Editing Userkaf (section)

=== Statuary ===
[[File:Egypt, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, reign of Userkaf - Head of King Userkaf - 1979.2 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|thumb|231x231px|Egypt, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, reign of Userkaf - Head of King Userkaf - 1979.2 - Cleveland Museum of Art]]
[[File:Userkaf fragment Berlin ÄM 19774.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Piece of statue showing a mouth|Fragment of an alabaster statue of Userkaf from his sun temple, now at the [[Egyptian Museum of Berlin]]{{sfn|Kozloff|1982|pp=211 & 214}}]]
Several fragmentary statues of Userkaf have been uncovered. These include a bust of the goddess [[Neith]] in his likeness{{sfn|Kozloff|1982|p=211}} found in his sun temple at Abusir, now in the [[Egyptian Museum]]. This head of Userkaf is {{convert|45|cm|in|abbr=on}} high and carved from [[greywacke]] stone. It is considered particularly important as it is among the very few sculptures in the round from the [[Old Kingdom]] that show the monarch wearing the [[Deshret]] of [[Lower Egypt]].{{efn|group=note|With catalog number JE 90220.{{sfn|Stadelmann|2007}}}} The head was uncovered in 1957 during the joint excavation expedition of the German and Swiss Institutes of Cairo. Another head which might belong to Userkaf, wearing the [[Hedjet]] of Upper Egypt and made of painted limestone, is in the [[Cleveland Museum of Art]].{{efn|group=note|The head measures {{convert|17.2|cm|in|abbr=on}} in height with a width of {{convert|6.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} and a depth of {{convert|7.2|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Its catalog number is 1979.2.{{sfn|CMA|2018}} This head of Userkaf closely resembles the depictions of Menkaure on his triads.{{sfn|Kozloff|1982|p=211}}}}{{sfn|CMA|2018}}{{sfn|Kozloff|1982|p=211}}

The head of a colossal larger-than-life sphinx statue of Userkaf, now in the Egyptian Museum, was found in the temple courtyard of his mortuary complex at Saqqara by [[Cecil Mallaby Firth]] in 1928.{{sfn|Allen et al.|1999|p=315}} This colossal head of pink Aswan granite shows the king wearing the [[nemes]] headdress with a cobra on his forehead.{{sfn|El-Shahawy|Atiya|2005|p=61}}{{sfn|Clayton|1994|p=61}} It is the largest surviving head dating to the Old Kingdom other than that of the [[Great Sphinx of Giza]]{{sfn|Clayton|1994|p=61}} and the only colossal royal statue from this period.{{sfn|El-Shahawy|Atiya|2005|p=61}} Many more fragments of statues of the king made of diorite, slate and granite but none of limestone have been found at the same site.{{sfn|Allen et al.|1999|p=315}}{{sfn|Kozloff|1982|p=215}} Some bore Userkaf's cartouche and Horus name.{{sfn|Kozloff|1982|p=215}}

Kozloff notes the youthful features of Userkaf on most of his representations and concludes that if these are good indications of his age, then he might have come to the throne as an adolescent and died in his early twenties.{{sfn|Kozloff|1982|p=215}}