The Children of Adam and Eve

Neferirkare Kakai was the third pharaoh of Egypt in the 5th Dynasty (2498-2345 BC), third of four dynasties in the Old Kingdom Period.

It is not known with any certainty who Neferirkare's Parents were. Some Egyptologists see him as a son of Userkaf and Khentkaus I.

Scenes discovered in Sahure's funerary domains may indicate However that Neferirkare may have the son of Sahure and Queen Neferetnebty. One theory holds that Neferirkare may have been known as Prince Ranefer when he was young, and had a brothernamed Netjerirenre, who may have taken the throne under the name of Shepseskare.

Neferirkare married Queen Khentkaus II and had 2 sons who both became pharaoh, Ranefer - under the name Neferefre - and Niuserre.

A decree, exempting personnel beLonging to a Temple from undertaKing compulsory labour, shows that taxation was imposed on everybody as a general rule. An important cache of Old Kingdom administrative papyri, the Abusir Papyri, was discovered inNeferirkare's mortuary Temple between 1893 and 1907. This cache dates primarily from the reigns of Djedkare Isesi and Unas. One of the documents is a letter from Djedkare to the Temple Priests provisioning Neferirkare's funerary Temple.

From the large size of his mortuary complex at Abusir, he was an important King, but since the Palermo Stone fragments after his rule, little is actually known about his reign. The Pyramid of Neferirkare Kakai (burial place of the King) wasinitially designed as a 6-step pyramid 52 m high, but later it was extended to the form of a typical pyramid and it reached a height of 72 m. The mortuary complex is unfinished, and only part of the lower mortuary Temple was completed before, itis supposed, the abandonment of the project.

Neferirkare's reign was unusual for the significant number of surviving contemporary records which describe him as a kind and gentle ruler. When Rawer, an elderly nobleman and royal courtier, was accidentally touched by the King's mace during areligious ceremony - a dangerous situation which could have caused this official's death or banishment from court, since the Pharaoh was viewed as a living God in Old Kingdom mythology - Neferirkare quickly pardoned Rawer and requested that noharm should occur to the latter for the incident. As Rawer gratefully states in an inscription from his Giza tomb:

Now the Priest Rawer in his Priestly robes was following the steps of the King in order to conduct the royal costume, when the sceptre in the King's hand struck the Priest Rawer's foot. The King said, "You are safe". So the King said, and then,"It is the King's wish that he be perfectly safe, since I have not struck at him. For he is More worthy before the King than any man.

Similarly, Neferirkare gave the Priest of Ptah Ptahshepses the unprecedented honor of kissing his feet. Finally, when the Vizier Weshptah suffered a stroke while attending court, the King quickly summoned the palace's chief doctors to treat hisdying Vizier. When Weshptah died, Neferirkare was reportedly inconsolable and retired to his personal quarters to mourn the loss of his friend. The King then ordered the purification of Weshptah's body in his presence and ordered an ebony coffinmade for the deceased Vizier. Weshptah was buried with special endowments and rituals courtesy of Neferirkare. The records of the King's actions are inscribed in Weshptah's tomb itself and emphasize Neferirkare's humanity toWards his subjects.

Neferirkare Kakai was the third pharaoh of Egypt in the 5th Dynasty (2498-2345 BC), third of four dynasties in the Old Kingdom Period.

It is not known with any certainty who Neferirkare's Parents were. Some Egyptologists see him as a son of Userkaf and Khentkaus I.

Scenes discovered in Sahure's funerary domains may indicate However that Neferirkare may have the son of Sahure and Queen Neferetnebty. One theory holds that Neferirkare may have been known as Prince Ranefer when he was young, and had a brothernamed Netjerirenre, who may have taken the throne under the name of Shepseskare.

Neferirkare married Queen Khentkaus II and had 2 sons who both became pharaoh, Ranefer - under the name Neferefre - and Niuserre.

A decree, exempting personnel beLonging to a Temple from undertaking compulsory labour, shows that taxation was imposed on everybody as a general rule. An important cache of Old Kingdom administrative papyri, the Abusir Papyri, was discovered inNeferirkare's mortuary Temple between 1893 and 1907. This cache dates primarily from the reigns of Djedkare Isesi and Unas. One of the documents is a letter from Djedkare to the Temple Priests provisioning Neferirkare's funerary Temple.

From the large size of his mortuary complex at Abusir, he was an important king, but since the Palermo Stone fragments after his rule, little is actually known about his reign. The Pyramid of Neferirkare Kakai (burial place of the king) wasinitially designed as a 6-step pyramid 52 m high, but later it was extended to the form of a typical pyramid and it reached a height of 72 m. The mortuary complex is unfinished, and only part of the lower mortuary Temple was completed before, itis supposed, the abandonment of the project.

Neferirkare's reign was unusual for the significant number of surviving contemporary records which describe him as a kind and gentle ruler. When Rawer, an elderly nobleman and royal courtier, was accidentally touched by the king's mace during areligious ceremony - a dangerous situation which could have caused this official's death or banishment from court, since the Pharaoh was viewed as a living God in Old Kingdom mythology - Neferirkare quickly pardoned Rawer and requested that noharm should occur to the latter for the incident. As Rawer gratefully states in an inscription from his Giza tomb:

Now the Priest Rawer in his Priestly robes was following the steps of the king in order to conduct the royal costume, when the sceptre in the king's hand struck the Priest Rawer's foot. The king said, "You are safe". So the king said, and then,"It is the king's wish that he be perfectly safe, since I have not struck at him. For he is More worthy before the king than any man.

Similarly, Neferirkare gave the Priest of Ptah Ptahshepses the unprecedented honor of kissing his feet. Finally, when the Vizier Weshptah suffered a stroke while attending court, the king quickly summoned the palace's chief doctors to treat hisdying Vizier. When Weshptah died, Neferirkare was reportedly inconsolable and retired to his personal quarters to mourn the loss of his friend. The king then ordered the purification of Weshptah's body in his presence and ordered an ebony coffinmade for the deceased Vizier. Weshptah was buried with special endowments and rituals courtesy of Neferirkare. The records of the king's actions are inscribed in Weshptah's tomb itself and emphasize Neferirkare's humanity toWards his subjects.

Khentkaus II was the wife of Neferirkare Kakai and her pyramid complex, in Abusir and next to the pyramid complex of her husband, was started during her husband's reign. Construction of her tomb was halted, possibly when her husband died andwas later resumed during the reign of her son. Khentkaues is shown on a block with her husband and a son named Ranefer.

A limeStone fragment was found in the pyramid complex mentioning a King's Daughter Reputnebty, who is followed by a King's Son Khentykauhor. From context, Reputnebty was a daughter of Nyuserre and hence a granddaughter of Khentkaus. A furtherKing's Son Irenre Junior (nedjes) is mentioned.

The construction of the pyramid was likely started during the reign of her husband Neferirkare Kakai and finished during the reign of her son Nyuserre Ini. The pyramid was robbed during the First Intermediate Period. During the Middle Kingdomthe pyramid was reopened and the sarcophagus reused for the burial of a young child. By the end of the New Kingdom the destruction of the site occurred when Stones were taken form the site to be reused elsewhere.

The mortuary Temple of Khentkaues II was decorated, but the reliefs were damaged and what remains are a collection of fragments. There are scenes of offerings, a funeral meal, agricultural scenes, the procession of funerary estates and scenesdepicting the family of King Nyuserre greeting the Queen-Mother.

The King's Mother Khentkaus is mentioned in the Abusir Papyri.