Parents and consort

The identity of Userkaf's parents is uncertain, but he undoubtedly had family connections with the rulers of the preceding Fourth Dynasty.^[9][25][26] Egyptologist Miroslav Verner proposes that he was a son of Menkaure by one of his secondary queens^{[note 2]} and possibly a full brother to his predecessor and the last king of the Fourth Dynasty, Shepseskaf.^[27][28]

Alternatively, Nicolas Grimal, Peter Clayton and Michael Rice propose that Userkaf was the son of a Neferhetepes,^[29][30] whom Grimal, Giovanna Magi and Rice see as a daughter of Djedefre and Hetepheres II.^[23][31][32] The identity of Neferhetepes's husband in this hypothesis is unknown, but Grimal conjectures that he may have been the "priest of Ra, lord of Sakhebu", mentioned in Westcar papyrus.^{[note 3][34]} Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton propose that Neferhetepes was buried in the pyramid next to that of Userkaf,^{[note 4]} which is believed to have belonged to a woman of the same name.^{[note 5][35]}

The location of the pyramid attributed to Neferhetepes, however, strongly suggests that she may instead have been Userkaf's wife. If so she should be identified with the Neferhetepes who is the mother of Userkaf's successor and likely son, Sahure.^[35] A relief from Sahure's causeway depicts this king and his queen together with the king's mother, identified as a Neferhetepes, which very likely makes her Userkaf's wife.^[37] Like Grimal, Jaromír Malek sees her as a daughter of Djedefre and Hetepheres II.^[25] Following this hypothesis, Mark Lehner also suggests that Userkaf's mother may have been Khentkaus I, an idea shared by Arielle Kozloff.^[15][38]

Dodson and Hilton argue that Neferhetepes is not given the title of king's wife in later documents pertaining to her mortuary cult, although they note that this absence is inconclusive.^[35] They propose that Userkaf's queen may have been Khentkaus I, a hypothesis shared by Selim Hassan.^[35][39] Clayton and Rosalie and Anthony David concur, further positing that Khentkaus I was Menkaure's daughter.^[40][41] Bernhard Grdseloff argues that Userkaf, as a descendant of pharaoh Djedefre marrying a woman from the main royal line—that of Khafre and Menkaure—could have unified two rival factions within the royal family and ended possible dynastic struggles.^[12][42] Alternatively, Userkaf could have been the high priest of Ra before ascending the throne, giving him sufficient influence to marry Shepseskaf's widow in the person of Khentkaus I.^{[note 6][49][50]}

Children

Many Egyptologists, including Verner, Zemina, David, and Baker, believe that Sahure was Userkaf's son rather than his brother as suggested by the Westcar papyrus.^[51][52] The main evidence is a relief showing Sahure and his mother Neferhetepes, this being also the name of the queen who is believed to have owned the pyramid next to Userkaf's.^[37] An additional argument supporting the filiation of Sahure is the location of his pyramid in close proximity to Userkaf's sun temple.^[53] No other child of Userkaf has been identified except a daughter named Khamaat, mentioned in inscriptions uncovered in the mastaba of Ptahshepses.^[54]

Duration

The exact duration of Userkaf's reign is unknown. Given the historical and archeological evidence, the consensus among Egyptologists is that he ruled for seven to eight years^{[11][55][56][57]} at the start of Egypt's Fifth Dynasty.^[15] First, an analysis of the nearly contemporaneous Old Kingdom royal annals shows that Userkaf's reign was recorded on eight compartments corresponding to at least seven full years but not much more.^{[note 7][60]} The latest legible year recorded on the annals for Userkaf is that of his third cattle count, to evaluate the amount of taxes to be levied on the population. This significant event is believed to have been biennial during the Old Kingdom period, meaning that the third cattle count represents the sixth year of his reign. The same count is also attested in a mason's inscription found on a stone of Userkaf's sun temple.^{[note 8][61]} Second, Userkaf is given a reign of seven years on the third column, row 17, of the Turin Royal Canon,^[67] a document copied during the reign of Ramesses II from earlier sources.^[68] Third, very few small artefacts bearing Userkaf's name have been found, witnessing a short reign. These include a gold mounted diorite jar,^[69] a five-deben stone weight^[70] and a stone cylinder seal from Elephantine, now all in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as an ivory cylinder seal in the British Museum^[71] and yet another seal in the Bulaq Museum.^[72][73]

