King Neferkare and General Sasenet

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian story}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}

File:Royal_head_from_a_small_statue.jpg

The ancient Egyptian story of "King Neferkare and General Sasenet" survives only in fragments. It is often cited by people interested in Homosexuality in ancient Egypt as being proof that a homosexual relationship existed between a pharaoh and one of his officers.Lynn Meskell, when writing about homosexuality, calls it "Another well documented example" (Archaeologies of social life: age, sex, class et cetera in ancient Egypt, Wiley-Blackwell, 1999, p.95){{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//age/adult.html|title=Age: adult|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|access-date=8 May 2023|archive-date=8 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008104523/http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/age/adult.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://epistle.us/hbarticles/ancientegypt1.html|title=Homosexuality in Ancient Egypt by Bruce Gerig|website=epistle.us|access-date=24 May 2009|archive-date=18 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218052055/http://epistle.us/hbarticles/ancientegypt1.html|url-status=live}} On the other hand, literature often reflects social mores: the tale is censorious of the king's conduct which may well reflect the attitude of the people towards homosexuality.Meskell, op. cit. p.145 It purports to describe the nightly exploits of Pepi II Neferkare; some like R. S. Bianchi think that it is a work of archaizing literature and dates to the 25th Dynasty referring to Shabaka Neferkare, a Kushite pharaoh.Bianchi, op. cit. p.164

The story is dated to the late New Kingdom though it was composed earlier.Lynn Meskell, Archaeologies of social life: age, sex, class et cetera in ancient Egypt, Wiley-Blackwell, 1999, p.95 Only three sources for it survive, each containing only a part of the overall narrative:

• a wooden plaque, 18th or 19th Dynasty, now in the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures the University of ChicagoOIC 13 539
• an ostrakon, 20th dynasty, from Deir el-MedinaO DeM 1214
• the Papyrus Chassinat I, also known as Papyrus Louvre E 25351, 25th dynasty, now in the Louvre, Paris{{Cite web|url=https://www.trismegistos.org/tm/detail.php?tm=56875|title=Trismegistos Texts|website=Trismegistos}}

It contains a reference to the ancient myth of the sun god Rê and the god of the realm of the dead Osiris. These two gods existed in a relationship of interdependence: Osiris needing the light of the sun while Re, who had to cross the underworld during the night to reach the eastern horizon in the morning, needed the resurrective powers of Osiris. Their union took place during the four hours of deepest darkness – the same hours Neferkare is said to spend with his general.van Dijk, op. cit. pp.387–393