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| Shepseskaf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Shepseskhaf, Sebercherês, Σεβερχέρης, Severkeris | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Shepseskaf's cartouche on the Abydos King List | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | Duration uncertain, probably four years but possibly up to seven,[1] in the late 26th to mid-25th century BC[note 1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Menkaure | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Userkaf (most probably) or Thamphthis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consort | Uncertain; Khentkaus I or Bunefer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Possibly Bunefer (♀), conjecturally Userkaf (♂) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Menkaure (uncertain) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Uncertain; Khamerernebty II, Rekhetre, Khentkaus I or Neferhetepes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | Mastabat al-Fir'aun | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monuments | Completion of the temple complex of Menkaure's pyramid, mastabat al-Fir'aun | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | fourth dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shepseskaf (meaning "His[note 2] Ka is noble") was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt, the sixth and probably last ruler of the fourth dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He reigned most probably for four but possibly up to seven years in the late 26th to mid-25th century BC.
Shepseskaf's relation to his predecessor Menkaure is not entirely certain; he might have been his son or possibly his brother. The identity of his mother is highly uncertain as she could have been one of Menkaure's consorts or queen Khentkaus I or Neferhetepes. Similarly, Shepseskaf's relation to his probable successor on the throne, Userkaf, is not known although in the absence of clear indication of strife at the transition between the fourth and fifth dynasties, Userkaf could well have been his son or his brother. If Shepseskaf was succeeded directly by Userkaf rather than by Thampthis as claimed by some historical sources, then his death marks the end of the fourth dynasty. The transition to the fifth dynasty seems not to have been a sharp rupture but rather a continuous process of evolution in the king's power and role within the Egyptian state. Around this time, some of the highest positions of power such as that of vizier which had hitherto been the prerogative of the royal family were opened to nobles of non-royal extraction.
The only activities firmly datable to Shepseskaf's short reign are the completion of the hitherto unfinished mortuary complex of the Pyramid of Menkaure using mudbricks and the construction of his own tomb at South Saqqara, now known as the Mastabat al-Fir'aun. Shepseskaf's decisions to abandon the Giza necropolis and to build a mastaba, that is a flat-roofed rectangular structure, rather than a pyramid for himself are significant and continue to be debated. Some Egyptologists see these decisions as symptoms of a power-struggle between the king and the priesthood of Ra, while others believe purely practical considerations, possibly including a declining economy, are at fault. Alternatively, it may be that Shepseskaf intended his tomb to be a pyramid, but after his death it was completed as a mastaba. Possibly because of this, and the small dimensions of his tomb compared to those of his forebears and his short reign, Shepseskaf was the object of a relatively minor state-sponsored funerary cult that disappeared in the second half of the fifth dynasty. This cult was revived in the later Middle Kingdom period as a privately run lucrative cult aimed at guaranteeing a royal intercessor for the offerings made to their dead by members of the lower strata of society.
- ^ a b Schneider 2002, p. 248.
- ^ Stadelmann 2001, p. 597.
- ^ Chauvet 2001, p. 176.
- ^ El-Shahawy & Atiya 2005, p. 33.
- ^ Verner 2001c, p. 588.
- ^ Grimal 1992, p. 390.
- ^ a b von Beckerath 1997, p. 188.
- ^ Strudwick 2005, p. xxx.
- ^ Clayton 1994, p. 56.
- ^ Málek 2000, p. 91.
- ^ Rice 1999, p. 190.
- ^ Sowada 2009, p. 3.
- ^ Bard 1999, pp. xliv–xlv.
- ^ Baker 2008, pp. 425–426.
- ^ von Beckerath 1999, p. 283.
- ^ Lehner 2008, p. 8.
- ^ Allen et al. 1999, p. xx.
- ^ Kozloff 1982, p. 214.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica 2022.
- ^ Vernus & Yoyotte 1996, p. 219.
- ^ Bárta 2016, p. 51.
- ^ Strudwick 1985, p. 3.
- ^ Hornung 2012, p. 491.
- ^ Bárta 2017, p. 5.
- ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, p. 288.
- ^ Ramsey et al. 2010, p. 1556.
- ^ Ramsey et al. 2010, p. 1554.
- ^ Gardiner 1959, p. 16, table II.
- ^ Stadelmann 2000, pp. 535–536.
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