The only historical source favouring a longer reign is the Aegyptiaca (Αἰγυπτιακά), a history of Egypt written in the 3rd century BC, during the reign of Ptolemy II (283–246 BC) by Manetho. No copies of the Aegyptiaca have survived and it is now known only through later writings by Sextus Julius Africanus and Eusebius. According to the Byzantine scholar George Syncellus, Africanus wrote that the Aegyptiaca mentioned the succession "Usercherês → Sephrês → Nefercherês" at the start of the Fifth Dynasty. Usercherês, Sephrês, and Nefercherês are believed to be the Hellenized forms for Userkaf, Sahure and Neferirkare, respectively.^[74] In particular, Manetho's reconstruction of the early Fifth Dynasty is in agreement with those given on the Abydos king list and the Saqqara Tablet, two lists of kings written during the reigns of Seti I and Ramesses II, respectively.^[75] In contrast with the Turin canon, Africanus's report of the Aegyptiaca estimates that Userkaf reigned for 28 years,^[74] much longer than the modern consensus.^{[11][55][56][57]}

Founder of the Fifth Dynasty

The division of ancient Egyptian kings into dynasties is an invention of Manetho's Aegyptiaca, intended to adhere more closely to the expectations of Manetho's patrons, the Greek rulers of Ptolemaic Egypt.^[77] A distinction between the Fourth and Fifth dynasties may nonetheless have been recognised by the ancient Egyptians, as recorded by a much older tradition^[25] found in the tale of the Westcar papyrus. In this story, King Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty is foretold the demise of his line and the rise of a new dynasty through the accession of three brothers, sons of Ra, to the throne of Egypt. This tale dates to the Seventeenth or possibly the Twelfth Dynasty.^[76]

Beyond such historical evidence, the division between the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties seems to reflect actual changes taking place at the time, in particular in Egyptian religion, and in the king's role.^[78] Ra's primacy over the rest of the Egyptian pantheon and the increased royal devotion given to him made Ra a sort of state-god,^[56][79] a novelty in comparison with the Fourth Dynasty, when more emphasis was put on royal burials.^[9]

Userkaf's position before ascending to the throne is unknown. Grimal states that he could have been a high-priest of Ra in Heliopolis or Sakhebu, a cult-center of Ra mentioned in the Westcar papyrus.^[21][80] The hypothesis of a connection between the origins of the Fifth Dynasty and Sakhebu was first proposed by the Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, who noted that in Egyptian hieroglyphs the name of Sakhebu resembles that of Elephantine, the city that Manetho gives as the cradle of the Fifth Dynasty. According to Petrie, positing that the Westcar papyrus records a tradition that remembered the origins of the Fifth Dynasty could explain Manetho's records, especially given that there is otherwise no particular connection between Elephantine and Fifth Dynasty pharaohs.^[80]

Activities in Egypt

Beyond the constructions of his mortuary complex and sun temple, little is known of Userkaf.^[3] Malek says his short reign may indicate that he was elderly upon becoming pharaoh.^[83] Verner sees Userkaf's reign as significant in that it marks the apex of the sun cult,^{[note 10]} the pharaonic title of "Son of Ra" becoming systematic from his reign onwards.^[86]

In Upper Egypt, Userkaf either commissioned^[3] or enlarged^[55] the temple of Montu at Tod, where he is the earliest attested pharaoh.^[87] Due to structural alterations, in particular during the early Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom and Ptolemaic periods, little of Userkaf's original temple has survived.^[88] It was a small mud-brick chapel including a granite pillar,^[88] inscribed with the name of the king.^[89]

Further domestic activities may be inferred from the annals of the Old Kingdom, written during Neferirkare's or Nyuserre's reign.^{[note 11][91][92]} They record that Userkaf gave endowments for the gods of Heliopolis^{[note 12]} in the second and sixth years^{[note 13]} of his reign as well as to the gods of Buto in his sixth year, both of which may have been destined for building projects on Userkaf's behalf.^[3] In the same vein, the annals record a donation of land to Horus during Userkaf's sixth year on the throne, this time explicitly mentioning "building [Horus'] temple".^[95]

Other gods honoured by Userkaf include Ra and Hathor, both of whom received land donations recorded in the annals,^[93][96] as well as Nekhbet, Wadjet, the "gods of the divine palace of Upper Egypt" and the "gods of the estate Djebaty" who received bread, beer and land. Finally, a fragmentary piece of text in the annals suggests that Min might also have benefited from Userkaf's donations.^[95] Further evidence for religious activities taking place at the time is given by a royal decree^[97] found in the mastaba of the administration official Nykaankh buried at Tihna al-Jabal in Middle Egypt.^[21] By this decree, Userkaf donates and reforms several royal domains for the maintenance of the cult of Hathor^[97] and installs Nykaankh as priest of this cult.^[98]

