Menkaure( Mekerinos)
Menkaure, also spelled Menkure, Greek Mykerinos (flourished 26th century), fifth king of the 4th dynasty of Egypt; he built the third and smallest of the three Pyramids of Giza.
He was the son and probably the successor of Khafre and, according to the Turin papyrus, reigned between 18 and 28 years. According to tradition, Menkaure was a pious and just king. Although his pyramid and mortuary temple were unfinished at his death, his successor, Shepseskaf, completed the stonework of the mortuary temple in brick. In the funerary complex were found some of the finest sculptures of the Pyramid Age, including a slate statue group of Menkaure and his sister-wife Khamerernebti II and a number of smaller slate triads representing Menkaure, the goddess Hathor, and various nome (district) deities.
Menkaure pyramid had an original height of 215 feet, but stands at 204 feet today as a result of the removal of its outer casing and capstone. The lower section of the pyramid was encased in pink granite and the upper portions in white Tura limestone, as with the other pyramids at Giza and in other pyramid fields. Archeologists believe that the pyramid was never completed because some of the remaining course of granite at the bottom levels of the pyramid are still rough.
