Kawab (c. 2600 BC - c. 2570 BC) was the name of a significant ancient Egyptian prince of the 4th Dynasty. He was the eldest son of King Khufu and Queen Meritites I. Kawab the prince heir and future ruler of Egypt died without obvious cause during the reign of his father. Succeeded by Djedefre, who married Kawab’s widow Hetepheres II, the transition is testimony to wider events worth understanding. It is speculated that Djedefre the second heir had Kawab murdered, since Djedefre was buried in Abu Rawash, instead of Giza, which was the custom and implying more than a spiritual consolidation of the dynasty. Djedefre of course was the king who introduced the royal title Sa-Rê (meaning “Son of Ra”) and so is the first to connect his name with the sun god Ra (pronounced ray).
It was during the final years of Pharaoh Khufu’s reign, when Egypt stood at the zenith of its power. The Great Pyramid, a monument to eternal glory, had been dedicated to Khufu, and the Royal family was poised to better all who had come before. Among Khufu’s many sons, Kawab was the eldest and so crown prince. However, and whether due to Khufu’s determination to reign supreme or out of over-reach, his bid to expand Egypt’s influence and secure its divine favor instead brought turmoil upon the family and called into question thier holy prerogative. Having likely directly sanctioned an ambitious maritime expedition led by two of his other sons: Nefer-Ti-Ru and Nefer-Djeseb, accounts from the voyage provision reason and motive to the madness of the succession of Khufu.
The brothers Nefer-Ti-Ru and Nefer-Djeseb, likely tasked with trade and exploration, had landed upon a distant shores of Australia, according to the controversial inscription at Gosford, Australia. Their mission was both political and spiritual—a demonstration of Egypt’s dominance over the seas and a quest to bring back exotic treasures that would further elevate Khufu’s divine status. Months passed without word from the expedition. When Nefer-Djeseb under the guidance of Captain Nedj Sobed, finally returned to Egypt, his arrival was not met with triumph but with devastating news: Nefer-Ti-Ru had perished in the cursed foreign land, which had been an exhaustive charter. Subsequent to the brothers’ ship making landfall and that subsequent to a voyage which took them the full breath across the Indian ocean and halfway to circumnavigating the island Australia. After succumbing to a snake bite Nefer-Ti-Ru’s body had been interred in Penu in accordance with Egyptian funerary rites, but the prince’s death cast a long shadow over the Royal family.
The court was thrown into disarray. The loss of Nefer-Ti-Ru was not merely a personal tragedy for Khufu—it was seen as an ominous sign from the gods. The death of one of Khufu’s sons during such an important mission suggested that divine favor had been withdrawn from the royal house. Whispers of ill omens spread among the priesthood and nobility, shaking confidence in Khufu’s ability to maintain ma’at (cosmic order). Djedefre seized upon his duty to his people and usurped power from the rightful though doomed heir Kawab, It was a risk Khufu had unduly accepted, and the plain and only forward plan for the cosmic order to continue unabated against the outlying risk of incursion upon the family, that evidenced by the striking down of Nefer-Ti-Ru without human provocation.
In this dramatized retelling, and to preserve Khufu’s legacy as a divinely favored ruler—and to ensure his own legitimacy—Djedefre initiated a campaign to erase all mentions of the ill-fated expedition and its tragic consequences. Nefer-Ti-Ru's memory was likewise erased. The records of Nefer-Ti-Ru's expedition of Penu were systematically scrubbed and his name was omitted from official inscriptions to assist in publicly forgetting their failure against the Gods. The now abandoned Egyptian port Penu where wholly peaceful first contact with the natives was established, there by its temple, history so slipped away. Nefer-Djeseb’s story was silenced, as his distant claim wrought accidentally by the wrath of the seas, proved too ambitious for the Lower Egyptian divine plan: Having returned as the bearer of bad news, Nefer-Djeseb may have even been marginalized altogether to prevent him from challenging Djedefre’s new narrative and the divine plan of the Kingdom of Egypt. Though his inscription remained in that distant cursed land which Reinoud De Jonge has addressed proper with;
FREE TRANSLATION OF THE GOSFORD GLYPHS from the paper; BURIAL SITE OF LORD NEFER-TI-RU, Reinoud De Jonge, October, 2014, representative of Ray Johnson and von Senff's translation (https://www.academia.edu/17251306/GOSFORD_GLYPHS_OF_AUSTRALIA)
GOSFORDS EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS ON THE EAST WALL:
[1] FOR HIS HIGHNESS, THE PRINCE,
from this wretched place in this land,
where we were carried by ship.