Excavations of the pyramid temple of Amenemhat I at Lisht produced a block decorated with a relief bearing the titulary of Userkaf. The block had been reused as a building material. The relief mentions a journey of the king to the temple of Bastet in a ship called "He who controls the subjects [...]".^[99]

While Userkaf chose Saqqara to build his pyramid complex, officials at the time, including the vizier Seshathotep Heti, continued to build their tombs in the Giza necropolis.^[3]

Trade and military activities

Userkaf's reign might have witnessed the birth of direct trade between Egypt and its Aegean neighbors as shown by a series of reliefs from his mortuary temple representing ships engaged in what may be a naval expedition.^[46][100] Further evidence for such contacts is a stone vessel bearing the name of his sun temple that was uncovered on the Greek island of Kythira.^[27] This vase is the earliest evidence of commercial contacts between Egypt and the Aegean world. Finds in Anatolia, dating to the reigns of Menkauhor Kaiu and Djedkare Isesi, demonstrate that these contacts continued throughout the Fifth Dynasty.^[55]

South of Egypt,^[101] Userkaf launched a military expedition into Nubia,^[27] while the Old Kingdom annals record that he received tribute from a region that is either the Eastern Desert or Canaan in the form of a workforce of one chieftain and 70 foreigners^[102] (likely women),^[93][103] as well as 303 "pacified rebels" destined to work on Userkaf's pyramid.^[104] These might have been prisoners from another military expedition to the east of Egypt^[3] or rebels exiled from Egypt prior to Userkaf's second year on the throne and now willing to reintegrate into Egyptian society.^[105] According to the Egyptologist Hartwig Altenmüller these people might have been punished following dynastic struggles connected with the end of the Fourth Dynasty.^[102] Finally, some reliefs from Userkaf's mortuary temple depict a successful military venture^[106] against Asiatic Bedouins, whom Userkaf is shown smiting,^[107] as well as a naval expedition.^[108][109]

Statuary

Several fragmentary statues of Userkaf have been uncovered. These include a bust of the goddess Neith in his likeness^[111] found in his sun temple at Abusir, now in the Egyptian Museum. This head of Userkaf is 45 cm (18 in) high and carved from greywacke stone. It is considered particularly important as it is among the very few sculptures in the round from the Old Kingdom that show the monarch wearing the Deshret of Lower Egypt.^{[note 14]} The head was uncovered in 1957 during the joint excavation expedition of the German and Swiss Institutes of Cairo. Another head which might belong to Userkaf, wearing the Hedjet of Upper Egypt and made of painted limestone, is in the Cleveland Museum of Art.^{[note 15][17][111]}

The head of a colossal larger-than-life sphinx statue of Userkaf, now in the Egyptian Museum, was found in the temple courtyard of his mortuary complex at Saqqara by Cecil Mallaby Firth in 1928.^[113] This colossal head of pink Aswan granite shows the king wearing the nemes headdress with a cobra on his forehead.^[4][40] It is the largest surviving head dating to the Old Kingdom other than that of the Great Sphinx of Giza^[40] and the only colossal royal statue from this period.^[4] Many more fragments of statues of the king made of diorite, slate and granite but none of limestone have been found at the same site.^[113][114] Some bore Userkaf's cartouche and Horus name.^[114]

Kozloff notes the youthful features of Userkaf on most of his representations and concludes that if these are good indications of his age, then he might have come to the throne as an adolescent and died in his early twenties.^[114]

Significance

Userkaf is the first^[3][27] pharaoh to build a dedicated temple to the sun god Ra in the Memphite necropolis north of Abusir, on a promontory on the desert edge^[14] just south of the modern locality of Abu Gurab.^[117] Works might have started during Userkaf's fifth or sixth year of reign.^[38] The only plausible precedent for Userkaf's sun temple was the temple associated with the Great Sphinx of Giza, which may have been dedicated to Ra and may thus have served similar purposes.^[116] In any case, Userkaf's successors for the next 80 years followed his course of action:^[83] sun temples were built by all subsequent Fifth Dynasty pharaohs until Menkauhor Kaiu, with the possible^[118] exception of Shepseskare, whose reign might have been too short to build one.^[119] Userkaf's choice of Abusir as the site of his sun temple has not been satisfactorily explained,^[120] the site being of no particular significance up to that point.^{[note 16][121]} Userkaf's choice may^{[note 17]} have influenced subsequent kings of the Fifth Dynasty who made Abusir the royal necropolis until the reign of Menkauhor Kaiu.^[125]

