The Children of Adam and Eve

Menkauhor Kaiu (Menkaouhor or Menkeris) was a pharaoh of Egypt in the 5th Dynasty (2498-2345 BC), third of four dynasties in the Old Kingdom Period.

Menkauhor may have been a son of Niuserre. Reliefs from the mortuary Temple of Khentkaus II may point to this proposed family relationship.

Queen Meresankh IV has been suggested as the consort for Menkauhor. It is possible However that she was a wife to Djedkare Isesi instead. Queen Khuit I has also been suggested as a possible wife of Menkauhor.

It has been suggested that Menkauhor's successor Djedkare Isesi was his son. Other possible children include the princes Raemka and Khaemtjenent, but it is also possible they are sons of Djedkare Isesi. So they could be his grand-sons instead.

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. The pyramid wasthen lost under shifting sands until it was rediscovered in 2008. 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, thesecond 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 sealbearing his name and a small alabaster statue prove his existence beyond doubt.

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.

Meresankh IV was a queen of Ancient Egypt toWards the end of the 5th dynasty. While some sources consider that her husband is unknown,other sources suggest her husband was the pharaoh Menkauhor Kaiu. It is also possible that Meresankh IV was thewife of the pharaoh Djedkare Isesi.

Meresankh IV may have had sons Remkuy (Raemka) and Kaemtjenent. The family relationship between Meresankh and Remkuy and Kaemtjenent are based on the general dating of their monuments (mastabas in Saqqara). It is possible that Kaemtjenent mayhave been a son of Djedkare Isesi rather than Menkauhor Kaiu.

She was buried in Saqqara. The tomb only had one chamber and there were no inscriptions on the walls. The text recording queen Meresankh IV comes from a stela found in the tomb along with a serdab.