Hordjedef

Hordjedef (or Djedefhor ) is the name of an ancient Egyptian prince of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom . He was a son of King ( Pharaoh ) Cheops . His mother was presumably Queen Meritites I. Hordjedef has enjoyed great veneration since the end of the Old Kingdom and has been mentioned several times in various literary works since the Middle Kingdom . So he is seen as the author of a wisdom doctrine, which with great certainty did not arise until the Middle Kingdom. He is also one of the main characters in the stories in the Westcar Papyrus .

The rock inscription in Wadi Hammamat

In Wadi Hammamat , Hordjedef's name can be found in a royal cartridge together with the cartridge names Chufu , Radjedef , Chafre and Bauefre . It is unknown why Hordjedef'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 "Bauefre" also appears in a cartouche, although it is known of this person that he probably never bore the title of "King of Upper and Lower Egypt " during his lifetime , but rather was only "son of the king", that is, a prince . Donald B. Redford suspects that the name and glorification of Bauefre and Hordjedef is based on a misunderstanding on the part of the Egyptians that might have arisen as early as the beginning of the New Kingdom, when literary masterpieces such as "Cheops and the Magicians" and " The Prophecy of Neferti ”and supposed 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 all heirs had actually ruled, without exception. So did the Princes Hordjedef and Bauefre.

Literary testimonies

The teaching of Hordjedef

The teaching of Hordjedef is only preserved in a few fragments . Due to its language, the Middle Kingdom can be clearly assumed as the time of origin of the work. However, it has only come down to us on a few ostraka from the New Kingdom and a wooden panel from the late period . The content of the teaching is concern for the grave and the service of the dead.

The stories of the Westcar papyrus

The stories in the Westcar Papyrus are set in the court of King Cheops. He has miracle stories told by his sons. After three stories from the past have already been told, Hordjedef tells of a still living wizard named Dedi . This is brought to the royal court and there performs a trick in which he cuts off the animals' heads and then puts them back on without them dying.

Book of the dead sayings

Proverbs 30 B, 64 and 148 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead contain a postscript in several manuscripts in which the alleged history of these proverbs is discussed. They are seen as the work of the god Thoth and are said to have been found by Hordjedef under the rule of Pharaoh Mykerinos .

The harper song of the Antef

The harper song of Antef comes from the 18th dynasty and deals with this world and the hereafter. The joys of life in this world are presented in the song as positive and worth striving for. The lot of the dead, on the other hand, is described as bleak, since no one sacrifices to them anymore and their graves fall into ruin. The ruined graves of Imhotep and Hordjedef are specifically mentioned here .

The book of the slaughter of the rebel

The “Book of the Slaughter of the Rebels” is a magical treatise for warding off spirits of the dead. It is recorded on the papyrus Athens National Library in 1826, which from the Ramesside ( 19th / 20th Dynasty ) comes and calls in one place the names of 22 persons who probably one in the form of papyrus - amulet should provide magical protection. These people include famous officials such as Hordjedef or Imhotep, but also fictional characters such as Djadjaemanch, a magician from the stories in the Westcar papyrus.

The Book of the Temple

The book of the temple is known from demotic papyri from Roman times and regulates everyday life in the temple. According to a finding at the beginning of the book, the text is said to have been written under Neferkasokar in the 2nd dynasty. After this find note, the text was later found again by Hordjedef and copied. Although this story is certainly fictitious, it still testifies to a certain fame of the prince in Roman times.

His grave

Djedefhor heard the Doppelmastaba G 7210-7220 on the Eastern Cemetery of the Cheops pyramid . The decoration of the grave remained unfinished and was partially destroyed at an unknown time. George Andrew Reisner saw this as an indication that after the death of Cheops a feud broke out between his descendants. The very careful chiselling of the reliefs suggests that the grave should be redesigned for another burial.

In addition, a grave was sarcophagus of red granite found, the now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is located.

literature

To person

Michel Baud : Famille royale et pouvoir sous l'Ancien Empire égyptien. Tome 2 (= Bibliothèque d'Étude. Volume 126/2). Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Cairo 1999, ISBN 2-7247-0250-6 , pp. 522-523 ( PDF; 16.7 MB ).
Jürgen von Beckerath : Djedefhor . In: Lexicon of Egyptology . Volume 1, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1975, column 1099.
Aidan Dodson , Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt . The American University in Cairo Press, London 2004, ISBN 977-424-878-3 , pp. 52-61.
Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 , p. 112.
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 0920168078 , p. 237.

