Nyuserre Ini

Nyuserre was a son of Neferirkare Kakai and Khentkaus II. When his elder brother Neferefre died young and the obscure Shepseskare had ruled only briefly, he came to the throne, probably still young himself. His mother seems to have played an important part in securing his rule, and she was honoured as the mother of two pharaohs. His wife was Queen Reptynub, and his daughter Khamerernebty married the powerful official Ptahshepses.

Nyuserre inherited three unfinished tombs at Abusir. He completed the mortuary temple of his father Neferirkare in mud brick, though the casing of the pyramid stayed unfinished. He turned the stump of his brother Neferefre's pyramid into a low square building and enlarged his temple. He also resumed work on the pyramid complex of his mother Khentkaus II, which had stood untouched for years. By honouring his family he also showed that he was its rightful heir.

Nyuserre built his pyramid at Abusir close to the north-east corner of his father's, between the pyramids of Neferirkare and Sahure. It was about 52 metres high with a base of about 79 metres. Because space was short, he took over the causeway that his father had begun towards the valley and turned it towards his own pyramid, and his valley temple stood on foundations laid for Neferirkare. His mortuary temple was richly decorated with reliefs and had granite columns in the form of papyrus bundles.

North of Abusir, at Abu Gurob, Nyuserre built the sun temple Shesepibre, "delight of Ra". It was first built in mud brick and later rebuilt in stone, and it is the best preserved of all the sun temples. A valley temple and a causeway led up to a large open court. At its western end a massive squat obelisk stood on a pedestal about 20 metres high, a symbol of the sun's first rays. In front of it lay an altar made of five blocks of alabaster, whose shape reads "May Ra be satisfied" from all four directions.

Beside the obelisk a small chapel and a corridor were decorated with the famous reliefs of the "room of the seasons". They show the life of Egypt through the year as the creation of the sun god: the flood, the sowing and harvest, birds migrating, fish spawning and animals giving birth in the desert. Other reliefs showed the pharaoh celebrating his jubilee, the Sed festival, which renewed his strength, usually after thirty years of rule. A double statue now in Munich shows Nyuserre as both a young and an old man.

The vizier Ptahshepses married the pharaoh's daughter and was allowed the title "king's son". His tomb at Abusir is one of the largest private tombs in Egypt, with a columned hall, a court of pillars and a room for boats, almost like a royal temple. It shows how much power officials gained in this period. Nyuserre's expeditions sailed from the Red Sea port of Ain Sukhna to the turquoise mines of Sinai, where a rock relief shows him striking down enemies, and trade with Byblos continued.

Nyuserre's long reign was the high point of Abusir and of the sun cult. He finished what his family had begun and built the finest of the sun temples. He was remembered for a long time: his cult lasted into the Middle Kingdom, and ordinary people honoured him as a protector under his birth name Ini.