Gardiner's reading of the canon was then reevaluated from facsimiles, yielding a 24 to 25 years figure for Nyuserre's reign. This duration is accepted by some scholars including Nicolas Grimal. More recent analyses of the original papyrus conducted by Kim Ryholt have shown that Nyuserre's reign length as reported on the document could equally be 11–14, 21–24, or 31–34 years. The later figure is now favoured by Egyptologists including Strudwick and Verner. The view that Nyuserre reigned in excess of twenty years is furthermore supported by archaeological evidence, which points to a fairly long reign for him. Verner, who has been excavating the Abusir necropolis on behalf of the University of Prague since 1976, points in particular to Nyuserre's numerous constructions, amounting to no less than three new pyramids, the completion of a further three, the construction of the largest sun temple built during the Old Kingdom. Nyuserre's Sed festival The hypothesis of a reign more than three decades long for Nyuserre Ini is supported, albeit indirectly, by reliefs discovered in his solar temple showing him participating in a Sed festival. This festival was meant to rejuvenate the king and was normally (though not always) first celebrated after 30 years of rule. Representations of the festival were part of the typical decorations of temples associated to the king during the Old Kingdom and mere depictions of it do not necessarily imply a long reign. For example, a relief showing Sahure in the tunic of the Sed festival has been found in his mortuary temple, although both historical sources and archeological evidence agree that he ruled Egypt for less than 14 full years. Yet, in Nyuserre's case, these reliefs taken together with the archaeological evidence have convinced most Egyptologists that Nyuserre enjoyed over 30 years of reign and that "the sed-festival scenes from Abu Gurab [most probably reflect] the 30th jubilee of the king's accession to the throne". The reliefs of Nyuserre's Sed festival offer a rare glimpse into the ritual acts carried out during this ceremony. In particular, the festival seems to have involved a procession in a barque over a body of water, a detail either not represented or lost in all subsequent representations of the festival until the reign of Amenhotep III (fl. c. 1390–1350 BCE), over 1000 years after Nyuserre's lifetime. Domestic activities The reign of Nyuserre Ini witnessed the unabated growth of the priesthood and state