Arikhankharer

Arikhankharer (also transliterated Arikankharor, Arrikharêr; in Meroitic hieroglyphics Arikḫror; in Egyptian hieroglyphs ’Irk-nḫr) was crown prince of the Meroitic Kingdom of Kush in the first half of the 1st century AD.^[1]

Arikhankharer
Crown prince of Kush
Prince Arikankharer slaying his enemies (Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, USA)
Born	unknown
Died	ca. mid-1st century AD
Burial	Pyramid 5 (?), North Cemetery, Meroë
Names Arikhankharer (Arikḫror, ’Irk-nḫr)
Dynasty	Meroitic
Father	Natakamani
Mother	Amanitore

Arikhankharer was the eldest son of the co-regents Natakamani and Amanitore, and is depicted with them in reliefs in the temple of Apedemak at Naqa and the temple of Amun at Meroë.^[2] His royal dress and other aspects of his iconography, along with the Meroitic title pqrtr and the Egyptian throne name Ꜥnḫ-kꜢ-Rᵉ (Ankh-ke-re), confirm his status as the heir apparent.^[1][3] In a relief now in the Worcester Art Museum, he is depicted in royal dress, smiting his enemies and watched over by the winged goddess Tly (otherwise unattested).^[1][4]

Arikhankharer died before reaching the throne and was succeeded as crown prince by his brother Arikakahtani.^[1][3] He may have been^[5] buried in pyramid 5 of the north cemetery at Meroë (Begarawiyah N 5), which was excavated in 1921 by an expedition sponsored by Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.^[6] Roman glass and other imported objects from the tomb suggest a date around the middle of the 1st century AD.^[1][7] The tomb also produced fragments of Greek bronze sculpture, including two small heads of Dionysos.^[8]