The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and VI under the group title the Old Kingdom. The Fifth Dynasty pharaohs reigned for approximately 150 years, from the early 25th century BC until the mid-24th century BC.
Chronology of the Fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt is a group of nine kings ruling Egypt for approximately 150 years in the 25th and 24th centuries BC. The close succession of kings is not entirely secure, as there are contradictions between historical sources and archaeological evidence regarding the reign of the shadowy Shepseskare.
Rulers of the Fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
Known rulers in the Fifth Dynasty are listed below. Manetho assigns 248 years of rule to the Fifth Dynasty; however, the pharaohs of this Dynasty more probably ruled for approximately 150 years. This estimate varies between both scholars and sources. The Horus names and most of the queens are taken from Dodson and Hilton.
Manetho writes that the Dynasty V kings ruled from Elephantine, but archaeologists have found evidence that their palaces were still located at Ineb-hedj “White Walls“.
As before, expeditions were sent to Wadi Maghareh and Wadi Kharit in the Sinai to mine turquoise, copper, and quarries northwest of Abu Simbel for gneiss. Trade expeditions were sent south to Punt to obtain malachite, myrrh, and electrum, and archaeological finds at Byblos attest to diplomatic expeditions sent to that Phoenician city. Finds bearing the names of several Dynasty V kings at the site of Dorak, near the Sea of Marmara, may be evidence of trade but remain a mystery.
Userkaf
How Pharaoh Userkaf founded this Dynasty is not known for sure. The Westcar Papyrus, which was written during the Middle Kingdom, tells a story of how King Khufu of Dynasty IV was given a prophecy that triplets born to the wife of the priest of Ra in Sakhbu would overthrow him and his heirs and how he attempted to put these children – named Userkaf, Sahure, and Neferirkare – to death. However, in recent years, scholars have recognised this story to be, at best, a legend and admitted their ignorance over how the transition from one Dynasty to another transpired.
During this Dynasty, Egyptian religion made several significant changes. The earliest copies of funerary prayers inscribed on royal tombs (the Pyramid Texts) appear. The cult of the god Ra gained added importance, and kings from Userkaf through Menkauhor Kaiu built temples dedicated to Ra at or near Abusir. Then, late in this Dynasty, the cult of the deity Osiris assumed importance, most notably in the inscriptions found in King Unas’ tomb.
Sahure
Sahure (also Sahura, meaning “He who is close to Re”) was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2465 – c. 2325 BC). During the Old Kingdom Period, he reigned for about 13 years in the early 25th century BC. Sahure’s reign marks the Fifth Dynasty’s political and cultural high point. He was probably the son of his predecessor, Userkaf, with Queen Neferhetepes II and was, in turn, succeeded by his son, Neferirkare Kakai.
During Sahure’s rule, Egypt had important trade relations with the Levantine coast. Sahure launched several naval expeditions to modern-day Lebanon to procure cedar trees, enslaved people and exotic items. His reign may have witnessed the flourishing of the Egyptian navy, which included a high-seas fleet and specialised racing boats. Relying on this, Sahure ordered the earliest attested expedition to the land of Punt, bringing back large quantities of myrrh, malachite and electrum. Sahure is shown celebrating the success of this venture in relief from his mortuary temple, which portrays him tending to a myrrh tree named “Sahure’s splendour soars up to heaven” in the garden of his palace. This relief is the only one in Egyptian art depicting a king gardening. Sahure sent further expeditions to the turquoise and copper mines in Sinai. He also ordered military campaigns against Libyan chieftains in the Western Desert, bringing back livestock to Egypt.
Sahure built a pyramid in Abusir, abandoning the royal necropolises of Saqqara and Giza, where his predecessors had built their monuments. This decision was possibly motivated by the sun temple of Userkaf in Abusir, the first such temple of the Fifth Dynasty. The Pyramid of Sahure is much smaller than the pyramids of the preceding Fourth Dynasty, but the decoration and architecture of his mortuary temple are more elaborate. The valley temple, causeway and mortuary temple of his pyramid complex were once adorned by over 10,000 m2 (110,000 sq ft) of exquisite polychrome reliefs, representing the highest form reached by this art during the Old Kingdom period.
