Fifth dynasty of Egypt

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Fifth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
.

n rulers, in the History of Egypt

History of Egypt

The history of Egypt is the longest continuous history, as a unified state, of any country in the world. The Nile valley forms a natural geographic and economic unit, bounded to the east and west by deserts, to the north by the sea and to the south by the Cataracts of the Nile....
, for the Fifth Dynasty are as follows:

Manetho

Manetho

Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic dynasty, ca. 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca ....
writes that the Fifth Dynasty kings ruled from Elephantine

Elephantine

Elephantine is an island in the Nile, located just downstream of the Cataracts of the Nile at at the southern border of Ancient Egypt. This region is referred to as Upper Egypt because the ancient Egyptians oriented themselves toward the direction from which the river flowed....
, but archeologists have found evidence clearly showing that their palaces were still located at Ineb-hedj

Memphis, Egypt

Memphis was the ancient capital of the first Nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and later for shorter periods during the New Kingdom, and an administrative centre throughout ancient history....
("White Walls").

As before, expeditions were sent to Wadi Maghara and Wadi Kharit in the Sinai

Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, forming a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia....
to mine for turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrate phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula copperaluminium648?4water....
and copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
, and to quarries northwest of Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel is an archaeological site comprising two massive rock temples in southern Egypt on the western bank of Lake Nasser about 290 km southwest of Aswan....
for gneiss

Gneiss

Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of Rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic rock processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous rock or Sedimentary rock rocks....
.

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The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom

Rulers

Known rulers, in the History of Egypt

History of Egypt

**Fifth Dynasty**
Name	Comments	Dates
Userkaf Userkaf Userkaf was the founder of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt and the first pharaoh to start the tradition of building sun temples at Abusir.. Userkaf's name means "his Egyptian soul is powerful." He ruled from 2465-2458 BC and constructed the Pyramid of Userkaf complex at Saqqara....	-	2498 – 2491 BC
Sahure Sahure Sahure was the second king of ancient Egypt's Fifth dynasty of Egypt. He was a son of queen Neferhetepes, as shown in scenes from the causeway of Sahure's pyramid complex in Abusir.....	-	2490 – 2477 BC
Neferirkare Kakai Neferirkare Kakai Neferirkare Kakai was the third Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty of Egypt. His prenomen, Neferirkare, means "Beautiful is the Soul of Ra." His Horus name was Userkhau, his Golden Horus name Sekhemunebu and his Nebti name Khaiemnebty....	-	2471 – 2467 BC
Shepseskare Isi Shepseskare Isi Shepseskare Isi, also spelt Shepseskare, , was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, who is thought to have reigned from around 2426 BC – 2419 BC....	-	2467 – 2460 BC
Neferefre Neferefre Neferefre was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty of Egypt. His name means "Beautiful is Ra" in Egyptian language. A significant cache of administrative papyri–comparable in size to those found in the temple of Neferirkare–was discovered at Abusir by a 1982 University of Prague Egyptological Institute excavation from a st...	-	2460 – 2459 BC
Nyuserre Ini Nyuserre Ini Nyuserre Ini, also spelt as Neuserre Izi or Niuserre Isi and sometimes Nyuserra , was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty of Egypt....	-	2459 – 2422 BC
Menkauhor Kaiu Menkauhor Kaiu Menkauhor Kaiu, , was a Pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. His royal name or prenomen, Menkauhor, means as "Eternal are the Souls of Ra." The Turin King List assigns him 8 years of rule....	-	2422 – 2414 BC
Djedkare Isesi Djedkare Isesi Djedkare Isesi in Greek language known as Tancheres from Manetho's Aegyptiaca, was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty of Egypt....	-	2414 – 2375 BC
Unas Unas Unas was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and the last ruler of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt from the Old Kingdom. His reign has been dated as falling between 2375 BC and 2345 BC....	-	2375 – 2345 BC

Manetho

Elephantine

Memphis, Egypt

Sinai Peninsula

Turquoise

Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrate phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula copperaluminium648?4water....
and copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
, and to quarries northwest of Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel is an archaeological site comprising two massive rock temples in southern Egypt on the western bank of Lake Nasser about 290 km southwest of Aswan....
for gneiss

Gneiss

Land of Punt

The Land of Punt, also called Pwenet, or Pwene by the ancient Egyptians, at times synonymous with Ta netjer, the "land of the god", was a fabled site in the Horn of Africa and was known for producing and exporting gold, aromatic resins, African Blackwood, ebony, ivory, slaves and wild animals....
to obtain malachite

