Niuserre Izi (2445-2421)

Niuserre Izi or Izi (Niuserre) was the 6th ruler of the Dyn. V. He managed Ancient Egypt from 2416 till 2392 BC, and is celebrated for both his sunlight based sanctuary at Abu Gorab and his pyramid at Abu Sir. The reliefs in the internment assembly of his pyramid portray his military battles against Libyan adversaries in the Western Desert and against the Asiatics in Sinai. He exited an engraving at Wadi Maghara which filled in as a manual for the mineral mines of the locale. His two spouses, Reputneb and Khentikus, were covered close him at Abu Sir.

Niuserre was the second child of Neferirkare and Khentkaus II to have climbed to the position of authority. He was hitched to a lady named Reput-Nebu, of whom a statue was found in the valley-sanctuary associated with his and Neferirkare's pyramid complex. It is not known whether he had any kids (that out-lived him).

The Turin King-rundown is to some degree harmed at the point where Niuserre's name is specified, and just enables us to express that he governed for over 10 years. The most astounding known year reference is dated to the time of the seventh year check. On the off chance that the steers tallies were held at customary two year interims, this would be the thirteenth year of his rule.

The 44 years credited to him by Manetho is considered unreliable. The representation of a Sed-festival found in his solar-temple may indicate that he ruled at least for 30 years, although its is also possible that this representation refers to the magical rejuvenation of the king after his death.

An inscription found in the Sinai shown Niuserre triumphant over his enemies. It is debatable whether this inscription refers to an actual victory of Niuserre, or whether it was merely symbolic. It does, however, show that Niuserre was active in the Sinai.

He built a solar-temple, named Shesepu-ib-re, in Abu Gurab, a kilometre or more to the North of Abusir. Not only is this the biggest and most complete solar-temple, it is also the only one that was constructed completely of stone. The many finely carved reliefs that remain show the king during a Sed-festival and the world as created by the solar god, with representations of the seasons and the provinces of Egypt. With the reign of Niuserre, the solar-cult appears to have come to its summit.

The pyramid-complex of Niuserre is situated at Abusir, between the pyramids of Sahure and Neferirkare. rather than building his own particular valley sanctuary, he had his pyramid complex associated with the valley sanctuary of Neferirkare.

Izi (Niuserre) was the 6th ruler of the Dyn. V. He administered Ancient Egypt from 2416 till 2392 BC, and is well known for both his sun powered sanctuary at Abu Gorab and his pyramid at Abu Sir. The reliefs in the internment assembly of his pyramid portray his military battles against Libyan opponents in the Western Desert and against the Asiatics in Sinai. He cleared out an engraving at Wadi Maghara which filled in as a manual for the mineral mines of the area. His two spouses, Reputneb and Khentikus, were covered close him at Abu Sir.

King Niuserre (meaning: "Possessed by the Power of Re") was the sixth king of the 5th Dynasty. His Horus name was probably pronounced Setibtawy (seen within a serek in picture right). It's not known exactly how long he ruled Egypt because the Turin Canon is damaged a this very point. Is reign lasted at the least 10 years, probably twice that time, but Manetho's 44 years looks a big too long. There are indications of a more than 30-year reign from his solar temple at Abu Gurab (northern Abusir) where a Sed-fetival is mentioned. Egyptologists have figures between 11 and 31 years. A fragment from a statue in his valley temple states that his first queen had the name Reput-Nebu. Though written remains are scares we have reason to believe that ha was active in all the fields as the other kings from this period. That is - mining in the Sinai, making military campaigns against Libyans and Nubians, trading with Punt for malachite, myrrh, spices etc.  

  

The last expedition of trade to the area around the southern part of the Red Sea is attested for and remains with his name have also been found in Byblos in Syria as well on the island of Elefantine in Aswan at the south border of the country facing Nubia.

Pyramids of Neferefre

Examined by Perring, Lepsius, De Morgan, Borchardt.

“Unfinished Pyramid”

Pyramid of Neferefre

It would appear that a mastaba tomb, however was square and not rectantulr (nor n-s arranged like mastabas. What was arranged as a pyramid turned into a seat like structure. It was just in the 1970s that it was affirmed to be a pyramid having a place with Neferefre and that he had infact been covered here.

Called "Heavenly is Neferefre's energy".

The underground pit was burrowed for the internment load and the plummeting passageway. At that point liestone squares were laid as a foundadtio, lastly the center was assembled.

Center is level layers around 1m high, with an external mantle of expansive unpleasant blcosk up to 5m long. These were staeked to make the main center stride around 7m high. Dirt mortar was utilized. Inward squares were littler. Amongst inward and oute rlayers of the center was fil of sand, rubble, dirt, and stone sections.

A roof terrace made it easy for robbers to steal the stone – they simply dug down from above, probably in the first intermediate period. Stone were used in nearby shaft tombs by the Persians. Stones continued to disappear into the 19^th century.

Entrance on the north side, near ground level. Curves slightly to the se before reaching the antechamber and is lined with pink granite. The barrior block has interlocked jaws and is unique to this pyramid.