The Ancient Egyptians recognised this artistic achievement and tried to emulate the reliefs in the tombs of subsequent kings and queens. The architects of Sahure’s pyramid complex introduced the use of palm from columns (columns whose capital has the form of palm leaves), which would soon become a hallmark of ancient Egyptian architecture. The layout of his mortuary temple was also innovative and became the architectural standard for the remainder of the Old Kingdom period. Sahure is also known to have constructed a sun temple called “The Field of Ra”, and although it is yet to be located, it is presumably also in Abusir.
Sahure was the object of a funerary cult, the food offerings initially provided by agricultural estates during his reign: this official, state-sponsored cult endured until the end of the Old Kingdom. Subsequently, during the Middle Kingdom period, Sahure was revered as a royal ancestor figure, but his cult no longer had dedicated priests. During the New Kingdom, Sahure was equated with a form of the goddess Sekhmet for unknown reasons. The “Sekhmet of Sahure” cult had priests and attracted visitors from all over Egypt to Sahure’s temple. This unusual cult celebrated well beyond Abusir persisted until the end of the Ptolemaic period, nearly 2500 years after Sahure’s death.
Neferirkare Kakai
Neferirkare Kakai (known in Greek as Nefercherês, Νεφερχέρης) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the third king of the Fifth Dynasty. Neferirkare, the eldest son of Sahure with his consort Meretnebty, was known as Ranefer A before he came to the throne. He acceded the day after his father’s death and reigned for eight to eleven years, sometime in the early to mid-25th century BCE. He was likely succeeded by his eldest son, born of his queen Khentkaus II, the prince Ranefer B, who would take the throne as King Neferefre. Neferirkare fathered another pharaoh, Nyuserre Ini, who took the throne after Neferefre’s short reign and the brief rule of the poorly known pharaoh Shepseskare.
Neferirkare was acknowledged by his contemporaries as a kind and benevolent ruler, intervening in favour of his courtiers after a mishap. His rule witnessed a growth in administration and priesthood officials, who used their expanded wealth to build architecturally more sophisticated mastabas, where they recorded their biographies for the first time. Neferirkare was the last pharaoh to significantly modify the standard royal titulary, separating the nomen or birth name from the prenomen or throne name. From his reign onwards, the former was written in a cartouche preceded by the “Son of Ra” epithet. His rule witnessed continuing trade relations with Nubia to the south and possibly with Byblos on the Levantine coast to the north.
Neferirkare started a pyramid for himself in the royal necropolis of Abusir, called Ba-Neferirkare, meaning “Neferirkare is a Ba”. It was initially planned to be a step pyramid, a form which had not been employed since the days of the Third Dynasty circa 120 years earlier. This plan was modified to transform the monument into a true pyramid, the largest in Abusir, which was never completed owing to the king’s death. In addition, Neferirkare built a temple to the sun god Ra called Setibre, which is the “Site of the heart of Ra”. Ancient sources state that it was the largest one built during the Fifth Dynasty but has not been located since the early 21st century.
After his death, Neferirkare benefited from a funerary cult in his mortuary temple, completed by his son Nyuserre Ini. This cult seems to have disappeared at the end of the Old Kingdom period, although it might have been revived during the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom, albeit in a minimal form. In all probability, it was also around this time that the Papyrus Westcar was first written, a tale where Userkaf, Sahure and Neferirkare are said to be brothers, the sons of Ra, with a woman named Rededjet.
Neferefre
Neferefre Isi (fl. 25th century BC; also known as Raneferef, Ranefer and in Greek as Χέρης, Cherês) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He was likely the eldest son of Pharaoh Neferirkare Kakai and Queen Khentkaus II. He was known as Prince Ranefer before he ascended to the throne.
Neferefre started a pyramid for himself in the royal necropolis of Abusir called Netjeribau Raneferef, which means “The Bas of Neferefre are divine”. The pyramid was never finished, with a mason’s inscription showing that works on the stone structure were abandoned during or shortly after the king’s second year of reign. With the sparsity of attestations contemporaneous with his command, Egyptologists take this as evidence that Neferefre died unexpectedly after two to three years on the throne. Neferefre was buried in his pyramid, hastily completed as a mastaba by his second successor and presumably younger brother, pharaoh Nyuserre Ini. Fragments of his mummy were uncovered there, showing that he died in his early twenties.
