Shepseskaf-ankh was an ancient Egyptian physician and priest. He was the Head of the Physicians of Upper and Lower Egypt and served the pharaoh household during the
Fifth Dynasty
The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties Third Dynasty of Egypt, III, Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, IV and Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, VI under the group title the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. The Fifth ...
.
His tomb was discovered by
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
archaeologists in
Abusir
Abusir ( ar, ابو صير ; Egyptian ''pr wsjr'' cop, ⲃⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲓ ' "the House or Temple of Osiris"; grc, Βούσιρις) is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality – specifically, an extensive necropolis of ...
in 2013.
Shepseskaf-ankh held a number of important titles, many of them connected to his position as physician at the royal court, but he also held several important priestly titles. His titles:
*''acquaintance of the king''
*''overseer of the healing substances of the great house'' (this title was so far not yet attested)
*''wab priest of the king''
*''great of the physicians of Upper and Lower Egypt''
*''priest of
Re in
Nekhenre'' (Nekhenre is the name of the
sun temple
A sun temple (or solar temple) is a building used for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, dedicated to the sun or a solar deity. Such temples were built by a number different cultures and are distributed around the ...
of king
Userkaf
Userkaf (known in Ancient Greek as , ) was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Fifth Dynasty. He reigned for seven to eight years in the early 25th century BC, during the Old Kingdom period. He probably belonged to a branch of the ...
)
*''priest of Re in Setibre'' (Setibre is the name of the sun temple of king
Neferirkare
Neferirkare (sometimes referred to as Neferirkare II because of Neferirkare Kakai) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC). According to the egyptologists Kim Ryholt, ...
)
*''priest of Re in Sesepibre'' (Sesepibre is the name of the sun temple of king
Niuserre
Nyuserre Ini (also Niuserre Ini or Neuserre Ini; in Greek known as Rathurês, ''Ῥαθούρης'') was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 35 ye ...
)
*''priest of
Horus
Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...
of Shenut''
*''priest of
Heka''
*''priest of
Hathor
Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky ...
in all places''
*''priest of
Khnum
Khnum or also romanised Khnemu (; egy, 𓎸𓅱𓀭 ẖnmw, grc-koi, Χνοῦβις) was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities, originally the god of the source of the Nile. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt ...
. who is the first in the house of life and in the house of protection''
*''priest of the
Red Crown
Deshret ( egy, dšrt "Red One") was the formal name for the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet (Black Land), the fertile Nile river basin. When combined with the Hedjet (White Crown) of Upper Egypt, it fo ...
''
*''keeper of the king's secrets''
*''physician of the great house''
The burial place of Shepseskaf-ankh was discovered at Abusir. It is a
mastaba
A mastaba (, or ), also mastabah, mastabat or pr- djt (meaning "house of stability", " house of eternity" or "eternal house" in Ancient Egyptian), is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inwa ...
with eight burial shafts. The mastaba measures 21/90 × 11.50 m. It is still to about 1.6 m high. The outer walls were built of stones. At the east side there is a cult chapel. The only decorated part is a
false door inscribed with the titles of Shepseskaf-ankh and showing his person standing.
[Miroslav Bárta: ''Tomb of the chief physician Shepseskafankh'', in: ''Pragues Egyptological Studies'', XV (2015), p. 15-21]
References
Ancient Egyptian physicians
Ancient Egyptian priests
People of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt
{{AncientEgypt-bio-stub