Chephren

Names of Chephren

Statue of Chephren ; Egyptian Museum , Cairo

Horus name

User-ib
Wsr-jb
With a strong will (The one with a strong
heart)

Sideline

User-em-nebti
Wsr-m-nb.tj
Strong through the (/ with the) two mistresses

Gold name

Netjer-nebu-
Sechem Nṯr-nb.w-sḫm
Mighty Falcon

Proper name

Chafre
Ḫˁj = f Rˁ
He appears, (namely) Re

Useribchafre
Wsr jb ḫˁj = f Rˁ
With a strong will, he appears, (namely) Re

Royal Papyrus Turin (No. III./12)

... cha ...
(badly damaged)

List of kings of Abydos (Seti I) (No. 23)

Proper name: Chafre Ḫˁj = f Rˁ
He appears, (namely) Re

List of Kings of Saqqara (No.19)

Proper name: Chafre Ḫˁj = f Rˁ
He appears, (namely) Re

Greek
Manetho variants:

in Eratosthenes :

Africanus : Souphis II.
Eusebius : missing
Eusebius, AV : missing

Saophis

Chafre or Chaefre ( Greek Χεφρήν, Chephren ) was the fourth king ( Pharaoh ) of the ancient Egyptian 4th dynasty in the Old Kingdom . He ruled from about 2570 to 2530 BC. There is very little evidence of his person or his reign. He is best known for the construction of the second pyramid of Giza and for numerous statues , some of which are superbly preserved , that were found in their vicinity.

Surname

Cartridge name of the chief in the Abydos list

Due to the Greek description of the name as Chephren , the reading ( transliteration ) as Chaefre ( transcription : ancient Egyptian ḫˁj = f Rˁ ) and the German translation “He appears like Re” or “He appears, (namely) Re” certainly seems to be based on grammatical For reasons, however, a reading as Rachaef (transcription: Rˁ ḫˁj = f and translation: “Re appears”) is quite possible. The uncertainty arises from the fact that the divine name Re can be placed in front of the Egyptian script, regardless of the spoken word sequence.

Origin and family

ancestry

Chephren is a son of Pharaoh Cheops , his mother is unknown. According to Rainer Stadelmann , he is identical to Chaefchufu I , who is attested by a mastaba in the east cemetery of the Cheops pyramid .

The eldest (half) brother of Chephren was long considered to be Kawab , who was believed to have originally been Cheops' heir to the throne, but who died early. According to more recent findings, Kawab seems to have been a son of Snefru and thus a brother of Cheops. The actual heir to the throne was Radjedef (Djedefre), another son of Cheops. Other brothers of Chephren were Babaef I , Minchaef and Hordjedef . The assignment of Anchhaf (brother or uncle) as well as Mindjedef and Duaenhor (brothers or nephews) is uncertain . It is also unclear whether Horbaef was a brother of Chephren. It is only attested by its sarcophagus , the exact location of which has not been noted. A later assignment to a grave in the east cemetery of the Great Pyramid of Cheops, where the sons of Cheops were buried, is therefore speculative . Bauefre , who is only known through testimonies from the Middle Kingdom , could be another brother if he is not identical to Babaef I.

(Half) sisters of Chephren were his wife Chamerernebti I. as well as Hetepheres II. , Meresanch II. And Neferetiabet .

Marriages and offspring

In addition to Chephren's half-sister Chamerernebti I, his niece Meresanch III. as well as Persenet and Hekenuhedjet - the latter only known by their names being given in their son's grave.

An assignment of people as wives and descendants of Chephren is not certain in all cases and is based primarily on their graves and the inscriptions there. A quarry on the so-called Central Field , which extends east of the Chephren pyramid, as well as some graves south of it, served as the family cemetery of Khafre . Meresanch III only. was buried apart from it, in the east cemetery of the Great Pyramid of Cheops . Since names of rulers were avoided in the graves of their family members, the assignment is usually based on the title of the grave owner (king's wife, king's son / daughter).

From the marriage with Chamerernebti I a daughter named Chamerernebti II and the later Pharaoh Mykerinos emerged. As children of Meresanch III. four sons named Cheneterka , Duaenre , Nebemachet and Niuserre , a daughter named Schepsetkau and two other daughters, whose names are no longer known, are known. The connection with Hekenuhedjet resulted in a son named Sechemkare . The assignment of a Nikaure as the son of Persenet is uncertain, as it was only made because of the close proximity of the graves of both people.

In addition, other descendants of Chephren are attested, but their mothers are unknown. These are the sons Anchmare , Achre and Iunmin and daughters Hemetre and Rechetre . The assignment of another son named Iunre is very doubtful. In his grave he expressly describes himself as the son of Chephren, but this seems to speak against his royal origin, as no other case is known from the 4th dynasty in which a king's son mentions his father's name.

