During the reigns of Khufu and Khafre, Egypt suffered great disasters: the temples were closed, and the Egyptians - both free citizens and slaves - worked day and night building pyramids for their rulers. Menkaura opened the temples, freed the people exhausted by hardships, letting them go to work [in their fields] and make sacrifices. He was the most righteous judge of all the kings. He even gave money to everyone who was dissatisfied with his sentences. The Egyptians did not know how to thank the gods for sending them such a fair, kind and intelligent pharaoh.
And this Menkaura, so meek towards his subjects and so caring for them, was struck by severe blows of fate. The first misfortune that befell him was the death of his beloved daughter. And then the pharaoh was predicted that he had only six years to live, and in the seventh year he would die. Struck by this news, Pharaoh sent messengers to the oracle of Maat. The messengers asked the goddess of world order:
“The father and grandfather of the great Menkaura locked the temples, did not honor the gods, oppressed the people and lived prosperously until a very old age. Why should the pious and good Pharaoh die after six years? Is this fair? And Maat answered the messengers:
“Menkaura is kind and fair—that’s why I shortened his lifespan.” He did not do what he should have done: Egypt was destined to suffer disasters for 150 years. Khufu and Khafre understood this, but Menkaure did not.
When the messengers brought the oracle's answer to the pharaoh, Menkaure ordered the production of many lamps. At night, the king ordered them to be lit, began to drink wine and constantly have fun day and night. <...> This is what he did, turning nights into days in order to convict the oracle of a lie and turn six years into twelve.
However, if Menkaura, having listened to the answer given by the oracle of the goddess Maat to his messengers, had stopped doing good and become a cruel and unjust pharaoh, Maat might have canceled her sentence. After all, she had mercy. Pharaoh Khufu, who tried to act against fate.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru