Neferkara I

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Neferkara I
Neferka, Aaka, Nephercheres
Pharaoh
Reignlength of reign unknown
PredecessorSenedj
SuccessorNeferkasokar
Royal titulary
Nomen
Abydos King List
Neferkara
Nfr-k3-r3
V10AN5F35D28V11A


Turin Canon
Neferka
Nfr-k3
V10AF35D28Z1V11AG7


Turin Canon (alternative reading)
Aaka
3ʼ-k3
V10AO29VD28Z1V11AG7
Dynasty2nd Dynasty; around 2740 B.C.

Neferkara I (also Neferka and, alternatively, Aaka) is the

misinterpretation or exaggeration
.

Name sources

Although the name “Neferkara” (meaning “the Ka of Re is beautiful”) appears in the Abydos King list several times, this very Pharaoh according to Jürgen von Beckerath and several others is not depicted here. It is assumed that the 19th entry in this list is to be assigned to a much later Pharaoh Nebkara whose nomen presumably was Neferka.[3] The name “Neferkara” however appears in the

Alan H. Gardiner read “Aaka”,[1] whilst other Egyptologists, such as Beckenrath, read “Neferka”. Both kinglists describe Neferkara I as the immediate successor of king Senedj and as the predecessor of king Neferkasokar.[4][5][6]

Identity

There is no contemporary name source for this king and no Horus name could be connected to Neferkara I up to this day.[4][5] In contrast, Egyptologists such as Kim Ryholt believe that Neferkara/Neferka was identical with a sparsely attested king named Sneferka, which is also thought to be a name used by king Qa'a (the last ruler of the 1st dynasty) for a short time only. Ryholt thinks that Ramesside scribes misleadingly added the symbol of the sun to the name “(S)neferka”, ignoring the fact that the sun itself was no object of divine adoration yet during the 2nd dynasty. For a comparison he points to cartouche names such as Neferkara II from the kinglist of Abydos and Nebkara I from the Sakkara table.[7]

Aidan Dodson equated Neferkara with Seth-Peribsen.[8]

The ancient historian Manetho called Neferkara I “Népherchêres” and reported that during this king's rulership “the Nile was flowing with honey for eleven days”. Egyptologists think that this collocation was meant to show that the realm was flourishing under king Nephercheres.[6][9]

Reign

Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck,

Palermo stone, where, in her opinion, the records of the annual Nile floods show constantly low levels during this period.[12] Bell's theory is refuted today by Egyptologists such as Stephan Seidlmayer, who corrected Bell's calculations. Seidlmayer has shown that the annual Nile floods were at usual levels at Ninetjer's time up to the period of the Old Kingdom. Bell had overlooked, that the heights of the Nile floods in the Palermo stone inscription only takes the measurements of the nilometers around Memphis into account, but not elsewhere in Egypt. Any long-lasting drought can therefore be excluded.[13]

It is a commonly accepted theory, that Neferkara I had to share his throne with another ruler. It is just unclear yet, with whom. Later kinglists such as the

Peribsen would have ruled Upper Egypt, whilst Neferkara I and his successors would have ruled Lower Egypt. The division of Egypt was brought to an end by king Khasekhemwy.[14]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-900416-48-3
    ; p. 15 & Table I.
  2. ISBN 0-674-99385-3
    , pp. 37–41.
  3. JSTOR 44160285
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-521-07791-5
    , p. 35.
  5. ^ a b Jürgen von Beckerath: Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen. Deutscher Kunstverlag, München/Berlin 1984, p. 49.
  6. ^ a b Winfried Barta: Die Chronologie der 1. bis 5. Dynastie nach den Angaben des rekonstruierten Annalensteins. In: Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde. (ZAS) volume 108, Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1981, ISSN 0044-216X, pp. 12–14.
  7. ^ Kim Ryholt, in: Journal of Egyptian History; vol.1. BRILL, Leiden 2008, ISSN 1874-1657, pp. 159–173.
  8. ^ Dodson, Aidan (1996). "The Mysterious 2nd Dynasty". KMT. 7 (2): 20.
  9. ^ Walter Bryan Emery: Ägypten, Geschichte und Kultur der Frühzeit, 3200-2800 v. Chr. p. 19.
  10. ISBN 978-0-631-19396-8
    , p. 55.
  11. ISBN 88-435-6042-5
    , p. 80–85.
  12. ^ Barbara Bell: Oldest Records of the Nile Floods, In: Geographical Journal, No. 136. 1970, p. 569–573; M. Goedike: Journal of Egypt Archaeology, No. 42. 1998, page 50.
  13. ISBN 3-9803730-8-8
    , pp. 87–89.
  14. ISBN 3-406-54988-8
    , pp. 77–78 & 415.

External links
Preceded by
Sekhemib
 Pharaoh of Egypt Succeeded by
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