page_title: Nyuserre Ini
section_title: Sun Temple
hierarchical_section_title: Nyuserre Ini / Main building activities / Sun Temple
caption_attribution_description: Restitution du temple solaire de Néousséré à Abousir
context_page_description: Nyuserre Ini was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 35 years depending on the scholar, and likely lived in the second half of the 25th century BCE. Nyuserre was the younger son of Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II, and the brother of the short-lived king Neferefre. He may have succeeded his brother directly, as indicated by much later historical sources. Alternatively, Shepseskare may have reigned between the two as advocated by Miroslav Verner, albeit only for a few weeks or months at the most. The relation of Shepseskare with Neferefre and Nyuserre remains highly uncertain. Nyuserre was in turn succeeded by Menkauhor Kaiu, who could have been his nephew and a son of Neferefre.
  Nyuserre was the most prolific builder of his dynasty, having built three pyramids for himself and his queens and completed a further three for his father, mother and brother, all in the necropolis of Abusir. He built the largest surviving temple to the sun god Ra constructed during the Old Kingdom, named Shesepibre or "Joy of the heart of Ra".
context_section_description: Nyuserre was the penultimate Egyptian pharaoh to build a sun temple. In doing so, he was following a tradition established by Userkaf that reflects the paramount importance of the cult of Ra during the Fifth Dynasty. Sun temples built during this period were meant to play for Ra the same role that the pyramid played for the king: they were funerary temples for the sun god, where his renewal and rejuvenation necessary to maintain the order of the world could take place. Cults performed in the temple were thus primarily concerned with Ra's creator function as well as his role as father of the king. During his lifetime, the king would appoint his closest officials to the running of the temple, allowing them to benefit from the temple's income and thus ensuring their loyalty. After the pharaoh's death, the sun temple's income would be associated with the pyramid complex, supporting Nyuserre's funerary cult.
  Located in Abu Ghurob, north of Abusir, Nyuserre's sun temple is the largest and best preserved of its kind, leading some Egyptologists such as von Beckerath to see Nyuserre's reign as the peak of the solar cult, an assertion which, according to Grimal, is exaggerated.
  The temple was known as the Shesepibre by the Ancient Egyptians, which has been variously translated as "Joy of the heart of Re", "Re's Favorite Place", "Delight of Ra", or "Place agreeable to Ra". Curiously, Nyuserre's sun temple was first built in mudbrick, only later to be reconstructed entirely in stone. It is the only such structure to receive this treatment, thanks to which much of the architectural elements and reliefs have survived to this day. While the reason for this renewal remains unclear, Lehner has proposed that it may be related to Nyuserre's Sed festival, or to some evolution in the ideology surrounding sun temples.
  The temple was entered from the eastern side following a long causeway which departed from a valley temple located closer to the Nile. This temple mostly served as a gateway to the upper temple and housed a pillared portico of mudbrick encased in yellow limestone. The upper temple comprised a large rectangular courtyard entered via five granite doorways located on its eastern side. An altar was located in the center of the courtyard, which can still be seen today. It was constructed from five large blocks of alabaster, one shaped like the hieroglyph for Ra and the others shaped like the glyph for hotep. They were arranged so as to read Ra Hotep, that is "May Ra be satisfied", from the four cardinal points. The sign for Hotep also means "offering" or "offering table" in Ancient Egyptian, so that the altar was literally an offering table to Ra.
  At the western end of the rectangular court was a giant obelisk, a symbol of the sun god Ra. It was built on a pedestal with sloping sides and a square top, like a truncated pyramid, which was 20 m (66 ft) high and was constructed of limestone and red granite around the base. The obelisk topping it was another 36 m (118 ft) high, built entirely of limestone.
  The temple was adorned with numerous fine reliefs depicting Nyuserre's Sed festival as well as a "chapel of seasons" attached to the obelisk pedestal, decorated with representations of human activities throughout the seasons.
caption: Ludwig Borchardt's reconstruction of the Shesepibre[109]
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