Domination

Clay seal fragment of Chephren

Chephren succeeded his brother Radjedef to the throne after he had ruled for about a decade. Since rule in Pharaonic Egypt usually passed from father to son, this change of government was the cause of numerous speculations. For example, George Andrew Reisner assumed that after the death of Cheops there were family disputes and two branches of the family fought for supremacy. Radjedef would therefore not have been intended as the rightful heir to the throne and after his death Chephren would have seized power.

Reisner's assumption is not supported by any archaeological finds. After Radjedef's death there was no Damnatio memoriae , he enjoyed cultic veneration and also appears in later king lists. An unlawful seizure of power can therefore be ruled out. The question of why he was not followed by one of his sons but by his brother Chephren therefore remains open.

The exact reign of Chephren is unknown. The royal papyrus Turin , which was created in the New Kingdom and is an important document on Egyptian chronology , is damaged at the relevant point, so that only the indication 20 + x years can be read out. The Greek historian Herodotus names 56 years of reign, which began in the 3rd century BC. Living Egyptian priests Manetho 66. The highest contemporary documented date is a “13. Times the count ”, which means a nationwide census of livestock for the purpose of tax collection. The problem with this is that these censuses originally took place every two years (ie an “xth year of the count” was followed by a “year after the xth time of the count”), but later could also take place annually (to a “Xth year of counting” was followed by “yth year of counting”). Whether a regular biennial census took place under Chephren cannot be determined from the available source material, as too few dates have been preserved from his reign. If so, the reign would be 26 years, which is in line with the information provided by the Royal Papyrus Turin.

Apart from his construction work, there is hardly any evidence of Chephren's reign. An expedition to the quarries of Wadi Hammamat is attested by a graffito , another inscription was found in Bir Menih in the eastern desert. Seal impressions found in the port of Ain Suchna on the Gulf of Suez suggest an expedition to the Sinai Peninsula . Trade relations with the Syrian region are evidenced by a bowl from Ebla and a seal cylinder from Byblos , both of which bear Chephren's name.

The court

Bust of Anchhaf in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Very few high officials are known from the reign of Chephren. In addition to the head of the palace Achethotep, a son-in-law of Cheops, only bearers of the highest official title, the viziers , have come down to us. During the 4th dynasty this office was only held by members of the royal family. Under Chephren these were his brother or uncle Anchhaf, his brother Minchaef and his cousin Nefermaat II. Chephren's sons Anchmare, Duaenre, Iunmin, Nebemachet, Nikaure and Sechemkare also held the office of vizier in the later course of the 4th dynasty.

Construction activity

Giza

The Chephren pyramid

Chephren had his pyramid, like his father Khufu, on the Giza - Plateau build. It has a side length of 215 meters and with a height of 143.5 meters is only three meters smaller than the Cheops pyramid, but because of its location about ten meters higher it looks larger than it. As building material for the core masonry served local limestone, the bottom row of the panel consists of rose granite, all further from Tura - limestone . The pyramid was originally planned to be larger and should be further north. Due to the change in plan, the Khafre pyramid also has two entrances. Both are on the north side. The older one is about 30 meters outside the structure. From there a corridor leads diagonally downwards, from which a room branches off to the west. The younger entrance is about twelve meters high on the north wall. From there, a passage leads downwards, which then runs horizontally at the level of the pyramid base and joins the lower passage a little later. The burial chamber is centrally located at the bottom of the pyramid. The granite sarcophagus measures 2.64 × 1.07 × 0.97 meters. Giovanni Battista Belzoni , who was the first researcher to penetrate the interior of the pyramid in 1818, found it completely robbed. Since the chamber system, in contrast to the Cheops pyramid, was designed much more simply, suspicions were repeatedly expressed that there might be other, hidden rooms in the masonry. Location attempts with radar signals could not confirm these assumptions.

The pyramid complex

Plan of the Giza Necropolis

South of Chephren's tomb is a small cult pyramid that served as a symbolic grave for the Ka-soul of the deceased Pharaoh. To the east is the mortuary temple, in the vicinity of which five boat pits were discovered. The mortuary temple is connected to the valley temple by a pathway, which of all the sanctuaries of the Old Kingdom has the best state of preservation. Numerous statues of the king were discovered here in several excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries , including several life-size specimens. In the north, west and south, the pyramid complex is bounded by an enclosure wall. On the western outside there are magazines and workers' barracks.

During the reign of Chephren, several new cemeteries were also built in Giza. A quarry extends south of the mortuary temple, from which both Cheops and Chephren obtained building material for their pyramids and in which the latter had rock graves for his wives and sons. For one of his sons, Nebemachet, a rock grave (LG 12) apparently originally appears to have been created west of the Chephren pyramid, but this was later abandoned in favor of a grave (LG 86) close to the other family members. To the east of the royal cemetery, the Central Field was built , on which numerous official graves were built and which was massively expanded in the following dynasties. Two cemeteries near the Great Pyramid of Cheops, namely the GIS cemetery in the south and the Cemetery en Échelon in the west, could have been created during the reign of Chephren, but their dating is problematic.

