Nepherites I

Nepherites I
Nefaarud I, Nayfaurud I
Sphinx of pharaoh Nepherites I in the Louvre Museum
Pharaoh
Reign	399–393 BC (29th Dynasty)
Predecessor	Amyrtaeus
Successor	Hakor
Royal titulary
Children	Hakor
Died	393 BC
Burial	Mendes?

Nefaarud I or Nayfaurud I, better known with his hellenised name Nepherites I, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the founder of the 29th Dynasty.

It is believed that Nepherites was a general from the deltaic city of Mendes who, in the autumn of 399 BC, rose against pharaoh Amyrtaeus, defeated him in open battle, and then executed him at Memphis. Nepherites then crowned himself pharaoh at Memphis and possibly also at Sais, before shifting the capital from Sais to his hometown Mendes.
The fact that Nepherites I chose the same Horus name of Psamtik I and the Golden Horus name of Amasis II – both relevant rulers of the earlier 26th Dynasty - is thought to demonstrate that he wanted to associate his rule with an earlier 'golden age' of Egyptian history.

According to Manetho, Nepherites I ruled for six years, although his highest archaeologically attested date is his regnal year 4.
There has been evidence of Nepherites' building work found in a number of locations across the country. In Lower Egypt, he is attested at Thmuis, Tell Roba, Buto (where a statue of him has been found), Memphis, Saqqara (where an Apis burial took place in his regnal year 2) and his capital and hometown Mendes. In Middle and Upper Egypt, he ordered a chapel at Akoris while at Akhmim, near Sohag, there is evidence of the worship of a statue of him which was placed inside a naos. He also added some buildings at Karnak such as a storeroom and a shrine meant to house a sacred bark.
A basalt sphinx with his name is now located in the Louvre, but it was known to have been brought to Europe as early as the 16th Century, having adorned a fountain at the Villa Borghese, Rome.