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| Userkaf |
Dates 7 years from 2465—2458. Userkaf was the originator of the fifth Dynasty. He
administered Ancient Egypt from 2465 BC until 2458 BC. His better half, Queen
Khentkaues, was of imperial blood. Students of history say that Userkaf wedded
her to adjust himself to the regal line. Tragically, his rule is not all around
reported, but rather he assembled a wonderful pyramid at Saqqara.
His design and adornment shows the masterful wonderfulness of the period. The
pyramid was intended to go about as a house of prayer for offerings and an as a
funeral home sanctuary for the lord. The sanctuary court has square rock
sections in every one of the corners and some wonderful reliefs on the
dividers. Two of the sanctuary's busts were recouped as of late.
Userkaf was the child of Neferhetepes, a girl of the fourth
Dynasty ruler Djedefre. His dad is not known. His marriage to Khentkaus I, a
girl of Mykerinos, legitimized his claim to the position of royalty. Regardless
of the solid family relationship of Userkaf with his ancestors, Manetho begins
another tradition, the fifth, with the rule of this lord. This might be
reflected in the Middle Kingdom story, noted on the Papyrus Westcar, where the
introduction of 3 new lords, Userkaf, Sahure and Neferirkare, as the children
of a cleric of Re and a lady named Red-djedet, is anticipated. In spite of the
story of Papyrus Westcar, notwithstanding, it is presently trusted that Userkaf
was not the sibling but rather the father of his two prompt successors and that
their mom was Khentkaus I.
As per the Turin King-list, Userkaf ruled for just 7 years,
however Manetho (in the form of Africanus) credits him with as much as 28
years! The number given by the Turin King-list, notwithstanding, is by all
accounts affirmed by the Palermo-stone, which takes note of the time of the
third cows consider of this lord his most noteworthy.
Userkaf's significance lies in another sort of landmark that
he worked in Abusir, a couple of kilometers north of Saqqara:
an alleged sun powered sanctuary. This sanctuary comprised of a raised stage
that contained a sacred place just before a hill, whereupon a wide and
moderately low pillar was raised. From this sanctuary, a secured thoroughfare
prompted a valley-sanctuary. It is in this valley sanctuary that a perfectly
safeguarded head of Userkaf, wearing the crown of Lower-Egypt has been found.
The correct importance and centrality of this structure is
not totally caught on. Its association with the sun oriented clique is evident
through the unequivocal sun powered image, the monolith, yet it is trusted that
this landmark likewise was identified with the lord's funeral home faction. It
shows, in any case, that amid the fifth Dynasty the sun based faction turned
out to be progressively essential. This inclination had as of now begun amid
the fourth Dynasty, when Djedefre included the title "Child of Re" to
the imperial titulary. From the fifth Dynasty on, there would be just a couple
of lords that did not have the theophorous component "Re" in their prenomen.
Except for the arrival of 70 foreign women to Egypt
and some cultic activity that shows his interest in the Delta, nothing much is
known about Userkaf's political activites.
Next to the solar-temple, Userkaf's only other monument of
some importance seems to have been his pyramid-complex, which he erected at Saqqara, just north-east of the complex of Djoser. It is
much smaller than the pyramids at Giza,
and this is often interpreted as that Userkaf was not as powerful as his 4th
Dynasty predecessors.
Userkaf's funerary cult seems to have been discontinued at
the end of the 5th Dynasty
Userkaf was the founder of the 5th Dynasty. He ruled Ancient
Egypt from 2465 BC until 2458 BC. His wife, Queen Khentkaues, was of royal
blood. Historians say that Userkaf married her to align himself with the royal
line. Unfortunately, his reign is not well documented, but he built a marvelous
pyramid at Saqqara. His architecture and
decoration demonstrates the artistic glory of the era. The pyramid was designed
to act as a chapel for offerings and a as a mortuary temple for the king. The
temple court has square granite columns in all the corners and some beautiful
reliefs on the walls. Two of the temple's busts were recovered recently.
King Userkaf was related to the royal house from more than
one side. He was the grandson of king Djedefre and he married a daughter of
king Menkaure.
He moved to the very heart of the Sakkara
cemetery for his tomb and had the nerve to erect his tomb monument only fifty
metres from the enclosure wall of the mortuary complex of Djoser, then over 200
years old and probably with his cult still in action.
Alongside the arranging of his tomb, Userkaf started an
absolutely new kind of building task at Abusir two or three kilometers toward
the north, where the vast majority of his supporters ought to erect their
pyramids. This was something extraordinary - a development of a Sun Temple.
This clique focal point of the sun god Re, had a tremendous
stone monolith as the totem, symbolizing the sun. A sacrificial stone was put
for offerings and the Palermo
stone (made later in this administration) expresses that two bulls were yielded
here consistently. This confidence had at this point developed to a national
religion and starting now and into the foreseeable future the ruler had as one
of his titles: "Child of Re".
At the point when this site was exhumed in the 1950s it
ended up being in an extreme condition of destroy since it had been a stone
quarry in old circumstances. The ground arrange and diverse phases of
development could apportion however, and the conclusion was that more than one
pharaoh had added to the working throughout the years. It is assumed that ruler
Neuserre (after 100 years) included the inward fenced in area divider and councils
of limestone.
At the end of the causeway down by the Nile was a Valley
Temple, and the whole concept was similar to the pyramids of the pharaohs, with
the difference that the tomb was changed for a shrine to the solar god Re.
Written sources tell that six sun temples were built during the fifth dynasty,
but only four have been found. A black stone head of the king (picture left)
was found at the site. Some doubts about if it really is the king have been put
forward since he is looking so young considering he became pharaoh as a middle
aged man. Nonetheless is this an example of how sculpturing and art in general
stood at its peak in Egyptian history at this point. Thereafter a general
decline was clearly visible and never again in Egyptian history did it reach
the standard of dynasty five.
Userkaf's tomb was built at Sakkara
as a pyramid. Its name was "The Pyramid Which is Pure in Places"
(picture below left). The temple by the pyramid had a floor made of black
basalt stone and so was the foundations of the walls. The rest was made of
white limestone from Tura and carved with relief scenes of offerings,
decorations of animals etc.