Neferkasokar
Encyclopedia
Neferkasokar is the name of an Ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...

) who may have ruled in Egypt during the 2nd dynasty
Second dynasty of Egypt
The second dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasty I under the group title Early Dynastic Period. It dates approximately from 2890 to 2686 BC. The capital at that time was Thinis.-Rulers:...

. Very little is known about him, since no contemporary records about him have been found. Rather his name has been found in later sources.

Name sources

Neferkasokar appears in the Saqqara king list
Saqqara Tablet
The Saqqara Tablet in the Egyptian Museum contains one of several lists of Egyptian pharaohs surviving from the Ramesside Period. It was found in 1861 in the Saqqara tomb of Tjenry , an official of Ramesses II.The inscription lists 58 kings from Anedjib and Qa'a to Ramesses II...

 from the tomb of the high priest Tjuneroy, where he is recorded as succeeding king Neferkare I and proceeds king Hudjefa I in the ninth cartouche.

He also appears in the Royal Canon of Turin
Turin King List
The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is a hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio at Turin...

 as the successor of a king Neferka
Neferkara I
Neferkara I is the cartouche name of a king who is said to have ruled during the 2nd dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The exact length of his reign is unknown since the Turin canon lacks the years of rulership and the ancient Greek historian Manetho suggests that Neferkara´s reign lasted 25 years...

 and as the predecessor of king Hudjefa I. His cartouche can be found in column III, line 1. The Turin papyrus records him having a reign of 8 years and 3 months.

Furthermore Neferkasokar´s name appears on a steatite cylinder seal of unknown provenance. The inscription bears the king´s name twice within royal cartouches. Interestingly, the first cartouche shows the name of the god Sokar
Seker
Seker or Sokar is a falcon god of the Memphite necropolis. Although the meaning of his name remains uncertain the Egyptians themselves in the Pyramid Texts linked his name to the anguished cry of Osiris to Isis 'Sy-k-ri' , in the underworld. Seker is strongly linked with two other gods, Ptah the...

 on top, whilst the second cartouche places the syllable Neferka above the god´s name. A guiding inscription says Meri-netjeru, which means “beloved one of the gods”. This titulary was common from the Middle Kingdom onwards, thus the cylinder seal is not likely to originate from the 2nd dynasty. Most Egyptologists date the object to the 13th dynasty
Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt
The thirteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom. Other writers separate it from these dynasties and join it to Dynasties XIV through XVII as part of the Second Intermediate Period...

. Some Egyptologists also question the authenticity of the seal.

Neferkasokar also plays an important role in a papyrus originating from Middle Kingdom
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...

. The text was translated around 237 BC into demotic
Demotic
Demotic may refer to:*Demotic Greek, a variety of the Greek language*Demotic , a script and stage of the Egyptian language...

 language and is preserved in papyrus pWien D6319. The papyrus gives instruction
Instruction
Instruction may refer to:* Teaching, education performed by a teacher* Instruction , a single operation of a processor within a computer architecture...

s on how to build temples and how the temple priests should perform their tasks.

The papyrus also includes a story that royal scribes under the supervision of prince Djedefhor
Djedefhor
Djedefhor or Hordjedef was an ancient Egyptian prince of the 4th dynasty. His name means "Enduring Like Horus".-Biography:Djedefhor was a son of Pharaoh Khufu and half-brother of pharaohs Djedefre and Khafre...

 had discovered an old document in a forgotten chamber which was sealed by king Neferkasokar. The discovered papyrus contained a report of a famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...

 that affected Egypt for seven years and king Neferkasokar was instructed by a celestial oracle through a dream to restore all Egyptian temples. When the king finished his mission successfully, the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...

 started flowing normally again. As a result, Neferkasokar issues a decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...

 which is rediscovered by prince Djedefhor.

Egyptologist and linguist Joachim Friedrich Quack later gave this treatise the name “Book of the Temple”.

Reign

Very little is known about Neferkasokar´s reign. Egyptologists such as Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards and Walter Bryan Emery think that Neferkasokar ruled only in Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....

, since his name appeared in the Sakkara king list, but is missing from the Abydos king list while the Sakkara king lists reflect Memphite traditions. Neferkasokar is also thought to have ruled in Lower Egypt around the same time that kings such as Peribsen and Sekhemib-Perenmaat
Sekhemib-Perenmaat
Sekhemib, or Sekhemib-Perenma´at, is the horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the 2nd dynasty. Similar to his predecessor Seth-Peribsen, Sekhemib is contemporarily well attested in archaeological records, but he doesn´t appear in any posthumous document...

 ruled in Upper Egypt. This assumption would be consistent with the view of a number of Egyptologists that at that time Egypt was divided into two parts. The theory of a divided realm since the end of king Ninetjer´s reign is based on a study of the name of king Peribsen, whose name is connected to the Ombite
Kom Ombo
Kom Ombo or Ombos or Latin: Ambo and Ombi – is an agricultural town in Egypt famous for the Temple of Kom Ombo...

 deity Seth to show that he came from Ombos and ruled an area that included Ombos. Peribsen himself is contemporaneously documented in materials found in the Thinite
Thinis
Thinis or This was the capital city of the first dynasties of ancient Egypt. Thinis is, as yet, undiscovered but well attested to by ancient writers, including the classical historian Manetho, who cites it as the centre of the Thinite Confederacy, a tribal confederation whose leader, Menes ,...

 region, but was excluded from documentation associated with the Memphites. His case is therefore corresponding to Neferkasokar´s case, but for Lower Egypt. Neferkasokar´s predecessors may have been king Senedj
Senedj
Senedj is the name of an early Egyptian king who may have ruled during the 2nd dynasty. His historical standing remains uncertain, as there are no contemporary records about Senedj. The earliest mention of his name appears during the 4th dynasty. The exact duration of Senedj´s reign is unknown...

 and king Neferkara I
Neferkara I
Neferkara I is the cartouche name of a king who is said to have ruled during the 2nd dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The exact length of his reign is unknown since the Turin canon lacks the years of rulership and the ancient Greek historian Manetho suggests that Neferkara´s reign lasted 25 years...

, his successor may have been king Hudjefa I
Hudjefa I
Hudjefa I is the cartouche name and pseudonym of a king who is said to have ruled during the Ancient Egyptian 2nd dynasty. The exact length of his reign is unknown since the Turin canon gave him a reign of 11 years while the ancient Greek historian Manetho suggested that the pharaoh ruled for 48...

.

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