THE PYRAMIDS OF THE FORGOTTEN KINGS
The kings of Dynasties V through VIII built outstanding pyramid complexes at Saqqara and Abusir. Yet despite their monuments these kings do not share the fame and renown accorded to their colleagues of Dynasty IV, so we might call them the forgotten kings.
Although they lack fame, the kings of this period did introduce new trends. For example, the last king of Dynasty V, Unas introduced the Pyramid Texts that extensively decorate the walls of later kings and queens. The Pyramid Texts are. magical spells written in vertical columns of hieroglyphic inscriptions on the walls of the pyramid's vestibule and sometimes on the burial. Based on solar and Osirian religious beliefs, the texts seek to ensure an abundant afterlife for the king or queen. So powerful was the magic of the written word that its presence alone made the expressed thought a future reality.
Dynasty V kings also introduce sun temples. Their new creations, located 1 km North of Abusir, are based on the style of the sun temples at Heliopolis. They have a lower temple, an upper temple and a connecting causeway. The temple welcomes its honoured deity, the Sun, through an -open court to the altar which faces the bnbn, the obelisk set on a platform. Each temple is identified by its own name, such as "Horizon of Re" and "Field of Re." Only two sun temples have been found: Ricke found the one built by Wsrkaf and Borchardt found another built by MywsrRe. We know that at least six kings of Dynasty V each built a sun temple, so at least four remain undiscovered-as yet.
As noted in Development of the Royal Mortuary Complex, pyramid construction and decoration changes in Dynasty V. At the same time, the bureaucracy becomes more complex as evidenced by the increased number of titles in Dynasties V and VI and the increased size of noble tombs. For example, at Saqqara the Dynasty V tomb of Ti is 40m long and the Dynasty VI tomb of Meruruka has 32 rooms. Egyptologists believe that the organizational and technical skills that developed during the construction of the Dynasty IV's enormous pyramids evolve in Dynasty V into more skilled craftsmen and the elaboration of the state cult. This corroborates my hypothesis that the decreasing volume of stones used during the period of the Forgotten Kings does not reflect an economic decline in the period. Instead, the economy seems to be prospering as kings can afford the high labour costs of a league of artisans - a price much higher than the cost of a gang of stone movers.
Pyramid design also changes in Dynasty V. At Saqqara and Abusir, the pyramids of Userkaf, Sahure, Neferirkare and Neuserre all have their entrances at ground level unlike the Giza pyramids. Also, temples become large and contain numerous magazines, rooms and cult objects. The courts of the upper temples change from their north-south orientation of Dynasty IV to an east-west alignment.
the entrance leads to a short ramp inside the pyramid;
the vestibule becomes wider and higher than the ramp;
the ramp is connected with a passage that has an horizontal shape;
the passage connects with an antechamber at its end;
West of the antechamber are situated a corridor and the burial chamber with a sarcophagus;
the sarcophagus is placed near the west end of the chamber, and the chamber's walls are decorated with designs of a palace facade, pyramid texts and alabaster veneer.
The founder of Dynasty V, Userkaf, returns to Saqqara to build his pyramid near the northeast comer of Djoser's enclosure. For topographical reasons his upper temple is situated on the pyramid's south side, but a small chapel maintains tradition on the east face. West of Userkaf's pyramid is a satellite pyramid, while further South, lies the pyramid attributed to his main queen. We have yet to find his valley temple but a section of the causeway, paved with basalt, leads, the way. In the court to Southwest of the upper temple, a beautiful red granite head of Userkaf was found. Measuring three-times the usual size, it ranks among the largest royal statues - second only to the Sphinx.
The next four kings - Sahure, Neferirkare, Neferefre and Neuserre - move their pyramid complexes to Abusir. Sahure's complex is best preserved with its upper temple, causeway, remains of the double-entranced lower temple, and a subsidiary pyramid to the South.
