21 Facts About Userkaf

Userkaf was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Fifth Dynasty.

Userkaf reigned for seven to eight years in the early 25th century BC, during the Old Kingdom period.

Userkaf probably belonged to a branch of the Fourth Dynasty royal family, although his parentage is uncertain; he could have been the son of Khentkaus I Userkaf had at least one daughter and very probably a son, Sahure, with his consort Neferhetepes.

Userkaf's reign heralded the ascendancy of the cult of Ra, who effectively became Egypt's state god during the Fifth Dynasty.

Userkaf built a pyramid in Saqqara close to that of Djoser, a location that forced architects to put the associated mortuary temple in an unusual position, to the south of the pyramid.

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Identity of Userkaf's parents is uncertain, but he undoubtedly had family connections with the rulers of the preceding Fourth Dynasty.

Alternatively, Nicolas Grimal, Peter Clayton and Michael Rice propose that Userkaf was the son of a Neferhetepes, whom Grimal, Giovanna Magi and Rice see as a daughter of Djedefre and Hetepheres II.

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton propose that Neferhetepes was buried in the pyramid next to that of Userkaf, which is believed to have belonged to a woman of the same name.

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.

Second, Userkaf is given a reign of seven years on the third column, row 17, of the Turin Royal Canon, a document copied during the reign of Ramesses II from earlier sources.

In contrast with the Turin canon, Africanus's report of the Aegyptiaca estimates that Userkaf reigned for 28 years, much longer than the modern consensus.

In Upper Egypt, Userkaf either commissioned or enlarged the temple of Montu at Tod, where he is the earliest attested pharaoh.

South of Egypt, Userkaf launched a military expedition into Nubia, 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, as well as 303 "pacified rebels" destined to work on Userkaf's pyramid.

Userkaf is the first 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 just south of the modern locality of Abu Gurab.

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.

Sun temple of Userkaf first appears as pyramid XVII in Karl Richard Lepsius' pioneering list of pyramids in the mid-19th century.

Unlike most pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty, Userkaf built a modest pyramid at North Saqqara, at the north-eastern edge of the enclosure wall surrounding Djoser's pyramid complex.

Hence, Userkaf's choice of Saqqara is a manifestation of a return to a "harmonious and altruistic" notion of kingship which Djoser seemed to have symbolized, against that represented by Khufu who had almost personally embodied the sun-god.

Funerary complex of Userkaf was accessed from the Nile via a valley temple connected to the mortuary temple with a causeway.

Userkaf's cult was state-sponsored and relied on goods for offerings produced in dedicated agricultural estates established during his lifetime, as well as such resources as fabrics brought from the "house of silver".

The mortuary temple of Userkaf must have been in ruins or dismantled by the time of the Twelfth Dynasty as indicated, for example, by a block showing the king performing a ritual found re-used as a construction material in the pyramid of Amenemhat I Userkaf was not the only king whose mortuary temple met this fate: Nyuserre's temple was targeted even though its last priests were serving in it around this time.