Neferirkare Kakai

Neferirkare Kakai
Pyramid of Neferirkare at Abusir
Pharaoh
Reign	2475–2455 BC(5th Dynasty)
Predecessor	Sahure
Successor	Neferefre/ Shepseskare?
Royal titulary
Consort	Khentkaus II
Father	Sahure or Userkaf
Mother	Neferetnebty or Khentkaus I
Died	2455 BC
Monuments	Pyramid at Abusir

Neferirkare Kakai was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the third king of the Fifth Dynasty. He succeeded his father Sahure on the throne and was in turn succeeded by his son Neferefre. His praenomen, Neferirkare, means "Beautiful is the Soul of Ra". His Horus name was Userkhau, his Golden Horus name Sekhemunebu and his Nebti name Khaiemnebty.

It was not known who Neferirkare's parents were in the past. Some Egyptologists viewed him as a son of Userkaf and Khentkaus I. This is now known to be incorrect: reliefs from Sahure's causeway show that his father was Sahure and his mother was probably Queen Meretnebty.

Scenes discovered in Sahure's funerary temple, the causeway region, indicate, however, that Neferirkare may have been the son of Sahure and Queen Meretnebty. K. Sethe thought from broken records that the queen's name was Neferhanebty. This information is now known (see El Awady references above) to be incorrect. One theory holds that Neferirkare may have been known as Prince Ranefer when he was young, and had a (twin?) brother named 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.

Little is known about his reign. Manetho's Epitome assigns Neferirkare a reign of 20 years but verso 5 of the damaged Palermo Stone preserves the year of his 5th cattle count (Year 9 on a biennial count). His following years were lost in the missing portion of the document. The Czech Egyptologist Miroslav Verner maintains, however, that it cannot have been as long as 20 years due to the unfinished state of Neferirkare's Abusir pyramid complex.