Menkaura
Encyclopedia
Menkaure was a pharaoh
of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt
(c. 2620 BC–2480 BC) who ordered the construction of the third and smallest of the Pyramids of Giza
. His name means "Eternal like the Souls of Re
". He was the successor of Khafra
.
Some authors date his rule between 2532 BC–2503 BC or 28 years but the Turin King List
has him ruling for 18 years which is the time given to him by other authors. Several of his statues were unfinished upon his death—suggesting the shorter reign—while his pyramid is the smallest of all the three royal pyramids at Giza.
and the grandson of Khufu
. A flint knife found in the mortuary temple of Menkaure mentioned a king's mother Khamerernebty I
, suggesting that Khafra and this queen were the parents of Menkaure. Menkaure is thought to have had at least two wives.
Not many children are attested for Menkaure:
The royal court included several of Menkaure's half brothers. His brothers Nebemakhet
, Duaenre
, Nikaure
and Iunmin
served as vizier during the reign of their brother. His brother Sekhemkare
may have been younger and became vizier after the death of Menkaure.
These pyramids are sometimes labeled G-IIIa (East subsidiary pyramid), G-IIIb (Middle subsidiary pyramid) and G-IIIc (West subsidiary pyramid). In the chapel associated with G-IIIa a statue of a Queen was found. It is possible that these pyramids were meant for the Queens of Khafra. It may be that Khamerernebti II was buried in one of the pyramids.
, and engineer John Shae Perring
began excavations within the pyramid of Menkaure. In the main burial chamber of the pyramid they found a large stone sarcophagus 8 in 0 in (243.84 cm) long, 3 in 0 in (91.44 cm) in width, and 2 in 11 in (88.9 cm) in height, made of basalt. The sarcophagus was uninscribed with hieroglyphs although it was decorated in the style of palace facade. Adjacent to the burial chamber were found wooden fragments of a coffin bearing the name of Menkaure and a partial skeleton wrapped in a coarse cloth. The sarcophagus was removed from the pyramid and was sent by ship to the British Museum
in London, but the merchant ship Beatrice carrying it was lost after leaving port at Malta on October 13, 1838. The other materials were sent by a separate ship, and the materials now reside at the museum, with the remains of the wooden coffin case on display.
It is now thought that the coffin was a replacement made during the much later Saite period
, nearly two millennia after the pharaoh's original interment. Radio carbon dating of the bone fragments that were found place them at an even later date, from the Copt
ic period in the first centuries AD
.
, Menkaure was the son of Khufu
(Greek Cheops), and alleviated the suffering his father's reign had caused the inhabitants of ancient Egypt
. Herodotus adds that he suffered much misfortune: his only daughter, whose corpse was interred in a wooden bull
(which Herodotus claims survived to his lifetime), died before him; additionally, the oracle
at Buto
predicted he would only rule six years, but through his shrewdness, Menkaure was able to rule a total of 12 years and foil the prophecy (Herodotus, Histories, 2.129-133).
, entitled "Mycerinus".
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt
Fourth dynasty of Egypt
The fourth dynasty of ancient Egypt is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom. Dynasty IV lasted from ca. 2613 to 2494 BC...
(c. 2620 BC–2480 BC) who ordered the construction of the third and smallest of the Pyramids of Giza
Menkaure's Pyramid
The Pyramid of Menkaure, also located on the Giza Plateau in the southwestern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, is the smalest of the three Pyramids of Giza...
. His name means "Eternal like the Souls of Re
Ra
Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty he had become a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun...
". He was the successor of Khafra
Khafra
Khafra — also Khafre — was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, who had his capital at Memphis. According to some authors he was the son and successor of Khufu, but it is more commonly accepted that Djedefre was Khufu's successor and Khafra was Djedefre's...
.
Some authors date his rule between 2532 BC–2503 BC or 28 years but the Turin King List
Turin King List
The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is a hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio at Turin...
has him ruling for 18 years which is the time given to him by other authors. Several of his statues were unfinished upon his death—suggesting the shorter reign—while his pyramid is the smallest of all the three royal pyramids at Giza.
Family
Menkaure was the son of KhafraKhafra
Khafra — also Khafre — was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, who had his capital at Memphis. According to some authors he was the son and successor of Khufu, but it is more commonly accepted that Djedefre was Khufu's successor and Khafra was Djedefre's...
and the grandson of Khufu
Khufu
Khufu , also known as Cheops or, in Manetho, Suphis , was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 BC. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. He is generally accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of...
. A flint knife found in the mortuary temple of Menkaure mentioned a king's mother Khamerernebty I
Khamerernebty I
Khamerernebty I was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 4th dynasty. She was probably a wife of King Khafre and the mother of King Menkaure and Queen Khamerernebty II...
, suggesting that Khafra and this queen were the parents of Menkaure. Menkaure is thought to have had at least two wives.
