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Fourth Dynasty

Shemsu Sesen — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:03:33 +0000

Fourth Dynasty

The Zenith of the Pyramid Age

2613 to 2494

Period	Seat of Power	Factions	Dating System
Old Kingdom	Memphis	n/a	Shaw and Nicholson

In the Fourth Dynasty, the pharaoh is Egypt. Absolute and centralized power, wide prosperity, and religious and political nationalism combine into a period of high spirituality, monumental architecture, and efficient bureaucracy.

Name of Ruler	Years of Reign	Capitol
Snefru	2613 to 2589 BC	Memphis
Khufu	2589 to 2566 BC	Memphis
Djedefre	2566 to 2558 BC	Memphis
Khafre	2558 to 2532 BC	Memphis
Nebka	(???)	Memphis
Menkaure	2532 to 2503 BC	Memphis
Shepseskaf	2503 to 2494 BC	Memphis

The Pyramid of Pharaoh Userkaf

Shemsu Sesen — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:57:51 +0000

Pharaoh Userkaf is one of the many Egyptian kings who have left very few clues regarding his biography and reign. Well, he did leave a pyramid and a few temples from which we have been able to extract a couple of details.

Actually, these structures contain some intriguing clues about Userkaf and his times, and a shadow of things to come.

Pharaoh Userkaf

Pharaoh Userkaf (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Userkaf, whose name means “his soul (Ka) is powerful,” was the first king of the Fifth Dynasty. His reign was short, about seven years, around the time of 2504 to 2496 BC. We do not know who Userkaf’s father was, but his grandfather was King Djedefre, and Neferhetepes, previously thought to be his mother, was more likely one of his wives. This confusing set of trivia is about all we know of his biography, but fortunately, his monuments suggest a bit more.

The solar cult of Ra, based in Heliopolis, had steadily grown in power and influence throughout the Fourth Dynasty, and was beginning to exert some of that influence over the nobility. We know that Userkaf built a temple dedicated to the growing religion in Abusir, and that other Fifth Dynasty kings would follow his example.

This may have been a political move intended to curry favor with this increasing constituency, with the unintended effect of undermining his own authority as the primary divinity of the Egyptian people. The Fifth Dynasty would be a transitional period where the wealth and power of lesser, more local, nobility is on the increase, and the new cult was an additional subtle drain on the supremacy of the Pharaoh.

Userkaf’s Pyramid

Little remains of Userkaf’s pyramid besides a pile of rubble. The construction, which may have been cosmetically attractive at the time, seems nevertheless to be a throwback to the days before Snefru. It had a limestone casing that would have given it the appearance of a smooth-sided pyramid. But the casing was stripped away in antiquity, and the core seems to have had little tolerance for erosion. Fortunately, there is still enough of Userkaf’s complex left to note some other interesting deviations from long-established standards.

The Pyramid of Userkaf (Photo by Keith Payne)

Userkaf’s pyramid complex has all of the elements of previous complexes—a valley temple on the river with a causeway leading up to a mortuary temple adjacent to the pyramid, and a smaller enclosed cult pyramid. But the layout may reflect the influence of the Ra cult.

The mortuary temple is built to the south of the pyramid, rather than the east, and is oriented away from the pyramid itself. This southward orientation maximizes the hours of direct sunlight on the funerary complex. It has also been suggested that the decision to build the mortuary temple to the south may have been due to unfavorable terrain to the east, or the proximity of Djoser’s complex, but this fails to explain why the orientation of the temple is reversed.

Userkaf’s choice to build his pyramid so close to that of Djoser also represents a shift. Pyramid building in the northern end of the Memphis Necropolis, particularly in the area of Giza, had been in vogue since the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty. Userkaf’s predecessor, Shepseskaf, had broken with this tradition by moving back to Saqqara. But Userkaf chose not only to return to Saqqara, but to build his pyramid to the immediate north-east of Djoser’s complex.

These anomalies and reversals may not tell us much of Pharaoh Userkaf as an individual, but they certainly point to a time of changing conventions and emerging powers. There is a pronounced movement away from the ways of the Fourth Dynasty, where the absolute rule of the pharaoh was unquestioned. His decision to move away from the monuments of the Fourth Dynasty and back to those of the Third Dynasty is reflected in the construction of his pyramid, which was a clear devolution.

Times were quietly changing, and not for the better.

Pyramid of Pharaoh Menkaure

Shemsu Sesen — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:06:09 +0000

Perhaps it would be a stretch to call Menkaure’s Pyramid modest, but it is significantly smaller than those of Khufu and Khafre. He is recalled much more fondly than his autocratic grandfather and seems to have been less vain than his statue-happy father, although more of his statues survived intact and are of such exquisite craftsmanship as to suggest that maybe quality over quantity was Menkaure’s trademark.

Pharaoh Menkaure

Pharaoh Menkaure (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Pharaoh Menkaure was known as Mykerinos by the Greeks, and his name, Men-Kau-Re, means “Eternal is the Spirit (Ka) of Ra.” The fifth king of the Fourth Dynasty, he ascended to the throne around 2539 BC, although the length of his reign is debated. The Turin King List puts the length of his rule at 18 years, although some sources record his rule as being as short as 12 years and as long as 63 years.

Herodotus claimed that Menkaure was a son of Khufu, however it is more widely accepted that he is the son of Khafre and grandson of Khufu. Tradition holds that he was a munificent and fair ruler, unlike his grandfather. Herodotus credits him with reverssing many of the oppressive policies put in place by Khufu and allowed to stand by Khafre.

He was succeeded by his son, Shepseskhaf, who had to finish Menkaure’s pyramid after his death. His valley temple, which was also completed by Shepseskhaf, was expanded during the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, which further attests to his reputation for benevolence.

The Pyramid of Menkaure

The Pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three Giza Pyramids, with an original height of 218 feet, and a current height of 204 feet. It is estimated to have less than 1/10th the mass of Khufu’s Pyramid. Its completion date is not exactly known.

Pyramid of Menkaure and his Queens' Pyramids (Photo by Keith Payne)

The upper part of the pyramid was originally encased in limestone in a manner similar to the other pyramids, but the lower portions were encased in granite. The granite casing around the entrance is in various stages of completion, providing a glimpse of how the blocks would have looked before and after being smooth-cut.

Entrance to Menkaure's Pyramid with facing stones (Photo by Keith Payne)

The original basalt sarcophagus was lost at sea in 1838 when an attempt was made to move it to Great Britain. As with other pyramids, this sarcophagus was empty. A second wooden sarcophagus was found bearing Menkaure’s name and which contained human bones, but carbon dating has shown this body to be less than 2000 years old, making it a rather macabre forgery. This again raises questions as to whether or not anyone was ever buried in any of the pyramids of the Giza Plateau. Their location within the Memphis Necropolis, and their obvious relation to funerary temples, indicates that the pyramids were associated with the death and afterlife of the pharaohs in some actual or symbolic manner, but exactly what this function may have been remains open to speculation.

Menkaure's Pyramid (Photo by Keith Payne)