Egyptian Pyramids

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Egyptian pyramids

The Egyptian pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped


masonry structures located in Egypt. As of November
2008, sources cite either 118 or 138 as the number of
identified Egyptian pyramids.[1][2] Most were built as
tombs for the country's pharaohs and their consorts during
the Old and Middle Kingdom periods.[3][4][5]

The earliest known Egyptian pyramids are found at


Saqqara, northwest of Memphis, although at least one step-
pyramid-like structure has been found at Saqqara, dating to
the First Dynasty: Mastaba 3808, which has been
attributed to the reign of Pharaoh Anedjib, with A view of the pyramids at Giza from the plateau
inscriptions, and other archaeological remains of the to the south of the complex. From left to right,
period, suggesting there may have been others.[6] The the three largest are: the Pyramid of Menkaure,
otherwise earliest among these is the Pyramid of Djoser the Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Pyramid of
Khufu. The three smaller pyramids in the
built c. 2630–2610 BC during the Third Dynasty.[7] This
foreground are subsidiary structures associated
pyramid and its surrounding complex are generally
with Menkaure's pyramid.
considered to be the world's oldest monumental structures
constructed of dressed masonry.[8]

The most famous Egyptian pyramids are those found at Giza, on the outskirts of
Cairo. Several of the Giza pyramids are counted among the largest structures ever
built.[9] The Pyramid of Khufu is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It is the only one of
the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still in existence.[10]
Unicode: 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴

Pyramid
Contents in hieroglyphs

Historical development
Pyramid symbolism
Number and location of pyramids
Abu Rawash
Giza
Zawyet el-Aryan
Abusir
Saqqara
Dahshur
Mazghuna
Lisht
Meidum
Hawara
El Lahun
El-Kurru
Nuri
Construction dates and heights
Construction techniques
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

Historical development
The design of the Egyptian pyramid seems to have been a progression
from the Sumerian ziggurat, a stepped pyramidal structure with a
temple on top, which dated to as early as 4000–3500 BC.[11]

From the time of the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150–2686 BC),
Egyptians with sufficient means were buried in bench-like structures
known as mastabas.[12][13] At Saqqara, Mastaba 3808, dating from
the latter part of the 1st Dynasty, was discovered to contain a large,
independently-built step-pyramid-like structure enclosed within the
outer palace facade mastaba. Archaeological remains and inscriptions The Mastabat al-Fir’aun at Saqqara
suggest there may have been other similar structures dating to this
period.[14]

The first historically-documented Egyptian pyramid is attributed by Egyptologists to the 3rd Dynasty pharaoh
Djoser. Although Egyptologists often credit his vizier Imhotep as its architect, the dynastic Egyptians
themselves, contemporaneously or in numerous later dynastic writings about the character, did not credit him
with either designing Djoser's pyramid or the invention of stone architecture.[15] The Pyramid of Djoser was
first built as a square mastaba-like structure, which as a rule were known to otherwise be rectangular, and was
expanded several times by way of a series of accretion layers, to produce the stepped pyramid structure we see
today.[16] Egyptologists believe this design served as a gigantic stairway by which the soul of the deceased
pharaoh could ascend to the heavens.[17]

Though other pyramids were attempted in the 3rd Dynasty after Djoser, it was the 4th Dynasty, transitioning
from the step pyramid to true pyramid shape, which gave rise to the great pyramids of Meidum, Dahshur, and
Giza. The last pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty, Shepseskaf, did not build a pyramid and beginning in the 5th
Dynasty; for various reasons, the massive scale and precision of construction decreased significantly leaving
these later pyramids smaller, less well-built, and often hastily constructed. By the end of the 6th Dynasty,
pyramid building had largely ended and it was not until the Middle Kingdom that large pyramids were built
again, though instead of stone, mudbrick was the main construction material.[18]