- Queen Khamerernebty IIKhamerernebty IIKhamerernebty II was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 4th dynasty. She was a daughter of Pharaoh Khafra and Queen Khamerernebty I. She married her brother Menkaure and she was a mother of Prince Khuenre.-Family:...
is the daughter of Khamerernebti I and the mother of a king's son Khuenre. The location of Khuenre's tomb suggests that he was a son of Menkaure, making his mother the wife of this king. - Queen RekhetreRekhetreRekhetre was an ancient Egyptian queen from the late 4th dynasty or early 5th dynasty. She was a daughter of Pharaoh Khafra. Her husband is never mentioned, but Rekhetre would have been the wife of one of Khafre's successors, possibly Menkaure.-Titles:...
is known to have been a daughter of Khafra and as such the most likely identity of her husband is Menkaure.
Not many children are attested for Menkaure:
- KhuenreKhuenreKhuenre was a Prince of ancient Egypt of the 4th dynasty, named after the Sun god Ra.- Biography :He was a son of Pharaoh Menkaure and his sister, Queen Khamerernebty II...
was the son of queen Khamerernebti II. Menkaure was not succeeded by Prince Khuenre, his eldest son, who predeceased Menkaure, but rather by ShepseskafShepseskafShepseskaf was a son of Menkaure who succeeded his father on the throne. Shepseskaf's name means "His Soul is Noble."- Family :Shepseskaf was a son of Menkaure and grandson of Khafra, but his mother's name is not known. His mother can be either Khamerernebty II or Rekhetre...
, a younger son of this king. - ShepseskafShepseskafShepseskaf was a son of Menkaure who succeeded his father on the throne. Shepseskaf's name means "His Soul is Noble."- Family :Shepseskaf was a son of Menkaure and grandson of Khafra, but his mother's name is not known. His mother can be either Khamerernebty II or Rekhetre...
was the successor to Menkaure and likely his son. - Sekhemre is known from a statue and possibly a son of Menkaure.
- A daughter that died in early adulthood is mentioned by Herodotus. She was placed at a superbly decorated hall of the palatial area at Sais, in a hollow gold layered wooden zoomorphic burial feature in the shape of a kneeling cow covered externally with a layer of red decoration except the neck area and the horns which were covered with adequate layers of gold.
- Khentkaus IKhentkaus IKhentkaus I was a Queen of Ancient Egypt during the 4th dynasty. She may have been a daughter of Pharaoh Menkaure, wife of Shepseskaf and mother of Userkaf, but this is by no means certain. Her Mastaba at Giza - tomb LG100 - is located very close to Menkaure's pyramid complex...
- possible Menkaure's daughter
The royal court included several of Menkaure's half brothers. His brothers Nebemakhet
Nebemakhet
Nebemakhet was a king's son and a vizier during the 4th Dynasty. Nebemakhet was the son of King Khafre and Queen Meresankh III. He is shown in his mother's tomb and in his own tomb at Giza.-Family:...
, Duaenre
Duaenre
Duaenre was a vizier under Menkaure during the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. His titles include those of king's son of his body , hereditary prince , count , vizier , scribe of the divine book , mouth of Nekhen , and mouth of every Butite .-Family:Duare was the son of...
, Nikaure
Nikaure
Nikaure was an ancient Egyptian prince and vizier during the 4th dynasty. His titles include king's eldest son of his body , as well as chief justice and vizier .-Family:...
and Iunmin
Iunmin I
Iunmin was a vizier from the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. He was possibly a son of king Khafre. He served as vizier towards the end of the dynasty, possibly during the reign of his brother Menkaure.-Tomb:...
served as vizier during the reign of their brother. His brother Sekhemkare
Sekhemkare
Horus name: Mekhibtaui Nebti name: ItisekhemefThrone name: SekhemkareBirth name: Amenemhat SenebefAmenemhat V Sekhemkare was an Egyptian king of the 13th Dynasty. He appears as 'Sekhemkare' in the Turin King List. Contemporary monuments of this king are several Nile level records and a statue found...
may have been younger and became vizier after the death of Menkaure.
Pyramid complex
Menkaure's pyramid at Giza was called Netjer-er-Menkaure which means "Menkaure is Divine". This pyramid is the smallest of the three pyramids at Giza. There are three subsidiary pyramids associated with Menkaure's pyramid.These pyramids are sometimes labeled G-IIIa (East subsidiary pyramid), G-IIIb (Middle subsidiary pyramid) and G-IIIc (West subsidiary pyramid). In the chapel associated with G-IIIa a statue of a Queen was found. It is possible that these pyramids were meant for the Queens of Khafra. It may be that Khamerernebti II was buried in one of the pyramids.
