Niuserre 2416-2392 B.C

 

Niuserre Quick Facts

ChronologyDynasty: 5th

Predecessor: Neferefre
Successor: Menkauhor
Highest Year: 7th Cattle CountFamily
Father: Neferirkare
Mother: Khentkaus II
Wife: Reput-Nebu

Niuserre was the second son of Neferirkare to have ascended to the throne, after the death of his brother, Neferefre. During his reign he built a Solar Temple near Abusir and his own funerary complex next to his father’s and brother’s.

Biography of Niuserre

Niuserre was the second son of Neferirkare and Khentkaus II to have ascended to the throne. He was married to a woman named Reput-Nebu, of whom a statue was discovered in the valley-temple connected to his and Neferirkare's pyramid complex. It is not known whether he had any children (that out-lived him).

The Turin King-list is somewhat damaged at the point where Niuserre's name is mentioned, and only allows us to state that he ruled for more than 10 years. The highest known year reference is dated to the year of the 7th year count. If the cattle counts were held at regular two year intervals, this would be the 13th year of his reign.The 44 years credited to him by Manetho is considered unreliable. The representation of a Sed-festival found in his solar-temple may indicate that he ruled at least for 30 years, although its is also possible that this representation refers to the magical rejuvenation of the king after his death.

An inscription found in the Sinai shown Niuserre triumphant over his enemies. It is debatable whether this inscription refers to an actual victory of Niuserre, or whether it was merely symbolic. It does, however, show that Niuserre was active in the Sinai.

He built a solar-temple, named Shesepu-ib-Re, in Abu Gurab, about a kilometre to the north of Abusir. Not only is this the biggest and most complete solar-temple, it is also the only one that was constructed completely of stone. The many finely carved reliefs that remain show the king during a Sed-festival and the world as created by the solar god, with representations of the seasons and the provinces of Egypt. With the reign of Niuserre, the solar-cult appears to have come to its summit.

The monumental altar at the Solar Temple of Niuserre at Abu Gorab.

The pyramid-complex of Niuserre is located at Abusir, between the pyramids of Sahure and Neferirkare. Instead of building his own valley temple, he had his pyramid complex connected to the valley temple of Neferirkare.

Titulary of Niuserre

Horus Name

1. Hr s.t-ib tA.wjHorus, the favourite of the Two Lands

Nebti Name

2. s.t-ib nb.tjThe favourite of the Two Ladies
   

Golden Falcon Name

3. nTr(j) bik nbwThe golden falcon is divine

Prenomen

4. n(j) wsr raNiuserre

Nomen

5. inj
6. iniIni

Kinglists

7. inIn

Manetho

Africanus: Rathurês
Eusebius: Eusebius does not mention this king.

Alternative names in modern-day literature

Niouserre, Niuserra, Niouserra, Ni-user-re, Ni-ouser-re, Ni-user-ra, Ni-ouser-ra

Solar Temple of Niuserre

Next to Snofru, Niuserre must be considered as one of the most productive builders of the Old Kingdom. Not only did he complete the funerary monuments of his father Neferirkare, his mother Khentkaus II and his brother Neferefre at Abusir, he also rebuilt Userkaf’s Solar Temple and he built his own funerary monument and Solar Temple at Abu Gorab, about 1 km north of Abusir, as well. The building activity concentrated on the Abusir region must have been tremendous during his reign!
As was the case with Userkaf's Solar Temple, Niuserre's appears to have been built in mudbrick first before it was rebuilt in actual stone. When finished, it consisted of a Valley Temple, located on the shore of Abusir Lake, an upward sloping causeway and the actual temple.
To the south of the temple, a stone replica of a boat was built, probably a symbol either for the sun’s voyage through the heavens, or the king's.

Interactive map (below right) and 3D rendering of the Solar Temple of Niuserre at Abu Gorab.

The Valley Temple has been badly damaged and its few remains are mostly immersed in the water. It was impossible for the archaeologists examining this building to draw an accurate ground plan. What we do know is that its entrance was a portico with four pillars. Based on the size and shape of the pillars. base, it has been determined that their capitals were palm-leaf shaped. An entrance corridor, with rooms to the left and right, led to the causeway.
The causeway steeply ascended to an impressive terrace that was formed by extending a natural hill using mudbrick encased with limestone blocks, on which the actual temple was built.
The temple itself is rectangular in shape, but unlike the Valley Temple, it was oriented towards the cardinal points. The entrance is located in the east, with the entrance hall extending from the temple's rectangular enclosure wall. The entrance hall itself consisted of a long corridor that led to a second, traverse corridor, which opens onto the temple's open court.
The temple's main edifice, a huge limestone obelisk that once rose to a height of 36 metres, stands on top of a pedestal building taking up most of the west of the open court. The pedestal building had a square base and sloping sides, making it look like a truncated pyramid. It was built of limestone, with a red granite base and rose to a height of 20 metres.

