The Children of Adam and Eve

Userkaf was the founder and first pharaoh of Egypt in the 5th Dynasty (2498-2345 BC), third of four dynasties in the Old Kingdom Period.

He started the tradition of building sun Temples at Abusir and constructed the Pyramid of Userkaf complex at Saqqara.

Userkaf's wife was Queen Neferhetepes, mother of Sahure. It's possible queen Khentkaus I was his mother. His father is unknown. It is believed that he was father of two pharaohs, Sahure and Neferirkare Kakai. It seems he was Neferirkare'sgrandfather. Another less common view, in concordance with a story of the Westcar Papyrus, is that the first three rulers of the fifth dynasty were all brothers - the sons of woman named Raddjedet.

A bust of Userkaf is displayed in the Egyptian Museum. The head was found in the first (of five) sun Temples at Abu Ghurob, built by the rulers of the fifth dynasty. The head of Userkaf is 45 cm high and carved from Greywacke Stone. Thesculpture 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 (Red Crown) of Lower Egypt. The head was uncovered in 1957 during the jointexcavation expedition of the German and Swiss Institutes of Cairo.

Neferhetepes was an ancient Egyptian princess of the 4th dynasty, a daughter of Pharaoh Djedefre who ruled between his father Khufu and his brother Khafra. The name of Neferhetepes is known from a statue fragment found in Abu Rawash, where herfather had a pyramid complex built.

She is the earliest attested Priestess of Hathor, mistress of the sycaMore. The title appears on the base of a statue from Abu Rawash.

She is possibly identical with the lady of the same name who was buried next to the pyramid of Userkaf, the first king of the 5th dynasty. In a document mentioning her funerary cult, Neferhetepes is mentioned as having the title King's Motherbut she didn't bear the title of King's Wife. Since her chapel was modified under the reign of Sahure, second king of the fifth dynasty (whose name was found on a fragment in the chapel), it is likely that she was the mother of either Userkaf orSahure; the other king is the son of Khentkaus I.