Long after the end of Egypt's own pyramid-building period, a burst of pyramid building occurred in what is
present-day Sudan, after much of Egypt came under the rule of the Kingdom of Kush, which was then based
at Napata. Napatan rule, known as the 25th Dynasty, lasted from 750 BCE to 664 BCE, and during that time
Egyptian culture made an indelible impression on the Kushites. The Meroitic period of Kushite history, when
the kingdom was centered on Meroë, (approximately in the period between 300 BCE and 300 CE),
experienced a full-blown pyramid-building revival, which saw more than two hundred Egyptian-inspired
indigenous royal pyramid-tombs constructed in the vicinity of the kingdom's capital cities.
Al-Aziz Uthman (1171–1198), the second Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, tried to destroy the Giza pyramid
complex. He gave up after only damaging the Pyramid of Menkaure because the task proved too large.[19]

Pyramid symbolism
The shape of Egyptian pyramids is thought to
represent the primordial mound from which the
Egyptians believed the earth was created. The
shape of a pyramid is also thought to be
representative of the descending rays of the sun,
and most pyramids were faced with polished,
highly reflective white limestone, in order to give
them a brilliant appearance when viewed from a
distance. Pyramids were often also named in
ways that referred to solar luminescence. For
example, the formal name of the Bent Pyramid at
Dahshur was The Southern Shining Pyramid,
and that of Senusret II at El Lahun was Senusret
Shines. Diagram of the interior structures of the Great Pyramid. The
inner line indicates the pyramid's present profile, the outer
While it is generally agreed that pyramids were line indicates the original profile.
burial monuments, there is continued
disagreement on the particular theological
principles that might have given rise to them. One suggestion is that they were designed as a type of
"resurrection machine."[20]

The Egyptians believed the dark area of the night sky around which the stars appear to revolve was the
physical gateway into the heavens. One of the narrow shafts that extend from the main burial chamber through
the entire body of the Great Pyramid points directly towards the center of this part of the sky. This suggests the
pyramid may have been designed to serve as a means to magically launch the deceased pharaoh's soul directly
into the abode of the gods.[20]

All Egyptian pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile, which, as the site of the setting sun, was
associated with the realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology.[21]

Number and location of pyramids


In 1842, Karl Richard Lepsius produced the first modern list of pyramids – now known as the Lepsius list of
pyramids – in which he counted 67. A great many more have since been discovered. As of November 2008,
118 Egyptian pyramids have been identified.[3] The location of Pyramid 29, which Lepsius called the
"Headless Pyramid", was lost for a second time when the structure was buried by desert sands after Lepsius's
survey. It was found again only during an archaeological dig conducted in 2008.[22]

Many pyramids are in a poor state of preservation or buried by desert sands. If visible at all, they may appear
as little more than mounds of rubble. As a consequence, archaeologists are continuing to identify and study
previously unknown pyramid structures.

The most recent pyramid to be discovered was that of Sesheshet at Saqqara, mother of the Sixth Dynasty
pharaoh Teti, announced on 11 November 2008.[4][23]
All of Egypt's pyramids, except the small Third Dynasty pyramid at Zawyet el-Maiyitin, are sited on the west
bank of the Nile, and most are grouped together in a number of pyramid fields. The most important of these
are listed geographically, from north to south, below.

Abu Rawash

Abu Rawash is the site of Egypt's most northerly pyramid (other than
the ruins of Lepsius pyramid number one),[5] the mostly ruined
Pyramid of Djedefre, son and successor of Khufu. Originally it was
thought that this pyramid had never been completed, but the current
archaeological consensus is that not only was it completed, but that it
was originally about the same size as the Pyramid of Menkaure, The largely destroyed Pyramid of
which would have placed it among the half-dozen or so largest Djedefre
pyramids in Egypt.

Its location adjacent to a major crossroads made it an easy source of stone. Quarrying, which began in Roman
times, has left little apart from about fifteen courses of stone superimposed upon the natural hillock that formed
part of the pyramid's core. A small adjacent satellite pyramid is in a better state of preservation.

