Userkaf became king by marrying the half sister of the pharaoh before him (Shepseskaf) who perhaps did not have any sons to inherit the throne, i.e. off- springs born by women within the royal family.
Nothing of substance is known for sure about his background and a theory that he was a son of king Menkaure and the father to the next two kings can- not be confirmed, though it has some substance.
Coming into office as an middle aged man he did not have a long reign but manage to build a pyra- mid for his final rest at Sakkara.
He is the first king to have left fragments of a colos- sal statue (pictures left). It's a big head from a statue made of Greywacke, a type of very hard sandstone. It originally must have stooden at a height of circa four meters and was found at Abu Gurab in Abusir where he bulit a solar temple.