Engraved for the Crown of Lower Egypt,
according to God’s word.
[2] My fellow Egyptians
call out from this place in this strange land
for the god SUTI.
I, NEFER-DJESEB,
Son of KHUFU, king of Upper and Lower Egypt
(beloved by Ptah),
has brought the god SUTI.
[3] The Prince was kind and benevolent,
follower of the SunGod Ra.
[4] For two seasons (eight months) he directed us eastward,
weary, but strong to the end.
Always praying, joyful, and smiting insects.
He, the servant of God,
said God created the insects
to protect his people.
[5] I myself am hardened, have gone around hills and deserts,
in wind and rain, with no lakes at hand,
blessed by the falling nights, when I hided myself,
completely out of reach.
[6] In our last camp I cooked fowl on hand, and brought rain,
but hurt my back carrying the Golden Falcon Standard,
crossing hills, desert and pools of water along the way.
[7] Plants are withering, Land is dying.
Is this our lot from the highest God of the Sacred Mer?
[8] The Sun is pouring down upon our back!
Oh mighty Khepera, this is not what the Oracle has said.
Our Harts are overturned, but not broken.
[9] This Regal person NEFER-TI-RU
came from the temple of God in Penu, Egypt.
He came from the House of God.
He was the Son of KHUFU, king of Upper and Lower Egypt.
[10] He, who died before, is here laid to rest.
May he have life everlasting.
[11] He is never again to stand beside the waters of the Sacred Mer.
Then clasp him, my Brothers Spirit to thy side, O Father of the Earth.
GOSFORDS EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS ON THE WEST WALL:
[12] The snake bit twice.
We, followers of the divine king KHUFU,
mighty one of Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Adzes,
we shall not all return.
However, we have to continue,
we cannot look back.
[13] All creek and river beds are dry,
and we are dismayed.
Our boats are tied up with rope.
Death was caused by snake.
[14] We gave egg-yolk from the medicine-chest,
and prayed to Amun, the Hidden One,
for he was struck twice.
[15] It was a hard time for all of us,
weeping over the dead body,
and keeping to the protocol.
[16] Seated all aside,
our men watched the funeral,
with concern and deep love.
How the mummified body was buried
in the Red Earth Section.
[17] Then we recovered ourselves.
[18] We walled in the side entrance to the chamber,
with stones from all around.
The chamber was aligned with the Western Heavens.
[19] I counted and impounded the daggers of our men.
[20] The three doors of eternity were connected
to the rear end of the Royal Tomb,
and sealed in.
EAST WALL:
[21] He, who doesn’t belong to this place,
will not return home to the town of Penu.
[22] Remember with love his nobel spirit.
He will only receive the most purest fruit.
Personally I devided one third of the fruit
for the burial service.
WEST WALL, AGAIN:
[23] Oh God, reach down your hands,
and make the Land green.
[24] A necklace was placed by his side,
A Royal token, signifying: “Heavens Gift, as from thou...!”
[25] The shining relics were carried
to the private sanctury of his Tomb.
In the name of the spirit
of the sanctuary at the town of Penu.
[26] Along with the silver dagger,
a Royal token of God, our Creator.
Separated from home
is the Royal Body, and all others.
NEAR THE MAIN SITE AT GOSFORD:
Hieroglyphs on a North Wall:
[27] We have irrefutable evidence our King’s Son was killed by too much poison.
Hieroglyphs on a West Wall:
[28] In the name of the Lord we buried him in the Royal Tomb in the northern part of this place, which was closed at the back side.
