The pyramid of Neferirkare () is the funerary monument built for the Egyptian pharaoh Neferirkare Kakai of the Fifth Dynasty in the 25th century BC. It is the tallest, highest-situated structure in the Abusir necropolis – located between Giza and Saqqara – over which it still towers. The Fifth Dynasty marked the end of the great pyramid constructions that had prevailed during the Fourth Dynasty. Pyramids of the era were smaller and the complexes followed a standardized template, though this coincided with the proliferation of intricate relief decoration.
Neferirkare's main pyramid deviated from contemporary convention. It was originally built as a step pyramid, a design that had been antiquated since the Third Dynasty in the 26th or 27th century BC. This was then encased in a second step pyramid with alterations introduced to convert it into a true pyramid; However, the king's death left this work to be completed by his successors. The work was done in haste using cheaper building material. The pyramid had a base length of which converged towards the apex at ~54° indicating that in a completed state it may have reached ~ in height. In its incomplete state, it has similar proportions to the pyramid of Menkaure on the Giza plateau.
Because of the circumstances, Neferirkare's monument lacked several basic elements of a pyramid complex: a valley temple, a causeway, and a cult pyramid. The valley temple and causeway were under construction when Neferirkare died, but these were co-opted by Nyuserre for his own complex. These were replaced by a small settlement of mudbrick houses south of the monument from where cult priests could conduct their daily activities, instead of the usual pyramid town that was typically built near the valley temple. The discovery of the Abusir papyri in the 1890s is credited to this, as the papyrus archives were normally contained in the town where the siting near the Nile river would have ensured their destruction.
The pyramid complex eventually became part of a greater family cemetery. The monuments to Neferirkare's consort, Khentkaus II; and his sons, Neferefre and Nyuserre, are found in the surrounding area. Though their construction began under different rulers, all of these monuments were completed during the reign of Nyuserre.
Location and excavation
The pyramid of Neferirkare is situated on the necropolis at Abusir, between Saqqara and the Giza Plateau. Abusir assumed great import in the Fifth Dynasty after Userkaf, the first ruler, built his sun temple and, his successor, Sahure inaugurated a royal necropolis there with his funerary monument. Sahure's successor, his son Neferirkare, was the second ruler to be entombed in the necropolis. The Egyptologist Jaromír Krejčí proposes a number of hypotheses for the position of Neferirkare's complex in relation to Sahure's complex: (1) that Neferirkare was motivated to distance himself from Sahure and thus chose to found a new cemetery and redesign the mortuary temple plan to differentiate it from Sahure's; (2) that geomorphological pressures – particularly the slope between Neferirkare's and Sahure's complexes – required Neferirkare to situate his complex elsewhere; (3) that Neferirkare chose the highest point in the area to ensure his complex dominated the surrounding area; and (4) that the site may have been intentionally selected to build the pyramid in line with Heliopolis. The Abusir diagonal is a figurative line connecting the north-west corners of the pyramids of Neferirkare, Sahure and Neferefre. It is similar to the Giza axis, which connects the south-east corners of the Giza pyramids, and converges with the Abusir diagonal to a point in Heliopolis.
The location of the complex affected the construction process. The Egyptologist Miroslav Bárta said the location was chosen partly because of its relation to the administrative capital of the Old Kingdom, Inbu-Hedj known today as Memphis. Providing that the location of ancient Memphis is accurately known, the Abusir necropolis was no further than from the city centre. The benefit of the site being close to the city was the increased access to resources and manpower. South-west of Abusir, workers could exploit a limestone quarry to gather resources for the manufacture of masonry blocks used in the construction of the pyramid. The limestone there was particularly easy to quarry considering that gravel, sand and tafl layers sandwiched the limestone into thin segments of between and thick making it easier to dislodge from its matrix.
In 1838, John Shae Perring, an engineer working under Colonel Howard Vyse, cleared the entrances to the pyramids of Sahure, Neferirkare and Nyuserre. Five years later, the Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius, sponsored by King Frederick William IV of Prussia, explored the Abusir necropolis and catalogued Neferirkare's pyramid asXXI. It was Lepsius who proposed the theory that the accretion layer method of construction was applied to the pyramids of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasty. One important development was the discovery of the Abusir papyri, found in the temple of Neferirkare during illicit excavations in 1893. In 1902–1908, the Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt, working for the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft or German Oriental Society, resurveyed those same pyramids and had their adjoining temples and causeways excavated. Borchardt's was the first, and only other, major expedition carried out at the Abusir necropolis, and contributed significantly to archaeological investigation at the site. His findings were published in Das Grabdenkmal des Königs Nefer-Ir-Ke-Re (1909). The Czech Institute of Egyptology has had a long-term excavation project going at the site since the 1960s.
