Shepseskaf (2472-2467)

Shepseskaf (2472-2467)

Not counting the otherwise unattested Thamphthis, Shepseskaf is the last king of the 4th Dynasty. Contrary to his predecessors, he built his funerary monument at Saqqara.

 

Shepseskaf Quick Facts

Chronology
Dynasty: 4th
Predecessor: Mykerinos
Next: Userkaf
Highest Year: 1st Cattle Count
Reign: 2472 - 2467 BC.
Family
Father: Mykerinos
Wife: Bunefer
Child: Khamaat

Biography of Shepseskaf

Mykerinos was succeeded by his oldest surviving son, Shepseskaf. His wife, Bunefer, bore him a daughter, Khamaat, who married the Memphite high-priest Ptah-shepses.
According to the Turin King-list, Shepseskaf's reign lasted for only four years.This may correspond well with the fact that the highest attested year for this king is the year after the first cattle count. This, however, left him with sufficient time not only to erect his own funerary monument but also to hastily complete his father’s mortuary temple.
Again according to the Turin King-list, his reign was followed by a two year reign of an unknown king, who may be identified with king Thamphthis recorded by Manetho.
Shepseskaf chose not to have a pyramid, but a sarcophagus-like mastaba as a tomb and he moved back to the cemetery of Saqqara. This is seen by some Egyptologists as a sign of shifting beliefs, by others as a sign that he wanted to distance himself from the building policy of his forefathers. Others again see it as proof that the building policy of Kheops and Khefren had completely exhausted the resources and wealth of the royal family. This latter argument, however, is contradicted by the fact that Shepseskaf completed his father’s mortuary temple.

Titulary of Shepseskaf

Horus Name

1. Hr Spss X.tHorus, noble of body

Nebti Name

2. Spss nb.tjThe Two Ladies are noble

Prenomen

3. Spss kA=fShepseskaf
4. nsw bi.tj Spss kA.fThe King of Upper and Lower Egypt Shepseskaf

Kinglists

5. Spss kA=fShepseskaf

Manetho
Africanus: Sebercherês
Eusebius: Eusebius does not mention this king.
Alternative names in modern-day literature
Schepseskaf, Chepseskaf

Tomb of Shepseskaf

Location   
Shepseskaf was the first king to return to Saqqara after most of his 4th Dynasty predecessors had either preferred Dashur in the south (Snofru) or Abu Rawash (Djedefre) and  Giza (Kheops, Khefren and Mykerinos) in the north to build their funerary monuments.
This return to Saqqara has often been interpreted more as a distancing of Giza and of the supposedly oppressive politic followed by Kheops and Khefren, but there are, in fact, no valid arguments that support this theory. The reasons behind this move may as well have been religious, political or purely practical in nature.
Whatever Shepseskaf’s motivations for returning to Saqqara may have been, it is perhaps also telling that he moved to an area in Saqqara that does not appear to have been used before, at least not for a royal burial: Saqqara-South. In fact, his tomb is the southern-most royal tomb of Saqqara.
Several 6th Dynasty kings favoured this part of the Memphite necropolis for their burials as well.

Structure
Even in the choice of his funerary monument, Shepseskaf chose not to follow the standard established by his ancestors.
The tomb consists of a mastaba-shaped superstructure with a small mortuary temple to the east. No satellite or queen’s pyramids appear to have been built.

Interactive map of the tomb of Shepseskaf.
Source: Lehner, Complete Pyramids, p. 139.

Mastaba
The mastaba, which has earned this monument the name Mastabat el-Fara'un, was 99.6 metres long and 74.4 metres broad. It was originally encased in limestone, except for its base course, which was in granite. It had a slope of 70° and certainly was shaped like a shrine: a rounded top flanked by two almost vertical walls.

Interactive 3D map of the Tomb of Shepseskaf.

Source: Lehner, Complete Pyramids, p. 139.

The mastaba is entered from the north side, from where a corridor descends for 20.95 metres with a slope of 23°30'. At the end of the passage is a horizontal corridor passage followed by a second passage blocked by three portcullises and an antechamber. A short passage to the west goes down into the vaulted burial chamber that measures 7.79 by 3.85 metres and has a height of 4.9 metres. Fragments of the sarcophagus indicate that it was made of a hard dark stone and decorated like Mykerinos’.
To the south of the antechamber a corridor extends with 6 niches to the east  again similar to the niches found in the pyramid of Mykerinos.

The oddly shaped tomb of Shepseskaf at Saqqara.

The mastaba is enclosed within two mudbrick walls: the first also incorporates a small mortuary temple that had some open courts, an offering hall and a false door, flanked by 5 magazines. The long causeway that extended towards the East has not (yet) been excavated.