Giza

The Giza Plateau is the location of the Pyramid of Khufu


(also known as the "Great Pyramid" and the "Pyramid of
Cheops"), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or
Chephren), the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of
Menkaure (or Mykerinus), along with a number of
smaller satellite edifices known as "Queen's pyramids",
and the Great Sphinx of Giza. Of the three, only Khafre's
pyramid retains part of its original polished limestone
casing, near its apex. This pyramid appears larger than
the adjacent Khufu pyramid by virtue of its more
elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of
its construction – it is, in fact, smaller in both height and
volume.

The Giza pyramid complex has been a popular tourist


destination since antiquity and was popularized in
Map of the Giza pyramid complex
Hellenistic times when the Great Pyramid was listed by
Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World. Today it is the only one of those wonders
still in existence.

Zawyet el-Aryan

This site, halfway between Giza and Abusir, is the location for two
unfinished Old Kingdom pyramids. The northern structure's owner is
believed to be pharaoh Nebka, while the southern structure, known as
Aerial view of the Giza pyramid
the Layer Pyramid, may be attributable to the Third Dynasty pharaoh
complex
Khaba, a close successor of Sekhemkhet. If this attribution is correct,
Khaba's short reign could explain the seemingly unfinished state of this step pyramid. Today it stands around
17 m (56 ft) high; had it been completed, it is likely to have exceeded 40 m (130 ft).

Abusir

There are a total of fourteen pyramids at this site, which served as the
main royal necropolis during the Fifth Dynasty. The quality of
construction of the Abusir pyramids is inferior to those of the Fourth
Dynasty – perhaps signaling a decrease in royal power or a less
vibrant economy. They are smaller than their predecessors, and are
built of low-quality local limestone.

The three major pyramids are those of Niuserre, which is also the best
preserved, Neferirkare Kakai and Sahure. The site is also home to the
incomplete Pyramid of Neferefre. Most of the major pyramids at The Pyramid of Sahure at Abusir,
Abusir were built using similar construction techniques, comprising a viewed from the pyramid's causeway
rubble core surrounded by steps of mudbricks with a limestone outer
casing. The largest of these Fifth Dynasty pyramids, the Pyramid of
Neferirkare Kakai, is believed to have been built originally as a step pyramid some 70 m (230 ft) high and then
later transformed into a "true" pyramid by having its steps filled in with loose masonry.

Saqqara

Major pyramids located here include the Pyramid of Djoser –


generally identified as the world's oldest substantial monumental
structure to be built of dressed stone – the Pyramid of Userkaf, the
Pyramid of Teti and the Pyramid of Merikare, dating to the First
Intermediate Period of Egypt. Also at Saqqara is the Pyramid of Unas,
which retains a pyramid causeway that is one of the best-preserved in
Egypt. Together with the pyramid of Userkaf, this pyramid was the
subject of one of the earliest known restoration attempts, conducted
The Pyramid of Djoser
by Khaemweset, a son of Ramesses II.[24] Saqqara is also the location
of the incomplete step pyramid of Djoser's successor Sekhemkhet,
known as the Buried Pyramid. Archaeologists believe that had this
pyramid been completed, it would have been larger than Djoser's.

South of the main pyramid field at Saqqara is a second collection of later, smaller pyramids, including those of
Pepi I, Djedkare Isesi, Merenre, Pepi II and Ibi. Most of these are in a poor state of preservation.

The Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Shepseskaf either did not share an interest in, or have the capacity to undertake
pyramid construction like his predecessors. His tomb, which is also sited at south Saqqara, was instead built as
an unusually large mastaba and offering temple complex. It is commonly known as the Mastabat al-
Fir’aun.[25]

A previously unknown pyramid was discovered at north Saqqara in late 2008. Believed to be the tomb of
Teti's mother, it currently stands approximately 5 m (16 ft) high, although the original height was closer to
14 m (46 ft).