Mortuary complex
Layout Pyramid construction techniques underwent a transition in the Fifth Dynasty. The monumentality of the pyramids diminished, the design of mortuary temples changed, and the substructure of the pyramid became standardized. By contrast, relief decoration proliferated and the temples were enriched with greater storeroom complexes.
These two conceptual changes had developed by the time of Sahure's reign at the latest. Sahure's mortuary complex indicates that symbolic expression through decoration became favoured over sheer magnitude. For example, Fourth Dynasty king Khufu's complex had a total of 100 linear metres (330 linear feet) reserved for decoration, while Sahure's temple had around 370 linear metres (1,200 linear feet) dedicated to relief decorations. Bárta identifies that storage space in mortuary temples expanded consistently from Neferirkare's reign onwards. This was a result of the combined centralization of administrative focus onto the funerary cult, the increase in the numbers of priests and officials involved in the maintenance of the cult, and the increase in their revenues. The discovery of considerable remains of stone vessels – mostly broken or otherwise incomplete – in the pyramid temples of Sahure, Neferirkare, and Neferefre bears testament to this development.
Old Kingdom mortuary complexes consisted of five essential components: (1) a valley temple; (2) a causeway; (3) a mortuary temple; (4) a cult pyramid; and (5) the main pyramid. Neferirkare's mortuary complex had only two of these basic elements: a mortuary temple which had been hastily constructed from cheap mudbrick and wood; and the largest main pyramid at the site. The valley temple and causeway that were originally intended for Neferirkare's monument were co-opted by Nyuserre for his own mortuary complex. Conversely, a cult pyramid never entered construction, as a consequence of the rush to complete the monument upon Neferirkare's death. Its replacement was a small settlement and lodgings constructed from mudbrick to the south of the complex where the priests would live. An enormous brick enclosure wall was built around the perimeter of the pyramid and mortuary temple to complete Neferirkare's funerary monument.
Main pyramid The monument was intended as a step pyramid, an unusual choice for a Fifth Dynasty king, given that the era of step pyramids ended with the Third Dynasty (26th or 27th century BC) centuries prior, depending on the scholar and source. The reasoning behind this choice is not understood. The Egyptologist Miroslav Verner considers a speculative connection between the Turin Canon's listing him "as the founder of a new dynasty" and the original project, though he also considers the possibility of religious reasons and power politics as well. The first build contained six carefully laid steps of high quality limestone blocks reaching a height of . A fine white limestone casing was to be applied to the structure, but after minimal work on this was completed – extending only to the first step – the pyramid was redesigned to form a "true pyramid". Verner describes the architecture of a Fifth Dynasty pyramid:
To convert the step into a genuine pyramid, the whole structure was extended outwards by about and raised a further two steps in height. This expansion project was completed in rough order with small stone fragments intended to be cased in red granite. The premature death of the king halted the project after only the lowest level(s) of the casing had been completed. The resultant base of the structure measured on each side, and, had the project been completed, the pyramid would have reached approximately in height with an inclination from base to tip of about 54°. Despite the incompleteness of the structure, the pyramid – which is of comparable size to Menkaure's pyramid at Giza – dominates its surrounds as a result of the position of its site standing on a hill some above the Nile Delta.
Substructure
The descending corridor near the middle of the north face of the pyramid serves as the entry into the substructure of Neferirkare's pyramid. The corridor begins approximately above ground level and ends at a similar depth below ground level. It has proportions of height and width. It is reinforced at the entrance and exit points with granite casing. The corridor breaks out into a vestibule leading to a longer corridor which is guarded by a portcullis. This second corridor has two turns, but maintains a generally eastward direction and ends in an antechamber offset from the burial chamber. The roof of the corridor is unique: the flat roof has a second gabled roof made of limestone on top of it which itself has a third roof made from a layer of reeds.
The burial and ante chamber's ceilings were constructed with three gabled layers of limestone. The beams disperse weight from the superstructure onto either side of the passageway, preventing collapse. Thieves have ransacked the chambers of its limestone making it impossible to properly reconstruct, though some details can still be discerned. Namely, that (1) both rooms were oriented along an east–west axis, (2) both chambers were the same width; the antechamber was shorter of the two, and (3) both chambers had the same style roof, and are missing one layer of limestone.
Overall, the substructure is badly damaged: the collapse of a layer of the limestone beams has covered the burial chamber. No trace of the mummy, sarcophagus, or any burial equipment has been found inside. The severity of the damage to the substructure prevents further excavation.
Mortuary temple