Neferkare Pepiseneb
Neferkare VI Pepiseneb was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC). According to the Egyptologists Kim Ryholt, Jürgen von Beckerath and Darrell Baker he was the twelfth king of the Eighth Dynasty.[1][2][3]
| Neferkare Pepiseneb | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neferkare Khered Seneb, Neferkare VI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The cartouche of Neferkare Pepiseneb on the Abydos King List. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 2181-2171 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Neferkahor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Neferkamin Anu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Neferkare II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Ankhesenpepi V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Eighth Dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attestations
The name Neferkare VI Pepiseneb is attested on the Abydos King List (number 51), but not elsewhere. However, Jürgen von Beckerath has proposed that Neferkare Pepiseneb is to be identified with a "Neferkare Khered Seneb" appearing on the Turin canon.[4] As such, Neferkare Pepiseneb would be the first king of the Eighth Dynasty, following Ntyiqrt (who might be Neitiqerty Siptah) whose name appears on the Turin canon, a large lacuna in the document affecting the intervening kings of the dynasty.[1][2] Both of these sources are dated to long after the eighth dynasty, to the 19th dynasty and later and there are no contemporary attestations of this period.
Epithet
The epithet Khered given to Neferkare Pepiseneb in the Turin canon means "child" or "young". Consequently, "Neferkare Khered Seneb" is translated as Neferkare The Child is Healthy.[2]
Several hypotheses have been put forth by Egyptologists concerning this epiteth. Hratch Papazian proposes that the fact that the king was called Khered on the Turin canon hints at his youthful age upon ascending to the throne.[5]: 415 In reality, however, the epithet Khered always indicates that he had the same name as his father, making him most likely the son of a previous king named Neferkare. It is unknown which one, however, and as the 7th and 8th dynasty kings had very short reigns, it could even have been Pepi II Neferkare.
Reign
According to Ryholt's latest reading of the Turin canon, Neferkare VI Pepiseneb reigned at least one year.[1][2] As all pharaohs from Menkare until Neferkahor all had very short reigns (all within the year 2181 BC) and Neferkare VI Pepiseneb died in 2171 BC, he must have reigned 10 years (2181-2171 BC).
References
- Kim Ryholt: "The Late Old Kingdom in the Turin King-list and kingsIdentity of Nitocris", Zeitschrift für ägyptische, 127, 2000, p. 91
- Darrell D. Baker: The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume I - Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty 3300–1069 BC, Stacey International, ISBN 978-1-905299-37-9, 2008, p. 268-269
- Jürgen von Beckerath: Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen,Münchner ägyptologische Studien, Heft 49, Mainz : P. von Zabern, 1999, ISBN 3-8053-2591-6, available online Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine
- Jürgen von Beckerath: The Date of the End of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, JNES 21 (1962) pp. 144-145
- Hratch Papazian (2015). "The State of Egypt in the Eighth Dynasty". In Peter Der Manuelian; Thomas Schneider (eds.). Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom: Perspectives on the Pyramid Age. Harvard Egyptological Studies. BRILL.
- Smith, W. Stevenson. The Old Kingdom in Egypt and the Beginning of the First Intermediate Period, in The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. I, part 2, ed. Edwards, I.E.S, et al. p. 197. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1971.