Menkauhor Kaiu

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Menkauhor Kaiu
18th dynasty stele depicting the 5th dynasty pharaoh Menkauhor Kaiu.
18th dynasty stele depicting the 5th dynasty pharaoh Menkauhor Kaiu.
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign 2422–2414 BC[1],  5th dynasty
Predecessor Nyuserre Ini
Successor Djedkare Isesi
Royal titulary

Menkauhor Kaiu, (in Greek known as Menkeris), was a Pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty during the Old Kingdom. His royal name or prenomen, Menkauhor, means as "Eternal are the Souls of Re."[1] The Turin King List assigns him 8 years of rule. He was the last pharaoh to build a sun temple—called Akhet-Re. His pyramid was reported to have been found in 1842 by German archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius at Saqqara. Lepsius called it number 29 or the "Headless Pyramid".[2] The pyramid was then lost under shifting sands until it was rediscovered in 2008.[3] The pyramid is believed to be his. This would validate contemporary fifth dynasty records which indicate Menkauhor's pyramid was located at either Dahshur or Saqqara. He is, in terms of present-day knowledge, the second most obscure 5th Dynasty ruler after the ephemeral Shepseskare — although a relief by an official named Tjutju depicts him adoring the pharaoh, one major quarry inscription at Wadi Maghara in the Sinai dated to his reign, a single seal bearing his name and a small alabaster statue prove his existence beyond doubt.[4]

Several Old Kingdom administrative records at Abusir indicate that Menkauhor finished his pyramid complex which was called Ntry-iswt-Mn-kw-hr while his funerary cult was still operational long after his death.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Clayton, Peter A. Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. p.61. Thames & Hudson. 2006. ISBN 0-500-28628-0
  2. ^ "Egypt uncovers 'missing' pyramid of a pharaoh", http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080605/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_missing_pyramid_4, Katarina Kratovac, AP, June 5, 2008
  3. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/06/05/missing.pyramid.ap/index.html
  4. ^ Miroslav Verner, Archaeological Remarks on the 4th and 5th Dynasty Chronology, Archiv Orientální, Volume 69: 2001, p.405
  5. ^ Verner, op. cit., p.405


[edit] External links

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