Pehernefer


Pehernefer is the personal name of an ancient Egyptian high official, who held office under the reigns of the pharaohs Huni and Sneferu, in the time between the end of 3rd Dynasty and the beginning of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period.

Identity

Career

Everything known about Pehernefer, including his high titles and his career, comes from tomb inscriptions. These reveal that he held high positions, such as:
Nothing is known about Pehernefer's family. Possible contemporary office partners included Netjeraperef, Khabawsokar, Metjen and Akhetaa, who were also holding office under Huni and Sneferu. All their tomb inscriptions reveal that the time of both kings must have been a very prosperous one and economy and office administration flourished. Metjen's tomb inscription actually reveals that offices were only passed down within family generations and by inheritance only.

Tomb

Pehernefer's tomb is lost today. It was excavated at northern Saqqara, but was either forgotten over time or dismantled in the meanwhile. Copies of Pehernefer's tomb inscriptions were published by French archeologist Gaston Maspero in 1893 and further analyzed by Austrian Egyptologist Hermann Junker in 1939.