King Sneferu

King Sneferu | Facts Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, history, and secrets of the most famous Pharaoh kings of the ancient Egyptian civilization.

Discover the Pharaonic antiquities, achievements and life of King Sneferu, secrets that you did not know before about the king’s wife and children, antiquities, deeds and achievements that he performed during the rule of the throne of the Pharaonic civilizationand more about King Snefru “Snofru”

Facts and Secrets King Sneferu:

• King Sneferu married his sister Queen Hetepheres I “Female Pharaohs” and the daughter of the father’s primary wife King Huni last Egyptian Pharaohs kings Third Dynasty of Egypt, In the afternoon the Old Kingdom of Pharaonic Egypt to ensure his accession to the throne Ancient Egypt without problems and obtaining the legitimacy of his rule from the priests The Egyptian Gods, This is part of the laws and traditions of the transfer of power in ancient Egyptian civilization as in Coronation of the Pharaohs.
• He assumed the reins of power in 2649 BC and wore the double crown, “a symbol of unity between Upper and Lower Egypt” as in Geography of ancient Egypt.
• He received the title “Neb-Maat” or Master of Maat, which means that he is able to maintain truth and justice, known as Ancient Egyptian religion in ancient Egypt, The ancient Egyptians called “Maat“It is painted on the walls Egyptian Tombs and Egyptian Temples with a deity with a feather on her head.
• Details of the reign of King Sneferu were learned from the section on the events of the Pharaonic king on the ancient Palermo stone, where he ruled the throne of Egypt for 44 years.
• King Sneferu built Meidum pyramid in Beni Suef Design style Pyramid of Djoser, The step pyramid of King Djoser then he built the curved pyramid “Bent Pyramid” with a new geometric idea full of errors, he built a third pyramid Red Pyramid, Then he rebuilt the terraces of the pyramid of Meidum to become what it is now to know more about Architecture in ancient Egypt, and then built in Pyramid of Seila Fayoum.
• King Sneferu disagreed Funerary beliefs in ancient Egypt and the royal tradition of building the burial chamber in the upper part of the curved pyramid in Dahshur and not the lower part under the ground “In which the Mummy of the Pharaohs is buried, and the Pharaonic Ancient Egyptian Coffins contains Ushabti Statue and Pharaonic Scarab to serve him in his afterlife.”, where he declared himself the god and lord of the sun ”God Ra“During his life and after his death.
• Sentence term: 24-48 years.
• Judgment date: 2600 BC.

King Sneferu Family:

the mom:Queen Mercy Ankh I “Secondary Wife”

the father: King Houni “The last kingThird Egyptian Dynasty”

Wife (sister): Queen Hetepheres.

Prince Rahotep:

King Sneferu had a brother called Prince Rahotep, He was a leader Egyptian army at that time, he was responsible for carrying out military wars to protect Egypt’s southern borders in order to get rid of rebellion, obtain spoils of livestock and gold, and capture slaves for use royal palaces and building buildings throughout Egypt.

King Sneferu ordered the carving of a special statue of the brother and his wife and added it to Tomb of Prince Rahotep and Nofret Wonderful area Saqqara The huge statue has a high quality of sculpting and coloring, like nature, to show how precise it is Sculpture in Ancient Egypt.

Minister and chief engineer Nefer Maat

King Sneferu had an elder son, the vizier Nefermaat from one of his secondary wives, who held many high-ranking positions in the royal family and was the most important chief engineer, and whose brother helped him build 4 pyramids, and who has Tomb of Nefermaat – mastaba 16 with his wife, Princess Ata, in Beni Suef Governorate, Maydom region.

There are theories that confirm that Prince Nefermaat, the older half-brother of King Sneferu, had a secondary wife from one of King Huni’s wives, who married Queen Atte and had children Architect Hemiunu “Architect and building supervisor The Great Pyramid of Giza “pyramid King Khufu“, within The Pyramids of Giza all three.