For the Egyptologist Hans Goedicke, Userkaf's decision to build a temple for the setting sun separated from his own mortuary complex is a manifestation of and response to sociopolitical tensions, if not turmoil, at the end of the Fourth Dynasty.^[78] The construction of the sun temple permitted a distinction between the king's personal afterlife and religious issues pertaining to the setting sun, which had been so closely intertwined in the pyramid complexes of Giza and in the pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty.^[126] Thus, Userkaf's pyramid would be isolated in Saqqara, not even surrounded by a wider cemetery for his contemporaries, while the sun temple would serve the social need for a solar cult, which, while represented by the king, would not be exclusively embodied by him anymore.^[126] Malek similarly sees the construction of sun temples as marking a shift from the royal cult, which was so preponderant during the early Fourth Dynasty, to the cult of the sun god Ra. A result of these changes is that the king was now primarily revered as the son of Ra.^[56]

Name

The ancient Egyptians called Userkaf's sun temple Nekhenre (Nḫn Rˁ.w), which has been variously translated as "The fortress of Ra", "The stronghold of Ra", "The residence of Ra",^[3] "Ra's storerooms" and "The birthplace of Ra".^[127] According to Coppens, Janák, Lehner, Verner, Vymazalová, Wilkinson and Zemina, Nḫn here might actually refer instead to the town of Nekhen, also known as Hierakonpolis.^{[14][116][121][127]} Hierakonpolis was a stronghold and seat of power for the late predynastic kings who unified Egypt. They propose that Userkaf may have chosen this name to emphasise the victorious and unifying nature of the cult of Ra^[128][129] or, at least, to represent some symbolic meaning in relation to kingship.^[127] Nekhen was also the name of an institution responsible for providing resources to the living king as well as to his funerary cult after his death.^[129] In consequence, the true meaning of Nekhenre might be closer to "Ra's Nekhen" or "The Hierakonpolis of Ra".^[127]

Function

The sun temple of Userkaf first appears as pyramid XVII in Karl Richard Lepsius' pioneering list of pyramids in the mid-19th century.^[130][131] Its true nature was recognised by Ludwig Borchardt in the early 20th century but it was only thoroughly excavated from 1954 until 1957 by a team including Hanns Stock, Werner Kaiser, Peter Kaplony, Wolfgang Helck, and Herbert Ricke.^[132][133] According to the royal annals, the construction of the temple started in Userkaf's fifth year on the throne and, on that occasion, he donated 24 royal domains for the maintenance of the temple.^[134]

Userkaf's sun temple covered an area of 44 m × 83 m (144 ft × 272 ft)^[133] and was oriented to the west. It served primarily as a place of worship for the mortuary cult of Ra^[135] and was supposed to relate it to the royal funerary cult.^[2] Structurally, the sun temple and the royal mortuary complex were very similar,^[136] as they included a valley temple close to the Nile and a causeway leading up to the high temple on the desert plateau. In other ways their architectures differed. For example, the valley temple of the sun temple complex is not oriented to any cardinal point, rather pointing vaguely^[137] to Heliopolis, and the causeway is not aligned with the axis of the high temple. The Abusir Papyri, a collection of administrative documents from later in the Fifth Dynasty, indicates that the cultic activities taking place in the sun and mortuary temples were related; for instance, offerings for both cults were dispatched from the sun temple.^[129] In fact, sun temples built during this period were meant to play for Ra the same role that the pyramid played for the king. They were funerary temples for the sun god, where his renewal and rejuvenation, necessary to maintain the order of the world, could take place. Rites performed in the temple were thus primarily concerned with Ra's creator function as well as his role as father of the king. During his lifetime, the king would appoint his closest officials to the running of the temple, allowing them to benefit from the temple's income and thus ensuring their loyalty. After the pharaoh's death, the sun temple's income would be associated with the pyramid complex, supporting the royal funerary cult.^[138]

Construction works on the Nekhenre did not stop with Userkaf's death but continued in at least four building phases, the first of which may have taken place under Sahure,^[139] and then under his successors Neferirkare Kakai and Nyuserre Ini.^[116][140] By the end of Userkaf's rule, the sun temple did not yet house the large granite obelisk on a pedestal that it would subsequently acquire. Instead its main temple seems to have comprised a rectangular enclosure wall with a high mast set on a mound in its center, possibly as a perch for the sun god's falcon.^[116] To the east of this mound was a mudbrick altar with statue shrines on both sides.^[141] According to the royal annals, from his sixth year on the throne, Userkaf commanded that two oxen and two geese were to be sacrificed daily in the Nekhenre.^[95][116] These animals seem to have been butchered in or around the high temple, the causeway being wide enough to lead live oxen up it.^[137] In addition to these sacrifices Userkaf endowed his sun temple with vast agricultural estates amounting to 34,655 acres (14,024 ha) of land,^[38] which Klaus Baer describes as "an enormous and quite unparalleled gift for the Old Kingdom".^[142] Kozloff sees these decisions as a manifestation of Userkaf's young age and of the power of the priesthood of Ra rather than as a result of his personal devotion to the sun god.^[38]

