Editing Sahure (section)

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Short description|Egyptian pharaoh, second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, 25th century BC}}
{{Infobox pharaoh
| Name          = Sahure
| image_alt     = Closeup of the grey speckled stone statue of a man seated wearing a nemes and false beard
| Alt           = Sahura, Sahu-Re, Sephrês, ΣϵΦρής
| Image         = King Sahure and a Nome God MET DP-1691-04.jpg
| image_size    = 250px
| Caption       = Head of a [[gneiss]] statue of Sahure in gallery 103 of the New York [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]{{sfn|MET|2015}}{{sfn|Allen ''et al.''|1999|pp=329–330}}{{sfn|Online archive|2014}}
| Reign         = Around 13 years<br>c. 2491 – c. 2477 BC{{efn|group=note|name=SahureDates|Proposed dates for the reign of Sahure: 2517–2505 BC,{{sfn|Wright|Pardee|1988|p=144}} 2506–2492 BC,{{sfn|Verner|2001b|p=588}}{{sfn|Altenmüller|2001|p=598}} 2496–2483 BC,{{sfn|Walters Art Museum website|2015}}{{sfn|von Beckerath|1997|p=188}} 2491–2477 BC,{{sfn|Clayton|1994|pp=60–63}} 2487–2475 BC,{{sfn|Rice|1999|p=173}}{{sfn|Málek|2000a|pp=83–85}}{{sfn|Baker|2008|pp=343–345}}{{sfn|Sowada|2009|p=3}}{{sfn|Mark|2013|p=270}}{{sfn|Huyge|2017|p=41}}{{sfn|Bard|Fattovich|2011|p=116}} 2471–2458 BC,{{sfn|von Beckerath|1999|p=283}} 2458–2446 BC,{{sfn|MET|2015}}{{sfn|Allen ''et al.''|1999|p=xx}}{{sfn|Phillips|1997|p=426}} 2446–2433BC,{{sfn|von Beckerath|1997|p=188}} 2428–2417 BC,{{sfn|Strudwick|1985|p=3}} 2428–2416 BC.{{sfn|Hornung|2012|p=491}}}}
| Dynasty       = [[Fifth dynasty of Egypt|Fifth Dynasty]]
| Coregency     =
| Predecessor   = [[Userkaf]]
| Successor     = [[Neferirkare Kakai]]
| Prenomen      = {{center|Sahure{{break}}''sꜣḥ.w.rꜥ''{{break}}''He who is close to [[Ra]]''{{break}}Alternative translations:{{break}}''He whom Ra has touched''{{sfn|Allen ''et al.''|1999|p=337}}{{break}}''Ra has endowed me''{{sfn|Leprohon|2013|p=38}}{{break}}<hiero>M23:t-L2:t-<-N5-D62-G43-></hiero>}}
| PrenomenHiero =
| Nomen         = {{center|Sahure{{break}}''sꜣḥ.w.rꜥ''{{break}}''He who is close to Ra''}}
| NomenHiero    = <hiero>N5-D62-G43</hiero>
| Horus         = {{center|Horus Nebkhau{{break}}''nb-ḫˁ-w''{{break}}''Horus, Lord of apparitions''}}
| HorusHiero    = <hiero>V30-N28-G43</hiero>
| Nebty         = {{center|Nebti Nebkhau{{break}}''nb.tj nb ḫˁ w''{{break}}''Two Ladies, Lord of apparitions''}}
| NebtyHiero    = <hiero>V30:N28-G43</hiero>
| GoldenHiero   =
| Golden        = {{center|Bikwy Nebw{{break}}''bḳ.wj nbw''{{break}}''The golden double falcon''{{sfn|Leprohon|2013|p=38}}{{break}}<hiero>G7*G7:S12</hiero>}}
| Spouse        = [[Meretnebty]]{{sfn|Dodson|Hilton|2004|pp=62–69}}
| Children      = Ranefer<small> ♂</small> (ascended the throne as [[Neferirkare Kakai]]), Netjerirenre<small> ♂</small> (possibly the same person as [[Shepseskare]]), Horemsaf<small> ♂</small>, Raemsaf<small> ♂</small>, Khakare<small> ♂</small> and Nebankhre<small> ♂</small>{{sfn|El Awady|2006a|pp=214–216}}{{sfn|Borchardt|1910|p=Plate (Blatt) 32, 33 & 34}}
| Father        = [[Userkaf]]
| Mother        = [[Neferhetepes (wife of Userkaf)|Neferhetepes II]]
| Died          =
| Monuments     = [[Pyramid of Sahure]] "The Rising of the [[Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul#Ba (soul)|Ba]] Spirit of Sahure"{{sfn|Lehner|2008|pp=142–144}}{{break}}Sun temple "The Field of [[Ra]]"{{break}}Palaces "Sahure's splendor soars up to heaven" and "The crown of Sahure appears"
| burial        = [[Pyramid of Sahure]]
|death_date=c. 2477 BC}}

