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SAQQARA
Pyramid of Userkaf
Userkaf was the first pharaoh of the 5th Dynasty and ruled for 8 years from 2494 until 2487 BCE.
There is little with Userkaf's pyramid to impress visitors. Most pass it, and with good reason.
Yet there are some details to look out for, should you be interested. First is, of course, the issue of location. Why did he place his pyramid so close to the 200 year older pyramid of Zoser? The location corresponds exactly to the northeastern corner of Zoser's pyramid. We might read into this that the pyramid of Zoser had risen to the highest religious importance; the architect of Zoser's pyramid, Imhotep, was eventually elevated to god.
The other point of interest is that the funerary complex was built to the south of the pyramid. This has been explained as a change in the religion towards the sun cult of Heliopolis.
The construction technique was based on the belief that the original casing would protect the inner structure. But the casing was removed by later house builders, and left was the badly built inside.
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