Kanefer (Prince)

Kanefer in hieroglyphics
Kanefer (Ka nefer) K3 nfr With beautiful Ka

Kanefer was an ancient Egyptian prince of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom . He may have been a son of King ( Pharaoh ) Sneferu , but that is not certain.

identity

Kanefer is considered by some Egyptologists , such as Rainer Stadelmann , as the son of Sneferu, the founder of the fourth dynasty. Other researchers, however, dated it to a later time. Wolfgang Helck, for example, imagines the prince's lifetime at the end of the 4th dynasty. Kanefer held several important titles, such as that of vizier (the highest office in the state), but also that of general . Rainer Stadelmann also considers him to be the builder of the Red Pyramid of Sneferu.

tomb

Kanefer owns the mastaba DAM 15 (number 28) in Dahshur . Although it can be classified architecturally in the early 4th dynasty and thus in the reign of Sneferu, this temporal classification has been questioned from several sides. Wolfgang Helck, for example, dates the grave inscriptions to the end of the 4th dynasty. Another point of criticism is the position of the grave. It is located about 1.2 km east of the Red Pyramid and is therefore significantly further away than the actual royal family necropolis .

literature

• 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 , p. 592 ( PDF; 16.7 MB ).
• Aidan Dodson , Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo 2004, ISBN 977-424-878-3 , pp. 52-61.
• Michael Haase : The field of tears. King Sneferu and the Pyramids of Dahshur. Ullstein, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-550-07141-8 , pp. 217-219.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jacques de Morgan : Fouilles à Dahchour en 1894–1895. Vienna 1903, pp. 22–23, figs. 52-53 online