| Ranefer in hieroglyphs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rˀ-nfr Ra-nefer Ra is beautiful | ||||
Ranefer (or Ranofer) was a prince of ancient Egypt during the 4th Dynasty (Old Kingdom of Egypt).
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, was a son of Pharaoh Sneferu, who was the first ruler of the Fourth Dynasty. Ranefer’s mother was Sneferu’s wife or concubine; her name is unknown. Ranefer’s elder brothers were Nefermaat I and Rahotep.
Ranefer worked as an overseer for his father (title: “Overseer of Djed-Sneferu”) and was buried inside a mastaba tomb at Meidum. In the tomb were found remains of viscera wrapped in linen. Ranefer’s body is the best representation of what mummification techniques entailed during the Old Kingdom. 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 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.
References
- 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.