally quarried limestone indicating that the monument was originally planned to be a
step pyramid A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several ...
, an unusual design for the time which had not been used since the
Third Dynasty The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty III) is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth. The capital during the period of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis. Overview Af ...
, some 120 years earlier. At this point the pyramid, had it been completed, would have reached . This plan was then altered by a second construction stage with the addition of filling between the steps meant to transform the monument into a true pyramid. At a later stage, the workers enlarged the pyramid further, adding a girdle of masonry and smooth casing stones of red granite. This work was never finished, even after the works implemented by Nyuserre. With a square base of sides, the pyramid would have reached high had it been completed. Today it is in ruins owing to extensive stone robbing. The entrance to the pyramid's substructures was located on its north side. There, a descending corridor with a gable roof made of limestone beams led into a burial chamber. No pieces of the sarcophagus of the king were found there. The pyramid of Neferirkare is surrounded by smaller pyramids and tombs which seem to form an architectural unit, the cemetery of his close family. This ensemble was meant to be reached from the Nile via a causeway and a valley temple near the river. At the death of Neferirkare, only the foundations of both had been laid and Nyuserre later diverted the unfinished causeway to his Pyramid of Nyuserre, own pyramid.


Mortuary temple

The mortuary temple was far from finished at the death of Neferirkare but it was completed later, by his sons Neferefre and Nyuserre Ini using cheap mudbricks and wood rather than stone. A significant cache of administrative papyri, known as the Abusir Papyri, Abusir papyri, was uncovered there by illegal diggers in 1893 and subsequently by Borchardt in 1903. Further papyri were also uncovered in the mid-seventies during a Charles University in Prague, University of Prague Egyptological Institute excavation. The presence of this cache is due to the peculiar historical circumstances of the mid-Fifth Dynasty. As both Neferirkare and his heir Neferefre died before their pyramid complexes could be finished, Nyuserre altered their planned layout, diverting the causeway leading to Neferirkare's pyramid to his own. This meant that Neferefre's and Neferirkare's mortuary complexes became somewhat isolated on the Abusir plateau, their priests therefore had to live next to the temple premises in makeshift dwellings, and they stored the administrative records onsite. In contrast, the records of other temples were kept in the pyramid town close to Sahure's or Nyuserre's pyramid, where the current level of ground water means any papyrus has long since disappeared. The Abusir papyri record some details pertaining to Neferirkare's mortuary temple. Its central chapel housed a niche with five statues of the king. The central one is described in the papyri as being a representation of the king as Osiris, while the first and last ones depicted him as the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively. The temple also comprised store-rooms for the offerings, where numerous stone vessels—now broken—had been deposited. Finally the papyri indicate that of the four boats included in the mortuary complex, two were buried to the north and south of the pyramid, one of which was unearthed by Verner. During the Late Period of ancient Egypt (664–332 BCE) the mortuary temple of Neferirkare was used as a secondary cemetery. A gravestone made of yellow calcite was discovered by Borchardt bearing an Aramaic language, Aramaic inscription reading "Belonging to Nesneu, son of Tapakhnum". Another inscription in Aramaic found on a limestone block and dating to the fifth century BCE reads "Mannukinaan son of Sewa".


Sun temple

Neferirkare is known from ancient sources to have built a temple to the sun god Ra, which is yet to be identified archaeologically. It was called ''Setibre'', meaning "Site of the heart of Ra", and was, according to contemporary sources, the largest one built during the Fifth Dynasty. It is possible that the temple was only built out of mudbricks, with a planned completion in stone which had not started when Neferirkare died. In this case, it would rapidly have turned into ruins that would be very difficult to locate for archaeologists. Alternatively, the Egyptologist Rainer Stadelmann has proposed that the ''Setibre'' as well as the sun temples of Sahure and Userkaf were one and the same known building, Sun temple of Userkaf, that attributed to Userkaf in Abusir. This hypothesis has been dispelled in late 2018 thanks to advanced analyses of the verso of the Palermo stone by the Czech Institute of Archeology, which enabled the reading of inscriptions mentioning precisely the architecture of the temple as well as lists of donations it received. Of all the sun temples built during the Fifth Dynasty, the ''Setibre'' is the one most commonly cited in ancient sources. Due to this, some details of its layout are known: it had a large central obelisk, an altar and store-rooms, a sealed barque room housing two boats and a "hall of the 'Sed festival. Religious festivals did certainly take place in sun temples, as is attested to by the Abusir papyri. In the case of the ''Setibre'', the festival of the "Night of Ra" is specifically said to have taken place there. This was a festival concerned with Ra's journey during the night and connected with the ideas of renewal and rebirth that were central to sun temples. The temple played an important role in the distribution of food offerings which were brought everyday from there to the mortuary temple of the king. This journey was made by boat, indicating that the ''Setibre'' was not adjacent to Neferirkare's pyramid. This also underscores the dependent position of the king with respect to Ra, as offerings were made to the sun god and then to the deceased king.


Sun temple of Userkaf

The Egyptologist Werner Kaiser proposed, based on a study of the evolution of the hieroglyph determinative for "sun temple", that Neferirkare completed the sun temple of Userkaf—known in Ancient Egyptian as ''Nekhenre''—sometime around the fifth cattle count of his reign. This opinion is shared by the Egyptologists and archaeologists Ogden Goelet, Mark Lehner and Herbert Ricke. In this hypothesis, Neferirkare would have provided the ''Nekhenre'' with its monumental obelisk of limestone and red granite. Verner and the Egyptologist Paule Posener-Kriéger have pointed out two difficulties with the hypothesis. Firstly, it would imply a long interlude between the two phases of construction of Userkaf's temple: nearly 25 years between the erection of the temple and that of its obelisk. Secondly, they observe that both the pyramid and sun temple of Neferirkare were unfinished at his death, raising the question as to why the king would have devoted exceptional effort on a monument of Userkaf when his own still required substantial works to be completed. Instead, Verner proposes that it was Sahure who finished the ''Nekhenre''.


Funerary cult

As with the other pharaohs of the Fifth Dynasty, Neferirkare was the object of a funerary cult after his death. Cylinder seals belonging to priests and priestesses serving in this cult attest his existence during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom period. For example, a black steatite seal, now in the Metropolitan Museum bears the inscription "wikt:votary, Votary of
Hathor Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky ...
and priestess of the good god Neferirkare, beloved of the gods". Some of these officials had roles in the cults of several kings, as well as in their sun temples. Offerings for the funerary cult of deceased rulers were provided by dedicated agricultural estates set up during the king's reign. A few of these are known for Neferirkare, including "The estate of Kakai (named) the ''i3gt'' of Kakai", "Strong is the power of Kakai", "The plantations of Kakai", "Nekhbet desires that Kakai lives", "Neferirkare is beloved of the ennead" and "The mansion of the Ba of Neferirkare". Traces of the continued existence of the funerary cult of Neferirkare beyond the Old Kingdom period are scant. A pair of statues belonging to a certain Sekhemhotep were uncovered in Giza, one of which is inscribed with the standard Ancient Egyptian offering formula followed by "of the temple of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferirkare, Maat Kheru, true of voice". The statues, which date to the early 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom period are the only archaeological evidence that Neferirkare's funerary cult still existed or had been revived around Abusir at the time, albeit in a very limited form.


Notes, references and sources


Notes


References


Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neferirkare Kakai Neferirkare Kakai, 25th-century BC Pharaohs Pharaohs of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt