described as the son and follower of Djedefra, a chronological position between Djedefra and Khafre seems possible. However, the Ramesside king lists provide evidence for placing Bikheris' reign between Khafre and Menkaure. The Saqqara king list provides a very odd sequence of succeeding kings for the 4th Dynasty: after king Khafre, the cartouches from him up to king Userkaf (the first ruler of the 5th Dynasty) are destroyed and thus illegible today. But their number is puzzling, since between Khafre and Userkaf only two kings are archaeologically detected: Menkaure and Shepseskaf. On the other hand, the Saqqara king list gives five cartouches between Khafre and Userkaf: Khafre → ??? → (Menkaure) → (Shepseskaf) → (Thamphthis) → ??? → Userkaf. One was possibly preserved for Bikheris, whilst the second may have been reserved for a king Thamphthis. The third cartouche (the one before Userkaf) remains a mystery. Jürgen von Beckerath proposes king Nyuserre as the holder of the third cartouche; he thinks it is possible that Nyuserre was simply misplaced to the beginning of the 5th Dynasty. The Saqqara king list would therefore give the following succession: Khafre → Bikheris → Menkaure → Shepseskaf → Thamphthis → Nyuserrê → Userkaf. The Royal Canon of Turin also provides an unusual sequence: after king Khafre, the papyrus on which the king list was written is damaged, and only a few year notes have survived. According to the numbers of preserved year notes, between Khafre and Menkaure a further king must have been listed, because an additional line starts with "king of Upper- and Lower Egypt" (the year notes here are damaged and illegible, though). The following year note about "18 years of rulership" must belong to king Menkaure. After Menkaure, 4 years of rulership are mentioned, this line was surely reserved for king Shepseskaf. After Shepseskaf, however, a further, additional year note gives "2 years of rulership" before starting the 5th Dynasty with Userkaf. Egyptologists think that the gap between Khafre and Menkaure once named either Bauefra or Bikheris and the gap between Shepseskaf and Userkaf may have mentioned Thamphthis. Reign The length of Bikheris' reign is subject to some dispute. Manetho credits Bikheris with 22 years of rulership, Eratosthenes gives Biuris 10 years and the Royal Canon of Turin provides 2 years. Modern Egyptologists and historians believe Manetho's and Eratosthenes' year numbers to be exaggerations or misinterpretations. They credit Bikheris with a