Nebiryraw I

Sewadjenre Nebiryraw (also Nebiriau I, Nebiryerawet I) was an ancient Egyptian king of the Theban-based 16th Dynasty, during the Second Intermediate Period.

Sewadjenre Nebiryraw
Nebiryerawet, Nebiriau
Dagger of Nebiryraw I (JE 33702)
Pharaoh
Reign	26 regnal years[1] 1627-1601 BC[2]
Predecessor	Seankhenre Mentuhotepi
Successor	Nebiryraw II
Royal titulary Horus name Sewadjtawy S.w3ḏ-t3wj He who causes the Two Lands to flourish Nebty name Netjerkheperu Nṯrj-ḫprw Divine of transformations Golden Horus Neferkha Nfr-ḫa Golden falcon, perfect of appearances Turin canon: Nebiryawre Nb jrj 3w Rˁ The possessor of all (things of) Ra Karnak king list: Sewadjenre S.w3ḏ-n-Rˁ He who is made to flourish by Ra Prenomen  (Praenomen) Sewadjenre S.w3ḏ-n-Rˁ He who is made to flourish by Ra[3] Nomen Nebiryraw Nb-jrj-r-3w The possessor of all[4]
Children	Nebiryraw II?
Died	1601 BC
Dynasty	16th Dynasty

Attestations

His main attestation is in the Thebaid region, the Juridical Stela preserving his names and provides the highest attestation Year 1. He is known from several seals.

[1] At Thebes, the Juridical Stela, a well known administrative document dated to his regnal Year 1.^[5][6] This stela also mentions a predecessor king "Merhotepre", which may be Merhotepre Sobekhotep. On the stela his nomen is written as Neb-iri-er-au (nb-iri-Ꜣw).^[7]

[2] At Hu, a cemetery yielded a copper dagger with the prenomen of Nebiriau that was discovered by Flinders Petrie in late 1890s.^[8][9][10]

[3] Nebiryraw is also depicted along with the goddess Maat on a small stela which is part of the Egyptian collection located in Bonn.^[11]

[4] Seals. All the seals issued by Nebiryraw were made of clay or frit rather than the usual steatite which implies there were no mining expeditions dispatched to the Eastern Desert region of Egypt during his reign.^[12] Two seals of this king were found at Lisht which at the time was part of the Hyksos realm; this finding may demonstrate diplomatic contacts between the Theban dynasty and the Hyksos during Nebiryraw's reign, although this is uncertain.^[13] In the Petrie Museum, see UC 11608 and some faience scarabs (UC 11609, 11610, 11611, 11612) do not give royal titles, and may be read as a blessings instead.^[14]

Non-contemporary attestations

The Karnak King List #38 (33) mentions Sewadjenra (swꜢḏ.n-rꜤ) between Sankhibra (37) and ...kare (39).

The Turin King List 11:05 mentions "The Dual King Nebiriawra (nb-iri-(r)-Ꜣw(t)^[15]) reigned 26 years ...".^[16] Here he is between Se...en...ra (11:04) and Nebitawra (11:06). The Turin King List uses another variant of the nomen compared with the Juridical Stela. On the Turin Canon he is credited with a 26-year-long reign and was succeeded by his namesake Nebiryraw II, who may have been his son.^[17] His highest attestation is Year 1 and there are hardly enough archaelogical finds to support a reign of 26 years.

Nebiryraw's throne name Sewadjenre (along with the epithets "good god" and "deceased") appears on the base of a bronze statuette of the god Harpocrates now in Cairo (JE 38189), along with other royal names, two of them – Ahmose and Binpu – apparently belonging to princes of the 17th Dynasty which would replace the 16th Dynasty shortly thereafter. The statuette also mentions a "good god Neferkare, deceased" which is generally believed to be the throne name of Nebiryraw's purported son and successor, Nebiryraw II. The statuette is clearly non-contemporary, however, since the cult of Harpocrates was introduced during the Ptolemaic period i.e. about 1500 years after the people named on the statuette had lived.^[18]

References

1. Turin King List 11:05
2. Ryholt 1997
3. "Titulary". Archived from the original on 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
4. Leprohon, Ronald J. (2013). The great name: ancient Egyptian royal titulary. Writings from the ancient world, no. 33. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 978-1-58-983736-2, see p. 84
5. Cairo Museum JE 52453
6. Lacau, Pierre (1949). "Une stèle juridique de Karnak". Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte. Supplément. 13.
7. "Nebirau I in hieroglyphs".
8. Cairo JE 33702
9. Petrie, Flinders (1901). Diospolis Parva, the cemeteries of Abadiyeh and Hu, 1898-9, pl. 32, n. 17
10. Ryholt, p. 178, n. 639
11. Pieke, Gabi (ed.) (2006) Tod und Macht, Jenseitsvorstellungen in Altägypten, Bonn, fig. on p.61
12. Ryholt, pp. 159-60
13. Ryholt, p. 162
14. "King Nebiryraw (I)".
15. "Nebirau I in hieroglyphs".
16. Pharaoh.se Turin Colum 11
17. Ryholt, Kim (1997). The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period (=Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications, vol. 20). Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 87-7289-421-0., pp. 155, 202
18. Redford, Donald B. (1986). Pharaonic king-lists, annals and day-books: a contribution to the study of the Egyptian sense of history. Mississauga: Benben Publications. ISBN 0920168078., p. 55

External links

• scarab of Nebiriau I