Malachite

Malachite is a Carbonate minerals normally known as "copper carbonate" with the chemical formula coppercarbonate.copperhydroxide2. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmite masses....
, myrrh

Myrrh

Myrrh is a reddish-brown resinous material, the dried Plant sap of a number of trees, but primarily from Commiphora myrrha, native to Yemen, Somalia, the eastern parts of Ethiopia and Commiphora gileadensis, native to Jordan....
, and electrum

Electrum

Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. It has also been produced artificially....
, and archeological finds at Byblos

Byblos

Byblos is the Greek language name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic language name of Jbeil and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades....
attest to diplomatic expeditions sent to that Phoenicia

Phoenicia

Phoenicia was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and the Palestinian territories....
n city. Finds bearing the names of a several Fifth Dynasty kings at the site of Dorak, near the Sea of Marmara

Sea of Marmara

The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts....
, may be evidence of trade but remain a mystery.

Userkaf

How Pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
Userkaf

Userkaf

Userkaf was the founder of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt and the first pharaoh to start the tradition of building sun temples at Abusir.. Userkaf's name means "his Egyptian soul is powerful." He ruled from 2465-2458 BC and constructed the Pyramid of Userkaf complex at Saqqara....
founded this dynasty is not known for certain. The Papyrus Westcar, which was written during the Middle Kingdom

Middle Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom may refer to*China*The Middle Kingdom of Egypt*A group of midwest U.S. states associated with the Society for Creative Anachronism...
, tells a story of how king Khufu

Khufu

Khufu was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 B.C. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt....
of the Fourth Dynasty

Fourth dynasty of Egypt

The Fourth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, also written Dynasty 4 and Dynasty IV, is characterized as a golden age of the Old Kingdom....
was given a prophecy that triplets born to the wife of the priest of Ra

Ra is an ancient Egyptian Solar deity . By the Fifth dynasty of Egypt he became a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the noon, with other deities representing other positions of the sun....
in Sakhbu would overthrow him and his heirs, and how he attempted to put these children -- named Userkaf

Userkaf

Sahure

Sahure was the second king of ancient Egypt's Fifth dynasty of Egypt. He was a son of queen Neferhetepes, as shown in scenes from the causeway of Sahure's pyramid complex in Abusir.....
, and Neferirkara -- to death; however in recent years, scholars have recognized this story to be at best a legend, and admit their ignorance over how the transition from one dynasty to another transpired.

During this dynasty, Egyptian religion made several important changes. The earliest known copies of funerary prayers inscribed on royal tombs (known as the Pyramid Texts

Pyramid Texts

The Pyramid Texts are a collection of Ancient Egypt religious text from the time of the Old Kingdom. The pyramid texts are the oldest known religious texts in the world....
) appear. The cult of the god Ra

Ra is an ancient Egyptian Solar deity . By the Fifth dynasty of Egypt he became a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the noon, with other deities representing other positions of the sun....
gains added importance, and kings from Userkaf through Menkauhor built temples dedicated to Ra at or near Abusir

Abusir

Abusir is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality ? specifically, an extensive necropolis of the Old Kingdom period, together with later additions ? in the vicinity of the modern capital Cairo....
. Then late in this dynasty, the cult of Osiris

Osiris

Osiris was an Egyptian mythology, usually called the god of the Afterlife.Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found; one of the oldest known attestations of his name is on the Palermo Stone of around 2500 BC....
assumes importance, most notably in the inscriptions found in the tomb of Unas

Unas

Unas was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and the last ruler of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt from the Old Kingdom. His reign has been dated as falling between 2375 BC and 2345 BC....
.

Djedkare

Amongst non-royal Egyptians of this time, Ptahhotep

Ptahhotep

Ptahhotep, sometimes known as Ptahhotpe or Ptah-Hotep, was an ancient Egyptian official during the late 25th century BC to early 24th century BC....
, vizier

Vizier

A Vizier , is a term for a high-ranking political advisor or minister, often to a Muslim monarch such as a Caliph, or Sultan. It sometimes refers to ministers and advisors of the Persian Empire's Shahs....
to Djedkare Isesi

Djedkare Isesi

Djedkare Isesi in Greek language known as Tancheres from Manetho's Aegyptiaca, was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty of Egypt....
, won fame for his wisdom; The Maxims of Ptahhotep was ascribed to him by its later copyists. Non-royal tombs were also decorated with inscriptions, like the royal ones, but instead of prayers or incantations, biographies of the deceased were written on the walls.