Sahure

About Sahure in brief

Sahure was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty. He reigned for about 12 years in the early 25th century BC during the Old Kingdom Period. 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. His reign may have witnessed the flourishing of the Egyptian navy, which included a high-seas fleet as well as specialized racing boats. Sahure had a pyramid built for himself in Abusir, thereby abandoning the royal necropolises of Saqqara and Giza, where his predecessors had built their monuments. He 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. During the New Kingdom, Sahure was equated with a form of the goddess Sekhmet for unknown reasons. This unusual cult of Sahure persisted up until the end of the Ptolemaic period nearly 2500 years after Sahure’s death. The architects of his pyramid complex introduced the use of palmiform columns, 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 theOld Kingdom period. Excavations at the pyramid ofSahure in AbUsir under the direction of Miroslav Verner and Tarek El-Awady in early 2000s provide a picture of the royal family of the early 5th Dynasty.

In particular, reliefs from the causeway linking the valley and mortuary temples of the pyramid complex reveal thatSahure’s mother was queen Neferhenes II, as indicated by the location of her pyramid immediately adjacent to that of userkaf’s. She bore the title of king, and bore the name of king Sahure in all likelihood. This makes UserKaf the father of Sahur. This contradicts older theories, according to which Sahure is believed to be his son of queen Khentkaus I. That year, a relief was originally adorning the two causeway of Sahura’s pyramid showing him seated in front of a pyramid. This suggests that Sahure finished the structure most probably in the mortuary building at Saqqar. This is reinforced by the discovery of his temple’s cartouche in the late 20th century, indicating that his father may have started the structure by himself in the mid-20th century. The temple is now in the museum of the National Museum of Egypt in Cairo. It is known to be the only one in Egyptian art depicting a king gardening. It also shows him tending a myrrh tree in the garden of his palace named \”Sahur’s splendor soars up to heaven\”. This relief is the onlyOne in Egyptian Art depicting aKing gardening.