Djedefhor or Hordjedef was a noble

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

ian of the 4th Dynasty. 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 c ...

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 ...

Biography

Djedefhor was a son of Pharaoh

and half-brother of pharaohs Djedefre 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 histor ...

., p.58 Queen Meritites I 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 f ...

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

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

. His sarcophagus is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Appearance in ancient Egyptian fiction

He is one of the main characters in a story included in the Papyrus Westcar. In the text of that papyrus, Djedefhor is mentioned as one who brought the soothsayer and magician called Djedi to the court of Khufu. This Djedi was inspired by real Prince Djedi, who was a son of Prince Rahotep and nephew to Khufu.

Sources

{{Reflist

External links

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