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47-479: Menkaure was the son of Khafre and the grandson of Khufu . A flint knife found in the mortuary temple of Menkaure mentioned a king's mother Khamerernebty I , suggesting that Khafre and this queen were the parents of Menkaure. Menkaure is thought to have had at least two wives. Not many children are attested for Menkaure: The royal court included several of Menkaure's half brothers. His brothers Nebemakhet , Duaenre , Nikaure , and Iunmin served as viziers during

94-497: A large hall of the valley temple, 23 depressions have been made in the ground, in which originally life-size statues stood. One of these depressions is wider than the others, there may have been two statues here. It has been suggested that these 24 statues are related to the hours of the day. All of these statues were removed from their location at some point after the reign of Khafre. Auguste Mariette found nine of them during excavations in 1860 (Inv.No. CG 9 to CG 17)[21] and fragments of

141-409: A reconstruction of "..?.. + 8  years of rulership". Egyptologists think that 18-year reign was meant to be written, which is generally accepted. A contemporary workmen's graffito reports about the "year after the 11th cattle count ". If the cattle count was held every second year (as was tradition at least up to king Sneferu ), Menkaure might have ruled for 22 years. In 2013, a fragment of

188-443: A rulership of 66 years, but didn't make any further comments about him. Contrary to modern Egyptologists and archaeological findings, Greek historians Diodorus and Herodotus , writing more than 2,000 years after King Khafre, depicted him as a tyrant who had followed his father Khêops on the throne. Herodotus and Diodorus say that Khafre ruled for 56 years. They describe a king Menkaure (whom they call "Mykerînós") as

235-525: A sacrifice during his seizure of Ancient Egypt from the Persians. After Alexander's death, his general Ptolemy I Soter made efforts to integrate Egyptian religion with that of the new Hellenic rulers. Ptolemy's policy was to find a deity that might win the reverence of both groups, despite the curses of the Egyptian religious leaders against the deities of the previous foreign rulers (i.e. Set , lauded by

282-517: A separate ship, and those 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 king'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 . According to Herodotus (430 BC), Menkaure

329-621: A standing position on a foundation made of wooden planks. By the New Kingdom period, the remains of the sacred bulls were interred at the cemetery of Saqqara . The earliest known burial in Saqqara was performed in the reign of Amenhotep III by his son Thutmose ; afterward, seven more bulls were buried nearby. Ramesses II initiated Apis burials in what now is known as the Serapeum , an underground complex of burial chambers at Saqqara for

376-594: A tenth (CG 378) [22] in a pit within the valley temple. These statues are now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo . Apis (Egyptian mythology) In ancient Egyptian religion , Apis or Hapis , alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh , was a sacred bull or multiple sacred bulls worshiped in the Memphis region , identified as the son of Hathor , a primary deity in the pantheon of ancient Egypt . Initially, he

423-638: Is a fragment of a wand from Queen Khamerernebty I. The piece is now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts . Khamerernebti is given the title King's Mother on the fragment. In 1837, English army officer Richard William Howard Vyse , and engineer John Shae Perring began excavations within the pyramid of Menkaure. In the main burial chamber of the pyramid they found a large stone sarcophagus 8 feet 0 inches (244 cm) long, 3 feet 0 inches (91 cm) in width, and 2 feet 11 inches (89 cm) in height, made of basalt. The sarcophagus

470-516: Is no agreement on the date of his reign. Some authors say it was between 2558 BC and 2532 BC. While the Turin King List length for his reign is blank, and Manetho exaggerates his reign as 66 years, most scholars believe it was between 24 and 26 years, based upon the date of the Will of Prince Nekure which was carved on the walls of this Prince's mastaba tomb. The will is dated anonymously to

517-477: Is said to date to the time of Khafre. This is supported by the proximity of the sphinx to Khafre's pyramid temple complex, and a certain resemblance (despite damage) to the facial structure seen in his statues. The Great Sphinx of Giza may have been carved out as a guardian of Khafre's pyramid, and as a symbol of royal power. It became deified during the time of the New Kingdom. The ancient Egyptian historian Manetho called Khafre " Sûphis II ". and credited him with

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564-658: The First Dynasty in Memphis , while worship of the Apis as a proper god, at least according to Manetho 's Aegyptiaca , seems to be a later adoption, purportedly started during the reign of king Kaiechos (possibly Nebra ) of the Second Dynasty . Apis is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom . Ceremonial burials of bulls indicate that ritual sacrifice

