Editing Unas (section)

===Duration===
[[File:Sahure Sed.png|thumb|right|250px|Relief of [[Sahure]] wearing the tunic of the [[Sed festival]],{{sfn|Borchardt|1913|loc=Blatt 45}} similar to the relief depicting Unas' Sed festival from his mortuary complex{{sfn|Labrousse|Lauer|Leclant|1977|p=86|loc=fig. 57}}|alt=A seated man in a tight fitting robe, with a false beard and a crown.]]
The duration of Unas' reign is uncertain. As indicated above, historical sources credit him with 30 and 33 years on the throne, figures that have been adopted by many Egyptologists, including [[Flinders Petrie]],{{sfn|Petrie|1907|p=82}} [[William C. Hayes]],{{sfn|Hayes|1978|p=58}} Darrell Baker,{{sfn|Baker|2008|p=482}} Peter Munro,{{sfn|Munro|1993|p=8ff}} and Jaromir Malek.{{sfn|Malek|2000a|p=102}} In favor of such a long reign are scenes{{sfn|Labrousse|Lauer|Leclant|1977|p=85|loc=fig. 56 & p. 86 fig. 57}} of a [[Sed festival]] found in Unas' mortuary temple.{{sfn|Baker|2008|p=483}}{{sfn|Altenmüller|2001|p=600}} This festival was normally celebrated only after 30 years of reign and was meant to rejuvenate the pharaoh's strength and power. Mere depictions of the festival do not necessarily imply a long reign, however. For example, a relief showing pharaoh [[Sahure]] in the tunic of the Sed festival has been found in his mortuary temple,{{sfn|Borchardt|1913|loc=Blatt 45}}{{sfn|Richter|2013}} although both historical sources and archeological evidence agree that he ruled Egypt for less than 14 full years.{{sfn|Rice|1999|p=173}}{{sfn|von Beckerath|1999|p=283}}{{sfn|Hornung|2012|p=491}}
[[File:Flickr - Gaspa - Saqqara, geroglifici (1).jpg|thumb|212x212px|Saqqara mastabas. Unas cartouches.]]
Other Egyptologists suspect a reign of less than 30 years for Unas, owing to the scarcity of artefacts datable to his reign as well as the lack of documents dated to beyond his eighth year on the throne.{{sfn|Verner|2001a|p=411}} Hence, [[Jürgen von Beckerath]] believes that Unas ruled Egypt for 20 years{{sfn|von Beckerath|1999|p=283}} while Rolf Krauss, David Warburton and [[Erik Hornung]] shortened this number to 15 years in their 2012 study of [[Egyptian chronology]].{{sfn|Hornung|2012|p=491}} Krauss and [[Miroslav Verner]] further question the credibility of the Turin Canon concerning the [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|Fourth]] and Fifth Dynasties, so that the 30-year figure credited to Unas by the canon might not be reliable.{{sfn|Verner|2001a|p=416}}

Excavations{{sfn|Kanawati|ʻAbd-ar-Rāziq|2000}} of the tomb of Nikau-Isesi under the direction of [[Naguib Kanawati]] at Saqqara have yielded evidence in support of a shorter reign.{{sfn|Verner|2001a|p=412}} Nikau-Isesi was an official who started his career during the reign of Djedkare Isesi. He lived through that of Unas and died as overseer of Upper-Egypt under Unas' successor Teti.{{sfn|Kanawati|2001|pp=1&ndash;2}} Nikau-Isesi is known to have died on the year of the eleventh [[cattle count]] during Teti's reign, an event consisting of counting the livestock throughout the country to evaluate the amount of taxes to be levied. It is traditionally believed that such counts occurred every two years during the Old Kingdom and every year during the later [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] ({{Circa|2055|1650 BC}}).{{sfn|Kanawati|2001|pp=1&ndash;2}} Thus, Nikau-Isesi would have lived for 22 years after Teti took the throne and together with the 30 years of reign credited to Unas, would have died past 70 years old.{{sfn|Kanawati|2001|pp=1&ndash;2}} However, forensic examination of his mummy yielded an age at death of no more than 45 years old. This suggests that the cattle count occurred more than once every two years during Unas and Teti's time, possibly irregularly. If so, Unas' 30-year figure on the Turin canon, understood to mean 15 cattle counts, could translate into as little as 15 years, which together with just 11 years during Teti's reign would account for Nikau-Isesi's death at around 40 to 45 years of age.{{sfn|Kanawati|2001|pp=1&ndash;2}}