convinced Verner that Neferefre directly succeeded his father, dying after a very short reign of about two years. Nyuserre was then still a child and, in this hypothesis, his claim to the throne faced a serious challenge in the person of his possible uncle Shepseskare who might have been a son of Sahure. Alternatively, Shepseskare may have been a short-lived son of Neferefre or, less likely, an usurper from outside the royal family. In any case, Shepseskare apparently succeeded in holding the crown for a short time. Nyuserre ultimately prevailed however, either because of Shepseskare's own premature death or because he was backed by powerful high officials and members of the royal family, foremost among whom were his mother Khentkaus II and Ptahshepses. This latter hypothesis is motivated by the exalted positions that both individuals seem to have enjoyed. The mortuary temple of Khentkaus II was designed to imitate that of a king, for example by incorporating its own satellite pyramid and having an alignment on an east–west axis. These features, together with Khentkaus II peculiar title of Mwt Nisw bity Nisw bity, originally translated by "Mother of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt [exercising office as] the king of Upper and Lower Egypt" led some scholars, including Verner, to propose that she might even have reigned in her own right. This hypothesis is now deemed unlikely, and her title is rather translated as "Mother of two kings of Upper and Lower Egypt". Ptahshepses became vizier under Nyuserre, whose daughter he married; received the honorary title of "King's son"; and was buried in one of the largest private tombs in Egypt. According to Verner and Nigel Strudwick, the architectural elements of this tomb such as its lotus-bud columns similar to those used in Nyuserre's own temple, boat pits and layout of the burial chamber, demonstrate "the favor shown by that king to his son-in-law". Reign length Historical and archaeological evidence Manetho's Aegyptiaca related that Nyuserre reigned for 44 years, a figure which is rejected by Egyptologists, who rather credit him with about three decades of reign owing to the paucity of secure dates for his rule. The entry of the Turin canon pertaining to Nyuserre is damaged and the duration of his rule is difficult to read with certainty. Following Alan Gardiner's 1959 study of the canon, scholars such as Nigel Strudwick credited Nyuserre with 11 years of reign.