excavations at the pyramid of sahure in abusir under the direction of miroslav verner and tarek el-awady in the early 2000s provide a picture of the royal family of the early fifth dynasty. in particular, reliefs from the causeway linking the valley and mortuary temples of the pyramid complex reveal that sahure's mother was queen neferhetepes ii. she was the wife of pharaoh userkaf, as indicated by the location of her pyramid immediately adjacent to that of userkaf, and bore the title of "king's mother". this makes userkaf the father of sahure in all likelihood. this is further reinforced by the discovery of sahure's cartouche in the mortuary temple of userkaf at saqqara, indicating that sahure finished the structure started most probably by his father.