A pink granit sarcophagus was found, and four alabaster canopic containers, parts of a mummy. Most likely of a 20-23 year old man, potentially of Neferefre. Morgue sanctuary toward the east (adjusted north south) of white limestone entered by a stairway and slope on the woutheast. A radical new area was included later (amid the rule of Niuserre). An expansive number of papyrus reports (2000 pieces) were found in the new piece of the sanctuary. Southern piece of the expansion contains the principal hypostyle corridor of this age.

Encased in a block divider fortified with limestone monolisths in the corners. A slaughteryard was found before the woutheast fenced in area divider, with adjusted corner mudbrick dividers.

Hours: 8am-4pm, LE10

One of four pyramid edifices

Just a low hill remains,, an incomplete center, never encased in limestone

Authoritatively opened in 1999

Neferefre ruled gone before by Nyussere.

Abusir is a pyramid field on the west bank of the Nile to the north of Saqqara where many of the Dynasty V pharaohs chose to site their burial monuments. The Pyramid of Neferefre is at the southern end of the site. Neferefre (sometimes known as Raneferef) was the eldest son of Neferirkare and the fourth or fifth king of Dynasty V (depending where the shadowy king Sheseskare fits in). Neferefre came to the throne at a young age and had barely begun to construct his pyramid complex next to that of his father, when he died after a reign of only a few years, probably in his early 20s.

Pyramid and funeral home sanctuary of Neferefre Pyramid and morgue sanctuary of Neferefre. Until unearthings were started by the Prague University Egyptology Institute in 1974 little was known about Neferefre. At the point when his funerary sanctuary on the eastern side of the landmark was found it uncovered critical papyri from the file, giving genuinely necessary data and in addition statuary of the ruler. Other critical papyri (Abusir Papyri of Neferirkare) have been found at Abusir and it was these which gave data about Neferefre's pyramid and the way that it had been quickly finished to work as an internment landmark by the ruler's more youthful sibling, Niuserre.

Neferefre's pyramid had a construct estimation of 65m in light of each side however just the initial step of the center had been finished at the lord's demise, resembling a low mastaba and now rising just a couple meters over the leave. The pyramid appears to have been hurriedly topped with rocks and mud mortar on its level top. The entombment chamber was worked in a pit with an expansive trench driving from the northern side of the pyramid and albeit devastated, late unearthings have delivered finds proposing that the underground parts of the pyramid were finished when of the lord's internment. Pieces of a red rock sarcophagus and sections of canopic jugs have been found alongside mummy and bone parts.

Excavations of the mortuary temple on the eastern side of the pyramid have been more fruitful, revealing an extensive mudbrick structure which surrounded an original small stone building. We know that Neferefre's younger brother Niuserre completed the cult chapels in the second stage of construction which extended along the whole eastern side of the pyramid and included an early form of hypostyle hall. In a third building phase a columned courtyard was added which formed an L-shape with a structure known as the 'Sanctuary of the Knife' (a name found in texts) which was a slaughterhouse for sacrificial animals. Inside the extended area of the mortuary temple were storage magazines in which archaeologists found two wooden model funerary boats with thousands of carnelian beads. Among many other artefacts found in the mortuary temple, was a fragment of a beautiful statuette of Neferefre, sculpted in limestone and painted, depicting a young king wearing a short black wig and being embraced by a Horus falcon (now in Cairo Museum). Other discoveries included the papyri temple archive and ceramics inscribed with the king's name.

There is so far no evidence of a causeway or valley temple for Neferefre, lending further weight to the suggestion that the king's burial was completed in haste in an improvised tomb.

Neferefre (2419—2416)

Raneferef was the fifth lord of Dynasty V. He governed the nation from 2419 till 2416 BC. Shockingly, students of history couldn't locate any essential documentation from his rule.

Cartouche of Neferefre

Neferefre was the primary child of Neferirkare and Khentkaus II to go to the royal position. He was gone before by the fleeting lord Shepseskare.The Turin King-rundown is excessively fragmentary, making it impossible to give us the length of Neferefre's rule. The most astounding recorded year reference is the time of the promotion of this lord, making it improbable that he had a long rule. He assembled a sun based sanctuary named Hetep-Re, which has not yet been distinguished, and, at Abusir, begun with the working of his own pyramid complex. The complex was left incomplete.

Raneferef was the fifth king of Dynasty V. He ruled the country from 2419 till 2416 BC. Unfortunately, historians could not find any important documentation from his reign.

Until the 1980s practically nothing more than his name was known to science, but then excavations was begun at an anonymous ruin of a pyramid in the southernmost part of the royal necropolis at Abusir. The monument turned out to be built by king Neferefre (Horus-name: Nefer-khawand in picture right). At the east side an elaborated mortuary temple was dug out. It was constructed of mud bricks and obviously made in haste shortly after the death of the king. Here archaeologists found parts of the temple archive on papyrus, stone vessels, mud seals, and faience inlays. Small statuettes of the king also came to light in the temple ruins and one showing the ruler seated on a throne without his names headdress. He is shown to be very young man, hardly more than twenty years of age and with fleshy cheeks giving a childish impression to his face.

