The Sun Temple of Userkaf was built by the founder of the Fifth Dynasty

The Sun Temple of Userkaf (Nekhen-Re) was an ancient Egyptian temple dedicated to the sun god Ra. It was built by Pharaoh Userkaf, the founder of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, at the beginning of the 25th century BCE. The temple lies between the Abusir pyramid field to the south and the locality of Abu Gorab to the north, some 15 km south of modern-day Cairo. The ancient name of the temple was Nekhen-Re, meaning the 'Stronghold of Ra'.

The temple complex comprised several parts. On a low hill situated on the desert edge was the main temple, which could be accessed via a causeway from a valley temple located nearer to the area of cultivation and the Nile. The main temple consisted originally of one big solid mastaba-like structure with a mast on top. It was surrounded by a wall, and two offering chapels were placed in front of this main structure. They each had only one room. In a later phase, the main structure received an obelisk-shaped top, and an altar was added in front of the building.

The valley temple also showed signs of heavy destruction. It most likely had an open court with pillars and several chapels at the back, though the number of chapels is unknown. While a stone head of a pharaoh, most likely Userkaf, was found in the debris, some marks suggest the stone temple might have been built later under Pharaoh Niuserre. Seal impressions from Userkaf, Sahure, Niuserre, Djedkare, and Unas provide evidence that the temple was used at least until the end of the Fifth Dynasty.

The temple was discovered by Karl Richard Lepsius in 1842, who did not recognize it as a sun temple and instead included it in a list of pyramids. The first excavations took place much later, in 1907 and 1913, under Ludwig Borchardt. A dedicated excavation occurred between 1954 and 1957 under the impulse of the German-Swiss expedition led by Herbert Ricke. Because the temple was found heavily destroyed, any reconstruction remains very problematic.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons