King Sneferu

King Sneferu is the founder of the 4^th dynasty, Sneferu is the successor of king Huni the last king of the 3^rd dynasty, but there is no evidences say that he was a son of Huni, most likely he was his son in low, Sneferu married princess Hetepheres I.

When the funeral furniture of queen Hetepheres I was found and we managed to information about her, we understood that she was the daughter of the predecessor of Sneferu because she had the title ‘Daughter of God, from his body’ which means she is the daughter of the king.

 

 

It is not easy to know for how long king Sneferu ruled Egypt, according to Turin Canons (Turin papyrus), king Sneferu ruled for 24 years, but some Egyptologists suggested that he might have ruled for 27-30 years (Krauss), and some other Egyptologists suggested that hemighthave ruled for 40-48 years (Redford). It is assumed that king Sneferu ruled Egypt around 2600 BC.

King Sneferu Name Meaning

His name Sneferu could explained according to the Ancient Egyptian verb snefer which means to restore, make beautiful and to heal, so his name could mean the restorer or the healer.

Some opinions about his name because of the last letter in his name (u), they said it could a short way to write the pronoun (ui or wi) which means me, so his name could mean (he who) makes me beautiful, but I don’t see it a proper meaning.

 

They attributed many pyramids to king Sneferu, the first pyramid was attributed to Sneferu is Meidum pyramid, but some Egyptologists suggested that this pyramid was first build by king Huni and was completed by king Sneferu.

The 2 pyramids at Dahshur, the Bent pyramid and the Red pyramid are strongly attributed to king Sneferu, and according to Egyptologist.

the Bent pyramid was built first and it was considered as a failure (or a big mistake), so Sneferu decided to build another pyramid to the north of the Bent pyramid.

The new pyramid is called the red pyramid. The ancient name for the Bent pyramid is (kha mrrsy) which means The Southern Shining Pyramid, and the ancient name for the Red pyramid is (kha mr) which means The Shining Pyramid.

 

There are some other small pyramids are also attributed to king Sneferu like Seila pyramid at Faiyum.

King Sneferu Family :

King Sneferu had a big family, we believe that his mother was called Meresankh I, and his main wife was queen Hetepheres I (maybe the daughter of Huni), we don’t know names for other wives for king Sneferu.

King Sneferu Sons:

– Khufu

– Ankhhaf

– Kanefer

– Nefermaat I

– Netjeraperef

– Rahotep

– Ranefer

– Iynefer I

King Sneferu Daughters:

– Hetepheres A

– Nefertkau I

– Nefertnesu

– Meritites I

– Henutsen