In doing so, he was the first king since Shepseskaf, last ruler of the Fourth Dynasty, to pay attention to the Giza necropolis, a move which may have been an attempt to legitimise his rule following the troubled times surrounding the unexpected death of his brother Neferefre.

There is little evidence for military action during Nyuserre's reign; the Egyptian state continued to maintain trade relations with Byblos on the Levantine coast and to send mining and quarrying expeditions to Sinai and Lower Nubia.

Nyuserre's reign saw the growth of the administration, and the effective birth of the nomarchs, provincial governors who, for the first time, were sent to live in the provinces they administered rather than at the pharaoh's court.

In Nyuserre's case, this official state-sponsored cult existed for centuries, surviving the chaotic First Intermediate Period and lasting until the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom.

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,[47] foremost among whom were his mother Khentkaus II and Ptahshepses.

[51] According to Verner and Nigel Strudwick, the architectural elements[52] 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,[53][51] demonstrate "the favor shown by that king to his son-in-law".

[17] 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.

[note 10] For example, a relief showing Sahure in the tunic of the Sed festival has been found in his mortuary temple,[59][60] although both historical sources and archeological evidence agree that he ruled Egypt for less than 14 full years.

[63] The reign of Nyuserre Ini witnessed the unabated growth of the priesthood and state bureaucracy,[1][64] a phenomenon which had started in the early Fifth Dynasty[65] in particular under Neferirkare Kakai.

[65] To the north of Egypt, trade contacts with Byblos on the Levantine coast, which existed during much of the Fifth Dynasty, were seemingly active during Nyuserre's reign, as suggested by a fragment of cylindrical alabaster vase bearing his name uncovered in the city.

[79] This expedition departed Egypt from the port of Ain Sukhna, on the western shore of the Gulf of Suez, as revealed by seal impressions bearing Nyuserre's name found on the site.

William C. Hayes proposed that a few fragmentary limestone statues of kneeling and bound prisoners of war discovered in his mortuary temple[83][84] possibly attest to punitive raids in Libya to the west or the Sinai and Palestine to the east during his reign.

[85] The art historian William Stevenson Smith has pointed out, that such statues were customary[83] elements of the decoration of royal temples and mastabas, suggesting that they may not be immediately related to actual military campaigns.

Once completed, it consisted of a portico with eight papyriform columns, its floor was of black basalt and its walls were made of limestone with painted reliefs above a dado of red granite.

[96] The back of the portico led to the causeway, the base of which was entirely covered in basalt, while its upper portions were decorated with numerous reliefs, some showing the king as a sphinx trampling over his enemies.

[101] Arriving near the pyramid, the causeway led into a columned courtyard preceded by storage rooms and succeeded by the mortuary temple itself, which housed statues of the king and depictions of the royal family and Nyuserre in the presence of the gods.

[105] Excavations of the burial chamber yielded fragments of a pink granite sarcophagus as well as pieces of large calcite canopic jars and smaller funerary equipment.

Nyuserre hastily[122] completed the pyramid by transforming it into a stylised primeval mound[122] resembling a mastaba: the walls of the core layer already in place were covered with limestone and the top was filled with clay and stones drawn from the local desert.

[96] Extending over the whole 65 m (213 ft) length of the pyramid side, the temple was built of mudbrick and comprised the earliest hypostyle hall of Ancient Egypt, its roof supported by wooden columns.

[125] The mortuary temple of the queen, at the eastern foot of the pyramid,[125] was the object of successive completion works during Nyuserre's reign, the earliest one used stone while the latest used only mudbrick.

[48] Archaeological excavations in 2012–2015 revealed that Nyuserre Ini undertook building works on the valley temple of Menkaure, as witnessed by numerous seal impressions bearing his serekh discovered on the site.

[135] John Nolan believes that the mirroring position and names of both Khentkaus queens was emphasised so that Nyuserre could legimitise his rule after the troubled times surrounding Neferefre's death.

In the last construction phase, Nyuserre encased the inner enclosure in mudbrick, added an altar and five stone benches to the central court, and built an annex to the temple.

[141] A temple dedicated to the goddess Satet, personification of the Nile floods, had stood on the island of Elephantine to the south of Egypt since at least the late Predynastic Period around 3200 BCE.

Finally, yet another brother,[150] possibly younger[151] than Nyuserre has also been proposed: Iryenre, a prince Iry-pat[note 19] whose relationship is suggested by the fact that his funerary cult was associated with that of his mother, both having taken place in the temple of Khentkaus II.

[note 29] Several priests serving in the pyramid complex and sun temple of Nyuserre are known from their tombs until the end of the Sixth Dynasty, showing that the official mortuary cult endured throughout the late Old Kingdom.

[186][201] The tombs of two priests Heryshefhotep I and II, who lived during this period,[note 33] mention their roles and duties in the funerary establishment of Nyuserre, witnessing to the continuing existence of the official mortuary cult.

Evidence from this period come from works undertaken in the Karnak temple by Senusret I, who dedicated a number of statues of Old Kingdom kings[185] including at least one of Nyuserre,[note 36] to a cult of Amun and of the royal ancestors.

This is best exemplified by the Karnak king list, composed during the reign of Thutmosis III, with the purpose of honouring a selection of royal ancestors and which includes the cartouche showing "Iny" for Nyuserre.

[211] During the late Third Intermediate Period, Old Kingdom mortuary temples enjoyed a revival of interest due primarily to the archaizing style favoured by the kings of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt (c. 760–656 BCE).