labyrinth-bcn.com
RSS

Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs of 5th Dyansty

November 12, 2025 maximios History

No comments

 We will not write about Ancient Egyptian Dynasty 5 except :

  • Sahure : 2491-2477
  • Neferirkare ( Kakai ) : 2477-2467
  • Shepseskare : 2467-2460
  • Neferefre : 2460-2453
  • Niuserre (Ini) : 2453-2422
  • Menkauhor (Kaiu) : 2422-2414
  • Djedkare ( Isesi ) :  2414-2375

Slightly further south lie the pyramid complexes of Neferirkare, Niuserre and Sahure, of which the last is the largest and the best preserved. Like the other 5th Dynasty pyramids, the pyramid of Sahure – the second ruler of the dynasty – is itself a rough rubble mound, but its mortuary temple on the east face is still discernible and preserves stairs that led to the roof or a second storey. A feature of the temple architecture is the splendidly carved red granite date-palm columns and the bold and deeply incised hieroglyphs of the king’s name and titulary on huge granite blocks. The walls were highly decorated with finely carved scenes of conquest, hunting and expeditions, all now sadly wrecked and largely disappeared except for odd fragments preserved in museums. Reconstructions of the pyramids produced by the German team who excavated here under Ludwig Borchardt give a good impression of the area’s former grandeur, with long causeways stretching down to the valley temples at the edge of the cultivation. The reliefs in the Abusir mortuary temples offer some of the earliest pictorial evidence of trade beyond the Nile Valley. In Sahure’s complex, great ships are illustrated with Egyptians and Asiatics on board. These are thought to be part of a trading fleet returning from the port of Byblos in the Lebanon with the great cedar trees that were to become a major feature in later temple building. There is certainly evidence from the Lebanon of the presence there of 5th Dynasty kings, including fragments of stone vessels bearing their cartouches and the name of Sahure on a piece of thin gold furniture fitting from the Dorak Treasure’ in Turkey. Widespread trading and expeditions to the south and further into the Near East appear to increase during the next dynasty, but this may simply reflect the better-preserved records and accounts of the later period. An innovation in this dynasty under the third king, Neferirkare, was the use of a second cartouche. This contained his name Kakai, which may have been his birth name. Thereafter most kings seem to have had a second cartouche, but not all are known. It is from the mortuary temple of Neferirkare at Abusir that the earliest extant hieratic script written on papyrus survives – a series of temple accounts, daily work rosters and equipment lists.

The return to Saqqara

The last kings of the dynasty moved back to Saqqara for their burial place. A small 80-ft (24-m) heap of rubble marks the pyramid of the penultimate ruler, Djedkare-Isesi, on the edge of the plateau; his mortuary temple, largely destroyed in the Second Intermediate Period and then used as a burial ground in the 18th Dynasty, lies nearby. It was only during excavations at the temple in 1946 that it became possible to identify the owner of the associated pyramid as Djedkare-Isesi; hitherto there had been no indication of his name within the pyramid since all the blocks lining the walls of the antechamber and burial chamber had been removed and the black basalt sarcophagus smashed. Fragments of fine reliefs were found in the mortuary temple, and also pieces of statues of foreign prisoners and various animals. The queen’s pyramid and attached mortuary temple were found to have similar fine decoration when they were discovered in the early 1950s.


« The Dynasty Tombs of Ancient Egypt (2345-2181 BC) » Ancient Egyptian Pyramids Part 1 and Archaeologists

Recent Posts

  • Ramses IV Pharaoh 1151-1145 BC
  • Tomb of Sirenput II
  • Senusret III Pharaoh Period and Military Activity in Nubia
  • Climbing the Colossi, 1848 | Walking Through Egypt
  • Interesting Facts about Cairo Egypt

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

Archives

  • December 2025
  • November 2025
  • October 2025
  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • September 2023
  • June 2023
  • November 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • November 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • March 2018
  • April 2017
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2014
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012

Categories

  • History

↑

© labyrinth-bcn.com 2026
Powered by WordPress • Themify WordPress Themes