Bauefre

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Bauefre in hieroglyphics
Papyrus Westcar
Column 4.18
ra
Z1 		G30 V1 Y1
Z2
f

Bau-f-Re
B3.wf-Rˁ
Re is his glory
Wadi Hammamat
cartridge number 5
V10A ra G29 f V11A

Ba-ef-Re
B3-f-Rˁ
Re is his fame

Bauefre (also read as Baufra , Baefre or Ra-bau-ef ) is the name of an alleged son of the king ( pharaoh ) Cheops during the 4th Dynasty . He is neither contemporary nor archaeologically proven, his name appears in a rock inscription in Wadi Hammamat and in the famous Westcar papyrus as the narrator of a miracle story.

identity

Bauefre in Wadi Hammamat

Bauefre's name only appears in two sources so far. In Wadi Hammamat his name can be found in a king's cartridge together with the cartridge names Chufu , Djedefre , Chafre , Djedefhor and Baufra . It is unknown why Bauefre's name appears in a cartouche, possibly he was venerated as a patron saint in Wadi Hammamat. This fact led to confusion in the history of Egyptological research, as the name "Djedefhor" also appears in a cartouche, although it is known that this person never bore the title of "King of Upper and Lower Egypt " during his lifetime , but only "Son of the King", a prince , was. Donald B. Redford suspects that the name and glorification of Bauefre and Djedefhor is based on a misunderstanding on the part of the Egyptians that may have arisen as early as the beginning of the New Kingdom, when literary masterpieces such as "Cheops and the Sorcerers" and " The Prophecy of Neferti ”and alleged historical roles were ascribed to the ancestral kings: since a strikingly large number of sons and grandsons of Cheops came to the throne, the Egyptians must have believed that in fact and without exception all heirs would have ruled. So did the Princes Hordjedef and Bauefre.

Bauefre in the Westcar papyrus

Bauefre's name appears in the Westcar papyrus as the son of Cheops and the narrator of a miracle story. In search of a sanctuary, Cheops lets his sons tell fairy tales and anecdotes that are said to have occurred under Cheops' predecessors Djoser , Nebka and Snefru .

Bauefre tells the story of Cheops' father Snefru, who one day strolls through his palace, bored and melancholy, looking in vain for diversion. His lecture priest Djadjaemanch suggested that he go rowing on the holy lake of Dahshur . Sneferu then summons twenty beautiful women, dressed only in fishing net costumes , and paddles them leisurely up and down the lake. When the strike lady drops an amulet into the water, Djadjaemanch uses a spell to divide the water of the lake and to safely retrieve the amulet. After the batting lady has got her piece of jewelry back, the rowing trip is continued and Sneferu rewards Djadjaemanch princely.

After Bauefre has finished his story, Cheops thanks him and has offerings made for his father Sneferu.

Possible burial site

The double mastaba G 7310 - 7320 in the eastern burial ground of Giza was awarded Bauefre several times. Today, however, it is preferably attributed to a prince named Babaef I.

literature

  • Miroslav Bárta : The Title Inspector of the Palace during the Egyptian Old Kingdom. In: Archives Orientální. Volume 67, No. 1, February 1999, pp. 1-20.
  • Jürgen von Beckerath : Baef-Re. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume I, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1975, ISBN 3-447-01670-1 , Sp. 600.
  • Aidan Dodson , Dyan Hilton : The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt . Thames & Hudson, London 2004, ISBN 0-500-05128-3 .
  • Peter Jánosi : Giza in the 4th dynasty. The building history and occupancy of a necropolis in the Old Kingdom. Volume I: The mastabas of the core cemeteries and the rock graves. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-7001-3244-1 .
  • Verena M. Lepper : Investigations on pWestcar. A philological and literary (re-) analysis . (= Egyptological treatises. Volume 70). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 3-447-05651-7 .
  • Miriam Lichtheim : Ancient Egyptian literature: a book of readings. The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Volume 1. University of California Press, Berkeley 2000, ISBN 0-520-02899-6 .
  • Hermann Ranke , Anneliese Biedenkopf-Ziehner: The Egyptian personal names . Volume 1, Augustin, Glückstadt 1935, p. 89.
  • Donald B. Redford: Pharaonic king-lists, annals, and day-books: a contribution to the study of the Egyptian sense of history (= SSEA publication, Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. Volume 4). Benben, Indiana 1986, ISBN 0-920-16807-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hermann Ranke, Anneliese Biedenkopf-Ziehner: The Egyptian personal names . Glückstadt 1935, p. 89, line 23.
  2. ^ Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt . London 2004, pp. 50-61.
  3. ↑ Peter Jánosi: Giza in the 4th Dynasty. Vienna 2005, pp. 64–65.
  4. ^ Donald B. Redford: Pharaonic king-lists, annals, and day-books . Indiana 1986, p. 237.
  5. ↑ Verena M. Lepper: Investigations on pWestcar . Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 41-46.
  6. ↑ Miriam Lichtheim: Ancient Egyptian literature . Berkeley 2000, pp. 215-220.
  7. ^ William Stevenson Smith : The Origin of Some Unidentified Old Kingdom Reliefs. In: American Journal of Archeology. Volume 46, 1942, pp. 523-524.
  8. ↑ Miroslav Bárta: The Title Inspector of the Palace during the Egyptian Old Kingdom. In: Archives Orientální. Volume 67, No. 1, pp. 4, 10 & 12-13.
personal data
SURNAME Bauefre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Construction; Ra-bau-ef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Son of a pharaoh
DATE OF BIRTH 26th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 26th century BC Chr.