The Sphinx

The great Sphinx of Giza

Most Egyptologists believed that the Sphinx was the work of Chephren since the first archaeological excavations in Giza . However, this assumption was mainly based on its immediate vicinity to its valley temple as well as on a heavily damaged text passage on the dream stele , which Thutmose IV had erected in the 18th dynasty . Due to the severe destruction of the relevant text passage, its reading is unclear; an assignment of the Sphinx to Chephren cannot be clearly determined. Rainer Stadelmann takes a different view. Due to several stylistic features of the representation of the head, he believes that the Sphinx was created under Cheops. Mark Lehner, on the other hand, relies on geological investigations on the Sphinx and on the stone blocks of the Sphinx Temple and the Chephren Valley Temple. These investigations show that the building material for both temples comes from the very quarry in which the Sphinx is located. Lehner therefore sees all three buildings as a joint construction project.

Building activity outside of Giza

Outside Giza there are no known buildings that can be clearly assigned to Chephren. In Bubastis and Tanis , individual blocks of stone with his name were found, but they were most likely brought here secondarily. In Memphis he had an alabaster statue erected.

Statues

Of all the rulers of the Old Kingdom, Chephren is evidenced by the greatest number of statues. Almost without exception, they come from Giza, partly from the official necropolis there, but mainly from the area around the temple complexes of the Chephren pyramid. In a large hall of the valley temple, 23 depressions have been made in the ground, in which originally life-size statues stood. One of these depressions is wider than the others, there may have been two statues here. It has been suggested that these 24 statues are related to the hours of the day. All of these statues were removed from their location at some point after the reign of Khafre. Auguste Mariette found nine of them during excavations in 1860 (Inv.No. CG 9 to CG 17) and fragments of a tenth (CG 378) in a pit within the valley temple. These statues are now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo .


Diorite statue of Chephren ; Egyptian Museum, Cairo (CG 14)	Seated statue of Chephren from Mit Rahina; Egyptian Museum, Cairo	Head of a statue of Chephren; Egyptian Museum Georg Steindorff Leipzig, Inv.-No. 1945	Head of a statue of Chephren; Egyptian Museum Georg Steindorff Leipzig, Inv.-No. 1946

Fragments of a statue of Chephren; Egyptian Museum Georg Steindorff Leipzig, Inv.-No. 8249

The statues CG 9 to CG 14 are made of diorite , the remaining four of greywacke . CG 9, 10, 13 and 17 were found headless, only the legs of CG 16 are preserved. The statue CG 14 (also JE 10062) is the most famous statue of Chephren. It is 168 centimeters high and almost completely intact, with major damage only to the left leg and left forearm. Chephren sits here on a throne that ends in lion feet and on the sides of which the symbol of the union of the two countries (Upper and Lower Egypt) is attached. Chephren wears a goatee and the royal Nemes headscarf. Behind his head a Horus falcon spreads his wings protectively over him. CG 15 is also in excellent condition and has a very similar design. At 120 centimeters, this statue is slightly smaller. The throne has the same symbols, but lacks the lion's feet and the backrest. The Horus falcon is also absent. Selim Hassan found a few other, only very incompletely preserved statues in the area around the Chephren pyramid in the 1930s.

The Egyptian Museum Cairo also has another well-preserved seated statue of Chephren, which does not come from Giza, but from Mit Rahina ( Memphis ). Alabaster was used as the material .

In the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston there are around 200 fragments, some of which are tiny, of numerous statues of Khafre, which were found in the west cemetery of the Great Pyramid of Cheops. One of the best preserved pieces is a statue head (Inv.-No. 21.351). It is made of travertine and measures 20.4 × 12.4 × 10 centimeters. Remnants of a beard and a headscarf have been preserved.


Head of a statuette of Chephren; Egyptian Museum Georg Steindorff Leipzig, Inv.-No. 1947	Remains of a statuette of Chephren; Egyptian Museum Georg Steindorff Leipzig, Inv.-No. 1948	Fragment of a statue of Chephren; Egyptian Museum Georg Steindorff Leipzig, Inv.-No. 1950	Fragment of a statue of Chephren; Egyptian Museum Georg Steindorff Leipzig, Inv.-No. 1951

The Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig houses four heads of smaller statues of Chephren, which were found during excavations in the area of the valley temple of the Chephren pyramid in 1909 and 1910. The first (Inv. No. 1945) consists of anorthosic gneiss and is 17.2 centimeters high. The king wears a goatee and the royal headscarf, which is only partially preserved. The statue head has very individual facial features and is one of the showpieces of the Leipzig collection. A second piece (inv. No. 1946) shows Chephren in the same regalia. It is made of metagrauwacke and is 9 centimeters high. The headscarf is almost completely preserved here, as is the right shoulder. The last two pieces (inv. No. 1947 and 1948) are made of limestone and show the king with the red crown of Lower Egypt. The first measures eight centimeters and has eyes whose irises were once inlaid with flint. The eyelids originally had a copper coating . The upper body of the second piece is also partially preserved, but it is severely damaged. The king is depicted in the regalia of the anniversary festival. Here, too, the eyelids show remains of a copper coating. In addition, the Leipzig Museum is still in possession of a few smaller fragments of other Chephren statues.

