Ranefer (or Ranofer) was a prince of ancient Egypt during the 4th Dynasty (Old Kingdom of Egypt).[1]
| Ranefer in hieroglyphs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rˀ-nfr Ra-nefer Ra is beautiful | ||||
His name, Ranefer, comes from the Egyptian god Ra and the Ancient Egyptian word nefer (nfr), meaning "beauty."
Ranefer, who had the title King’s Son,[2] was a son of Pharaoh Sneferu, who was the first ruler of the Fourth Dynasty.[3] Ranefer’s mother was Sneferu’s wife or concubine; her name is unknown. Ranefer’s elder brothers were Nefermaat I and Rahotep.[4][5][6]
Ranefer worked as an overseer for his father[7] (title: “Overseer of Djed-Sneferu”) and was buried inside a mastaba tomb at Meidum.[8] In the tomb were found remains of viscera wrapped in linen.[9] Ranefer’s body is the best representation of what mummification techniques entailed during the Old Kingdom.[10] His body was facing east, was molded as well as painted. The mummy’s hair was painted black, the eyebrows and eyes were painted green[11] whilst the mouth was painted red. The genitals were also carefully molded, the brain remained in the skull and its innards were found in a canopic chest in the tomb.[12]
References
edit- ^ Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt: A Genealogical Sourcebook of the Pharaohs, 2004, Thames & Hudson
- ^ Bart, Anneke, Seneferu
- ^ Hill, Jenny. "Children and grandchildren of Sneferu".
- ^ The California Institute for Ancient Studies. "The Kings of the 4th Dynasty".
- ^ Old Kingdom Monuments Organized by Ruler, Wikiversity
- ^ Snofru, Ranefer's father Archived 2010-04-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Justine Victoria Way, From Privilege to Poverty: The Life-cycle of Pyramid Settlements During the Old Kingdom
- ^ Marsh, Cynthia (6 April 2013). "Egyptian Pharaoh Sneferu and His Overachieving Children".
- ^ "Death and the afterlife in ancient Egypt". Preservation of the viscera.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ Ikram & Dodson 1998:110-111
- ^ Petrie, William Matthew Flinders (1892). "Medum".
- ^ McArthur, Riana (31 August 2011). The Evolution of the Technique of Human Mummification (ca.5000 BCE – ca.395 CE). p. 17.