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Shepseskare (2426—2419)



Little to nothing is thought about Shepseskare, aside from that he administered amongst Neferirkare and Neferefre. His relationship to alternate rulers of the fifth Dynasty is not known.

As indicated by the Turin King-list, he administered for a long time. There don't seem, by all accounts, to be any archives that allude to dairy cattle tallies.

Some seal impressions dated to his rule have been found at Abusir, and these are about the main observers of Shepseskare's rule. It is not known whether he constructed a pyramid or a sun powered sanctuary, in spite of the fact that the incomplete pyramid situated at Abusir between the pyramid of Sahure and the sun powered sanctuary of Userkaf, has, by a few, been credited to him.

Very little is known about king Shepseskare. Almost all Egyptologists agree on that he ruled for a short period between Neferirkare and Neferefre, but a few thinks he ruled after these. His kinship (if any) to the other kings of the 5th Dynasty is not known. The Royal Canon of Turin and Manetho (who calls him Sesiris) notes him for a reign of seven years, and this seems to be a plausible figure. His name Shepseskare is also written in the Sakkara list.

His Horus-name within a serek (seen in picture right) is "Sekhemkhau" meaning "The Power Has Appeared" where the club stand for power and the rising sun for appearance. This was found in the mortuary temple of king Neferefre.

Some of very few remains from his time have been found at Abusir. It's seal impressions dated to his reign and these are almost the only contemporary findings from his brief time on the throne.

In any case, there is a substantial leftover at Abusir that most likely is from him however - what is left of a major pyramid. It is arranged north of the complex of Sahure and was found as late as in the 1980s. The work on the landmark was barely started before it was halted and comprises just of earthwork. The region had been leveled and an establishment was made for the entombment chamber. It's conceivable that the pyramid was planned to be the greatest of all at Abusir, with a base side measuring a little more than 100 meters, comparative long to ruler Nefererkere's pyramid.

His title (nomen) in his roll as "Son of Re" is seen within the cartouche left. The duck is a homonym for the word "son" and the sun disc symbolises his "father" - the solar god Re.

His name is put together of the components axe, quail, staff, folded cloth and a mouth and maybe it makes "Netjer-weserw".

Since the kings of dynasty five were completing the buildings of their predecessors it's possible that Shepseskare in his effort didn't have much time left for his own monuments. The since of the unfinished pyramid (if it's his) tells that he had planned to live longer, but obviously he did not.