Fragments of a statue of Chephren; Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim

A statue head (inv. No. 5415) that has only survived in fragments is exhibited in the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim . It is made of calcite and measures 48.7 centimeters in height and 41.2 centimeters in width. Here, too, the king is shown wearing the Nemes headscarf. Paint residue on the right eyebrow suggests that the entire statue was originally painted.

The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen has a statue head (Inv.-No. 1599), which was acquired from a private collection and is said to have been originally found in Giza. It is 15.5 centimeters high and made of limestone. Due to the characteristic facial features, it is probably an image of Chephren.

Another granite statue head is privately owned. It is 39.5 centimeters high and 30.5 centimeters wide, its place of origin is unknown. He is also assigned to Chephren because of his characteristic facial features and the depiction of the headscarf. Also in private ownership is a small limestone head that can possibly be assigned to Chephren, although its origin is also unknown. It is only eight centimeters high and in its workmanship and appearance very much resembles the statue head in Leipzig in 1947. The most striking resemblance is the copper coating on the eyebrows. In contrast to the Leipzig head, however, this one wears the white crown of Upper Egypt.

Fragments of other statues are also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin .

Chephren in the memory of ancient Egypt

Old empire

Chephren enjoyed a pronounced cult of the dead during the Old Kingdom , which lasted until the end of the 6th Dynasty . From this period a total of 32 priests of the dead and officials connected with the cult of the dead are recorded, the majority of whom belonged to the 5th dynasty . This is a comparatively high number. For example, for his predecessor Radjedef only eight and for Mykerinos as the last ruler of the 4th dynasty to reign for a long time still 21 priests of the dead and officials are recorded. Only for Chephren's father Cheops are significantly more death priests and officials known, namely 73.

Such a cult of the dead was always of great economic importance, as numerous agricultural goods ( domains ) were set up to supply offerings . As with his father, however, the economic importance quickly waned. The majority of 51 known domains can be dated to the 5th dynasty. Only one domain is attested from the 6th dynasty.

Middle realm

Almost no documents are known from the Middle Kingdom that deal with Chephren. At this time there was no longer any evidence of a cult of the dead. At the beginning of the 12th dynasty , King Amenemhet I had the temple complex partially demolished and used the stones to build his own pyramid in el-Lisht .

Wadi Hammamat

An important document from the 12th Dynasty is a rock inscription in Wadi Hammamat . Here the names of Chephren, his father Cheops and his brothers Radjedef, Hordjedef and Bauefre are mentioned side by side. All of these names are written in cartouches , leading to the suggestion that Hordjedef and Bauefre might once have ruled as kings. However, there is no contemporary evidence for this.

A more likely motivation for the application of the inscription can be assumed that Chephren, his brothers and his father were venerated as the patron saints of Wadi Hammamat. This thesis is supported by the fact that an alabaster vessel with the name of Cheops was found in Koptos , at the starting point for expeditions into the wadi, and it can therefore be assumed that he once enjoyed cultic veneration there.

The stories of the Westcar papyrus

The Westcar papyrus

The 12th dynasty is usually assumed to be the time of origin of the stories of the Papyrus Westcar , although there are now increasing arguments to date them to the time of origin of the papyrus itself, i.e. the 17th dynasty . The action takes place at the royal court and revolves around Cheops as the main character. In order to pass the boredom, he lets his sons tell wonderful stories. A total of four sons of Cheops appear and report on magicians and their deeds. The second story is told by Prince Chephren and is about the magician Ubaoner, who punishes his unfaithful wife by creating a wax crocodile, which - thrown into the water - comes to life and devours her lover.

New kingdom

During the New Kingdom , Egypt revived interest in the Giza necropolis. Amenhotep II had a temple built north of the Sphinx during the 18th dynasty and a stele erected there on which Giza is referred to as the "resting place of Cheops and Chephren". His son and successor Thutmose IV later had the Sphinx freed from the desert sand and the so-called Sphinx stele (also dream stele ) erected between its front paws . With regard to Cheops and Chephren, it contains a very similar formulation as on the stela of Amenhotep II. However, neither of them contain clear information about who was considered to be the builder of the Sphinx.

There are inscriptions on the rock walls to the north and west of the Khafre pyramid attesting to the presence of construction crews during the 19th dynasty under Pharaoh Ramses II or his successor Merenptah . Most likely, these inscriptions are related to a nationwide restoration program that was taking place at the time.