'''Sahure''' (also '''Sahura''', meaning "He who is close to [[Ra|Re]]"; died {{Circa}} 2477 BC) was a [[pharaoh|king]] of [[ancient Egypt]] and the second ruler of the [[Fifth dynasty of Egypt|Fifth Dynasty]] ({{circa|2465}} – {{circa|2325}} BC). He reigned for around 13&nbsp;years in the early 25th&nbsp;century BC during the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom Period]]. Sahure's reign marks the political and cultural high point of the [[Fifth Dynasty of Egypt|Fifth Dynasty]].{{sfn|Brinkmann|2010a|loc=Book abstract, English translation [https://www.liebieghaus.de/en/exhibitions/sahure available online] and on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190322004805/https://www.liebieghaus.de/en/exhibitions/sahure Internet archive]}} He was probably the son of his predecessor [[Userkaf]] with Queen [[Neferhetepes (wife of Userkaf)|Neferhetepes{{nbs}}II]], and was in turn succeeded by his son [[Neferirkare Kakai]].

During Sahure's rule, Egypt had important trade relations with the [[Levant]]ine coast. Sahure launched several naval expeditions to modern-day [[Lebanon]] to procure cedar trees, slaves, and exotic items. His reign may have witnessed the flourishing of the Egyptian navy, which included a high-seas fleet as well as specialized racing boats. Relying on this, Sahure ordered the earliest attested expedition to the [[land of Punt]], which brought back large quantities of [[myrrh]], [[malachite]], and [[electrum]]. Sahure is shown celebrating the success of this venture in a relief from his mortuary temple which shows him tending a myrrh tree in the garden of his palace whose name means ''"Sahure's splendor soars up to heaven"''. This relief is the only one in Egyptian art depicting a king gardening. Sahure sent further expeditions to the [[turquoise]] and [[copper]] mines in [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]]. He also ordered military campaigns against [[Libya]]n chieftains in the Western Desert, bringing back livestock to Egypt.

Sahure had a [[Egyptian pyramids|pyramid]] built for himself in [[Abusir]], thereby abandoning the royal necropolises of [[Saqqara]] and [[Giza]], where his predecessors had built their monuments. This decision was possibly motivated by the presence of the sun temple of Userkaf in Abusir, the first such temple of the Fifth Dynasty. The [[Pyramid of Sahure]] is much smaller than the pyramids of the preceding [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|Fourth Dynasty]] but the decoration and architecture of his mortuary temple is more elaborate. The valley temple, causeway and mortuary temple of his pyramid complex were once adorned by over {{convert|10000|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} of exquisite polychrome reliefs, representing the highest form reached by this art during the Old Kingdom period. The Ancient Egyptians recognized this particular artistic achievement and tried to emulate the reliefs in the tombs of subsequent kings and queens. The architects of Sahure's pyramid complex introduced the use of palmiform columns (columns whose [[Capital (architecture)|capital]] has the form of [[Arecaceae|palm leaves]]), which would soon become a hallmark of ancient Egyptian architecture. The layout of his mortuary temple was also innovative and became the architectural standard for the remainder of the Old Kingdom period. Sahure is also known to have constructed a sun temple called ''"The Field of Ra"'', and although it has not yet been located, it is presumably also in Abusir.

Sahure was the object of a funerary cult, the food offerings for which were initially provided by agricultural estates set up during his reign. This official, state-sponsored cult endured until the end of the Old Kingdom. Subsequently, during the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom period]], Sahure was venerated as a royal ancestor figure but his cult no longer had dedicated priests. For unknown reasons, during the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] Sahure was equated with a form of the goddess [[Sekhmet]]. The cult of ''"Sekhmet of Sahure"'' had priests and attracted visitors from all over Egypt to Sahure's temple. This unusual cult was celebrated far beyond [[Abusir]], and persisted up until the end of the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom#History|Ptolemaic period]] nearly 2,500&nbsp;years after Sahure's death.