Neferefre’s activities are not known beyond laying the foundations of his pyramid and attempting to finish that of his father. A single text shows that Neferefre had planned or just started to build a sun temple called Hotep-Re, meaning “Ra is content” or “Ra’s offering table”, which possibly never functioned as such given the brevity of the king’s reign. After his death, Neferefre might have been succeeded by a brief and little-known pharaoh, Shepseskare, whose relationship with Neferefre remains highly uncertain and debated.
Shepseskare
Shepseskare or Shepseskara (Egyptian for “Noble is the Soul of Ra”) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the fourth or fifth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (2494–2345 BC) during the Old Kingdom period. Pharaoh Shepseskare lived in the mid-25th century BC and was probably the owner of an unfinished pyramid in Abusir, which was abandoned after a few weeks of work in the earliest stages of its construction.
Following historical sources, Shepseskare was traditionally believed to have reigned for seven years, succeeding King Neferirkare Kakai and preceding Neferefre on the throne, making him the fourth ruler of the Dynasty. He is the most obscure ruler of this Dynasty. Egyptologist Miroslav Verner has vehemently argued that Shepseskare’s reign lasted only a few months after Neferefre‘s. This conclusion is based on the state and location of Shepseskare’s unfinished pyramid in Abusir and the minimal number of artefacts attributable to this king. Verner’s arguments have convinced several Egyptologists, such as Darrell Baker and Erik Hornung.
Shepseskare’s relations with his predecessor and successor are not known for sure. Verner has proposed that he was a son of Sahure and a brother to Neferirkare Kakai, who briefly seized the throne following the premature death of his predecessor and probable nephew, Neferefre. King Shepseskare may have died unexpectedly or lost the throne to another of his nephews, the future pharaoh Nyuserre Ini. The possibility that Shepseskare was a short-lived usurper outside the royal family cannot be excluded.
Nyuserre Ini
Nyuserre Ini (also Niuserre Ini or Neuserre Ini; in Greek known as Rathurês, Ῥαθούρης) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 35 years, depending on the scholar, and likely lived in the second half of the 25th century BCE. Nyuserre was the younger son of Neferirkare Kakai and Queen Khentkaus II and the brother of the short-lived king Neferefre. The relation of Shepseskare with Neferefre and Nyuserre remains highly uncertain. He may have directly succeeded his brother, as much later historical sources indicated. Alternatively, Shepseskare may have reigned between the two as advocated by Miroslav Verner, albeit only for a few weeks or months at the most. Nyuserre was, in turn, succeeded by Menkauhor Kaiu, who could have been his nephew and a son of Neferefre.
Nyuserre was the most prolific builder of his Dynasty, having built three pyramids for himself and his queens and completed a further three for his father, mother and brother, all in the necropolis of Abusir. He constructed the most extensive surviving temple for the sun god Ra during the Old Kingdom, Shesepibre or “Joy of the heart of Ra”. He also completed the Nekhenre, the Sun temple of Userkaf in Abu Gorab, and the valley temple of Menkaure in Giza. In doing so, he was the first king since Shepseskaf, the last ruler of the Fourth Dynasty, to pay attention to the Giza necropolis. This move may have been an attempt to legitimise his rule following the troubled times surrounding the unexpected death of his brother, Neferefre.
There is little evidence of military action during Nyuserre’s reign; the Egyptian state maintained trade relations with Byblos on the Levantine coast and sent mining and quarrying expeditions to Sinai and Lower Nubia. Nyuserre’s reign saw the administration’s growth and the effective birth of the nomarchs, provincial governors who, for the first time, were sent to live in the provinces they administered rather than at the pharaoh’s court.
As with other Old Kingdom pharaohs, Nyuserre benefited from a funerary cult established at his death. In Nyuserre’s case, this official state-sponsored cult existed for centuries, surviving the chaotic First Intermediate Period and lasting until the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. In parallel, a spontaneous popular cult appeared, with people venerating Nyuserre under his birth name “Iny”. In this cult, Nyuserre played a role similar to a saint, invoked as an intercessor between the believer and the gods. It left little archaeological evidence and continued until the New Kingdom, nearly 1000 years after his death.
Menkauhor Kaiu
Menkauhor Kaiu (also known as Ikauhor and in Greek as Mencherês, Μεγχερῆς) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Old Kingdom period. He was the seventh ruler of the Fifth Dynasty at the end of the 25th century BC or early in the 24th century BC (circa 2399–2390 BC).
