| Nepherites I | |
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| Nefaarud I | |
Sphinx of pharaoh Nepherites I in the Louvre Museum |
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| Pharaoh of Egypt | |
| Reign | 398–393 BC, 29th Dynasty |
| Predecessor | Amyrtaeus |
| Successor | Psammuthes |
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| Died | 393 BC |
| Burial | Mendes |
King Nepherites I, or Nefaarud I, founded the Twenty-ninth dynasty of Egypt by defeating Amyrtaeus in open battle, and then executing him at Memphis in the autumn of 399 BC. These events are recorded in an Aramaic papyrus document (Papyrus (Papyrus Brooklyn 13). Nepherites was a native of Mendes, where he also made his capital and burial place. He ruled Egypt from 398 BC to 393 BC.
In foreign affairs, he supported Sparta in its war against the Persians by supplying it with grain and material for 100 triremes. In Egypt, he is poorly attested perhaps due to the passage of time: from Mendes, fragments of a granite gate and stone blocks of a temple of Thoth were found. A statue of this pharaoh is known from Buto. Nepherites is attested in Middle and Upper Egypt by a chapel at Akoris (Tehna) and a Naos at Sohag among other construction projects. He is documented by Serapeum stela from Saqqara where a faience palgue mentioning his Year 2 is known. A mummy bandage label written in demotic preserves his Year 4.
His tomb containing some remains of a sarcophagus and funerary equipment was discovered by a team from the University of Toronto and the University of Washington in 1992-1993.
| Preceded by Amyrtaeus |
Pharaoh of Egypt | Succeeded by Psammuthes |
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