King Sneferu Children:

1. King Khufu
2. Prince Rahotep
3. Prince Ankh Haf
4. Prince Ka Nefer
5. Prince Nefermaat I
6. Prince Netar Aberf
7. Prince Ra Nefer
8. Prince Iyenefer I
9. Princess Hetepheres
10. Princess Neferet Kao
11. Princess Neferet Nesu
12. Princess Merit Ites I
13. Princess Hanout Sen

Royal titles:

• Presumption (s)
• Hatab guards
• Peak Nebo
• nb gt
•  Snefer means beauty maker
• Snefru means Sawiris in Greek.

King Sneferu specifications:

1. He was distinguished by his wisdom in making strong decisions to build and establish ancient Egypt, Fourth Dynasty of Egypt
2. He was a king who cared about his people and spreading goodness among the common people, so he was loved among the royal family and his name was mentioned and immortalized as an example of a good king under the name “Ptah Sneferu,” which means the one who gives and spreads goodness everywhere.
3. He is considered one of the most powerful kings Pharaohs, Throughout history, he was distinguished by his strength, courage, and high ability to rule the throne of Egypt.
4. He had special qualities as a strong king, sharp intelligence, and his desire for education and the acquisition of knowledge and knowledge as in Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. In addition, he loved others and was humble in his treatment of servants, despite his strong personality and firmness in managing the country.

The reign of King Sneferu:

• King Senefru was interested in carrying out many military campaigns to protect Egypt’s southern borders H from Nubians and the West and the East.
• The king was interested in building many royal and service buildings for the common people.
• Making many commercial trips to the country around Egypt’s borders for exchange Trade in Ancient Egypt with different countries.
• His era was one of the most prosperous and powerful eras throughout the history of the rule of the Pharaohs, as he assumed the reins of the throne during a period of prosperity and prosperity, and all the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt were unified and had strong external influence and wealth from Gold “Ancient Egyptian Metallurgy“A strong army protects its borders from the east, west and south.
• King Sneferu built more than 60 huge royal ships for use in Pharaonic Festivals in Ancient Egypt and sailing in the Nile River the boat was 100 meters long and included 16 oars.
• been divided Ancient Egypt at that time, there were 23 regions and 22 estates, and all the resources of the regions were supplied to the king’s public treasuries for later use in building the royal buildings and his own pyramids.
• The king was interested in establishing the administrative system of the state The government in the ancient Egyptian and The Pharaonic political pyramid from the royal family and distributing tasks among them to ensure their loyalty to him, as there were positions for advisors around him and the position of minister, who is the general supervisor of all orders of King Senefru and fully responsible for following up on all royal orders and following up on the construction of the pyramids and royal buildings.
• The king established royal palaces in the city of Meidum and then moved to the city of Dahshur, which is considered close to his pyramid group and the control center for the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt, but until now these palaces have not been discovered from the era of the rule of the Pharaonic Old Kingdom.

Commercial relations in his era:

• There were strong trade relations with the country in southern Egypt, where many goods were brought from leopard skin, ostrich eggs, ivory, ebony, incense, and predatory animals.
• Turquoise and raw copper were extracted from mines Sinai in addition, extracting gold ore from the lands of Nubia and diorite ore from the mines of the southwestern region of the desert.
• The king was interested in the makers of commercial ships to sail the Nile River and transport goods across the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea from the city of Byblos on the coast of Lebanon to bring goods of cedar and pine wood to be used in the makers of the royal Nile boats and the doors of the huge royal palaces. A group of doors was discovered buried in the curved pyramid of Sneferu. “In Dahshur, Egypt Archaeological Sites“.

Sinai region and King Sneferu:

The king was interested in extracting copper and turquoise minerals from the land of Sinai, “the land of turquoise,” especially in the area of Valley of the cave “Mount Al-Maghara” Which is located southeast of Sinai.

