LOCATION OF PHARAOH USERKARE'S LONG-LOST TOMB POSSIBLY DISCOVERED

A professor of archaeoastronomy has tentatively discovered the location of 6^th Dynasty pharaoh Userkare’s long-lost tomb near Saqqara. Giulio Magli, of Milan’s Polytechnic University, will publish his research in the next issue of Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry. By connecting lines between the tombs of the rulers of Egypt’s 6^th Dynasty, Professor Magli has identified a location in South Saqqara where Userkare’s tomb may be located. "We are talking of meridian and diagonal alignments, with pyramids raised at their intersections. The only missing piece in this sort of grid is the pyramid of Userkare," he said. "Diagonal axes -- generally oriented northeast by southwest -- governed Giza, Abusir and the Saqqara central field. But we have a different pattern with some 6th dynasty kings: their funerary monuments in South Saqqara appear to have been  planned according to meridian, north-south axes.”

Pharaoh Userkare is known only from Egypt’s king lists. He was the second ruler of the 6^th Dynasty, between Teti and Pepi I. "When Pepi I took control a few years later, Userkare disappeared from history. Finding his tomb might help understand those obscure years. The walls in his burial might also contain intact copies of the Pyramid Texts," said Magli.

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