Neferneferure ( egy, nfr-nfr.w-rꜥ "beautiful are the beauties of Re") (14th century BCE) was an ancient Egyptian princess of the 18th Dynasty. She was the fifth of six known daughters of

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 ...

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth D ...

and his Great Royal Wife

Nefertiti Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in which ...

Family

Neferneferure was born in or before the 8th regnal year of her father

in the city of Akhetaten.Tyldesley, Joyce. Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen. Penguin. 1998. She had four older sisters named

Meritaten Meritaten, also spelled Merytaten, Meritaton or Meryetaten ( egy, mrii.t-itn) (14th century BC), was an ancient Egyptian royal woman of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Her name means "She who is beloved of Aten"; Aten being the sun-deity whom h ...

Meketaten Meketaten ("Behold the Aten" or "Protected by Aten") was the second daughter of six born to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. She likely lived between Year 4 and Year 14 of Akhenaten's reign. Although little is known ...

Ankhesenpaaten Ankhesenamun (, "Her Life Is of Amun"; c. 1348 or c. 1342 – after 1322 BC) was a queen who lived during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt as the pharaoh Akhenaten's daughter and subsequently became the Great Royal Wife of pharaoh Tutankhamun. Born Ank ...

and

Neferneferuaten Tasherit Neferneferuaten Tasherit or Neferneferuaten the younger (14th century BCE) was an ancient Egyptian princess of the 18th Dynasty and the fourth daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. Family Neferneferuaten was born b ...

, as well as a younger sister named Setepenre.Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2004.

Life

One of the earliest depictions of Neferneferure is in a fresco from the King's House in Amarna. She is depicted sitting on a pillow with her sister

. The fresco is dated to ca. year 9 of

, and the entire family is depicted, including the baby Setepenre. Neferneferure is depicted at the Durbar in year 12 in the tomb of the Overseer of the royal quarters

Meryre II Meryre II was an ancient Egyptian noble known as the superintendent of Queen Nefertiti, and held the title of royal scribe, steward, overseer of the two treasuries, overseer of the royal harem of Nefertiti. He had a tomb constructed at Amarna ...

in Amarna. Akhenaten and Nefertiti are shown seated in a kiosk, receiving tribute from foreign lands. The daughters of the royal couple are shown standing behind their parents. Neferure is the middle daughter in the lower register. She is holding a gazelle in her right arm and a lotus flower in her left. She is standing right behind her sister Neferneferuaten Tasherit. Her sister Setepenre is standing behind her and is shown reaching over to pet the gazelle.Murnane, William J., Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt, Society of Biblical Literature, 1995

Death and burial

Neferneferure probably died in the 13th or 14th regnal year, possibly in the plague that swept across Egypt during this time. She is absent from one scene and her name was plastered over in another scene in the Royal Tomb in Amarna. To be specific, on Wall C of the chamber

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of the Royal Tomb her name was mentioned among the five princesses (the list excluded the youngest, Setepenre, who was possibly dead by this time), but was later covered by plaster. On Wall B of the chamber

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she is missing from the scene which shows her parents and three elder sisters –

and

– mourning the dead second princess,

. This suggests that she is likely to have died shortly before the decoration of these chambers was finished. It is possible that Neferneferure was actually buried in chamber

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of the royal tomb. Alternatively she may have been buried in Tomb 29 in Amarna. This theory is based on an amphora handle bearing an inscription mentioning the inner (burial) chamber of Neferneferure. If Neferneferure was buried in tomb 29, then this may mean the Royal Tomb was already sealed at the time of her burial and that she may have died after the death of her father

Other objects mentioning Neferneferure

A lid of a small box (JdE 61498) bearing her picture was found among the treasures of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

. It shows the princess crouching, with a finger pressed to her mouth, as very young children were often depicted.T.G.H. James, Tutankhamun, White Star, 2000 (Barnes and Noble Books 2002), On the lid Re's name in her name was written phonetically instead of with the usual circled dot.

References

* Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt: ''Tutankhamen – Life and Death of a Pharaoh'' {{Amarna Period Navigator Princesses of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt 14th-century BC Egyptian women Children of Akhenaten Nefertiti Royalty who died as children