Inscriptions and drawings were discovered on the rocks in the mountains in Wadi Al-Maghara, representing the king holding a war hammer while striking members of the Bedouin tribes with it, to indicate his control and rule over that region.

One of the turquoise mines in Wadi al-Maghara was named after the king even after his death for more than 600 years.

Wars of his time:

• The western direction of Egypt’s borders included a group of Libyan tribes known as the “Land of the Tahnu“, which were always launching invasions on the borders, prompting the king to launch military campaigns against them to expel them and preserve those on the western borders, as he launched a huge military campaign in the eighteenth year of his rule. He was able to obtain large spoils of war for more than 1,100 prisoners and more than 1,300 heads of livestock.
• The king carried out a major military campaign in the thirteenth year of his rule to Nubia, southern Egypt, led by the military commander and his brother, Prince Rahotep. He was able to bring with him spoils of more than 2,200 heads of cattle and sheep and more than 7,000 captive men and women.

King Sneferu buildings:

1. He built and constructed an entire city in the Buhen region in northern Nubia as a strong fortress to repel invasions and enemies from the south.
2. He built two sacred funerary buildings in the 15th year of his reign, known as “His Highness Sneferu the Red-crowned” and “His Highness Sneferu the White-crowned”.
3. He carved huge statues of him from copper and raw gold.
4. He built 4 pyramids in the area of ​​Meidum and Dahshur and built many funerary pyramid groups, in which he recorded that he was the most royal building among the Pharaoh kings in the Old Kingdom.

Facts about the construction of the four pyramids of Sneferu:

• The financial resources and labor required to build the four pyramids of King Senefru were provided by prisoners of war.
• The hard stones were cut and transported to the pyramid building site. “The details were mentioned in the Palermo stone.”
• The construction of the curved pyramid “the broken pyramid” and the pyramid group were completely completed Mortuary Temples Surrounding it despite the problems Engineering which met with the engineers and workers during the construction stages, and the pyramid was covered from the outside with white limestone.
• The pyramid of Meidum was restored by filling the terrace of the pyramid with a slanted covering of limestone to appear in the form of a complete pyramid, as the pyramid of Meidum is considered the first pyramid during his reign and at the same time the last pyramid until his death, and here comes the importance of reviewing it The Secrets of Pyramid Construction.

Meidum:

King Sneferu took the region of Meidum south Memphis it is close to Fayoum and Beni Suef, as the capital of ancient Egypt and the headquarters of the royal court to continue the construction of its pyramids, tombs, and royal buildings.

It is known to be the headquarters of the royal court First Dynasty of Egypt with King Narmer in the city of Eneb Haj, close to the Saqqara Plateau, which is located north of the tombs of the First Egyptian Dynasty, then the capital moved to the city of Memphis, which is close to the areas where the pyramids and their royal tombs were built. It is also considered a vital area between the Nile Valley and the regions Delta in addition to the passage of the trade route between the north and the east.

Many royal tombs and mastabas were built for burial Mummy Princes and nobles in the city of Meidum.

King Sneferu took the Meidum region in the Western Desert, south of Greater Cairo, as the headquarters of his hierarchical group.

Pyramid of Sylla

A pyramid located in the city of Fayoum.

Dahshur:

In the fifteenth year of his reign, King Sneferu moved to the city of Dahshur to be the new capital of ancient Egypt during his reign. There is speculation that the reasons for this change were due to the death of his eldest son and his burial in one of the royal tombs in Meidum, or he wanted to choose a new strategic region to control the reins of the Egyptian territories in the caravans. Commercial and start sending military campaigns on the Egyptian border.

The king began building his own pyramid in the Dahshur area, which was devoid of population and living with modern technologies, based on his religious beliefs, which were to ascend to the top and merge with the god Ra, “the symbol of the sun.”

