Editing Shepseskaf (section)

===Parents===
{{See also|Fourth Dynasty of Egypt family tree}}

The relationship between Shepseskaf and his predecessor [[Menkaure]] is not entirely certain. The dominant view in modern [[Egyptology]] was first expounded by [[George Andrew Reisner]] who proposed that Shepseskaf was Menkaure's son. Reisner based his hypothesis on a decree showing that Shepseskaf completed Menkaure's mortuary temple. This hypothesis is shared by many Egyptologists including Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton,{{sfn|Dodson|Hilton|2004|p=55}} [[Rainer Stadelmann]]{{sfn|Stadelmann|2000|pp=529–530}} and Peter Clayton.{{sfn|Clayton|1994|p=59}} Peter Jánosi nonetheless remarks that the decree does not constitute irrefutable proof of filiation since it does not describe the relationship between these two kings explicitly.{{efn|group=note|name=fatherson|Direct father-son relationships between [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]] pharaohs are never explicitly reported in contemporary documents. Furthermore, no official title is known to have designated the crown prince before his accession to the throne. This makes such relationships difficult to assert beyond doubt from purely archaeological evidence.{{sfn|Stadelmann|2000|p=532}}}} In particular, the completion of the tomb of a deceased pharaoh by his successor does not necessarily depend on a direct father/son relation between the two.{{sfn|Jánosi|2005|p=66}}{{sfn|Málek|2000|p=91}} A possible alternative proposed by [[Miroslav Verner]] is that Menkaure and Shepseskaf could have been brothers,{{sfn|Verner|2001b|p=588}} and the latter's consequently advanced age when ascending to the throne could explain his short reign.{{sfn|Stadelmann|2001|p=597}} In contrast with these hypotheses, Egyptologists [[Ludwig Borchardt]] and [[William C. Hayes]] posited that Shepseskaf could have been of non-royal extraction and took the throne only thanks to his marriage to queen [[Khentkaus I]].{{sfn|Verner|Zemina|1994|p=119}}

The identity of Shepseskaf's mother is even more uncertain than that of his father. If the latter was Menkaure, then Shepseskaf's mother could have been one of Menkaure's royal wives [[Khamerernebty II]], [[Rekhetre]] or a secondary wife.{{sfn|Verner|2001c|p=588}} Alternatively Miroslav Bárta believes that Khentkaus{{nbs}}I may have been Shepseskaf's mother{{sfn|Bárta|2017|p=5}} and also the mother of his successor [[Userkaf]].{{efn|group=note|Of particular importance is an unusual title of Khentkaus{{nbs}}I which seems to indicate that she was the mother of two kings.{{sfn|Bárta|2016|p=57}}}}{{sfn|Bárta|2016|p=57}} Indeed, a close relationship between Shepseskaf and Khentkaus{{nbs}}I has been inferred by Egyptologist [[Selim Hassan]] based on the "immense conformity" of their tombs, an opinion that is widely shared,{{sfn|Verner|Zemina|1994|p=118}}{{sfn|Callender|1994|pp=87 & 91}}{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1967|p=170}}{{sfn|Tyldesley|2005|p=222}} yet what this relationship was remains unclear. Khentkaus{{nbs}}I may instead have been the wife{{sfn|Hayes|1978|p=65}} or the daughter of Shepseskaf.{{sfn|Stadelmann|2001|p=597}} One more possibility was put forth by Arielle Kozloff, who proposed instead that it was [[Neferhetepes]], a daughter of [[Djedefre]], who was Shepseskaf's mother.{{sfn|Kozloff|1982|p=220}} For Egyptologist Vivienne Gae Callender there is no evidence in support of this hypothesis.{{sfn|Callender|1994|p=101}}