611-700: The Hyksos ). Without success, Alexander had attempted to use Amun for this purpose, but that deity was more prominent in Upper Egypt and not for those in Lower Egypt , where the Greeks had stronger influence. Since the Greeks had little respect for animal-headed deities, a Greek statue was created as an idol and proclaimed as an anthropomorphic equivalent of the highly popular Apis. It was named Aser-hapi (i.e. Osiris-Apis ), which became Serapis , and later

658-454: The tutelary deity of the village of Rhacotis , before it suddenly expanded into the great capital of "Alexandria". Being introduced by the Greeks, understandably, the statue depicted a fully human figure resembling Hades or Pluto , both being kings of the Greek underworld . The figure was enthroned with the modius , which is a basket or a grain-measure, on his head, a Greek symbol for

705-811: The Favorite of the Two Goddesses; she who says anything whatsoever and it is done for her. Great in the favor of Snefr[u]; great in the favor of Khuf[u], devoted to Horus, honored under Khafre. Merti[tyt]es. [Breasted; Ancient Records] Others argue that the inscription just suggests that this queen died during the reign of Khafre. Khafre may be a son of Queen Henutsen instead. Khafre had several wives and he had at least 12 sons and 3 or 4 daughters. Other children of Khafre are known, but no mothers have been identified. Further sons include Ankhmare , Akhre , Iunmin , and Iunre . Two more daughters named Rekhetre and Hemetre are known as well. There

752-543: The Year of the 12th Count and is assumed to belong to Khafre since Nekure was his son. Khafre's highest year date is the "Year of the 13th occurrence" which is a painted date on the back of a casing stone belonging to mastaba G 7650. This would imply a reign of 24–25 years for this king if the cattle count was biannual during the Fourth Dynasty. Khafre built the second-largest pyramid at Giza . The Egyptian name of

799-405: The centuries. During colonization of the conquered Egypt, Greek and Roman authors had much to say about Apis, the markings by which the black calf was recognized, the manner of his conception by a ray from heaven , his house at Memphis (with a court for his deportment), the mode of prognostication from his actions, his death, the mourning at his death, his costly burial, and the rejoicings throughout

846-526: The chapel associated with G-IIIa a statue of a queen was found. It is possible that these pyramids were meant for the queens of Khafre. It may be that Khamerernebti II was buried in one of the pyramids. The Valley temple was a mainly brick built structure that was enlarged in the fifth or sixth Dynasty. From this temple come the famous statues of Menkaure with his queen and Menkaure with several deities. A partial list includes: At his mortuary temple more statues and statue fragments were found. An interesting find

893-493: The chronology from the Twenty-second Dynasty onward. The name of the mother cow and the place of the calf's birth are often recorded. The sarcophagi are of immense size and the burial must have entailed enormous expense. It is remarkable, therefore, that the ancient religious leaders contrived to bury one of the animals in the fourth year of Cambyses II . The Apis was a protector of the deceased and linked to

940-546: The country when a new Apis was found. Auguste Mariette 's excavation of the Serapeum of Saqqara revealed the tombs of more than sixty animals, ranging from the time of Amenhotep III to the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty . Originally, each animal was buried in a separate tomb with a chapel built above it. From Ramesses II onward, bulls were interred in interconnected underground galleries. Worship of an Apis bull, experienced by ancient Egyptians as holy, has been known since

987-400: The disk was depicted on his head with his horns below and the triangular marking on his forehead, an ankh was suggested. That symbol always was closely associated with Hathor. Early on, Apis was the herald ( wḥm ) of Ptah , the chief deity in the area around Memphis . As a manifestation of Ptah, Apis also was considered to be a symbol of the king, embodying the qualities of kingship. In

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1034-526: The follower of Khafre and that this king was the counterpart of his two predecessors: Herodotus describes Menkaure as bringing peace and piety back to Egypt. Of all the rulers of the Old Kingdom, Khafre is evidenced by the greatest number of statues. Almost all of them come from Giza, partly from the official necropolis there, but mainly from the area around the temple complexes of the Khafre pyramid. In

1081-408: The land of the dead. He also held a sceptre , indicating rulership, and Cerberus , gatekeeper of the underworld, rested at his feet. It also had what appeared to be a serpent at its base, fitting the Egyptian symbol of sovereignty, the uraeus . With his (i.e., Osiris') wife, Isis , and their son (at this point in history) Horus (in the form of Harpocrates ), Serapis won an important place in

