The religion of Re and the fifth dynasty

The Westcare papyrus recorded the sacred birth of the fifth dynasty of Ancient Egypt, it tells us that the first three kings of the fifth dynasty were begotten from the sun God himself who married the wife of the high priest of Heliopolis whose name is"rdi djt".

The true origin of the kings of the fifth dynasty:

The true origin of the fifth dynasty is a mystery very difficult to solve, but we will explore different points of view from scholars.

Queen Khentkawes 

She is the daughter of Menkaure according to Selim Hassan, as he found an offering table holding the title Khentkawes at the valley temple of Menkaure. It held the title "sa ntr" so Selim Hassan suggested that she was the daughter of King Menkaure and she married King Shepseskaf before marrying Userkaf. She was probably the mother of the two kings (Sahure and Neferirkare).

Queen Khentkawes held an unusual title and some scholars are debating about the reading of the title, Selim Hassan  translated it as "Mwt nsw bity nsw bity" which means she is the mother of the two kings (Sahure and Neferirkare).

Alton Molar testified that queen Khentkawes is the equivalent of "rdi djt". This makes her the wife of the simple priest of Re and the mother of the 1st  three kings of the fifth dynasty (Userkaf, Sahure and Neferirkare).

Some kings from the fifth dynasty:

Userkaf

According to the Westcare papyrus, Userkaf was the first King of the fifth dynasty, Userkaf ruled for a short time according to the Turin Canon. His reign lasted for 7 years, his Horus name was "ir maat" which means the one who has accomplished Maat, he is the first King who built the sun temple and was called "Nekhen-Re" or the stronghold of Re. He built his exquisite sun Temple at Abusir, but he built his pyramid near to the Djoser complex.

Sahure 

His Horus name was "Neb Khau" which means possessor of appearance, according to the Turin Canon, he regined for 14 years.

Neferirkare 

His Horus name was "Userkhau"  means the strong one who appears. His birth name is Kaki (my Ka is the true Ka), in Turin Canon the length of his reign is missing. But according to the Palermo Stone he reigned for 5 cattle-counts (which means about 10 years).

Neferfre

His name means his beauty as Re, his Horus name was"Neferkhau" which means beautiful of apparition.

Shepseskare

His name means (Noble is the soul of Re). His Hours name was "Sekhemkhau". Cerner has suggested that he ruled for a few months, according to a seal impression which was found at the Mortuary Temple of Neferfre holding the name of Shepseskare as the successor of Neferfre.

The Question here is : why did the kings of the fifth dynasty even build the sun temples?

The Sun Altar in the Sun Temple of Niuserre
The Sun Altar in the Sun Temple of  Niuserre at Abu Ghurab. This temple is the better preserved of the two found so far.
Photo Attribution: Roland Unger / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)


Weren't the traditional pyramids enough validation for the religion of Re?

 We know that these special temples serve the following purposes:

  • To reflect the unification between the King and the sun God
  • To provide complex with goods and offerings ) as a sacred filter for the goods).
  • To be Mortuary complexes for the sun, or for the King in his identity as the sun before birth and after death.

And this only highlights how important the cult of Re was becoming during this dynasty: a trend also very visible in the King's names. There are only two Sun Temples present and it is theorised that the rest were lost. Lost or never existing, the sudden demise of these prosperous temples and their absence in all later building trends (only to reappear during the controversial reign of Akhenaten) in Ancient Egypt does raise a lot of questions and suggest the presence of divergent cults and religious strife. 

Sources:
The Oxford History
THE Cambridge Ancient History (the old kingdom in Egypt by W.Stevenson Smith)
The Complete pyramids by Mark lehner
https:// ancientegyptonline.co.uk/shepseskare/   
https:// pharaoh.se/Pharaoh/Sahure

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