The remains of the pedestal building onto which the obelisk was built. Together, they rose to a height of 56 metres, higher than Niuserre's pyramid.

A huge altar was built using five slabs of Egyptian alabaster (calcite) in front of the pedestal building and along the temple's axis. Its central part was shaped to symbolise the sun, while the four slabs around it resemble the hieroglyphic sign for “offering” or “to rest”, the whole meaning “May Re be satisfied”. 

The altar in front of the pedestal building, shaped to symbolise the words "May Re be satisfied".

A set of nine alabaster basins, each 1.18 metre in diameter has been interpreted as related to offering rituals, but the absence of flint knives and other material related to the offering of sacrificial animals contradicts this thesis. Their function may have been purely symbolic.

One of the nine basins located against the east wall of the open court.

A passage to the left of the entrance hall leads to a set of corridors with finely carved reliefs related to the king's Heb Sed festival. This is an indication that Niuserre ruled for at least 30 years and that this part of the temple was decorated at quite a late stage in his reign. In a section that led to the pedestal building, reliefs representing the 3 seasons of the Ancient Egyptian year (inundation, sowing and harvest) have been found.
Storage magazines, probably intended for the temporary storage of offering material, located to the right of the entrance complete this building.

Pyramid Complex of Niuserre

Niuserre completed the pyramids of his father, Neferirkare and brother Neferefre and he probably converted his fathers satellite pyramid into a funerary complex for his mother Khentkaus II. In addition to this, he also built his own funerary complex and a solar temple at Abusir. The pyramids of Sahure, Neferirkare and Neferefre had been aligned along the same diagonal, probably pointing towards Heliopolis. Niuserre broke that diagonal by inserting his pyramid between those of Sahure en Neferirkare. The reason for this is quite clear: this allowed him to complete his father’s causeway and Valley Temple and easily incorporate them into his own funerary complex.
Thus Niuserre's funerary complex consists of all the traditional elements, except a Queen's Pyramid: a main pyramid, with a satellite pyramid on its southeast corner, a mortuary temple and a causeway leading to the Valley Temple.

Interactive map of the Pyramid Complex of Niuserre at Abusir.
Source: Lehner, Complete Pyramids, p. 149.

The King’s Pyramid
Despite the long reign of Niuserre, his pyramid is one of the smaller ones at Abusir. It measured 78.9 metres square at the base and rose to a height of 51.68 metres. This may perhaps have been the result of the choice of location, which left Niuserre not that much space to increase the size of his pyramid.
The core of the pyramid was built in steps which were then encased in fine limestone. Its entrance is traditionally located along the north face of the pyramid. From the entrance, a passage first enters horizontally through the thickness of the encasing and then descends down into the ground below the pyramid. Three portcullises blocked the passage. The slope of the passage decreased beyond the portcullis blocks and the passage slightly deviates to the east from there on, until it reaches the antechamber.A door in the west wall of the antechamber leads to the king's burial chamber. The passage between the two chambers is located directly underneath the centre of the pyramid.
Both the antechamber and the burial chamber were lined with fine limestone and roofed with three layers of enormous limestone beams.

The pyramid of Niuserre, with the corner of the Mortuary Temple of Neferirkare in the front, to the left. Further north, to the left, the Giza Pyramids can be seen.
Source: Lehner, Complete Pyramids, p. 149.

The Mortuary Temple
The shape of Niuserre's mortuary temple is unusual. The inner temple stretched along the pyramid's east face. It consisted of some magazines in the north, the inner sanctuary and the five statue niches. Niuserre's mortuary temple is also the first to have had an antechamber with one pilar in front of the inner sanctuary.
A wall, with two pylon-like structures, one to the north and one to the south, separates the inner temple from the outer. The pylons are seen as the precursor of the pylons of later Egyptian temples and as such probably already symbolised the mountains of the horizon in between which the sun (the pyramid) shone.
The outer temple was built to the south, stretching east, giving the entire temple a strange L-shape. This was necessary in order to avoid some mastabas which had been built between the pyramids of Sahure and Neferirekare. This part of the temple consists of an open court framed with pillars and an entrance hall.
The causeway bends and stretches its way to the Valley Temple that was originally begun for Neferirkare.

The Valley Temple
The Valley Temple was entered via a portico with two rows of four columns. The floor was made of basalt, while the walls were lined with fine limestone, decorated with painted reliefs. The causeway could be entered via a chamber in the north.