The abandoned pyramid of Shepseskare

In the necropolis of Abusir, an unfinished pyramid emerges from the desert as a phantom of a project cut short. This is the abandoned pyramid complex of Shepseskare, an ephemeral pharaoh whose brief rule is the least well documented of the Fifth Dynasty. While neighboring structures like the pyramids of Sahure and Neferirkare stand majestic and whole, this site remains a skeleton of intended ambition, situated between the pyramid of Sahure and the sun temple of Userkaf.

Little is known about the man who commissioned it. Shepseskare is a successor of Neferirkare according to some lists, though other evidence suggests he reigned later. He is tentatively assigned to this site because he is the sole viable candidate among the pharaohs of the Fifth Dynasty. To maintain the alignment of the Abusir-Heliopolis diagonal, Shepseskare would have had to build deep into the desert, a project that was likely prohibitively expensive. Instead, he chose a site halfway between the pyramid of Sahure and the sun temple of Userkaf.

Construction of the actual pyramid structure was never begun. The project was abandoned after only a few weeks, leaving behind only the leveling of the terrain into a flat, square area. In the middle of this space is a T-shaped pit where the burial chamber and its entranceway would have been installed. Based on the dimensions of the leveled area, it is suggested the building was planned to be a similar size to the Pyramid of Neferirkare, though the lack of cladding stones makes the planned height and slope unknowable. Remains of a mortuary temple, temenos wall, and valley temple were never started, as they would have hindered the early work on the pyramid itself.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons