Neferirkare Kakai (known in Greek as Nefercher�s, ?efe??????

) was an ancient
Egyptian pharaoh, the third king of the Fifth Dynasty. Neferirkare was the eldest
son of Sahure with his consort Meretnebty known as Ranefer A before he came to the
throne.[clarification needed] He acceded the day after his father's death and
reigned for eight to eleven years, sometime in the early to mid-25th century BC. He
was himself very likely succeeded by his eldest son, born of his queen Khentkaus
II, the prince Ranefer B who would take the throne as king Neferefre. Neferirkare
fathered another pharaoh, Nyuserre Ini who took the throne after Neferefre's short
reign and the brief rule of the poorly known Shepseskare.

Neferirkare was acknowledged by his contemporaries as a kind and benevolent ruler,

intervening in favour of his courtiers after a mishap. His rule witnessed a growth
in the number of administration and priesthood officials, who used their expanded
wealth to build architecturally more sophisticated mastabas, where they recorded
their biographies for the first time. Neferirkare was the last pharaoh to
significantly modify the standard royal titulary, separating the nomen or birth
name, from the prenomen or throne name. From his reign onwards, the former was
written in a cartouche preceded by the "Son of Ra" epithet. His rule witnessed
continuing trade relations with Nubia to the south and possibly with Byblos on the
Levantine coast to the north.

Neferirkare started a pyramid for himself in the royal necropolis of Abusir, called
Ba-Neferirkare meaning "Neferirkare is a Ba". It was initially planned to be a step
pyramid, a form which had not been employed since the days of the Third Dynasty
circa 120 years earlier. This plan was modified to transform the monument into a
true pyramid, the largest in Abusir, which was never completed owing to the death
of the king. In addition, Neferirkare built a temple to the sun god Ra called
Setibre, that is "Site of the heart of Ra". Ancient sources tell that it was the
largest one built during the Fifth Dynasty but as of the early 21st century it has
not yet been located.

After his death, Neferirkare benefited from a funerary cult taking place in his
mortuary temple, which had been completed by his son Nyuserre Ini. This cult seems
to have disappeared at the end of the Old Kingdom period, although it might have
been revived during the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom, albeit in a very
limited form. In all probability, it was also around this time that the story of
the Papyrus Westcar was first written, a tale where Userkaf, Sahure and Neferirkare
are said to be brothers, the sons of Ra with a woman Rededjet.