Editing Shepseskaf (section)

===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}}