Ra, the king and his ka

OLD KINGDOMDynasty 3

Djoser, step pyramid, funerary enclosure complex

Dynasty 4Giza pyramid complexes, pre-planned

mastaba fields

Dynasty 5 & 6

Pyramid of Userkaf at Saqqara

(1st king, Dyn. 5)

Original height est. 161 ft. Original height est.

203 ft.

Khufu 481 ft.Khafra 448 ft.

Menkaura 215 ft.

Sneferu (red) 341 ft.Sneferu (bent) 332 ft.

Sneferu (step) 307 ft.

DYN. 6 = 100cubits or

172 ft.

Djoser (Dyn. 3)

?

KHUFU

Ankhaf (vizier under Khafra, buried

at Giza)

Hetepheres I

HUNI

SNEFERU

Nefermaat (vizier under Sneferu,

buried at Meidum)

Rahotep (buried at Meidum)

Hetepheres A

Hemiunu (vizier under Khufu,

buried at Giza) KHAFRA

(buried at Giza)

DJEDEFRA(RADJEDEF)

Meritites

Hetepheres II

MENAUKRA

SHEPSESKAF ?

Dynasty 4

SneferuKhufu

Radjedef (or Djedefra) Khafra

MenkauraShepsekaf

Radjedef/Djedefra’s pyramid was not next to his

father Khufu’s Great Pyramid at Giza, but

slightly north at Abu RoashAbu Roash

Abu Ghurab

Saqqara

Abusir

Dashur

Heliopolis sun temple

“Iunu”

Giza

ME

MPH

IS

Radjedef/Djedefra’s pyramid was not next to his father Khufu’s Great

Pyramid at Giza, but slightly north at Abu

Roash

Abu Roash

Giza

Zawiyet el-Aryan

Abu GhurabA

Saqqara

Abusir

Dashur

Heliopolis sun temple

“Iunu”

Giza

MEMPHIS

RA DJED EF

RA

KHA

EF

Mastaba tomb of king Shepseskaf, end Dyn. 4, at Saqqara

Aerial view of Djoser pyramid complex, Saqqara

Pyramid of Userkaf, 1st king Dyn. 5

SneferuKhufu

Radjedef (Djedefra)Khafra

MenkauraShepseskaf

UserkafSahura

NeferirkaraShepseskara

RaneferefNyuserra

MenkauhorDjedkara IzezyUnas (Wenis)

Teti Userkara

Pepy IMerenra Pepy II

Queen Nitiqret

Dynasty 6

Dynasty 5

Dynasty 4

MEIDUM/DASHURGIZA

ABU ROASHGIZAGIZA

SAQQARA (mastaba)SAQQARA

ABUSIR

SAQQARA

}}

ALL BUILT SUN TEMPLES

pyramid located at:

Sun temple of Nyussera (Dyn. 5) at Abu Ghurab

Example of a ben-ben stone

Dynasty 5 pyramids at Abusir

Pyramid and temple of king Sahura at Abusir (early Dyn. 5)

Valley temple

Temple:Pyramid size ratio increasing

Pyramid and temple, king Menkaura, Dyn. 4

215 ft. high

150-175 ft. high

Sneferu, early Dyn. 4 (317 ft. high)

Pyramid and temple, king Sahura, early

Dyn. 5

Pyramid and temple of king Sahura early

Dyn. 5

100 cubits (172 ft.)

150 cubits (258 ft.)

250 cubits (430.5 ft.)

Pyramid of king Unas (last king Dyn. 5)

burial chamber with earliest known Pyramid

Texts

Pyramid Texts (late Dyn. 5- Dyn. 6)Hail, King X! Take heed of the lake!

The messengers of your ka have come for you, the messengers of your father have come for you,

the messengers of Ra have come for you.Follow behind your sun, that you may purify yourself.

Your bones are the divine falcons and the uraeus serpents which are in the sky.

You will abide at the side of the god, you will entrust your house to your son whom you have begotten. As for

anyone who speaks evil against the name of King X when you go out, Geb [god of the earth] will degrade him to

the lowest place in his city. He will retreat and be weary, but you will purify yourself in the celestial waters.

Pyramid Texts (late Dyn. 5- Dyn. 6)The ferries of heaven have been launched by the day-barque for Ra…so that

King X may go forth on them to Horakhty on the horizon. King X will go forth on the east side of heaven where the gods are born, and King X will be born as

Horus…The mother of King X has become pregnant with him who is in the lower heaven. This King X has been begotten by his father Atum [king of the gods]…This King X has escaped his day of submission to death…King X is a star which knows not destruction…And this King X shall live even as he who

sets in the west [the sun-god Ra] lives when he rises in the east of the sky.

Pyramid Texts (late Dyn. 5- Dyn. 6)All mankind shall acclaim you, for the stars which know not destruction have exalted you. Get yourself up to the place where your father abides, to the place where Geb abides and he will give you the uraeus which is on the brown of Horus. Through it you will become an akh,

through it you will become mighty, through it you will be preeminent among the Westerners…This King X has come as an akh who knows not destruction… O Ra-

Atum, your son has come to you. Cause him to ascend to you…for he is your son, the son of your body unto

eternity…Hail Osiris King X! Stand up now! Horus has come to install you among the gods. O flesh of King X,

do not rot, do not putrefy, do not small foul.

The king and his ka embrace Osiris

The ka: life force or personality of living person that leaves the body upon death;

requires offerings at the tomb

The ba: the “soul” bridges the 2 worlds, travelling between the tomb/body and the afterlife; for it to exist, the body must be

preserved.

The akh: effectiveness in life and transfiguration in the afterlife, requires spells

to be rendered effective; “spirit”; the transformation to a glorified being in the

afterlife

The reunion of the ba with the ka is effected by the

burial ritual, creating the final transformation of the

deceased as an akh.