 Userkaf’s pyramid
 Userkaf,
as the originator of the fifth dynasty, clearly felt he should associate himself with one
of his great predecessors. To achieve this, he build his pyramid complex at Saqqara, as
close as possible to that of Djoser. When completed, the pyramid was 161 ft (49 m) high
and encased in limestone, though the core was sloppily built and therefore crumbled when
this casing was removed by robbers.
Userkaf’s pyramid complex is notable for the fact that his
mortuary temple is separate from the pyramid itself. Here, the offering chapel is alone on
the east side of the structure, with the mortuary temple some distance to the south. This
has been seen by some as indicative of a slight change in ideology – the fifth
dynasty was more involved with the sun cult at Heliopolis than any previous dynasty, and a
building to the south would be bathed in sun throughout the day. Others have proposed a
more practical reason, namely that the ground to the east of the pyramid was not stable
enough to support any construction placed upon it.
Userkaf’s
Sun Temple
Userkaf was the first pharaoh to build a sun temple. Named Nekhen-Re
("Stronghold of Re" – Re was the sun god), it was probably built in up to 4
phases, almost certainly completed under different pharaohs.
In the first phase, a symbolic mound was constructed in a
rectangular enclosure.
The second phase took place under Neferirkare, who set a granite
obelisk on top of a pedestal building, placing 2 shrines in front.
Later on, Niuserre undertook the
third and fourth phases. The third one involved rebuilding the inner enclosure in
limestone and extending the outer enclosure, rebuilding the valley temple in the process.
The final phase saw the construction of a new, larger altar, along with various
embellishments.
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