The Fifth Dynasty

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The country as a whole and its administration had not witnessed great changes in the beginning of the reign of Userkaf whose name means (powerful is His Ka) . For instance , there are some of the Fourth Dynasty officials who remained in office , such as Nykaankh at Tihna , Middle Egypt .
It is merely Papyrus Westcar that suggests that Userkaf was the son of Redjedet . On the other hand , there is a tendency to consider him Princess Neferhetepes' son , an extraordinary limestone bust of whom is in the Louvre . But the identity of her husband is not yet fixed . It is suggested that he may have been "Re's priest , Sakhebu's lord" as mentioned in Papyrus Westcar . So we are not sure about Userkaf's origin , but most probably he held an important position in the Re's temple , and he was supported by the priests to have a chance ascending the throne . For this very purpose , he married Khentkawes in order to legitimize his position .
Userkaf's pyramid , located some distance of Djoser's complex in Northern Saqqara is now much ruined .
He also built a sun-temple at Abusir which seems to have been a replica of the one at Heliopolis , thus started a tradition that was later followed by his successors . His choice of Abusir as the location of his sun-temple is doubtlessly connected to the closeness of Sakhebu . Sakhebu was a town thought to have been located at Zat el-Kom , about 10 km north of Abu Roash , almost at a point where the Nile splits off into two branches; namely Damietta and Rosetta .
It was at Abusir where Sahure , Neferirkare , and Neuserre were to be buried .
The new order was also expressed through the Horus name chosen by Userkaf . That name was 'Iry-Maat' which means 'He who puts Maat into practice' , Maat being the universal harmony that the creator had to maintain . By this means , Userkaf was deliberately claiming responsibility for the maintenance of creation as a whole . His reign was probably brief . According to the Turin Canon , it lasted over 7 years , which is more plausible than the 28-year-regency span thought by Manetho .
Clearly enough , the early abandonment of his mortuary cult at the end of the Fifth Dynasty indicates his relative importance .
His reign was characterized by certain building achievements , particularly in Upper Egypt , where he enlarged the temple at Tod . This temple was dedicated to Montu , the local god of Theban Region and later also the national god of war . The first known Egypt-Aegean world links can be probably dated to Userkaf's reign , with the evidence of an inscribed stone vessel from his mortuary temple found on Kythera .
The trading links with the Northern Mediterranean throughout the Fifth Dynasty is indicated by the discovery of a chair at Dorak . The chair is stamped with the name of Sahure . And in the surrounding area , various objects bearing the names of Menkauhor and Djedkare-Isesi were found .
The famous monument belonging to King Userkaf is his schist head displayed in the Cairo Museum for the time being . The head was excavated by the Swiss Institute , inside Userkaf's Sun Temple . Unfortunately this temple was destroyed to a great extent .