Shepseskaf

Pharaoh Infobox | Alt=
Name= Shepseskaf |

NomenHiero= A51-O34:O34-D28-I9
Nomen=
PrenomenHiero=
Prenomen=
Golden= | Nebty=
Horus=
GoldenHiero= | NebtyHiero=
HorusHiero=
Reign= 2504-2500 BC [Clayton, Peter A. Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. p56. Thames & Hudson. 2006. ISBN 0-500-28628-0] | Predecessor= Menkaura
Successor= Djedefptah or Userkaf
Spouse= Bunefer
Issues= Khamaat
Dynasty= 4th Dynasty
Father= Menkaura
Mother= Unknown
Died= 2500 BC
Burial= Pyramid at South Saqqara
Monuments=

Shepseskaf was a son of Menkaure who succeeded his father on the throne. Shepseskaf's name means "His Soul is Noble." [Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1994. p.56] He was likely the last Egyptian Pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty if he was not succeeded by a certain unknown ruler named Djedefptah as recorded in some Egyptian literature and, indirectly, by the Turin Canon. No ruler named Djedefptah is recorded in contemporary documents such as royal monuments or private tombs in the Old Kingdom cemeteries of Giza and Saqqara which date to this period. [P.F. O'Mara, Manetho and the Turin Canon: A Comparison of Regnal Years, GM 158 (1997), p.51] Palace officials who served in the interval between the 4th and 5th dynasties of Egypt such as the long-lived palace courtier Netry-nesut-pu explicitly lists this sequence of Old Kingdom kings under whom he served under in his tomb: Radjedef → Khafre → Menkaure → Shepseskaf, and the first three 5th dynasty kings namely Userkaf, Sahure and Neferirkare. [P.F. O'Mara, Manetho and the Turin Canon: A Comparison of Regnal Years, GM 158 (1997), p. 51. O'Mara's source on Netry-nesut-pu is Kurt Sethe's Urkunden or Urk I, p.166] Finally,

The Turin Canon ascribes Shepseskaf a rule of four years and his anonymous 4th dynasty successor--presumably a reference to Djedefptah--a reign of two years. In contrast, Manetho's King List explicitly gives Shepseskaf a reign of seven years which may be a combination of the 4 + 2 (= 6) full year figures noted in the Turin Kinglist for the last two kings of the Fourth Dynasty plus a significant monthly fraction. Manetho's King List does, however, also note the existence of the unknown and possibly fictitious ruler Djedeptah--called Thampthis in his records--who is ascribed a reign of nine years.

Shepseskaf broke with the Fourth Dynasty tradition of constructing large pyramid tombs by chosing to construct his tomb as a great mastaba at Saqqara, now known as Mastabat Fara'un. In contrast, his three immediate predecessors built the pyramids of Giza while Sneferu, the founder of the fourth dynasty, alone constructed three pyramids in his reign most notably, the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid. Shepseskaf may have designed a smaller tomb for himself since he was faced with the arduous task of completing his father's pyramid at Giza while simultaneously building his own tomb--all this within his short reign. [ [http://touregypt.net/featurestories/shepseskaf.htm Shepseskaf] by J. Dunn]

References

* [http://www.ancient-egypt.org/kings/04/0407_shepseskaf/history.html Shepseskaf]
*Urkunden des Alten Reichs by Kurt Sethe