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Dynasty Notes

There is a distinct break between the great Pyramid Age of the fourth dynasty and the fifth Dynasty. The royal family of Khafre and Khufu breaks abruptly. There may be a link between the two via Queen Khentkawes, a daughter of Menkaure, who married Userkaf.

The fifth Dynasty is marked by the solar cult and the magnificent solar temples of Abu sir and Abu Ghurab, as well as continued pyramid building. But, the pyramids of the fifth dynasty are insignificant compared to the monumnets at Giza from the previous dynasty. It is interesting to note that only 350 years saparate the giant pyarmids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure and the smaller, almost destroyed pyramid of Unas built in Saqqara.

The pharaohs of this era were well known by their buildings -- although some of them are known only from writing and not from actual archeological finds. Most of the pharaohs moved their funerary monuments to Abu Sir, north of Saqqara, until the end of the dynasty, with Unas returning to build his small pyramid int he shadoe of Djoser's Step pyramid. The pyarmids are smaller and less solidly constructed than those of the Giza plateau, mostly a rough construction of mudbrick and rubble cores sheathed in stone. Because of their construction, few of them remain and none so grand as the three pyramids (Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure) at Giza or even the earlier pyramids of Sneferu, the Red Pyramid and Bent Pyramid.

However, t he fifth dynasty also marks the first emergence of the Pyramid Texts, the hieroglyphic spell and incantations decorating the inside of the pyramid burial chamber. Thiese are the first known religious writings and mark the start of the volution of the texts used to decorate tombs in later years. Unas is the first to use the Pyramid Texts in his burial chamber.

By the end of the dynasty, the solar cult had begun to decline, although pyramid building ocntinues for awhile longer, and the pharaohs had returned to their favored necropolis in Saqqara, the giant burial ground of the city o fMemphis.

The pharaohs of the Fifth Dynasty are normally considered:

Userkaf
Sahure
Neferirkare (Kakai)
Shepseskare
Neferefre
Niuserre
Mankauhor
Djedkare
Unas

 

pharaohs

Userkaf
Sahure
Neferirkare (Kakai)
Shepseskare
Neferefre
Niuserre
Mankauhor
Djedkare
Unas