King Shepseskaf and his Pyramid, the Mastabat Fara'un

Recently, in arXiv, we have proposed a discussion about the Egyptian kings Shepseskaf and Userkaf, in relation to an eclipse of 2471 BC. Here, in this further discussion we must focus on some further points, specifically on two we have not mentioned before, but that we can find reported by Italian newspapers and websites, particularly Wired Italia. The two points are regarding the end of the dominance of the solar cult, as declared by archaeoastronomer G. Magli to newspapers and websites. This end would have been caused by the solar eclipse, which Shepseskaf would have witnessed and reacted accordingly. We will stress that the solar cult does not end at the end of the Fourth Dynasty but becomes dominant during the following Fifth Dynasty. The other point we discuss is the interiors of Shepseskaf’s mastaba. It is strictly necessary to note that this mastaba was restored by Khaemwaset, the fourth son of Ramesses II. We know this fact by an inscription inside the mastaba. We also consider what is reported by earth.com, where we even find "evidence of this eclipse exists ... in... ancient texts". There is no ancient Egyptian text that refers to the eclipse of 2471 BC.

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Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2025-02-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14814098
Primary Topic
Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

King Shepseskaf and his Pyramid, the Mastabat Fara'un

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
article

King Shepseskaf and his Pyramid, the Mastabat Fara'un

article en

Abstract

Recently, in arXiv, we have proposed a discussion about the Egyptian kings Shepseskaf and Userkaf, in relation to an eclipse of 2471 BC. Here, in this further discussion we must focus on some further points, specifically on two we have not mentioned before, but that we can find reported by Italian newspapers and websites, particularly Wired Italia. The two points are regarding the end of the dominance of the solar cult, as declared by archaeoastronomer G. Magli to newspapers and websites. This end would have been caused by the solar eclipse, which Shepseskaf would have witnessed and reacted accordingly. We will stress that the solar cult does not end at the end of the Fourth Dynasty but becomes dominant during the following Fifth Dynasty. The other point we discuss is the interiors of Shepseskaf’s mastaba. It is strictly necessary to note that this mastaba was restored by Khaemwaset, the fourth son of Ramesses II. We know this fact by an inscription inside the mastaba. We also consider what is reported by earth.com, where we even find "evidence of this eclipse exists ... in... ancient texts". There is no ancient Egyptian text that refers to the eclipse of 2471 BC.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Politecnico di Torino (IT), Turin Polytechnic University (UZ)
Openalex Percentile: Top 55%
Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
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