successor Menkauhor Kaiu as possibilities. There is an ongoing debate in Egyptology concerning these two alternatives. Verner posits that Shepseskare was an uncle of Neferefre and therefore that Menkauhor Kaiu was Neferefre's son. Meanwhile, Krejčí views the opposite hypothesis, that Shepseskare was Neferefre's son with Khentkaus III, as more probable. Two further sons of Neferefre and Khentkaus III have been proposed by Verner: the "king's son" Nakhtsare, whose filiation is supported by the general date and location of his tomb, and Kakaibaef, a member of the elite buried in Abusir. Krejčí notes the lack of the titular "king's son" in relation to Kakaibaef, thereby emphasizing the conjectural nature of Verner's assertion. Reign Accession to the throne Two competing hypotheses exist in Egyptology to describe the succession of events running from the death of Neferirkare Kakai, third king of the Fifth Dynasty, to the coronation of Nyuserre Ini, sixth ruler of the dynasty. Relying on historical sources, most notably the Saqqara king list and Manetho's Aegyptiaca, where Neferefre is said to have succeeded Shepseskare, many Egyptologists such as Jürgen von Beckerath and Hartwig Altenmüller have traditionally believed that the following royal succession took place: Neferirkare Kakai → Shepseskare → Neferefre Isi → Nyuserre Ini. In this scenario, Neferefre would be the father of Nyuserre, who would have become pharaoh after the former's unexpected death. This view was challenged at the turn of the millennium, most notably by Verner, who has been responsible for the archaeological excavations of the Fifth Dynasty royal necropolis of Abusir since 1976. Firstly, there is the relief, mentioned earlier, showing that Neferefre was in all likelihood Neferirkare's eldest son. Secondly, excavations of Neferefre's pyramid have yielded his mummy, which showed that he was 18 to 20 years of age at the death of Neferirkare. Consequently, as the previous king's eldest son, in his late teens to early twenties, Neferefre was in optimal position to ascend the throne. Positing that Shepseskare reigned between Neferefre and his father would thus require an explanation as to why and how Shepseskare's claim to the throne could have been stronger than Neferefre's. Thirdly, archaeological evidences indicate that Shepseskare most likely reigned for only a few weeks to a few months at the most rather than seven years as credited to him in the Aegyptiaca, a hypothesis already supported by Nicolas Grimal as early as 1988. Indeed, Shepseskare is the least known Fifth