The funeral complex in Dahshur – King Sneferu

The curved pyramid of Dahshur

King Sneferu called the curved pyramid the Radiant Pyramid as a symbol of the worship of the god Ra, the symbol of the sun in ancient Egyptian beliefs.

At the beginning of building the pyramid, the inclination angle was 60 degrees until it reached a height of 40 meters from the surface of the ground. The architects changed the inclination angle to 54 degrees, to avoidBThe risks and collapse of the pyramid and its effect on the base. Then, after a stage, he adjusted the angle of inclination to 43 degrees, then continued building the pyramid until its height from the surface of the earth reached 105 meters and the length of the side was 188 meters.

At the end of construction, the pyramid appeared with broken corners in the middle, which made King Senefru annoyed. He decided not to continue building the corridors and basements inside and not to complete it to the end, and to begin immediately building a new pyramid and avoid mistakes.andIn this curved pyramid.

You can enter the pyramid through an 80-meter-long corridor from the northern entrance, where the height of the corridor is 110 cm. Therefore, you must be careful and bend when walking until you reach the first inner chamber with a domed ceiling, then go down to reach the burial chamber through a wooden ladder 625 meters long. poison.

Inside the burial chamber, many passages have been dug, some of which lead to a well and another 12 meters long in the east-west direction. Walking carefully, you will find a group of cedar wood logs, as King Senefru was interested in importing cedar wood from the city of Byblos to build the royal buildings, which are still in good condition after passing. Thousands of years later, after a long distance inside the corridors, you will feel cold air coming to you from all sides, as a result of gaps connecting the pyramid’s chambers and the outside air.

Valley Temple:

The funerary temple was built with a limestone wall and is considered the only entrance from the eastern side. The walls of the temple and a group of the remains of the dilapidated temple and stone statues of King Senefru were discovered in 1950 AD by a research team of paleontologists and Egyptology headed byHDr. Ahmed Fakhry.

Perspectives were drawn on the walls of the temple of a group of individuals representing the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt offering sacrifices to the ancient Egyptian goddess, as the temple was considered the designated place for receiving gifts and offerings that came from all regions of Egypt from north to south and storing them in its warehouses.

Binoculars have been drawn of King Sneferu as he celebrates the Sudd Day celebrations, where there are scenes of the king sitting on the throne, wearing the double crown and special celebration clothes, another scene of him running and running in the courtyard of the temple, and another inscription on a limestone wall of the king visiting the Temple of Buto, which is a royal cabin, and views of him. Offers sacrifices to ancient Egyptian gods and beliefs.

Six stone statues of King Sneferu were discovered in the Valley Temple, and a complete stone statue of the Pharaonic king wearing the crown of Upper Egypt was restored. It is now on display in The Egyptian Museum “Museums in Cairo” in Tahrir Square, The restoration was carried out by a research group of German professional restorers and archaeologist Dr. Rainer Stadelmann.

An ascending path was built leading to the northeastern side of the curved pyramid to the open royal chamber, which contains the offering table made of alabaster stone. Next to the royal chamber, we find two limestone panels engraved with scenes of King Sneferu wearing his clothes for the celebrations of the Lord’s Day, the double crown, and inscriptions of the names and titles of the king. Inside the Sarkh.

A small pyramid was built to perform the religious rituals of King Senefru. It was built with the same architectural design as the main pyramid, as it contains small rooms and a burial chamber.

The offerings were stored in a small building on the eastern side of the small pyramid. Limestone panels were discovered containing the titles of King Sneferu and with rounded tops.

The northern entrance was designed with a descending corridor to reach the burial chamber with a domed ceiling and a group of rooms that were designed with a domed ceiling and a group of stairs and ladders, while the western entrance leads to a small chamber with a domed ceiling and you can reach it through a descending passage.