1128-513: The late Hellenistic period and may well be identical with him. Creating parallels to their own religious beliefs, ancient Greek writers identified Apis as an incarnation of Osiris, ignoring the connection with Ptah. Apis was the most popular of three great bull cults of ancient Egypt, the others being the cults of Mnevis and Buchis . All are related to the worship of Hathor or Bat, similar primary goddesses separated by region until unification that eventually merged as Hathor. The worship of Apis

1175-457: The oracle a message of reproach, blaming the god: why must he die so soon who was pious, whereas his father and his uncle had lived long, who shut up the temples, and regarded not the gods, and destroyed men? But a second utterance from the place of divination declared to him that his good deeds were the very cause of shortening his life; for he had done what was contrary to fate; Egypt should have been afflicted for an hundred and fifty years, whereof

1222-714: The oracle false. Khafre Khafre or Chephren (died c. 2532 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the fourth king of the Fourth Dynasty , during the earlier half of the Old Kingdom period (c. 2700–2200 BC). He was son of the king Khufu , and succeeded his brother Djedefre to the throne. Khafre's enormous pyramid at Giza , the Pyramid of Khafre , is surpassed only by his father's (the Great Pyramid ). The Great Sphinx of Giza

1269-476: The partial remains of an inscription with the Horus name of Khafre (Weser-ib). Mariette discovered statues of Khafre in 1860. Several were found in a well in the floor and were headless. But other complete statues were found as well. The mortuary temple was located very close to the pyramid. From the mortuary temple come fragments of maceheads inscribed with Khafre's name as well as some stone vessels. The sphinx

1316-468: The pharaoh. Horns embellish some of the tombs of ancient pharaohs and Apis often was depicted on private coffins as a powerful protector. As a form of Osiris, ruler of the underworld, it was believed that to be under the protection of Apis would give the person control over the four winds in the afterlife. According to Arrian , Apis was one of the Egyptian deities Alexander the Great propitiated by offering

1363-590: The pyramid was Wer(en)-Khafre which means "Khafre is Great". The pyramid has a subsidiary pyramid, labeled G2-a . It is not clear who was buried there. Sealings have been found of a King's eldest son of his body etc. and the Horus name of Khafre. The valley temple of Khafre was located closer to the Nile and would have stood right next to the Sphinx temple. Inscriptions from the entrance way have been found which mention Hathor and Bubastis. Blocks have been found showing

1410-483: The region where Ptah was worshiped, cattle exhibited white patterning on their mainly black bodies, and so a belief grew up that the Apis calf had to have a certain set of markings suitable to its role. It was required to have a white triangular marking upon its forehead, a white Egyptian vulture wing outline on its back, a scarab mark under its tongue, a white crescent moon shape on its right flank, and double hairs on his tail. The calf that matched these markings

1457-462: The reign of their brother. His brother Sekhemkare may have been younger than he was and became vizier after the death of Menkaure. The length of Menkaure's reign is uncertain. The ancient historian Manetho credits him with a reign of 63 years, but this is surely an exaggeration. The Turin King List is damaged at the spot where it should present the full sum of years, but the remains allow

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1504-464: The sacred bulls, a site used throughout the rest of Ancient Egyptian history into the reign of Cleopatra . Khaemweset , the priestly son of Ramesses II ( c.  1300 BCE ), excavated a great gallery to be lined with the tomb chambers; another similar gallery was added by Psamtik I . The careful documentation of the ages of the animals in the later instances, with the regnal dates for their birth, enthronement, and death have thrown much light on

1551-575: The sphinx of Menkaure was discovered at Tel Hazor at the entrance to the city palace. Menkaure's pyramid at Giza was called Netjer-er-Menkaure , meaning "Menkaure is Divine". This pyramid is the smallest of the three main pyramids at Giza. This pyramid measures 103.4 m (339 ft) at the base and 65.5 m (215 ft) in height. There are three subsidiary pyramids associated with Menkaure's pyramid. These other pyramids are sometimes labeled G-IIIa (East subsidiary pyramid), G-IIIb (Middle subsidiary pyramid) and G-IIIc (West subsidiary pyramid). In

1598-599: The statue from Sinope , having been instructed in a dream by the Unknown God to bring the statue to Alexandria , where the statue was pronounced to be "Serapis" by two religious experts. Among those experts was one of the Eumolpidae, the ancient family from which the hierophant of the Eleusinian Mysteries traditionally had been chosen since before any historical records. The other expert supposedly

