Khendjer

Userkare Khendjer was the twenty-first pharaoh of the 13th dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period. Khendjer reigned from Memphis during 4 years 3 months and 5 days, from 1764 BC until 1759 BC or from 1718 BC until 1712 BC. Khendjer had a small pyramid built for himself in Saqqara.

Name

The name Khendjer is poorly attested in Egyptian. Khendjer "has been interpreted as a foreign name hnzr and equated with the Semitic personal name h(n)zr, [for] 'boar'" according to the Danish Egyptologist Kim Ryholt. He notes that this identification is confirmed by the fact that the name h(n)zr is written as hzr in a variant spelling of this king's name on a seal from this king's reign. Ryholt states that the word 'boar' is:

Khendjer was, therefore, the earliest known Semitic king of a native Egyptian dynasty. Khendjer's prenomen or throne name, Userkare, translates as "The Soul of Re is Powerful."

Khendjer, however, may have had a second prenomen at his coronation: 'Nimaatre' which translates as 'The one who belongs to Maat is Re.' This name appears together with the name Khendjer at the top of the stela of Amenyseneb (Louvre C12).