The Red Pyramid – The Radiant Pyramid:

The pyramid was built in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of King Sneferu, with a length of 105 meters from the surface of the earth and a height of 220 meters on the sides. The pyramid was built at an inclination angle of 43 degrees, using red stones, and using maftite construction material, which was extracted from the valleys of the Western Desert of Egypt. Therefore, It was called the Red Pyramid.

A pyramid complex was built around the Red Pyramid, but the temple buildings were destroyed, with remains of a road connecting the temple to the main pyramid.

Due to the sudden death of King Sneferu, the finishing of the funerary buildings surrounding the pyramid was urgent, especially the shrines and the funerary temple, which is located in the eastern direction.

The architectural design of the Red Pyramid is the same as the rest of the four pyramids of King Senefru, except for the construction of the burial chamber above the surface of the ground, which came after King Senefru declared himself a god and linked his name to the god Ra, the symbol of the sun among the ancient Egyptians. The entrance to the pyramid was built in the middle of the northern side, then a passage down, then a passage. Horizontally until you reach chambers with a domed ceiling, then a corridor that reaches the burial chamber, which was built in the middle and heart of the pyramid.

Important discoveries:

Firstly:

In the year 1839 AD, an archaeological mission headed by Dr. John Pring and archaeologist Dr. Richard Vys discovered that there were hidden internal passages connecting the chambers of the pyramid from the bottom and the outside air. Once some of the passages were cleaned of sand and dust and some of the stones were broken, a cold air current was released with great force for a period of time. Two days and then stopped.

After many tests and studies, it was discovered that there are hidden cavities to bring air from the outside into the bottom of the pyramid, where the Egyptian archaeologist, Dr. Ahmed Fakhry, discovered that there are terrifying screaming sounds issued as a result of the strong wind moving into the lower chambers of the pyramid at the end of the western corridor in the upper parts. .

secondly:

A group of pieces of limestone cladding were found around the Red Pyramid by the expedition of German Dr. Rainer Stadelmann, which contains graffiti dating back to the construction of the Radiant Pyramid.

The German mission also found pieces of the pyramid that was based on the top of the pyramid and was made of limestone, which is considered one of the oldest small pyramidal stone artifacts.

Third:

King Senefru’s religious beliefs continued even after his death, as the priests performed religious rituals for 700 years in the Valley Temple until the beginning of the war The Middle Kingdom in ancient Egypt Pharaonic. Stone statues and paintings engraved with religious texts, altars for sacrifices, and funerary chambers were discovered on the eastern side of the curved pyramid.

Many Pharaohs were interested in Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt by building their own royal tombs next to the pyramids of King Sneferu in Dahshur and Meidum.

Inscriptions in the name of King Sneferu were discovered on the rocks of Wadi Al-Maghara in Sinai King Amenemhat III by issuing orders to write his name there is a tribute to the king of Al-Tayyib in addition to the era The New Kingdom in ancient Egypt Pharaonic rise of one of the sons King Ramses II from Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt by mentioning his name on stone plaques.

Death of King Sneferu:

King Sneferu died in the 54th year of his reign on the throne of ancient Egypt, without health problems and quietly, as the ceremony began The Mummification of the Pharaohs ownership and the start of the burial ceremony.

King Sneferu’s body was transported to the royal funeral workshop, “Al-Wabat”, where the embalmers began removing the internal organs from the body, such as the liver, intestines, kidneys, lungs, and heart, then wrapped the body in linen, then staged incense on the mummy’s body, then transported the mummy in a royal procession to the royal cemetery.

Prince Khufu, Prince Nefermaat, and his wife, Queen Hetepheres, met in the burial chamber. Outside, a group of servants, singers, and priests gathered to recite religious texts in front of a large table of food and drinks.

The burial ceremony for the deceased king was within the formal burial traditions and rituals of religious beliefs, with the eldest son playing the role of the God Horus He buries the Father, “God is God and God Osiris while Queen Hetepheres played the role of the goddess Hathor“ Daughter of the god Ra and wife of the god Horus.” And next to him always stand the sisters of the god Osiris God Isis swear God Nephthys“, then begins the ritual of opening the mouth of the deceased to give him life after his death, then the ritual of sacrifices of servants, which is supervised by the chief priest.