To the grave

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 , pp. 104-106, ( PDF; 8.9 MB ).
Bertha Porter , Rosalind LB Moss : Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. Volume III: Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, p. 191 ( PDF; 30.5 MB ).
George Andrew Reisner : A History of the Giza Necropolis. Volume I. Harvard University Press, Harvard 1942, p. 205 ( PDF; 249.8 MB ).
William Stevenson Smith : Inscriptional Evidence for the History of the Fourth Dynasty . In: Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 11, 1952, p. 128, Fig. 8 (top right) ( PDF; 2.5 MB ).
Anna Maria Donadoni Roveri: I sarcofagi egizi dalle origini alla fine dell'Antico Regno . Roma 1969, p. 112, plate 16 ( PDF; 46.5 MB ).

On the teaching of Hordjedef

Günter Burkard , Heinz J. Thissen : Introduction to the ancient Egyptian literary history. Volume I: Old and Middle Kingdom . LIT, Münster / Hamburg / London 2003, pp. 80–82 ( restricted online version ).
Wolfgang Helck : The teaching of Djedefhor and the teaching of a man to his son (= Small Egyptian texts. (KÄT) Volume 9). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1984.
Wolfgang Kosack : Berlin booklets on Egyptian literature 1 - 12 : Part I. 1 - 6 / Part II. 7 - 12 (2 volumes). Parallel texts in hieroglyphics with introductions and translation. Book 6: The Teaching of Djedefhor (Hardedef). C. Brunner, Basel 2015, ISBN 978-3-906206-11-0 .
Miriam Lichtheim : Ancient Egyptian Literature. Volume I: The Old an Middle Kingdom . Berkeley / Los Angeles / London 1973, pp. 58–59.
Georges Posener : Teaching of Djedefhor . In: Lexicon of Egyptology . Volume 3, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980, column 978-980.

Web links

Djedefhor on Ancient Egypt (English)
Djedefhor in Papyrus Westcar (Berlin Papyrus 3033), transcription based on Blackman (1988) (PDF file; 517 kB)

Individual evidence

^ Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt . Pp. 50-61.
↑ Peter Jánosi: Giza in the 4th Dynasty. Pp. 64-65.
^ Donald B. Redford: Pharaonic king-lists, annals, and day-books . P. 237.
^ Günter Burkard, Heinz J. Thissen: History of literature. Vol. I, p. 81.
↑ Dietrich Wildung : The role of Egyptian kings in the consciousness of their posterity. Part I. Posthumous sources on the kings of the first four dynasties (= Munich Egyptological Studies. Vol. 17). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin, 1969 pp. 217–221.
↑ Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert , Tonio Sebastian Richter: Ancient Egyptian magic spells. Reclam, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-018375-8 , pp. 46-49, 136-137.
↑ JF Quack: Sick people who are taboo and excluded from the "Book of the Temple". In: H.-W. Fischer-Elfert (Ed.) Ebers papyrus and ancient medicine. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-447-05209-0 , p. 63.

personal data
SURNAME	Hordjedef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Djedefhor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient egyptian prince
DATE OF BIRTH	26th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	26th century BC Chr.

[1] Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt . Pp. 50-61.

[2] Peter Jánosi: Giza in the 4th Dynasty. Pp. 64-65.

[3] Donald B. Redford: Pharaonic king-lists, annals, and day-books . P. 237.

[4] Günter Burkard, Heinz J. Thissen: History of literature. Vol. I, p. 81.

[5] Dietrich Wildung : The role of Egyptian kings in the consciousness of their posterity. Part I. Posthumous sources on the kings of the first four dynasties (= Munich Egyptological Studies. Vol. 17). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin, 1969 pp. 217–221.

[6] Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert , Tonio Sebastian Richter: Ancient Egyptian magic spells. Reclam, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-018375-8 , pp. 46-49, 136-137.

[7] JF Quack: Sick people who are taboo and excluded from the "Book of the Temple". In: H.-W. Fischer-Elfert (Ed.) Ebers papyrus and ancient medicine. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-447-05209-0 , p. 63.