Late period

The mortuary temple of the queens pyramid GIc belonging to the Cheops complex probably served as a sanctuary of Isis as early as the 18th dynasty . In the 21st Dynasty , during the reign of the Pharaohs Psusennes I and Amenemope , this temple was greatly expanded. In the course of the cult of Isis, a priesthood was again established for Cheops. In addition to Cheops, other kings were also occasionally worshiped. Four priests from the 26th and 27th dynasties are attested for Chephren, but all of them were also priests of Cheops or his pyramid. Independent veneration cannot be proven.

Greek traditions

Greek historians have very little to say about Chephren. Herodotus wrote about him on the one hand in the second book of his histories and on the other hand Hekataios of Abdera , whose writings are only preserved in fragments or in the traditions of other authors. Diodorus of Sicily gives his description of Chephren in the first book of his library . Like his father Cheops, both authors portray him as a cruel despot, which is in clear contradiction to his apparently long-lasting veneration by the Egyptians.

Neither of the two authors delivers an independent description of Chephren. He is only portrayed as the successor of Cheops, who did not differ from him in his deeds. Herodotus devotes only a short section to him and writes that under Chephren, whom he describes as the brother of Cheops, the supposed atrocities that had begun under Cheops continued. That means that the temples were closed and he, too, would only have forced the Egyptians to work on his pyramid.

Diodorus says that Cheops and his son Chephren were so much hated by the people that they did not allow themselves to be buried in their pyramids for fear of the integrity of their corpses, but were secretly buried by their relatives in an unknown location.

Modern reception

Egyptian ten pound note

The French writer and archaeologist Guy Rachet published five novels about the pyramid builders of the 4th Dynasty in 1997 and 1998. The fourth volume, The Pyramid of the Sphinx , deals with Chephren.

There is a mountain in the Canadian province of Alberta that was initially called Pyramid Mountain because of its shape . But since there was already another mountain with the same name, it was renamed Mount Chephren in 1918. An asteroid discovered in 1960 was named after Chephren : (4412) Chephren .

The best-known statue of Chephren (Cairo CG 14) was the motif on the obverse of the Egyptian 50 piasters note between 1930 and 1951 . It has been on the back of the £ 10 note since 1967.

literature

General

Peter A. Clayton: The Pharaohs . Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-8289-0661-3 , pp. 6, 30, 31, 44f., 47, 51f., 53f., 56, 58, 60.
Martin von Falck, Susanne Martinssen-von Falck: The great pharaohs. From the early days to the Middle Kingdom. Marix, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3737409766 , pp. 111-116.
Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs . Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 , pp. 102-103.

About the name

Catalog Général des Antiquités Egyptienennes du Musée du Caire. Volume 14, 16, 17
Winfried Barta: On the pronunciation of Greek name forms such as Chephren, Ratoises and Lamares in Egyptian. In: Göttinger Miscellen . Volume 49, Göttingen 1981, pp. 13-16.
Winfried Barta: Let's go back to the forms of the name Chefren and Lamares. In: Göttinger Miscellen . Volume 85, Göttingen 1985, pp. 7-12.
Jürgen von Beckerath : Handbook of the Egyptian king names . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1984, ISBN 3-422-00832-2 , p. 53 u. 179.

To the pyramid

Zahi Hawass (Ed.): The Treasures of the Pyramids . Weltbild, Augsburg 2003, ISBN 3-8289-0809-8 , pp. 130-133.
Uvo Hölscher : The grave monument of King Chephren (= publications of the Ernst von Sieglin expedition in Egypt. Volume I). Leipzig 1912, ( online version ).
Mark Lehner: Secret of the Pyramids . Econ, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-572-01261-9 , pp. 122-132.
Rainer Stadelmann : The Egyptian pyramids. From brick construction to the wonder of the world (= cultural history of the ancient world . Volume 30). 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1991, ISBN 3-8053-1142-7 , pp. 130-140.
Rainer Stadelmann: The great pyramids of Giza . Academic printing and Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1990, p. 1, 76–191.
Miroslav Verner : The pyramids (= rororo non-fiction book. Volume 60890). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-60890-1 , pp. 254-264.

For further literature on the pyramid see under Khafre's pyramid .

Questions of detail

Jürgen von Beckerath: Chronology of the pharaonic Egypt . von Zabern, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-8053-2310-7 , pp. 26, 28, 33-34, 39, 154, 156-159, 175, 188.
Norbert Dautzenberg: Iun-Re: the chief's first crown prince? In: Göttinger Miscellen. Volume 99, Göttingen 1987, pp. 13-18
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.
Horst Klengel : Syria 3000 to 300 BC VCH Publication, Weinheim 1992, ISBN 3-05-001820-8 , p. 23.
Bettina Schmitz: Investigations on the title SA-NJSWT> Königssohn < (= Habelt's dissertation prints : Series Ägyptologie. Issue 2). Habelt, Bonn 1976, ISBN 3-7749-1370-6 .

Rainer Stadelmann : Khaefkhufu = Chephren. Contributions to the history of the 4th dynasty. Festschrift Wolfgang Helck on his 70th birthday. In: Studies on ancient Egyptian culture. (SAK) Volume 11, Hamburg 1984, pp. 165-172.

