Raneferef was the fifth lord of Dynasty V. He governed the
nation from 2419 till 2416 BC. Shockingly, students of history couldn't locate
any essential documentation from his rule.
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| Cartouche of Neferefre |
Neferefre was the primary child of Neferirkare and Khentkaus
II to go to the royal position. He was gone before by the fleeting lord
Shepseskare.The Turin King-rundown is excessively fragmentary, making it
impossible to give us the length of Neferefre's rule. The most astounding
recorded year reference is the time of the promotion of this lord, making it
improbable that he had a long rule. He assembled a sun based sanctuary named
Hetep-Re, which has not yet been distinguished, and, at Abusir, begun with the
working of his own pyramid complex. The complex was left incomplete.
Raneferef was the fifth king of Dynasty V. He ruled the
country from 2419 till 2416 BC. Unfortunately, historians could not find any
important documentation from his reign.
Until the 1980s practically nothing more than his name was
known to science, but then excavations was begun at an anonymous ruin of a
pyramid in the southernmost part of the royal necropolis at Abusir. The
monument turned out to be built by king Neferefre (Horus-name: Nefer-khawand in
picture right). At the east side an elaborated mortuary temple was dug out. It
was constructed of mud bricks and obviously made in haste shortly after the
death of the king. Here archaeologists found parts of the temple archive on
papyrus, stone vessels, mud seals, and faience inlays. Small statuettes of the
king also came to light in the temple ruins and one showing the ruler seated on
a throne without his names headdress. He is shown to be very young man, hardly
more than twenty years of age and with fleshy cheeks giving a childish
impression to his face.
Other statuettes
(made in a crude more non-portraying form) were also found as well as glazed
ceramics making the king's name.
After the temple the excavators turned to the pyramid itself
and the central construction with the burial chamber. It had been robbed
already at the collapse of the Old Kingdom but
not totally empty of finds. A lot of interesting objects were found and
fragments of pharaoh's red granite sarcophagus came to light plus pieces of
mummy wrappings and bones, and parts of canopy jars. This was proof of that the
king once had been buried here under a big gabled roof. Huge portcullises of
granite had once blocked the corridor leading to the centre.
The mummy material was inspected and most likely was from a
young fellow in his mid twenties, which fits well to what have been known about
the ruler. Just the initial step of a pyramid was finished and it was secured
by rocks and mud mortar at first glance before the dead ruler was introduced in
the funerary flats. He would have rested in his sarcophagus for around 300
years before bedlam softened out up Egypt and numerous regal tombs were
stripped for their merchandise. His name inside a cartouche is found in picture
above left and his incomplete pyramid likewise had the name in symbolic
representations:
It implies:
"The Pyramid which is Devine of the Ba-spirits",
and the spirits are symbolized by three storks.