Neferirkare's pyramid complex is remarkable because here Egyptologists discovered the extremely valuable Abusir papyri. Found in several fragments in the western rooms of the upper temple, the papyri encompass almost 200 years of the royal funerary cult's organization and daily record. Beginning in the reign of Neferirkare and through to the time of Pepi II in Dynasty VI, the papyri document temple activities. Monthly duty rosters outline the tasks that must be performed on a daily basis; other rosters detail duties for special occasions, such as feasts, and lists of temple personnel document their responsibilities in the cult of the king. This important document also references the Egyptian names for the various elements of temple architecture.
More texts come to us from the temple of Neferefre which also preserved, almost intact, a number of cult objects and a group of royal statues made of wood. These and other statues of the king, including one of basalt, can be seen at the Egyptian Museum. Neferefre's wife, Queen Khentkawes I also has a pyramid complex at Abusir, recently unearthed by Verner. The inscriptions refer to her as wife and mother of the king.
In building his funerary complex, Neuserre reuses Neferirkare's lower temple and part of his causeway. Then, the last two kings of Dynasty V return to Saqqara: Djedkare Isesi to South Saqqara, and Unas to North Saqqara. The ancient Egyptians record the name of Djedkare Isesi's pyramid as "Isesi is beautiful" while Unas's pyramid is named "Beautiful are the places of Unas" Unas sets his pyramid just off the southwest corner of the Step Pyramid. It has an extraordinarily long causeway to the valley temple and harbour, the ruins of which are just beside the ticket office at the entrance to the archaeological site.
Teti, the first king of Dynasty VI, also has his pyramid complex here. Next to Teti, I excavated the temple of Queen Iput I and found the Djoser monument as well as many New. Kingdom artifacts. We also found near the temple of Iput a tomb of Teti-Ank-Km, meaning "Teti Ankh the Black," who is the son of King Teti. Our excavations revealed beautiful relief decoration and a false door with an inscription identifying the owner and his job as the overseer of Upper Egypt. Some 12m beneath the surface we found his burial chamber with its large limestone sarcophagus still containing his mummy. Also, we have excavated the temple of Queen Khwiet and expect to find her pyramid soon.
Joining Djedkare Isesi in South Saqqara are the Dynasty VI kings Pepi I, Merenre and Pepi II. The name of Pepi I's pyramid, Men-Nefer is the origin of the name of the Old Kingdom capital, called Memphis by the Greeks and Mit-rahina by modern Egyptians.
Currently, J. Leclant, a French archaeologist assisted by A. Labrousse, is excavating around the three pyramids. During their work to restore and study the pyramid texts in the inner chambers of these pyramids, they found three subsidiary pyramids nearby: one for Queen Nwbwnt, another for Queen Inenek-Inty, and the third for an unidentified queen. In addition, in 1995 they found a mastaba subsidiary pyramid for Queen Meryites and, in 1996 a mastaba tomb of a prince with an inscribed false door bearing the name of a Queen named Mehaa who has the title hmt-nswt, meaning "king's wife." The four named queens were unknown to us before these excavations.
The pyramid complex of Pepi II contains a scene of the king smiting a Libyan., Accompanying the king are his wife and two named children. Since this scene first. appears in Sahure's pyramid complex at, Abusir, the scene may not reflect an historical event, but rather is simply part of a decorative programme emphasizing the might of the king.
South Saqqara also is home to a number of later constructions. Next to the pyramid complex of Pepi II is the small and poorly preserved mud-brick pyramid belonging to Ibi of Dynasty VIII. Its small size indicates the dramatic disintegration of the Old Kingdom. Ruins of the mud-brick upper temple exist, but no causeway or lower temple have been found. Probably other Dynasty VIII pyramids are in the area and I believe that the pyramid of Queen Meryites dates to this period. East of the pyramid of Teti lie the remains of another small pyramid that may date to Dynasty IX or X.
Our search continues to find the pyramids of Menkauhor from Dynasty V, Neferirkare from Dynasty VII and Ity from Dynasty VII or VIll.
