Everything about Menkaure totally explained
Menkaura (or
Men-Kau-Re; Mycerinus in
Latin;
Mykerinos in
Greek) was a
pharaoh of the
Fourth dynasty of Egypt (c.
2620 BC–
2480 BC) who ordered the construction of
the third and smallest of the Pyramids of Giza. His main queen was
Khamerernebty II.
Some authors date his rule between
2532 BC–
2504 BC or 28 years but the
Turin King List data of 18 years for him is regarded as being closer to the truth since several of his statues were unfinished upon his death--suggesting a much shorter reign--while his pyramid is the smallest of all the 3 royal pyramids at
Giza. His name means "Last long (Men) the vital forces (Kau) of
Ra." He was the successor of
Khafra (
Chephren).
According to
Herodotus, Menkaura was the son of
Khufu (Greek
Cheops), and alleviated the suffering his father's reign had caused the inhabitants of
ancient Egypt. Herodotus adds that he suffered much misfortune: his only daughter died before him, whose corpse was interred in a wooden
bull (which Herodotus claims survived to his lifetime); and that the
oracle at
Buto predicted he'd only rule six years, but through his shrewdness, Menkaure was able to rule a total of 12 years and foil the prophecy (Herodotus,
Histories, 2.129-133). Other conflicting sources state that Menkaura wasn't the son of
Khufu, but of
Khafra, who in turn was the son of
Khufu.
Menkaura wasn't succeeded by Prince Khuenre, his eldest son, who predeceased Menkaura but rather by Shepseskaf, a younger son of this king.
Tomb excavation
In 1837, English army officer
Richard William Howard Vyse, and engineer
John Shae Perring began excavations within the pyramid of Menkaura. In the main burial chamber of the pyramid they found a large stone sarcophagus (8ft long, 3ft 1in wide, and 2ft 11in in height) made of basalt. The sarcophagus was uninscribed with hieroglyphs though it was decorated in the style of palace facade. Adjacent to the burial chamber were found wooden fragments of a coffin bearing the name of Menkaura, and a partial skeleton wrapped in a coarse cloth. The sarcophagus was removed from the pyramid and was sent by ship to the
British Museum in London, but the ship carrying it was lost after leaving port at Malta on
October 13 1838. The other materials were sent by a separate ship, and the materials now reside at the museum, with the remains of the wooden coffin case on display. It is now thought that the coffin was a replacement made during the much later
Saite period, nearly two millennia after the pharaoh's original interment. Radio carbon dating of the bone fragments that were found place them at an even later date, from the
Coptic period in the first centuries
AD.
Trivia
Menkaura was the subject of a poem by the 19th century English poet
Matthew Arnold, entitled "Mycerinus".
Gallery of images
Image:Menkaura-ColossalStatue MuseumOfFineArtsBoston.png|Colossal alabaster statue of Menkaura at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Image:MenkauraAndQueen_MuseumOfFineArtsBoston.png|Greywacke statue of Menkaura and his Queen at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Image:Egypt.Giza.Menkaure.01.jpg|Menkaure's Pyramid in Giza.
Image:Menkaura.jpg|Menkaura flanked by the goddess Hathor (left) and a nome goddess (right). Basalt statue in Cairo Museum.
Image:Menkaura-FragmentaryTriad_MuseumOfFineArtsBoston.png|Fragmentary statue triad of Menkaura flanked by the goddess Hathor (left) and a male nome god (right), Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Image:Menkaura-FragmentaryStatueHead_MuseumOfFineArtsBoston.png|Fragmentary alabaster statue head of Menkaura at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Image:Menkaura-AnthropoidCoffinFragment-Drawing1840.png|Drawing of the anthropoid coffin fragment inscribed with the name of the pharaoh Menkaura made by excavator Richard Vyse and published in 1840.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Menkaure'.
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