Menkauhor ruled for eight or nine years, following King Nyuserre Ini, and was succeeded by Djedkare Isesi. Although historical sources well attest to Menkauhor, few artefacts from his reign have survived. Consequently, his familial relation to his predecessor and successor is unclear, and no offspring have been identified. Khentkaus III may have been Menkauhor’s mother, as indicated by evidence in her tomb in 2015.
Beyond constructing monuments, the only known activity dated to Menkauhor’s reign is an expedition to Sinai’s copper and turquoise mines. Menkauhor ordered the construction of a sun temple called the “Akhet-Ra”, meaning “The Horizon of Ra”. The last to be built, this sun temple, known from inscriptions found in the tombs of its priests, is yet to be located. Menkauhor was buried in a small pyramid in Saqqara, which the Ancient Egyptians named Netjer-Isut Menkauhor, “The Divine Places of Menkauhor”. The ruin is known today as the Headless Pyramid. It was lost under shifting sands until its rediscovery in 2008.
The figure of Menkauhor was at the centre of a long-lasting funerary cult until the end of the Old Kingdom period, with at least seven agricultural domains producing goods for the necessary offerings. The cult of a deified Menkauhor, then known by the title “Strong Lord of the Two Lands, Menkauhor the Justified”, reappeared during the New Kingdom period (c. 1550 – c. 1077 BC) and lasted until at least the Nineteenth Dynasty (c. 1292 – c. 1077 BC), some 1200 years after his death.
Djedkare Isesi
Amongst non-royal Egyptians of this time, Ptahhotep, vizier to Djedkare Isesi, won fame for his wisdom; The Maxims of Ptahhotep was ascribed to him by its later copyists. Non-royal tombs were also decorated with inscriptions, like the royal ones, but instead of prayers or incantations, biographies of the deceased were written on the walls.
Unas
Unas /ˈjuːnəs/ or Wenis, also spelt Unis (Ancient Egyptian: wnjs, Hellenized form Oenas /ˈiːnəs/ or Onnos), was a pharaoh, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. King Unas reigned for 15 to 30 years in the mid-24th century BC (circa 2345–2315 BC), succeeding Djedkare Isesi, who might have been his father.
Unas’ activities during his reign, a time of economic decline, are little known. Egypt maintained trade relations with the Levantine coast and Nubia, and military action may have occurred in southern Canaan. The growth and decentralisation of the administration, in conjunction with the lessening of the king’s power, continued under Pharaoh Unas, ultimately contributing to the collapse of the Old Kingdom some 200 years later.
Pharaoh Unas built a pyramid in Saqqara, the smallest royal pyramid completed during the Old Kingdom. The accompanying mortuary complex with high and valley temples linked by a 750-metre-long (2,460 ft) causeway was lavishly decorated with painted reliefs, whose quality and variety surpass the usual royal iconography. Furthermore, Unas was the first pharaoh to have the Pyramid Texts carved and painted on the walls of the chambers of his pyramid, a significant innovation that his successors followed until the First Intermediate Period (c. 2160 – c. 2050 BC). These texts identify the king with Ra and Osiris, whose cult was on the rise in Unas’ time and was meant to help the king reach the afterlife.
Unas had several daughters, possibly one or two sons believed to have predeceased him. Manetho, a third-century BC Egyptian priest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and author of the first history of Egypt, claims that with the death of Unas, the Fifth Dynasty came to an end. Teti, the first pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty, succeeded Unas, possibly after a short crisis. However, the archaeological evidence suggests that the Egyptians at the time made no conscious break with the preceding Dynasty, and the distinction between the Fifth and Sixth dynasties might be illusory.
The funerary cult of Unas established at his death continued until the end of the Old Kingdom and may have survived during the chaotic First Intermediate Period. The cult existed or revived during the later Middle Kingdom (c. 2050 – c. 1650 BC). This fact did not prevent Amenemhat I and Senusret I (c. 1990 – c. 1930 BC) from partially dismantling the mortuary complex of King Unas for its materials.
In parallel to the official cult, Unas may have received popular veneration as a local god of Saqqara until as late as the Late Period (664–332 BC), nearly 2000 years after his death.
