Editing Shepseskaf (section)

===Relative chronology===
[[File:Fragmentary statue head of Menkaura in Boston.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=yellowish head of a man wearing a false beard under the chin and a pleated hair wig|Statue head at the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Boston Museum of Fine Arts]] believed to depict either Shepseskaf{{sfn|Hayes|1978|p=108}} or [[Menkaure]]{{sfn|Museum of Fine Arts Boston|2022|loc=catalog number 09.203}}]]

The relative chronological position of Shepseskaf within the [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|fourth dynasty]] is not entirely certain. The near contemporary{{efn|group=note|name=Palermo|Although the surviving fragments of the Palermo stone itself probably date to the much later [[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt|25th dynasty]] ([[Floruit|fl.]] 760–656 BC), they were certainly copied or compiled from Old Kingdom sources.{{sfn|Bárta|2017|p=2}} These themselves date to the first half of the fifth dynasty, possibly under Neferirkare's rule, as the annals record no event after that.{{sfn|Allen et al.|1999|p=3}}{{sfn|Grimal|1992|p=46}} In addition, Patrick O'Mara has shown that the Old Kingdom source itself used earlier royal annals probably first written in the time span between Menkaure's and Userkaf's reigns, i.e. possibly during Shepseskaf's.{{sfn|O'Mara|1996|pp=207–208}}}} [[Fifth Dynasty of Egypt|fifth dynasty]] royal annals now known as the [[Palermo stone]] indicates unambiguously{{Efn|This part of the Palermo stone is actually ascribed to the Early Dynastic Period, specifically the transition between Aha and Djer.|name=|group=note}} that he succeeded Menkaure on the throne and was crowned on the 11th day of the fourth month. The identity of his successor is less certain. Archaeological evidence seems to indicate that Shepseskaf was succeeded directly by Userkaf. In particular, no intervening king is mentioned on the tombs of officials who served at the time. For example, an inscription in the tomb of the palace courtier Netjerpunesut gives the following sequence of kings he served under: Djedefre → [[Khafre]] → Menkaure → Shepseskaf → Userkaf → [[Sahure]] → [[Neferirkare Kakai|Neferirkare]].{{sfn|O'Mara|1997|p=51}}{{sfn|Sethe|1903|loc=entry 166}}{{sfn|Strudwick|2005|p=78}} Similarly, in his Giza tomb prince [[Sekhemkare (vizier)|Sekhemkare]] reports about his career under the kings Khafre, Menkaura, Shepseskaf, Userkaf and Sahure,{{sfn|Strudwick|2005|p=78}}{{sfn|Strudwick|1985|p=136|loc=n. 125}} while the high priest{{sfn|Dorman|2002|pp=95–110}} Ptahshepses describes being born under Menkaure, growing up under Shepseskaf and starting his career under Userkaf.{{sfn|Strudwick|2005|p=304}}
Furthermore, Egyptologist Patrick O'Mara underlines that "no names of estates of the period [which are] compounded with royal names make mention of any other kings than these, nor do the names of{{nbsp}}[...] royal grandchildren, who often bore the name of a royal ancestor as a component of their own [name]."{{sfn|O'Mara|1997|p=51}} This reconstruction of late fourth to early fifth dynasty is also in agreement with that given on the [[Abydos king list]] written during the reigns of [[Seti I]] ({{circa}} 1292–1279 BC), where Shepseskaf's [[cartouche]] is on the 25th entry between those of Menkaure and Userkaf.{{sfn|Daressy|1912|p=205}}{{sfn|Baker|2008|p=425}}

Three historical sources go directly or indirectly against this order of succession. The source in direct contradiction is the {{transliteration|grc|[[Manetho#Aegyptiaca|Aegyptiaca]]}} ({{lang|grc|Αἰγυπτιακά}}), a history of Egypt written in the 3rd century BC during the reign of [[Ptolemy II]] (283–246 BC) by [[Manetho]]. No copies of the Aegyptiaca have survived and it is now known only through later writings by [[Sextus Julius Africanus]] and [[Eusebius]]. According to the Byzantine scholar [[George Syncellus]], Africanus wrote that the {{transliteration|grc|Aegyptiaca}} mentioned the succession "[[Bikheris|Bicheris]] → Sebercherês → Thamphthis" at the end of the fourth dynasty while "Usercherês" is given as the fifth dynasty's first king. Sebercherês (in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]], {{lang|grc|Σεβερχέρης}}) and Usercherês are believed to be the [[Hellenised]] forms for Shepeseskaf and Userkaf, respectively,{{sfn|Waddell|1971|pp=46–51}} while the identities of Bicheris and Thampthis are unknown. They could refer to shadowy figures, perhaps the fourth dynasty prince [[Baka (prince)|Baka]] in the case of Bicheris and Thampthis could originate from the Egyptian name Djedefptah, or they could both be fictitious rulers.{{sfn|von Beckerath|1997|p=158}} That a king might have reigned between Shepseskaf and Userkaf is also indirectly supported by the [[Turin King List|Turin canon]], a king list written during the [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|19th dynasty]] in the early Ramesside era (1292–1189 BC). The canon, written on papyrus is damaged at several spots and thus many royal names are either fragmentary or completely lost in [[Lacuna (manuscripts)|lacuna]]e today. In column III, line 15 King Shepseskaf is listed, line 16 is wholly in a lacuna while the end of Userkaf's name is legible on line 17. The missing line 16 must have originally held the royal name of Shepseskaf's unknown successor.{{sfn|Ryholt|1997|p=17}} The [[Saqqara Tablet]], written under [[Ramses II]] ({{c.|1303–1213 BC}}), also seems to have mentioned an unknown successor for Shepseskaf as it originally listed nine cartouches corresponding to fourth dynasty kings, when only six are otherwise known from archaeological evidence ([[Sneferu]], [[Khufu]], Djedefre, Khafra, Menkaure and Shepseskaf). The five cartouches between those of Khafre and Userkaf are now illegible.{{sfn|Daressy|1912|p=205}}{{sfn|von Beckerath|1997|pp=24 & 216}}

For Egyptologist Nigel Strudwick, the uncertainty regarding Shepseskaf's successor and the presence of further shadowy rulers in historical sources during the late fourth dynasty point to some family instability at the time.{{sfn|Strudwick|2005|p=8}}