Theories about the burial place:

There are some theories Egyptologists the mummy of King Sneferu was buried in the burial chamber of the Red Pyramid in Dahshur, where a skeleton and linen scrolls were discovered in the northern chamber of the Red Pyramid. After an X-ray examination, it was discovered that the bones belonged to a man who died in middle age, and one of the toes was attached to the foot, which are artificial toes. In addition, the bones of a bull, a cow’s hoof, and a bull’s horn mummified with linen were discovered in a room next to the burial chamber.

There is a theory that he confirms Dr Zahi Hawass, The mummy of King Senefru was buried in a secret room in the pyramid of Meidum and has not been discovered yet. 

Tombs of nobles:

Tombs were built for the nobles and senior officials close to King Sneferu in the Saqqara region, where we will find scenes on the walls of the tombs that show us the details of the life of the ancient Egyptians in high quality and still exist.TIt retains its colors to this day after thousands of years, including…

• A view of a group of carpenters building ships and wooden boats from cedar.
• How was agriculture in ancient Egypt and the steps for irrigating the land and plowing.
• A view of a group of fishermen on boats catching fish from the Nile River with nets.
• Repeating scenes of sacrificial bearers presenting them to ancient Egyptian gods, carrying pottery vessels and dishes containing birds, food, and wine.

List of tombs of nobles in Saqqara:

Mastabas Of The Old Kingdom in Saqqara

Tomb of Mereruka

Tomb of Ty

Tomb of Kagemni

Tomb of Akhethetep and Ptahhotep II – mastaba D64

Tomb of Irukaptah

Tomb of Merefnebef

Tomb of Meryteti

Tomb of Neferherenptah – The Bird Tomb

Tomb of Niankhkhnum And Khnumhotep

Tomb of Nikauisesi

Tomb of Nyankhnefertem (Temi)

Tomb of Watetkhethor

Tomb of Priest Hetepi

Tomb of Kaaper

Tomb of Prince Rahotep and Nofret

Tomb of Priest Fetekti

Tombes Du Nouvel Empire in Saqqara

Tomb of Horemheb – Saqqara

Tomb of Maya And Meryt – Saqqara

Tomb of Amenhotep in Saqqara

Tomb of Pa-Aton-Em-Heb – Saqqara, Then Leiden

Southern South Saqqara pyramid

Dead Hostage

Tomb of Serapeum

The Southern Tomb in King Djoser funeral complex

Works of King Sneferu:

• Increasing commercial exchange and foreign trade with surrounding countries such as Lebanon. He used to send a large fleet of ships to import cedar wood, known in Lebanon as pine trees, for the manufacture of ships and royal doors.
• Carrying out military campaigns to secure the country’s borders from the south, especially the Nuba region, in addition to military campaigns for the Bedouins of the Sinai Peninsula to protect the turquoise mines, and campaigns to Libya to protect the western borders of Egypt.
• He created the minister’s job to coordinate administrative work while building his pyramid.
• Sending continuous mining campaigns in Sinai to discover copper, gold and turquoise.
• Building three pyramids: Meidum, Snefru, and Al-Ahmar.
• His reign was a period of peace and prosperity, so he was called the beloved King Mohsen.

 The effects of King Sneferu:

• The head of King Snefru, made of granite and preserved in the Brooklyn Museum in in the New York USA, is 61 cm high. It was discovered in the southern region of Dahshur.
• A limestone statue that is currently preserved in the Egyptian Museum. It was discovered in a special corner of the Wadi Temple in its pyramid in the southern Dahshur region. It was found by the Egyptian doctor Ahmed Fakhry.

Note: Facts and secrets of the history of the Pharaoh kings will be added soon…

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