Editing Shepseskaf (section)

==Legacy==
===Old Kingdom===
Like other pharaohs of the fourth and fifth dynasties, Shepseskaf was the object of an official funerary cult after his death. This cult seems to have been relatively minor when compared to those given to his predecessors. Only three priests serving in this cult are known,{{sfn|Wildung|1969|p=225}} including Shepseskaf's probable daughter queen Bunefer.{{sfn|Troy|1986|p=154}} This contrasts with the at least 73{{sfn|Wildung|1969|pp=152–156}} and 21{{sfn|Wildung|1969|pp=213–214}} priests known to have served in the cults of Khufu and Menkaure, respectively. Furthermore, no evidence for Shepseskaf's cult has been found beyond the mid fifth dynasty, while the cults of some of his close successors lasted beyond the end of the Old Kingdom.{{sfn|Morales|2006|p=313}}
Provisions for these official mortuary cults were produced in agricultural estates set up during the ruler's reign. Possibly owing to the short duration of his reign only two such estates are known for Shepseskaf{{sfn|Wildung|1969|pp=226–227}} compared with at least sixty for Khufu.{{sfn|Wildung|1969|pp=156–158}}

In parallel to the official cult, it seems that Shepseskaf's name and memory were especially well regarded at least as late as the second half of the fifth dynasty as attested by at least seven{{sfn|Gourdon|2007|p=148.2}} high officials bearing the name Shepseskafankh, meaning "May Shepseskaf live" or "Shepseskaf lives", up until the reign of [[Nyuserre Ini]].{{sfn|Gourdon|2007|p=390}}{{sfn|Bárta|2015|p=24}} This includes a [[Shepseskaf-ankh|royal physician]],{{sfn|Bárta|2015|p=27}} a royal estate steward,{{sfn|Digital Giza|2022d|loc=tomb G 6040}}{{sfn|Reisner|1939|p=29}} a courtier,{{sfn|Digital Giza|2022a|loc=tomb G 8492}} a priest,{{sfn|Digital Giza|2022b|loc=tomb G 8983}} and a judicial official.{{sfn|Digital Giza|2022c|loc=tomb G 1008}}

===Middle Kingdom===
While no trace of state-sponsored cult of Shepseskaf have been uncovered from the late Old Kingdom and [[First Intermediate Period of Egypt|First Intermediate]] periods, Jéquier discovered a [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] stele during his excavations of Shepseskaf's mortuary temple. At that time, the vicinity of the mastaba had become a necropolis housing tombs from the lower strata of society.{{sfn|Jéquier|1925|pp=257–258}} The stele uncovered by Jéquier probably originated from a nearby tomb and had been reused at a later time as paving for the temple floor.{{sfn|Jéquier|1925|p=254}} The stele indicates that some sort of popular cult had been revived by the 12th dynasty on the premises of the temple.{{sfn|Jéquier|1925|p=254}}
Dedicated by a butcher named Ptahhotep, the stele depicts Ptahhotep and his family seemingly officiating a fully functioning cult, with its priests, scribes and servants.{{sfn|Jéquier|1925|p=259}}{{sfn|Wildung|1969|p=228}} Contrary to the Old Kingdom state-sponsored cult honouring Shepseskaf, the main object of this cult was not Shepseskaf himself but the dead of the surrounding necropolis for whom people were making offerings, offerings which only the gods could give the dead after accepting them thanks to Shepseskaf's intercession.{{sfn|Jéquier|1925|p=260}} For Jéquier, this cult had been turned into a lucrative activity by Ptahhotep's family.{{sfn|Jéquier|1925|pp=260–261}}{{sfn|Dunham|1935|pp=147–148|loc=footnote 1}}

===New Kingdom===
Along with other royal monuments at Saqqara and Abusir which had fallen into ruin, Shepseskaf's mastaba was the object of restoration works under the impulse of prince [[Khaemwaset]], a son of Ramses{{nbs}}II.{{sfn|Lehner|2008|p=38}} This was possibly to appropriate stones for his father's construction projects while ensuring a minimal restoration for cultic purposes.{{sfn|Málek|1992|pp=57–76}}