Most chronologies show Menkaure succeeding his father Khafre, but some king lists do include a tiny, short reign by a pharaoh Bikka or Baka between the two. There may have been some familial falling-out, or it ma have been the normal way of succession for Baka, as the oldest male in the family, to inherit the throne before his younger cousin Menkaure. We know so little about how the heir was selected : possibly, the oldest son of the existing pharaoh ruled, possibly the oldest male in the family (uncle or brother), possibly a lottery. Who knows?

Despite the short reign -- maybe as little as two or four years -- he left a giant unfinished pyramid in Zawiyet-al-Aryan, just north of the necropolis in Saqqara. Given the size of the foundations (it was about 200m square and comparable to the size of the monuments of Khufu and Khafre in Giza), this was meant for a ruler with a long reign ahead of him. It was originally excavated in the early 1900s and a large red-granite coffin was found inside the burial chamber, with blocks of granite meant to be used for the burial chamber. The coffin, although sealed, was empty, probably having been resealed by restorers ina later dynasty after tomb robbers cleared out the pyramid chambers.

The burial chamber appears to be a copy of the burial chamber of Djoser, a free-standing granite burial chamber housing a coffin at the bottom of an open shaft to deter grave robbers.

pharaohs

Sneferu
Khufu (Cheops)
Kauab
Djedefre
khafre (Chephren)
Bakare
Menkaure
Shepseskaf
Djedefptah

monuments

Northern Pyramid at
Zawiyet-el-Aryan