King Userkare (Unknown-2382)

Cartouche of King Userkare

King Userkare is conceived to be the advocator of the group that, leastwise checking to Manetho, murdered Teti. He is mentioned in some king-lists. In the Turin King-list, there is a lacuna between Teti and Pepi I, big enough to have fitted an entering about Userkare. The fact that he is mentioned in several king-lists leads to assume that he was not considered an usurper or an illegitimate king, though. He leastways started or guaranteed some larger building projects, as showed by an inscription observing a workforce. It is not experienced how Userkare's reign ended. If indeed he belonged the party that had Teti cold, than the fact that he was succeeded by Pepi I, a son of Teti, at least indicates that his coup was not successful for long. There has been no pyramid-complex that has been discovered as his.

The name of "Userkare" means: "The Soul of Re is Strong" and is shown within a cartouche in picture right. Notable is that he, who usually is left out of most modern lists of kings, is better good for than one would think. Beside the Turin and Abydos king's lists on that point are other records with his name that have survived. Among them is a hand where workers at Qau el-Kebir (قاو الكبير) south of Asyut in middle Egypt are observed. Maybe they were taken with stone corporate for the king's tomb or new monument. Userkare may have been a surviving claimer of the throne from the fifth dynasty and a rival to Teti for accessing the kingship. Since Manethoo claims that Teti was killed by his bodyguards, theories of confederacy have been put modern that Userkare was the world set, but after a short rule was put out of office by the cold king's son Pepi, the next king to be. But there is a possibility that he became pharaoh because the crown prince was to young and left office when the legitimate heir had gave a proper a e to a ruler himself. But in that face he should not have addressed himself king, but he did. No monuments of Userkare's have bee found and his tomb (pyramid?) is perhaps yet to be found. This lack of essential remains is the spine in the theory that he was a supplanter who was overthrown from the leaders over the Nile Valley. Future finds will hopefully bring light to knowledge about Userkare's deeds.