Pyramid of Userkaf

Mortuary temple

The pyramid's funerary complex is peculiar in that Userkaf's mortuary temple is located on the southern side rather than the usual eastern one. This was almost certainly due to the presence of a large moat surrounding Djoser's pyramid and running to the east as proposed by Verner,^[149] or to the general topography of Saqqara and the presence of older tombs in the vicinity as expounded by Edwards and Lauer. In any case, this means that Userkaf chose to be buried in close proximity to Djoser even though this implied that he could not use the normal layout for his temple.^[149] Rainer Stadelmann believes that the reason for the choices of location and layout were practical and due to the presence of the necropolis's administrative center on the north-east corner of Djoser's complex.^[36] Verner rather identifies a desire on Userkaf's behalf to benefit from the religious significance of Djoser's complex.^[36] Alternatively, Userkaf's decision to locate the temple on the pyramid's southern side may be motivated by entirely religious reasons, with the Egyptologists Herbert Ricke and Richard H. Wilkinson proposing that it could have ensured the temple's year-round exposure to the sun,^[36][150] while Altenmüller suggests it was aligned with an obelisk that could have been located nearby.^[36]

The mortuary temple walls were extensively adorned with raised reliefs of exceptional quality.^[150][151] Scant remains of pigments on some reliefs show that these reliefs were originally painted. Userkaf's pyramid temple represents an important innovation in this respect; he was the first pharaoh to introduce nature scenes in his funerary temple, including scenes of hunting in the marshes that would subsequently become common.^[151] The artistic work is highly detailed, with a single relief showing no less than seven different species of birds and a butterfly. Hunting scenes symbolised the victory of the king over the forces of chaos, and might thus have illustrated Userkaf's role as Iry-Maat, that is "the one who establishes Maat", which was one of Userkaf's names.^[151]

The funerary complex of Userkaf was accessed from the Nile via a valley temple connected to the mortuary temple with a causeway. This valley temple is yet to be excavated.^[38]

Pyramid

Some 10 m (33 ft) to the south of Userkaf's funerary enclosure, there stands a separate pyramid complex built in all likelihood for one of his queens. The pyramid, built on an east–west axis, is ruined and only a small mound of rubble can be seen today. Although no name has been identified in the pyramid proper, its owner is believed by Egyptologists including Cecil Mallaby Firth, Bernard Grdseloff, Audran Labrousse (fr), Jean-Philippe Lauer and Tarek El-Awady to have been Neferhetepes, mother of Sahure and in all probability Userkaf's consort.^[152]

The pyramid was originally some 17 m (56 ft) high with a slope of 52°, similar to that of Userkaf's, and a base 26.25 m (86.1 ft) long.^[153] The core of the main and cult pyramids were built with the same technique, consisting of three^[154] horizontal layers of roughly hewn local limestone blocks and gypsum mortar. The core was covered with an outer casing of fine Tura limestone, now gone. The pyramid was so extensively used as a stone quarry that even its internal chambers are exposed. These chambers are a scaled-down version of those in Userkaf's main pyramid, but without storage rooms.^[153]

Mortuary temple

The queen's pyramid complex had its own separate mortuary temple, located on the pyramid eastern side. The temple entrance led to an open pillared courtyard, stretching from east to west, where the ritual cleaning and preparation of the offerings took place. A sacrificial chapel adjoined the pyramid side and there were three statue niches and a few magazine chambers to store offerings.^[36] The temple halls were adorned with reliefs of animal processions and carriers of offerings moving towards the shrine of the queen.^[36]

Funerary cult

In contemporary culture

Egyptian Nobel Prize for Literature-laureate Naguib Mahfouz published a short story in 1945 about Userkaf entitled "Afw al-malik Usirkaf: uqsusa misriya". This short story was translated by Raymond Stock as "King Userkaf's Forgiveness" in the collection of short stories Sawt min al-ʻalam al-akhar, whose title translates to Voices from the other world: ancient Egyptian tales.^[174]