Rainer Stadelmann: Contributions to the history of the old empire. The length of the reign of Sneferu. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. (MDAIK) Volume 43, von Zabern, Mainz 1986, p. 238 f.

Miroslav Verner: Archaeological Remarks on the 4th and 5th Dynasty Chronology . In: Archives Orientální. Volume 69, Prague 2001, pp. 363-418 ( PDF; 31 MB ).

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. Volume 17). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1969, pp. 200–210.

Web links

Commons : Chephren - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Chephren - explanations of meanings, origin of words, synonyms, translations

Remarks

^ In the 2nd edition of 1999 of the Handbook of Egyptian King Names. Jürgen von Beckerath writes as the transcription Nṯr-nb.w-sḫm and does not give a Netjer symbol in the hieroglyphs. He takes the hieroglyphic writing from the statue Kairo CG 14. This transcription, which was also made by Rainer Hannig in The Language of the Pharaohs. Large hand-held Egyptian-German dictionary. and by Darrell D. Baker in The Encyclopedia of the Egyptian Pharaohs. is taken over, evidently comes about because Beckerath reads Horus on the standard as Nṯr . This is also the case with Mykerinos , whose gold name he gives as Nṯr-nb.w-nṯrj (compare also Userkaf , Sahure or Raneferef ). Thomas Schneider, on the other hand, translates the name as Mighty Falcon . Thus Beckerath reads the entire string as a unit, Schneider, on the other hand, sees the gold sign as a title and only the Sechem scepter and the falcon as the actual name.

↑ Term of office 66 years.

Individual evidence

^ Alan H. Gardiner: The royal canon of Turin . Panel 2; The presentation of the entry in the Turin papyrus, which differs from the usual syntax for hieroboxes, is based on the fact that open cartridges were used in the hieratic . The alternating time-missing-time presence of certain name elements is due to material damage in the papyrus.
^ Alan B. Lloyd: Herodotus, book II. P. 77ff.
↑ Year numbers according to Schneider: Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Düsseldorf 2002.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Schneider: Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Düsseldorf 2002, p. 100.
^ Roman Gundacker: A contribution to the genealogy of the 4th dynasty . In: Sokar, No. 16, 2008, pp. 22-51
↑ Stadelmann: Pyramids of Giza . P. 105
^ A. Dodson, D. Hilton: The complete royal families of Ancient Egypt. London 2004, pp. 56, 60.
^ A. Dodson, D. Hilton: The complete royal families of Ancient Egypt. London 2004, p. 56.
↑ 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, pp. 368–369, ISBN 3-7001-3244-1
↑ 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 . P. 47
↑ Peter Kaplony: Inscriptions of the early Egyptian period III. Tape. P. 58, fig. 36.
↑ 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, pp. 63–64
↑ Herodotus : Histories . Ed .: Hans Wilhelm Haussig . 4th edition. Alfred Kröner, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-520-22404-6 , II, 127, pp. 155 . ( Herodotus, On Egypt. Histories 2, 35-99. ( Memento of December 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive )).
↑ see Verner: Archaeological Remarks on the 4th and 5th Dynasty Chronology. Prague 2001.
^ Schneider: Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Düsseldorf 2002, p. 102.
^ Pierre Tallet: Les "ports intermittents" de la mer Rouge à l'époque pharaonique: caractéristiques et chronologie. In: Bruno Argémi and Pierre Tallet (eds.): Entre Nil et mers. La navigation en Égypte ancienne (= Nehet. Revue numérique d'Égyptologie Volume 3). Université de Paris-Sorbonne / Université libre de Bruxelles, Paris / Brussels 2015, p. 60, tab. 1 ( online ).
↑ Anna Maria Donadoni Roveri: I sarcofagi egizi dalle origini alla fine dell'Antico Regno . Rome 1969, pp. 104–105 ( PDF; 46.5 MB )
^ Rainer Stadelmann: Formal criteria for dating the royal sculpture of the 4th dynasty . In: Les critères de datation stylistiques à l'Ancien Empire . BdE 120, 1998, pp. 353-387
↑ Lehner: The Sphinx. In: Hawass: Treasures of the Pyramids. Pp. 173-187
^ Schneider: Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Düsseldorf 2002, p. 103.
^ Bertha Porter , Rosalind LB Moss: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, pp. 21–23 ( PDF 30.5 MB )
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Bertha Porter, Rosalind LB Moss: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, p. 23 ( PDF 30.5 MB )
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Jacques Kinnaer: Statue of Khefren and Horus - The Ancient Egypt Site. In: ancient-egypt.org. October 2, 2012, accessed August 31, 2019 .
↑ http://mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?coll_keywords=khafre&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&coll_sort=5&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view=0&coll_package=0&coll_start = 1 (link not available)
↑ http://mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=143606&coll_keywords=khafre&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&coll_sort=5&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view = 0 & coll_package = 0 & coll_start = 171 (link not available)
^ ^A ^b Renate Krauspe (Ed.): The Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig . von Zabern, Mainz 1997, pp. 29-30, ISBN 3-8053-2007-8 .
↑ Ludwig Borchardt: Individual finds. A. The statue fragments from the Old Kingdom . In: Uvo Hölscher: The grave monument of King Chefren . JC Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1912, p. 92 ( PDF; 6.7 MB );
↑ Ludwig Borchardt: Individual finds. A. The statue fragments from the Old Kingdom . In: Uvo Hölscher: The grave monument of King Chefren . P. 93
^ Renate Krauspe: The Egyptian Museum of the Karl Marx University Leipzig. Guide to the exhibition . Edited by Directorate for Research at the Karl Marx University Leipzig, Leipzig 1987, p. 27.
↑ Ludwig Borchardt: Individual finds. A. The statue fragments from the Old Kingdom . In: Uvo Hölscher: The grave monument of King Chefren . Pp. 93-94
↑ Ludwig Borchardt: Individual finds. A. The statue fragments from the Old Kingdom . In: Uvo Hölscher: The grave monument of King Chefren . Pp. 94-104
↑ Arne Eggebrecht (Ed.): Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim. The Egyptian Collection . Ancient world. Journal of Archeology and Cultural History. Special number. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, pp. 16-17.
^ ^A ^b Bertha Porter, Rosalind LB Moss: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, pp. 23–25 ( PDF 30.5 MB )
^ Bertha Porter, Rosalind LB Moss: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, p. 25 ( PDF 30.5 MB );
↑ Christiane Ziegler (Ed.): Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids . The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1999, pp. 261-262
↑ Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 200-202
↑ Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . P. 193
↑ Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 213-214
↑ Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 152-156
↑ Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 202-204
↑ Flinders Petrie : Koptos . 1896, p. 4.23; pl. 21.3
^ Wildung, role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 164-165, 174
↑ Günter Burkard, Heinz J. Thissen: Introduction to the ancient Egyptian literary history I. Old and Middle Kingdom . LIT Verlag, Münster / Hamburg / London 2003, p. 178
↑ Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 168, 206-207
↑ Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 168, 209-210
↑ Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 168, 208-209
↑ Herodotus, Historien 2, 127.
^ Diodor, Bibliotheca Historica 1, 64 ( online version ).
^ National Bank of Egypt: banknote.ws: Egyptian Pound System . On: banknote.ws ; last accessed on September 18, 2014.

