The Length of Sneferu's Reign and how Long it Took to Build the ‘Red Pyramid’ *

Abstract

Statistical analysis of dated documents from Sneferu's reign implies that the cattle count took place more often annually than biennially. Thus the ‘twenty-fourth occasion of the (cattle) count’, which is the highest date yet known for Sneferu and which exceeds the 24 years allotted him in the Turin Canon, cannot be equivalent to 45 regnal years but rather to about 30. On the basis of the dates preserved on blocks from the king's Red Pyramid, a model can be constructed to demonstrate that about eleven years were required for its construction. This period accords well with a reign of about 30 years.