Hudjefa I

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Hudjefa
Real name unknown
Relief of the cartouche of Hudjefa on the Saqqara table
Relief of the cartouche of Hudjefa on the Saqqara table
Pharaoh
Reign28th century BC
PredecessorNeferkasokar
SuccessorKhasekhemwy
Royal titulary
Nomen
Hudjefa
Ḥw-ḏf3
Turin Canon
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Hudjefa
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Saqqara King List

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Hudjefa (Ancient Egyptian for "erased" or "missing") is the

Ramses II. Hudjefa is now understood to mean that the name of the king was already missing from the document from which the Turin canon was copied. The length of the reign associated to Hudjefa on the canon is 11 years.[1] Because of the position of Hudjefa on the Turin list, he is sometimes identified with a king Sesochris reported in the Aegyptiaca, a history of Egypt written by the Egyptian priest Manetho in the 3rd century BC. Manetho credits this pharaoh with 48 years of reign. Egyptologists have attempted to relate Hudjefa with archaeologically attested kings of the period, in particular Seth-Peribsen
.

Name sources

The name "Hudjefa" appears only in the

Royal Table of Sakkara and in the Royal Canon of Turin. Both king lists describe Hudjefa I as the immediate successor of king Neferkasokar and as the predecessor of king Khasekhemwy (here named Bebty).[2][3][4]

Identity

Egyptologists and historians have had great difficulty linking Hudjefa I to any archaeologically identified ruler. The problem is that "Hudjefa" is not a personal name in the conventional sense. Hudjefa means "erased" and might reveal that the original king's name, originally listed in a document or inscribed on some object, was unreadable when the scribe tried to compile the king list. It is thought that a scribe simply noted "erased", but then erroneously put the word into a cartouche, thus making it look like a personal name. Later scribes and students of Egyptian history misinterpreted the arrangement and adopted it into their documents as a king's name.[2][5]

The ancient Greek historian Manetho probably called Hudjefa I "Sésôchris" and reported that this king's body had a measurement of "five cubits in its height and three

hands in its breadth". Egyptologists doubt the basis of this observation as no burial site for Hudjefa I has ever been found.[4][6]

Egyptologists such as N. Dautzenberg and Wolfgang Helck once considered that Hudjefa I might be identical with king Seth-Peribsen. To support their theory, they pointed out that an 11-year reign – as noted in the Royal Canon of Turin – would be inconsistent with a king whose name has been lost. Rather, in their opinion, it would make sense if the ruler's name was not allowed to be mentioned in later times. This was already considered to be the case of king Peribsen, whose birth name was banished from Ramesside king lists.[7]

Reign

Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck,

Memphis, but not elsewhere along the river. Any long-lasting drought can therefore be excluded.[11]

It is accepted amongst a number of Egyptologists that Hudjefa I had to share his throne with another ruler although it is unclear as to who that ruler was. Later king lists such as the

Peribsen would have ruled Upper Egypt, whilst Hudjefa I and his predecessors would have ruled Lower Egypt. The division of Egypt was brought to an end by king Khasekhemwy.[12]

References

  1. ISBN 0-900416-48-3
    . p. 15 and Table I.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-521-07791-5
    , page 35.
  3. ^ Jürgen von Beckerath: Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen. Deutscher Kunstverlag, München/Berlin 1984, page 49.
  4. ^ a b Winfried Bartha in: Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde (ZAS), volume 108. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1981, ISSN 0044-216X, page 12–14.
  5. ISBN 3-406-54988-8
    , page 78.
  6. ^ Walter Bryan Emery: Ägypten, Geschichte und Kultur der Frühzeit, 3200-2800 v. Chr. page 19.
  7. ISBN 3-447-02677-4
    , page 125.
  8. ISBN 978-0-631-19396-8
    , page 55.
  9. ISBN 88-435-6042-5
    , page 80–85.
  10. ^ Barbara Bell: Oldest Records of the Nile Floods, In: Geographical Journal, No. 136. 1970, page 569–573; M. Goedike: Journal of Egypt Archaeology, No. 42. 1998, page 50.
  11. ISBN 3-9803730-8-8
    , page 87–89.
  12. ISBN 3-406-54988-8
    , page 77-78 & 415.
Preceded by Pharaoh of Egypt Succeeded by
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