predecessor	Office	successor
Radjedef	Pharaoh of Egypt 4th Dynasty	Bicheris

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on May 26, 2008 in this version .

personal data
SURNAME	Chephren
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bosses; Cha-ef-re; User-ib; Suphis II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient Egyptian king of the 4th dynasty
DATE OF BIRTH	around 2572 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	around 2546 BC Chr.

[1] In the 2nd edition of 1999 of the Handbook of Egyptian King Names. Jürgen von Beckerath writes as the transcription Nṯr-nb.w-sḫm and does not give a Netjer symbol in the hieroglyphs. He takes the hieroglyphic writing from the statue Kairo CG 14. This transcription, which was also made by Rainer Hannig in The Language of the Pharaohs. Large hand-held Egyptian-German dictionary. and by Darrell D. Baker in The Encyclopedia of the Egyptian Pharaohs. is taken over, evidently comes about because Beckerath reads Horus on the standard as Nṯr . This is also the case with Mykerinos , whose gold name he gives as Nṯr-nb.w-nṯrj (compare also Userkaf , Sahure or Raneferef ). Thomas Schneider, on the other hand, translates the name as Mighty Falcon . Thus Beckerath reads the entire string as a unit, Schneider, on the other hand, sees the gold sign as a title and only the Sechem scepter and the falcon as the actual name.

[3] Term of office 66 years.

[2] Alan H. Gardiner: The royal canon of Turin . Panel 2; The presentation of the entry in the Turin papyrus, which differs from the usual syntax for hieroboxes, is based on the fact that open cartridges were used in the hieratic . The alternating time-missing-time presence of certain name elements is due to material damage in the papyrus.

[4] Alan B. Lloyd: Herodotus, book II. P. 77ff.

[5] Year numbers according to Schneider: Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Düsseldorf 2002.

[schneider_s100-6] Schneider: Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Düsseldorf 2002, p. 100.

[7] Roman Gundacker: A contribution to the genealogy of the 4th dynasty . In: Sokar, No. 16, 2008, pp. 22-51

[8] Stadelmann: Pyramids of Giza . P. 105

[9] A. Dodson, D. Hilton: The complete royal families of Ancient Egypt. London 2004, pp. 56, 60.

[10] A. Dodson, D. Hilton: The complete royal families of Ancient Egypt. London 2004, p. 56.

