Editing Userkaf (section)

===Parents and consort===
The identity of Userkaf's parents is uncertain, but he undoubtedly had family connections with the rulers of the preceding [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|Fourth Dynasty]].{{sfn|David|David|2001|p=164}}{{sfn|Malek|2000a|p=98}}{{sfn|Guerrier|2006|p=414}} Egyptologist [[Miroslav Verner]] proposes that he was a son of [[Menkaure]] by one of his secondary queens{{efn|group=note|The historians Rosalie and Anthony David concur, stating that Userkaf belonged to a side branch of Khafra's family.{{sfn|David|David|2001|p=164}}}} and possibly a full brother to his predecessor and the last king of the Fourth Dynasty, [[Shepseskaf]].{{sfn|Verner|2001b|p=588}}{{sfn|El-Shahawy|Atiya|2005|p=33}}

Alternatively, [[Nicolas Grimal]], Peter Clayton and Michael Rice propose that Userkaf was the son of a Neferhetepes,{{sfn|Grimal|1992|p=68|loc=Table 2}}{{sfn|Rice|1999|p=131}} whom Grimal, Giovanna Magi and Rice see as a daughter of [[Djedefre]] and [[Hetepheres II]].{{sfn|Magi|2008|p=12}}{{sfn|Rice|1999|pp=67–68}}{{sfn|Grimal|1992|pp=72 & 75}} The identity of Neferhetepes's husband in this hypothesis is unknown, but Grimal conjectures that he may have been the "priest of [[Ra]], lord of Sakhebu", mentioned in [[Westcar Papyrus|Westcar papyrus]].{{efn|group=note|This papyrus, now recognised as non-historical, records a story according to which Userkaf is a son of the god Ra with a woman named [[Rededjet]]. In the story, two of Userkaf's brothers are said to rise to the throne after him, displacing Khufu's family from the throne.{{sfn|Grimal|1992|pp=70 & 72}}}}{{sfn|Grimal|1992|pp=72–75}} [[Aidan Dodson]] and Dyan Hilton propose that Neferhetepes was buried in the pyramid next to that of Userkaf,{{efn|group=note|This queen is referred to as Neferhetepes Q in modern Egyptology to distinguish her from preceding women of the same name.{{sfn|Dodson|Hilton|2004|p=65}}}} which is believed to have belonged to a woman of the same name.{{efn|group=note|The attribution of the pyramid to a queen named Neferhetepes is not certain and relies on indirect evidence in the form of an inscription mentioning the queen in the nearby tomb of ''Persen'', a priest of her funerary cult.{{sfn|Verner|2002|p=209}}}}{{sfn|Dodson|Hilton|2004|p=65}}

[[File:Khentkaus I 2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Wornout relief of a seated woman|Portrait of Khentkaus I from her tomb]]
The location of the pyramid attributed to Neferhetepes, however, strongly suggests that she may instead have been Userkaf's wife. If so she should be identified with the Neferhetepes who is the mother of Userkaf's successor and likely son, [[Sahure]].{{sfn|Dodson|Hilton|2004|p=65}} A relief from Sahure's causeway depicts this king and his queen together with the king's mother, identified as a Neferhetepes, which very likely makes her Userkaf's wife.{{sfn|Verner|2007|p=9}} Like Grimal, Jaromír Malek sees her as a daughter of Djedefre and Hetepheres II.{{sfn|Malek|2000a|p=98}} Following this hypothesis, [[Mark Lehner]] also suggests that Userkaf's mother may have been [[Khentkaus I]], an idea shared by Arielle Kozloff.{{sfn|Lehner|2008|p=140}}{{sfn|Kozloff|1982|p=216}}

Dodson and Hilton argue that Neferhetepes is not given the title of king's wife in later documents pertaining to her mortuary cult, although they note that this absence is inconclusive.{{sfn|Dodson|Hilton|2004|p=65}} They propose that Userkaf's queen may have been Khentkaus I, a hypothesis shared by [[Selim Hassan]].{{sfn|Dodson|Hilton|2004|p=65}}{{sfn|Verner|Zemina|1994|p=118}} Clayton and Rosalie and Anthony David concur, further positing that Khentkaus I was Menkaure's daughter.{{sfn|Clayton|1994|p=61}}{{sfn|David|David|2001|p=68}} Bernhard Grdseloff argues that Userkaf, as a descendant of pharaoh Djedefre marrying a woman from the main royal line—that of Khafre and Menkaure—could have unified two rival factions within the royal family and ended possible dynastic struggles.{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica|2018}}{{sfn|Verner|Zemina|1994|p=119}} Alternatively, Userkaf could have been the high priest of Ra before ascending the throne, giving him sufficient influence to marry Shepseskaf's widow in the person of Khentkaus I.{{efn|group=note|[[Ludwig Borchardt]] expanded on the theory according to which Khentkaus I was Userkaf's spouse by positing that Userkaf managed to take the throne at the unexpected death of Shepseskaf and before the legitimate heirs Sahure and [[Neferirkare Kakai|Neferirkare]] were old enough to rule.{{sfn|Verner|Zemina|1994|p=119}} This hypothesis has been conclusively invalidated by recent research which established: 1) that there were two queens named Khentkaus, the first being possibly Userkaf's mother while the second was the mother of [[Nyuserre Ini]];{{sfn|Verner|1980a|p=161|loc=fig. 5}}{{sfn|Baud|1999a|p=234}}{{sfn|Verner|Zemina|1994|p=126}} 2) that Sahure is Userkaf's son;{{sfn|Labrousse|Lauer|2000}}{{sfn|Baud|1999b|p=494}} and 3) that Neferirkare was the son of Sahure.{{sfn|El-Awady|2006|pp=208–213}}}}{{sfn|Verner|Zemina|1994|pp=102 & 118}}{{sfn|Verner|2002|p=263}}