Sahure

Sahure
Sahura, Sahu-Re, Sephrês, Σϵϕρής
Head of a gneiss statue of Sahure in the gallery 103 of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1][2][3]
Pharaoh
Reign	Duration: 13 years, 5 months, and 12 days in the early 25th century BC[note 1]
Predecessor	Userkaf
Successor	Neferirkare Kakai
Royal titulary Horus name Horus Nebkhau nb-ḫˁ-w Horus, Lord of apparitions Nebty name Nebti Nebkhau nb.tj nb ḫˁ w Two Ladies, Lord of apparitions Golden Horus Bikwy Nebw bḳ.wj nbw The golden double falcon[22] Prenomen  (Praenomen) Sahure sꜣḥ.w.rꜥ He who is close to Ra Alternative translations: He whom Ra has touched[23] Ra has endowed me[22] Nomen Sahure sꜣḥ.w.rꜥ He who is close to Ra
Consort	Meretnebty[24]
Children	Ranefer ♂ (ascended the throne as Neferirkare Kakai), Netjerirenre ♂ (possibly the same person as Shepseskare), Horemsaf ♂, Raemsaf ♂, Khakare ♂ and Nebankhre ♂[25][26]
Father	Userkaf
Mother	Neferhetepes II
Burial	Pyramid of Sahure
Monuments	Pyramid of Sahure "The Rising of the Ba Spirit of Sahure"[27] Sun temple "The Field of Ra" Palaces "Sahure's splendor soars up to heaven" and "The crown of Sahure appears"
Dynasty	Fifth Dynasty

Sahure (also Sahura, meaning "He who is close to Re") was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2465 – c. 2325 BC). He reigned for about 13 years in the early 25th century BC during the Old Kingdom Period. Sahure's reign marks the political and cultural high point of the Fifth Dynasty.^[28] He was probably the son of his predecessor Userkaf with Queen Neferhetepes II, and was in turn succeeded by his son Neferirkare Kakai.

During Sahure's rule, Egypt had important trade relations with the Levantine coast. Sahure launched several naval expeditions to modern-day Lebanon to procure cedar trees, slaves, and exotic items. His reign may have witnessed the flourishing of the Egyptian navy, which included a high-seas fleet as well as specialized racing boats. Relying on this, Sahure ordered the earliest attested expedition to the land of Punt, which brought back large quantities of myrrh, malachite, and electrum. Sahure is shown celebrating the success of this venture in a relief from his mortuary temple which shows him tending a myrrh tree in the garden of his palace whose name means "Sahure's splendor soars up to heaven". This relief is the only one in Egyptian art depicting a king gardening. Sahure sent further expeditions to the turquoise and copper mines in Sinai. He also ordered military campaigns against Libyan chieftains in the Western Desert, bringing back livestock to Egypt.

Sahure had a pyramid built for himself in Abusir, thereby abandoning the royal necropolises of Saqqara and Giza, where his predecessors had built their monuments. This decision was possibly motivated by the presence of the sun temple of Userkaf in Abusir, the first such temple of the Fifth Dynasty. The Pyramid of Sahure is much smaller than the pyramids of the preceding Fourth Dynasty but the decoration and architecture of his mortuary temple is more elaborate. The valley temple, causeway and mortuary temple of his pyramid complex were once adorned by over 10,000 m² (110,000 sq ft) of exquisite polychrome reliefs, representing the highest form reached by this art during the Old Kingdom period. The Ancient Egyptians recognized this particular artistic achievement and tried to emulate the reliefs in the tombs of subsequent kings and queens. The architects of Sahure's pyramid complex introduced the use of palmiform columns (columns whose capital has the form of palm leaves), which would soon become a hallmark of ancient Egyptian architecture. The layout of his mortuary temple was also innovative and became the architectural standard for the remainder of the Old Kingdom period. Sahure is also known to have constructed a sun temple called "The Field of Ra", and although it has not yet been located, it is presumably also in Abusir.

Sahure was the object of a funerary cult, the food offerings for which were initially provided by agricultural estates set up during his reign. This official, state-sponsored cult endured until the end of the Old Kingdom. Subsequently, during the Middle Kingdom period, Sahure was venerated as a royal ancestor figure but his cult no longer had dedicated priests. For unknown reasons, during the New Kingdom Sahure was equated with a form of the goddess Sekhmet. The cult of "Sekhmet of Sahure" had priests and attracted visitors from all over Egypt to Sahure's temple. This unusual cult was celebrated far beyond Abusir, and persisted up until the end of the Ptolemaic period nearly 2500 years after Sahure's death.

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