[11] 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, pp. 368–369, ISBN 3-7001-3244-1

[12] 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 . P. 47

[13] Peter Kaplony: Inscriptions of the early Egyptian period III. Tape. P. 58, fig. 36.

[14] 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, pp. 63–64

[15] Herodotus : Histories . Ed .: Hans Wilhelm Haussig . 4th edition. Alfred Kröner, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-520-22404-6 , II, 127, pp. 155 . ( Herodotus, On Egypt. Histories 2, 35-99. ( Memento of December 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive )).

[16] see Verner: Archaeological Remarks on the 4th and 5th Dynasty Chronology. Prague 2001.

[17] Schneider: Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Düsseldorf 2002, p. 102.

[18] Pierre Tallet: Les "ports intermittents" de la mer Rouge à l'époque pharaonique: caractéristiques et chronologie. In: Bruno Argémi and Pierre Tallet (eds.): Entre Nil et mers. La navigation en Égypte ancienne (= Nehet. Revue numérique d'Égyptologie Volume 3). Université de Paris-Sorbonne / Université libre de Bruxelles, Paris / Brussels 2015, p. 60, tab. 1 ( online ).

[19] Anna Maria Donadoni Roveri: I sarcofagi egizi dalle origini alla fine dell'Antico Regno . Rome 1969, pp. 104–105 ( PDF; 46.5 MB )

[20] Rainer Stadelmann: Formal criteria for dating the royal sculpture of the 4th dynasty . In: Les critères de datation stylistiques à l'Ancien Empire . BdE 120, 1998, pp. 353-387

[21] Lehner: The Sphinx. In: Hawass: Treasures of the Pyramids. Pp. 173-187

[22] Schneider: Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Düsseldorf 2002, p. 103.

[23] Bertha Porter , Rosalind LB Moss: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, pp. 21–23 ( PDF 30.5 MB )

[porter_moss_s23-24] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Bertha Porter, Rosalind LB Moss: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, p. 23 ( PDF 30.5 MB )

[ancient-egypt.org-25] Jacques Kinnaer: Statue of Khefren and Horus - The Ancient Egypt Site. In: ancient-egypt.org. October 2, 2012, accessed August 31, 2019 .

[26] ttp://mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?coll_keywords=khafre&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&coll_sort=5&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view=0&coll_package=0&coll_start = 1 (link not available)

[27] ttp://mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=143606&coll_keywords=khafre&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&coll_sort=5&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view = 0 & coll_package = 0 & coll_start = 171 (link not available)

[krauspe_s29-30-28] A ^b Renate Krauspe (Ed.): The Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig . von Zabern, Mainz 1997, pp. 29-30, ISBN 3-8053-2007-8 .

[29] Ludwig Borchardt: Individual finds. A. The statue fragments from the Old Kingdom . In: Uvo Hölscher: The grave monument of King Chefren . JC Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1912, p. 92 ( PDF; 6.7 MB );

[30] Ludwig Borchardt: Individual finds. A. The statue fragments from the Old Kingdom . In: Uvo Hölscher: The grave monument of King Chefren . P. 93

[31] Renate Krauspe: The Egyptian Museum of the Karl Marx University Leipzig. Guide to the exhibition . Edited by Directorate for Research at the Karl Marx University Leipzig, Leipzig 1987, p. 27.

[32] Ludwig Borchardt: Individual finds. A. The statue fragments from the Old Kingdom . In: Uvo Hölscher: The grave monument of King Chefren . Pp. 93-94

[33] Ludwig Borchardt: Individual finds. A. The statue fragments from the Old Kingdom . In: Uvo Hölscher: The grave monument of King Chefren . Pp. 94-104

[34] Arne Eggebrecht (Ed.): Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim. The Egyptian Collection . Ancient world. Journal of Archeology and Cultural History. Special number. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, pp. 16-17.

[porter_s23-25-35] A ^b Bertha Porter, Rosalind LB Moss: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, pp. 23–25 ( PDF 30.5 MB )

[36] Bertha Porter, Rosalind LB Moss: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, p. 25 ( PDF 30.5 MB );

[37] Christiane Ziegler (Ed.): Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids . The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1999, pp. 261-262

[38] Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 200-202

[39] Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . P. 193

[40] Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 213-214

[41] Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 152-156

[42] Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 202-204

[43] Flinders Petrie : Koptos . 1896, p. 4.23; pl. 21.3

[44] Wildung, role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 164-165, 174

[45] Günter Burkard, Heinz J. Thissen: Introduction to the ancient Egyptian literary history I. Old and Middle Kingdom . LIT Verlag, Münster / Hamburg / London 2003, p. 178

[46] Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 168, 206-207

[47] Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 168, 209-210

[48] Wildung: role of Egyptian kings . Pp. 168, 208-209

[49] Herodotus, Historien 2, 127.

[50] Diodor, Bibliotheca Historica 1, 64 ( online version ).

[51] National Bank of Egypt: banknote.ws: Egyptian Pound System . On: banknote.ws ; last accessed on September 18, 2014.