The explanation of the origins of the 5th Dynasty given in Papyrus Westcar can be confronted by evidence contemporary with the reigns of Sahura and Neferirkara. Queen Khentkawes is identified by a unique title in her mastaba-tomh at Giza: ‘mother of the two kings of Upper and Lower Egypt’. The same title is known from her pyramid (recently discovered by Czech archaeologists), which is situated next to Neferir-kara’s pyramid at Abusir. If the Giza Khentkawes and the Abusir Khentkawes are the same person, the two sons referred to in her title were Sahura (Horus Nebkhau, 2487-2475 BC) and Neferirkara (Kakai, Homs Userkhau, 2475-2455 bc), and Papyms Westcar is partly correct. The pyramids of these two kings are at Abusir, as are the pyramids of all the kings who built sun-temples (and probably also that of Shepseskara, 2455-2448 bc). The causeway linking the valley and pyramid temples of Sahura’s pyramid complex was decorated with very accomplished reliefs which anticipated the better-known reliefs of King Unas (2375-2345 bc). These Abusir kings form a closely knit group and their monuments display many similarities.
The pyramid temple of Neferirkara has yielded the most important group of administrative papyri known from the Old Kingdom. These documents throw light on the day-to-day mnning of the pyramid establishment and include detailed records of produce delivered to it, lists of priests on duty, inventories of temple equipment, and letters. The pyramid complex, however, was left unfinished and its valley temple and causeway were later incorporated by Nyuserra into his own pyramid complex.
King Shepseskara (Horus Sekhemkhau, 2455-2448 bc) is the most ephemeral of the Abusir group, and no textual or archaeological evidence for his sun-temple has yet been found. This is probably due to the brevity of his reign. That of King Raneferef (Isi, Horus Neferkhau, 2448-2445 bc) was even shorter. Although his pyramid did not progress beyond its lowermost courses, the pyramid temple has recently produced papyri comparable to those found in the temple of Neferirkara.
The sim-temple of King Nyuserra (Iny, Horus Setibtawy, 24452421 bc) is at Abu Gurab, north of Abusir. The last king who built a sun-temple was Menkauhor (Ikauhor, Horus Menkhau, 2421-2414 bc). His pyramid has not yet been located, but the tombs of its priests and other indications suggest that it may be concealed by the sand somewhere at southern Abusir or North Saqqara.
The most striking development in Egyptian administration during this period was the withdrawal of members of the royal family from the highest offices. Another noteworthy feature was the skilful way in which sxm-temples were incorporated into the economic system. Some of the appointments to the priesthood in sun-temples were purely Nominal and made in order to entitle their holder to benefits derived from such offices; these may have included temple land leased ex officio. The same was true of appointments to the personnel of pyramid establishments. There was no glaring contradiction between the demands of the world of the gods and the dead, and the needs of the living. One could well visualize a system where most of the national product would, in theory, be earmarked for the needs of the deceased kings, their sun-temples, and shrines of the local gods, but would, in fact, be used to support most of the Egyptian population.
Religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians were locally diverse and socially stratified. Practically every area of Egypt had its local god, which for its inhabitants was the most important deity, and the elevation of Ra to the level of state god had little effect on this. If anything, the annals show that the kings now began to pay even greater attention to local deities in all parts of the country by making donations, often of land, to their shrines, or exempting them from taxes and forced labour.
Expeditions continued to be dispatched to the traditional places outside Egypt, especially to bring turquoise and copper from Wadi Mag-hara (Sahura, Nyuserra, Menkauhor) and Wadi Kharit (Sahura) in the Sinai, and gneiss from the quarries north-west of Abu Simbel (Sahura). During the reign of Sahura, there is a reference to an expedition to procure exotic goods (malachite, myrrh, and electrum, an alloy of gold and silver) from Punt, an African country somewhere between the upper reaches of the Nile and the Somali coast. Contacts with Byblos were maintained (Sahura, Nyuserra, Neferirkara). The discovery of objects bearing the names of several 5th-Dynasty kings at the site of Dorak, near the Sea of Marmara, remains ambiguous.
During the 5th Dynasty there was an increase in the number of priests and officials who were able to secure tombs by their own effort. Some of these mastabas are among the largest and best decorated in the Old Kingdom, as in the case of the tombs of Ty (Saqqara) and Ptahshepses (Abusir), both probably of the reign of Nyuserra. Many of them are located in provincial cemeteries rather than in the vicinity of the royal pyramids. Such loosening of the dependence on royal favour was, inevitably, accompanied by a corresponding variety in the forms and quality of artistic quality of statues and reliefs. ‘Autobiographical’ texts that appeared in these tombs provide new insights into contemporary society. Most of them consisted of conventional phrases and less usual topics often concerned with the tomb-owner’s relationship to the king. These trends were to continue throughout the rest of the Old Kingdom.
World History