Valley Temple
The Valley temple was a mainly brick built structure which was enlarged in the 5th or 6th dynasty. From this temple come the famous statues of Menkaure with his Queen and Menkaure with several deities. A partial list includes:- Nome triad, HathorHathorHathor , is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt...
Mistress-of-the-Sycamore seated, and King and Hare-nome goddess standing, greywacke, in Boston Mus. 09.200. - Nome triad, King, HathorHathorHathor , is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt...
Mistress-of-the-Sycamore and ThebanThebes, EgyptThebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...
nomeNome (Egypt)A nome was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period. Fascinated with Egypt, Greeks created many historical records about the country...
-god standing, greywackeGreywackeGreywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
. (Now in Cairo Mus. Ent. 40678.) - Nome triad, King, HathorHathorHathor , is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt...
Mistress-of-the-Sycamore and Jackal-nome goddess standing, greywackeGreywackeGreywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
. (Now in Cairo Mus. Ent. 40679.) - Nome triad, King, HathorHathorHathor , is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt...
Mistress-of-the-Sycamore and Bat-fetish nome -goddess standing, greywackeGreywackeGreywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
. (Now in Cairo Mus. Ent. 46499.) - Nome triad, King, HathorHathorHathor , is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt...
, and nome-god standing, greywackeGreywackeGreywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
. (Middle part in Boston Mus. 11.3147, head of King in Brussels, Mus. Roy. E. 3074.) - Double-statue,’ King and wife (Khamerernebti II) standing, uninscribed, greywackeGreywackeGreywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
. (Now in Boston Mus. 11.1738.) - King seated, life-size, fragmentary, alabasterAlabasterAlabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
. (Now in Cairo Mus. Ent. 40703.) - King seated, lower part, inscribed seat, alabasterAlabasterAlabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
. (Now in in Boston Mus. 09.202)
Mortuary Temple
At this temple more statues and statue fragments were found. An interesting find is a fragment of a wand from Queen Khamerernebty I. The piece is now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Khamerernebti is given the title King's Mother on the fragment.Sarcophagus
In 1837, English army officer Richard William Howard VyseRichard William Howard Vyse
Major-General Sir Richard William Howard Vyse, KCMG was a British soldier, anthropologist and Egyptologist. He was also Member of Parliament for Beverley and Honiton .-Family life:...
, and engineer John Shae Perring
John Shae Perring
John Shae Perring was a British engineer, anthropologist and Egyptologist, most notable for his work excavating and documenting Egyptian pyramids...
began excavations within the pyramid of Menkaure. In the main burial chamber of the pyramid they found a large stone sarcophagus 8 in 0 in (243.84 cm) long, 3 in 0 in (91.44 cm) in width, and 2 in 11 in (88.9 cm) in height, made of basalt. The sarcophagus was uninscribed with hieroglyphs although it was decorated in the style of palace facade. Adjacent to the burial chamber were found wooden fragments of a coffin bearing the name of Menkaure and a partial skeleton wrapped in a coarse cloth. The sarcophagus was removed from the pyramid and was sent by ship to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
in London, but the merchant ship Beatrice carrying it was lost after leaving port at Malta on October 13, 1838. The other materials were sent by a separate ship, and the materials now reside at the museum, with the remains of the wooden coffin case on display.
It is now thought that the coffin was a replacement made during the much later Saite period
Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC . The Dynasty's reign The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (also written Dynasty XXVI or Dynasty 26) was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC...
, nearly two millennia after the pharaoh's original interment. Radio carbon dating of the bone fragments that were found place them at an even later date, from the Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic period in the first centuries AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
.
Records from later periods
According to HerodotusHerodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, Menkaure was the son of Khufu
Khufu
Khufu , also known as Cheops or, in Manetho, Suphis , was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 BC. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. He is generally accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of...
(Greek Cheops), and alleviated the suffering his father's reign had caused the inhabitants of ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
. Herodotus adds that he suffered much misfortune: his only daughter, whose corpse was interred in a wooden bull
Apis (Egyptian mythology)
In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis , was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region.According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty. Hape is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom...
(which Herodotus claims survived to his lifetime), died before him; additionally, the oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
at Buto
Buto
Buto , Butus , or Butosus, , now Tell al-Fara'in near the city of Desouk , was an ancient city located 95 km east of Alexandria in the Nile Delta of Egypt. The city stood on the Sebennytic arm of the Nile, near its mouth, and on the southern shore of the Butic Lake...
predicted he would only rule six years, but through his shrewdness, Menkaure was able to rule a total of 12 years and foil the prophecy (Herodotus, Histories, 2.129-133).
Trivia
Menkaure was the subject of a poem by the nineteenth century English poet Matthew ArnoldMatthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator...
, entitled "Mycerinus".
External links
- Menkaure and His Queen by Dr. Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe.
- View photos, videos, current status and other information on the pyramid of Menkaure at Talking Pyramids