Neferkara I (also Neferka and, alternatively, Aaka) is the cartouche name of a king (pharaoh) 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 Egyptian priest Manetho suggests that Neferkara’s reign lasted 25 years. Egyptologists evaluate his statement as a misinterpretation or exaggeration.
Name sources
Although the name “Neferkara” (meaning “the Ka of Re is beautiful”) appears in the Abydos King list several times, this very Pharao, according to Jürgen von Beckerath and several others, is not depicted here. It is assumed that the 19th entry in this list will be assigned to a much later Pharaoh Nebkara, whose nomen presumably was Neferka. However, the name “Neferkara” appears in the Saqqara King list. The Turin Royal Canon lists a king’s name, disputed for its uncertain reading. Egyptologists such as Alan H. Gardiner read “Aaka”, whilst other Egyptologists, such as Beckenrath, read “Neferka”. Both king lists describe Neferkara I as the immediate successor of king Senedj and as the predecessor of king Neferkasokar.
Identity
There is no contemporary name source for this king, and no Horus name could be connected to Neferkara I up to this day. In contrast, Egyptologists such as Kim Ryholt believe Neferkara/Neferka was identical to a sparsely attested king named Sneferka, which is also thought to be a name used by king Qa’a (the last ruler of the 1st dynasty) for a short time only. Ryholt thinks that Ramesside scribes misleadingly added the sun symbol to the name “(S)neferka”, ignoring that the sun itself was no object of divine adoration yet during the 2nd dynasty. For comparison, he points to cartouche names such as Neferkara II from the king list of Abydos and Nebkara I from the Sakkara table.
The ancient historian Manetho called Neferkara I “Népherchêres” and reported that during this king’s rulership “, the Nile was flowing with honey for eleven days”. Egyptologists think that this collocation was meant to show that the realm flourished under king Nephercheres.
Reign
Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck, Nicolas Grimal, Hermann Alexander Schlögl and Francesco Tiradritti believe that king Nynetjer, the third ruler of the second dynasty, left a realm that was suffering from an overly complex state administration and that Ninetjer decided to split Egypt to leave it to his two sons (or, at least, rightful throne successors) who would rule two separate kingdoms, in the hope that the two rulers could better administer the states. In contrast, Egyptologists such as Barbara Bell believe that an economic catastrophe like a famine or a long-lasting drought-affected Egypt. Therefore, to address the problem of feeding the Egyptian population, Ninetjer split the realm, and his successors founded two independent kingdoms until the famine ended. Bell points to the inscriptions of the Palermo Stone, where, in her opinion, the records of the annual Nile floods constantly show low levels during this period. Bell’s theory is refuted today by Egyptologists such as Stephan Seidlmayer, who corrected Bell’s calculations. Seidlmayer has demonstrated that the annual Nile floods were at normal levels from Ninetjer’s time up to the period of the Old Kingdom. Bell had overlooked that the heights of the Nile floods in the Palermo stone inscription only takes the measurements of the nilometers around Memphis into account, but not elsewhere in Egypt. Any long-lasting drought can therefore be excluded.
It is a commonly accepted theory that Neferkara I had to share his throne with another ruler. It is just unclear yet, with whom. Later king lists such as the Sakkara and the Turin canon list the kings Neferkasokar and Hudjefa I as immediate successors. The Abydos list skips all these three rulers and names a king Djadjay (identical with king Khasekhemwy). If Egypt was already divided when Neferkara I gained the throne, kings like Sekhemib and Peribsen would have ruled Upper Egypt, whilst Neferkara I and his successors would have ruled Lower Egypt. The division of Egypt was brought to an end by king Khasekhemwy.
