A New Seal-impression of King Shepseskara and the Fifth Dynasty Chronology

Since 2010 an Italian (currently Italian– Polish) archaeological expedition has been re-investigating the Fifth Dynasty sun temple of Nyuserra at Abu Ghurab, first discovered and excavated by Ludwig Borchardt in the years 1898–1901. During season 2021, in the north-eastern area of the complex, the mission uncovered a considerable accumulation of seal-impressions in a previously untouched and undisturbed archaeological context. These seal-impressions are inscribed with several administrative titles and bear evidence of many royal names of the late Fifth and early Sixth Dynasty. Among them, the most important in terms of historical information is certainly that of king Shepseskara. His position in the Fifth Dynasty chronology and his connection with the other Fifth Dynasty rulers are in fact still far from clear. This paper intends to present the main information pertaining to this new archaeological discovery and compare it with all available data about this king. Eventually, the paper wishes to reassess the chronology of the mid-Fifth Dynasty, by challenging the commonly accepted sequence Raneferef – Shepseskara – Nyuserra.