 Other statuettes (made in a crude more non-portraying form) were also found as well as glazed ceramics making the king's name.

After the temple the excavators turned to the pyramid itself and the central construction with the burial chamber. It had been robbed already at the collapse of the Old Kingdom but not totally empty of finds. A lot of interesting objects were found and fragments of pharaoh's red granite sarcophagus came to light plus pieces of mummy wrappings and bones, and parts of canopy jars. This was proof of that the king once had been buried here under a big gabled roof. Huge portcullises of granite had once blocked the corridor leading to the centre.

The mummy material was inspected and most likely was from a young fellow in his mid twenties, which fits well to what have been known about the ruler. Just the initial step of a pyramid was finished and it was secured by rocks and mud mortar at first glance before the dead ruler was introduced in the funerary flats. He would have rested in his sarcophagus for around 300 years before bedlam softened out up Egypt and numerous regal tombs were stripped for their merchandise. His name inside a cartouche is found in picture above left and his incomplete pyramid likewise had the name in symbolic representations:

It implies:

"The Pyramid which is Devine of the Ba-spirits", and the spirits are symbolized by three storks.

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.

Pyramid of Neferirkare Kakai

1- Pyramid at Abu Sir

Pyramid of Neferirkare Kakai

The Dynasty V pyramid of Neferirkare is the second pyramid at the southern end of Abusir, marginally toward the north-east of Neferefre's incomplete landmark. Presently the most forcing and the tallest structure at Abusir with an expected proposed tallness of around 70m (it is even now around 45m) and a base of around 105m each side, the pyramid was based on Abusir's most elevated point. The landmark's antiquated name was 'Pyramid of the Ba of Neferirkare' and it was likewise incomplete amid the ruler's lifetime. We are not sure of the length of Neferirkare's rule and figures in the vicinity of 14 and 24 years have been proposed - he was conceivably very old when he went to the position of authority. Nor is it known why he succeeded Sahure instead of Sahure's own child, however it is recommended by a few Egyptologists that the two lords could have been siblings. His pyramid complex may have been finished by his successors however we realize that piece of the boulevard and the valley sanctuary were usurped by Niuserre.

Pyramid of Neferirkare Pyramid showing stepped construction. There is evidence to suggest that Neferirkare's pyramid was planned as a step pyramid and today four of the original six steps remain. At some point there was a change in design and the steps were filled with loose masonry and then converted to become a 'true' pyramid, enlarged and provided with a casing of red granite. The pyramid's entrance is in the centre of its northern side and a straight descending passage then took two turns before arriving at the vaulted antechamber and a burial chamber. The substructure was very badly damaged by stone robbers and no trace of a sarcophagus or burial equipment has been found.

A mortuary temple for the king, on the eastern side of the pyramid seems to have been hastily finished, and like that of Neferefre, the original stone offering hall and chapels or statue niches were enlarged and completed in mudbrick. The entrance to the mortuary temple led through a vestibule with six pairs of columns to a large central porticoed courtyard which in turn led to the inner areas and magazines.

In 1893 parts of uncommon Dynasty V hieratic papyri writings started to show up on the relics advertise and Ludwig Borchardt in this way found a couple stray writings found by nearby villagers at Abusir. Amid unearthings of Neferirkare's morgue complex, it was found that the sanctuary chronicle, dating basically to the rule of Djedkare-Isesi, had been put away in managerial structures here. The accumulation is known as the 'Abusir Papyri' and portrays the clique organization, inventories, records and records of building work, and additionally clerical obligations and day by day offerings. The file speaks to a lot of critical learning about the monetary history of the Old Kingdom pyramid cliques. It was from this record the pyramid complex of Neferefre, Neferirkare's eldest child, was found, and in addition subtle elements portraying six sun-sanctuaries at Abu Ghurob. Neferirkare's own particular sun sanctuary had been finished inside his lifetime and appears to have been the biggest of these structures toward the north of Abusir, however so far has not been found.

2- Pyramid of Khentkaues

South side of the pyramid of Neferirkare. It researched by Borchardt, who dimissed it as a twofold mastaba and did not investigate it completely. Simply after examination in 1970s was it perceived as a full pyramid and the proprietor set up.

Presumably worked in two phases, started amid the rule of Neferikare and after that proceeded under her child Nisuerre, or even herself as official of Egypt.

Generally in remnants, just abot 4m higha nd worked of the disposed of limestone of Neferirkare's pyramid.Core is three layers with dirt mortar and cased in white limstone with a dim stone pyramidion.

Entrance at ground level on the north, to a descneding corridor and then level, to a stone barrie prior to the burial chamber. It is lined with white limestone and has a flat ceiling.

Some funerary remains here, and fragments of a pink sarcophagus.

Mortuary temple at the east well, also finished in several stages. Earliest part is limestone, second phase of mudbrick as an extension to the nsouth and west.

Small cult pyramid to the southwest.