 |
|
Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt > Neferirkare Kakai Neferirkare Kakai
Neferirkare was the second son of Khentkaus I to have ruled Egypt. He was the third king of the 5th Dynasty. As with his brother Sahure, it is not known whether Userkaf was his father. Neferirkare was married to a name-sake of his mother's, Khentkaus II. It is not unlikely that Khentkaus II too was related to Khentkaus I. At least two children are believed to have been born of this marriage: Neferefre and Nyuserre. Other wives and children are not known. The length of his reign is unfortunately lost on the Turin King-list and the Palermo-stone breaks of after having recorded a 5th counting, which, if the counting occurred every two years, would mean that Neferirkare at least ruled for 10 years. According to Manetho, his rule lasted for 20 years, a number which appears to be generally accepted. The Turin Canon, also known as the Turin Royal Canon is a unique papyrus, written in hieratic currently in the Egyptian Museum at Turin, to which it owes its modern name. The Turin Canon is broken into over 160 often very small fragments, many of which have been lost. When it was discovered in the Theban necropolis by the Italian traveller Bernardino Drovetti in 1822, it seems to have been largely intact, but by the time it became part of the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Turin, its condition had severely deteriorated. The importance of this papyrus was first recognised by the French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion, who, later followed by Gustavus Seyffarth took up its reconstruction and restoration. Although they succeeded in placing most of the fragments in the correct order, the diligent intervention of these two men came too late and many lacunae still remain. Written during the long reign of Ramesses II, the papyrus, now 1.7m long and 0.41m, comprises on the recto an unknown number of pages that hold a list of names of persons and institutions, along with what appears to be the tax-assessment of each. It is, however, the verso of the papyrus that has attracted the most attention, as it contains a list of gods, demi-gods, spirits, mythical and human kings who ruled Egypt from the beginning of time presumably until the composition of this valuable document. The beginning and ending of the list are now lost, which means that we are missing both the introduction of the list (if ever there was such an introduction) and the enumeration of the kings following the 17th Dynasty. We therefore do not know for certain when after the composition of the tax-list on the recto an unknown scribe used the verso to write down this list of kings. This may have occurred during the reign of Ramesses II, but a date as late as the Dynasty can not be excluded. The fact that the list was scribbled on the back of an older papyrus may indicate that it was of no great importance to the writer. Neferirkare was the first king to have his birth-name made part of the official titulary, thus adding a second cartouche. He was the first king to have employed both a prenomen and nomen (two names and two cartouches),a custom that later kings would follow. The hieratic papyrus found at his pyramid complex are probably his most notable contributions to Egyptology. They were originally discovered in 1893 by local farmers and consist of 300 papyrus fragments. They remained unpublished for some seventy-five years, even as the first archaeologists were excavating Abusir. Only later did a Czech mission, which explored the site in 1976, take full advantage of these documents. The Neferirkara archive reveals a world of detailed and very professional administration. Elaborate tables provide monthly rosters of duty: for guarding the temple, for fetching the daily income (or 'offerings') and for performing ceremonies including those on the statues, with a special roster for the important Feast of Seker. Similar tables list the temple equipment, item by item and grouped by materials, with details of damage noted at a monthly inspection. Other records of inspection relate to doors and rooms in the temple building. The presentation of monthly income is broken down by substance, source and daily amount. The commodities are primarily types of bread and beer, meat and fowl, corn and fruit. They also mention a mortuary temple of a little-known king, Raneferef, who's tomb was yet to be discovered but thanks to these papyrus, is now known and has yielded significant discoveries. He also completed (or modified) the solar-temple built by Userkaf in Abusir. His own solar-temple, called Set-ib-Re, has yet to be located. He was also the second king to erect his funerary monument at Abusir. The seals and papyri discovered in his mortuary temple give some insights into the functioning of this temple. The documents are dated to the end of the 6th Dynasty, which indicates that the cult for the deceased Neferirkare at least lasted until the end of the Old Kingdom. |
Mysteries Zone Network: For everyone who enjoys a mystery stories. Feel free link to any page(s) from this site. NOTE: Views expressed here are not endorsed by mysterieszone.com or any other sponsoring individuals or organizations. 2010 copyright by Mysteries Zone Resources, Privacy Policy |