King of the 4th Dynasty, son of Khufu. He only succeeded his father after a short interregnum and according to the Turin Royal Canon ruled for 18 or 28 years. Menkaure built the third pyramid of Giza, whose mortuary temple was completed by his successor Shepseskaf. In the 26th Dynasty the pyramid was restored and a wooden sarcophagus placed in the burial chamber; originally Egyptologists thought that they had found the remains of the original burial of Menkaure, but later it turned out that the sarcophagus was of a much more recent date. The mummy remains found date to the first century BC. The statues of the king found in the burial complex are justly famous. He is shown with Hathor and a variety of nome gods and goddesses in a series of triads. They are now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The name Menkaure is the ancient Egyptian form. Herodotus called this king 'Mykerinos', and Manetho calls him Mencheres.