1645-462: The two kings before him had been aware, but not Mycerinus. Hearing this, he knew that his doom was fixed. Therefore he caused many lamps to be made, and would light these at nightfall and drink and make merry; by day or night he never ceased from revelling, roaming to the marsh country and the groves and wherever he heard of the likeliest places of pleasure. Thus he planned, that by turning night into day he might make his six years into twelve and so prove

1692-550: The unconnected Babylonian deity Ea was entitled Serapsi , meaning king of the deep , and it is Serapsi who is referred to in the diaries, not Serapis. The significance of this Serapsi in the Hellenic psyche, however, due to its involvement in Alexander's death, also may have contributed to the choice of Osiris-Apis as the chief Ptolemaic deity during their occupation of Ancient Egypt. According to Plutarch , Ptolemy stole

1739-509: Was a common title for Egyptian gods and male kings, being unused for women serving as king, such as Hatshepsut . As early as the time of the Narmer Palette , the king is depicted with a bovine tail on one side, and a bull is seen knocking down the walls of a city on the other. Occasionally, Apis was pictured with the sun-disk symbol of his mother, Hathor, between his horns, being one of few deities ever associated with her symbol. When

1786-488: Was also built for him, according to most Egyptologists . Not much is known about Khafre aside from the reports of Herodotus , a Greek historian who wrote 2,000 years later. Khafre was a son of king Khufu and the brother and successor of Djedefre . Khafre is thought by some to be the son of Queen Meritites I due to an inscription where he is said to honor her memory. Kings-wife, his beloved, devoted to Horus, Mertitytes. King's-wife, his beloved, Mertitytes; beloved of

1833-453: Was assigned a significant role in her worship, being sacrificed and reborn. Later, Apis also served as an intermediary between humans and other powerful deities (originally Ptah , later Osiris , then Atum ). B C D F G H I K M N P Q R S T U W The Apis bull was an important sacred animal to the ancient Egyptians. As with the other sacred beasts, Apis' importance increased over

1880-464: Was believed to cure disease and his presence to bless those around with strength. A window was created in the temple through which he could be viewed and, on certain holidays, he was led through the streets of the city, bedecked with jewelry and flowers. Details of the mummification ritual of the sacred bull are written within the Apis papyrus . Sometimes the body of the bull was mummified and fixed in

1927-454: Was continued by the Greeks and after them by the Romans, and lasted until almost 400 CE. This animal was chosen because it symbolized the courageous heart, great strength, and fighting spirit of the king. Apis came to being considered a manifestation of the king, as bulls were symbols of strength and fertility, qualities that are closely linked with kingship. "Strong bull of his mother Hathor "

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1974-594: Was not inscribed with hieroglyphs although 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 Menkaure 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 merchant ship Beatrice carrying it was lost after leaving port at Malta on October 13, 1838. The other materials were sent by

2021-520: Was part of the worship of the early cow deities, Hathor and Bat , and a bull might represent her offspring, a king who became a deity after death. He was entitled "the renewal of the life" of the Memphite deity Ptah : but after death, he became Osorapis, i.e. the Osiris Apis, just as dead humans were assimilated to Osiris, the ruler of the underworld. This Osorapis was identified with Serapis of

2068-509: Was said to represent Osiris fully, rather than just his Ka . The earliest mention of a Serapis is in the authentic death scene of Alexander, from the royal diaries. Here, Serapis has a temple at Babylon , and is of such importance that he alone is named as being consulted on behalf of the dying Alexander. The presence of this temple in Babylon radically altered perceptions of the mythologies of this era, although it has been discovered that

2115-402: Was selected from the herds, brought to a temple , given a harem of cows, and worshiped as an aspect of Ptah. The cow who was his mother was believed to have conceived him by a flash of lightning from the heavens, or from moonbeams . She also was treated specially, and given a special burial. At the temple, Apis was used as an oracle , his movements being interpreted as prophecies. His breath

2162-572: Was the scholarly Egyptian priest Manetho, which increased acceptability from both the Egyptians and the Greeks. Plutarch may not be correct, however, as some Egyptologists assert that the Sinope in Plutarch's report is the hill of Sinopeion, a name given to the site of an existing Serapeum at Memphis. Also, according to Tacitus , Serapis (i.e. Apis explicitly identified as Osiris in full) had been

2209-453: Was the son of Khufu (Greek Cheops ), and that he alleviated the suffering his father's reign had caused the inhabitants of ancient Egypt . Herodotus adds that he suffered much misfortune: his only daughter, whose corpse was interred in a wooden bull (which Herodotus claims survived to his lifetime), died before him. Subsequently the oracle at Buto predicted he would only rule six more years. The king deemed this unjust, and sent back to

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