Bikheris
Bikheris | |
---|---|
Baka and Bakare | |
Pharaoh | |
Reign | ca. 2570 BC |
Predecessor | Khafre (?) |
Successor | Menkaure (?) |
Father | Djedefre ? |
Dynasty | 4th Dynasty |
Bikheris is the Hellenized name of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, who may have ruled during the 4th Dynasty (Old Kingdom period) around 2570 BC. Next to nothing is known about this ruler and some Egyptologists even believe him to be fictitious.[1]
Identity
Possible name sources
In attempts to reconstruct Ancient Egyptian king lists, Egyptologists and historians face several problems. As already mentioned, Bikheris is a Hellenized name variation. The name appears in the book
However, ancient Egyptian sources are scarce. The oldest possible royal name source may come from an
The temporally next possible source appears in the famous
Identifications
Alan B. Lloyd is convinced that the names Baka, Bakare, Baefra, Bauefra and Biuris are all identical to Manetho's Bikheris.[2] This, in turn, is doubted by Kim Ryholt, who points out that the names Baefra and Bauefra contain no syllable that would phonetically fit to "Bikheris". Thus, Ba(u)efra and Bikheris might be two different kings.[5] This view is strengthened by the fact that Bauefra is entitled in contemporary documents only as "king's son", which is the title of a prince, not that of a ruler.[6]
The only Old Kingdom name that could indeed fit is the now incomplete name X-ka, as found at Zawyet el'Aryan. According to
Historical figure
Some scholars suspect that the line of throne successions during the 4th Dynasty of Egypt may have been much less smooth than mainstream Egyptologists believe. In support of this, they point out that it was already suspicious that king Djedefra broke with the family tradition of building royal tombs at Giza. In fact, Djedefra had left the Giza necropolis in an attempt to found a new royal cemetery at Abu Rawash instead. Alan B. Lloyd also points out that Djedefra dared another break with royal traditions by introducing the cult of Ra and placing Ra over all other deities. If Djedefra broke with family traditions, then Bikheris, as his son, may have done the same thing. This, and the obviously very short reign, may have led to Bikheris' exclusion from official records.[2][4]
Another problem is how later historians depict the 4th Dynasty: Manetho and Eratosthenes both describe Bikheris as the sixth ruler of the 4th Dynasty and as the son and successor of king Djedefra. However, both authors chronologically misplace the kings completely since they give the succession
Thus, most scholars are convinced that Bikheris, should he have existed, must have ruled either between Djedefra and Khafre, or between Khafre and Menkaure. Since Bikheris is described as the son and follower of Djedefra, a chronological position between Djedefra and Khafre seems possible. However, the Ramesside king lists provide evidence for placing Bikheris' reign between Khafre and Menkaure. The Saqqara king list provides a very odd sequence of succeeding kings for the 4th Dynasty: after king Khafre, the cartouches from him up to king Userkaf (the first ruler of the 5th Dynasty) are destroyed and thus illegible today. But their number is puzzling, since between Khafre and Userkaf only two kings are archaeologically detected: Menkaure and Shepseskaf. On the other hand, the Saqqara king list gives five cartouches between Khafre and Userkaf: Khafre → ??? → (Menkaure) → (Shepseskaf) → (Thamphthis) → ??? → Userkaf. One was possibly preserved for Bikheris, whilst the second may have been reserved for a king Thamphthis. The third cartouche (the one before Userkaf) remains a mystery.[2] Jürgen von Beckerath proposes king Nyuserre as the holder of the third cartouche; he thinks it is possible that Nyuserre was simply misplaced to the beginning of the 5th Dynasty. The Saqqara king list would therefore give the following succession: Khafre → Bikheris → Menkaure → Shepseskaf → Thamphthis → Nyuserrê → Userkaf.[1]
The Royal Canon of Turin also provides an unusual sequence: after king Khafre, the papyrus on which the king list was written is damaged, and only a few year notes have survived. According to the numbers of preserved year notes, between Khafre and Menkaure a further king must have been listed, because an additional line starts with "king of Upper- and Lower Egypt" (the year notes here are damaged and illegible, though). The following year note about "18 years of rulership" must belong to king Menkaure. After Menkaure, 4 years of rulership are mentioned, this line was surely reserved for king Shepseskaf. After Shepseskaf, however, a further, additional year note gives "2 years of rulership" before starting the 5th Dynasty with Userkaf. Egyptologists think that the gap between Khafre and Menkaure once named either Bauefra or Bikheris and the gap between Shepseskaf and Userkaf may have mentioned Thamphthis.[2][4]
Reign
The length of Bikheris' reign is subject to some dispute. Manetho credits Bikheris with 22 years of rulership, Eratosthenes gives Biuris 10 years and the Royal Canon of Turin provides 2 years. Modern Egyptologists and historians believe Manetho's and Eratosthenes' year numbers to be exaggerations or misinterpretations. They credit Bikheris with a reign of either 2 years (likewise to the Turin Canon) or even less than one year (as Peter Jánosi suggests). Such a short reign would explain why Bikheris left virtually no monuments and/or documents.[2][4]
Burial
The tomb of Bikheris is unknown. If he is indeed identical to the archaeologically attested prince Baka, he might have been buried in the
References
- ^ ISBN 3-8053-2310-7, p. 158.
- ^ ISBN 9004077375, p.76-78.
- ^ Miroslav Verner: Archaeological Remarks on the 4th and 5th Dynasty Chronology. In: Archiv Orientální, Vol. 69. Prag 2001, p. 363–418.
- ^ ISBN 3-7001-3244-1, p. 64-65.
- ISBN 8772894210, p. 17-18.
- ^ a b c George Andrew Reisner: A History of the Giza Necropolis, Vol. I. Harvard University Press, Harvard 1942, p. 28.