REDJEDEF

also called Djedefre, Horus name Kheper third king of the 4th dynasty (c. 2575c. 2465 BC) of Egypt. Redjedef was a son of Khufu (Cheops), builder of the Great Pyramid, by a secondary queen. The original crown prince, Kawab, who had married the heiress Hetepheres II, apparently predeceased his father. At Khufu's death, Redjedef married Hetepheres II and became king; but since he came from a secondary branch of the royal family, he probably usurped the kingship. There is some evidence that other princes who claimed the throne tried to overthrow him. At Abu Ruwaysh, north of Giza, Redjedef started a pyramid about the size of the pyramid of Menkaure at Giza, but it was never completed. Granite blocks of its casing have been found, together with the remains of a funerary temple with granite columns. The king also worked the diorite quarries in Nubia (the modern Sudan) near Abu Simbel, where his name occurs. Following an eight-year reign, he perished under unknown circumstances. The opposition party elevated its candidate, Khafre, to the throne, and he was considered Khufu's legitimate successor. Probably at that time Redjedef's pyramid complex was ransacked and converted into a quarry, so that only a few blocks remain today.