Dahshur
This area is arguably the most important pyramid field in Egypt
outside Giza and Saqqara, although until 1996 the site was
inaccessible due to its location within a military base and was
relatively unknown outside archaeological circles.

The southern Pyramid of Sneferu, commonly known as the Bent


Pyramid, is believed to be the first Egyptian pyramid intended by its
builders to be a "true" smooth-sided pyramid from the outset; the
earlier pyramid at Meidum had smooth sides in its finished state, but it
was conceived and built as a step pyramid, before having its steps
Sneferu's Red Pyramid
filled in and concealed beneath a smooth outer casing of dressed
stone. As a true smooth-sided structure, the Bent Pyramid was only a
partial success – albeit a unique, visually imposing one; it is also the
only major Egyptian pyramid to retain a significant proportion of its original smooth outer limestone casing
intact. As such it serves as the best contemporary example of how the ancient Egyptians intended their
pyramids to look. Several kilometres to the north of the Bent Pyramid is the last – and most successful – of the
three pyramids constructed during the reign of Sneferu; the Red Pyramid is the world's first successfully
completed smooth-sided pyramid. The structure is also the third largest pyramid in Egypt, after the pyramids of
Khufu and Khafra at Giza.

Also at Dahshur is one of two pyramids built by Amenemhat III, known as the Black Pyramid, as well as a
number of small, mostly ruined subsidiary pyramids.

Mazghuna

Located to the south of Dahshur, several mudbrick pyramids were built in this area in the late Middle
Kingdom, perhaps for Amenemhat IV and Sobekneferu.

Lisht

Two major pyramids are known to have been built at Lisht: those of
Amenemhat I and his son, Senusret I. The latter is surrounded by the
ruins of ten smaller subsidiary pyramids. One of these subsidiary
pyramids is known to be that of Amenemhat's cousin, Khaba II.[26]
The site which is in the vicinity of the oasis of the Faiyum, midway
between Dahshur and Meidum, and about 100 kilometres south of
Cairo, is believed to be in the vicinity of the ancient city of Itjtawy The Pyramid of Amenemhet I at
(the precise location of which remains unknown), which served as the Lisht
capital of Egypt during the Twelfth Dynasty.

Meidum

The pyramid at Meidum is one of three constructed during the reign of Sneferu, and is believed by some to
have been started by that pharaoh's father and predecessor, Huni. However, that attribution is uncertain, as no
record of Huni's name has been found at the site. It was constructed as a step pyramid and then later converted
into the first "true" smooth-sided pyramid, when the steps were filled in and an outer casing added. The
pyramid suffered several catastrophic collapses in ancient and medieval times. Medieval Arab writers
described it as having seven steps, although today only the three uppermost of these remain, giving the
structure its odd, tower-like appearance. The hill on which the
pyramid is situated is not a natural landscape feature, it is the small
mountain of debris created when the lower courses and outer casing
of the pyramid gave way.

Hawara

Amenemhat III was the last powerful ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty,
and the pyramid he built at Hawara, near the Faiyum, is believed to
The pyramid at Meidum
post-date the so-called "Black Pyramid" built by the same ruler at
Dahshur. It is the Hawara pyramid that is believed to have been
Amenemhet's final resting place.

El Lahun

The Pyramid of Senusret II at El Lahun is the southernmost royal-


tomb pyramid structure in Egypt. Its builders reduced the amount of
work necessary to construct it by using as its foundation and core a
12-meter-high natural limestone hill. The Pyramid of Amenemhet III at
Hawara

El-Kurru

Piye, the king of Kush who became the first ruler of the Twenty-fifth
Dynasty, built a pyramid at El-Kurru. He was the first Egyptian
pharaoh to be buried in a pyramid in centuries.

Nuri

Taharqa, a Kushite ruler of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, built his


pyramid at Nuri. It was the largest in the area (North Sudan). The Pyramid of Senusret II. The
pyramid's natural limestone core is
clearly visible as the yellow stratum
Construction dates and heights at its base.

The following table lays out the chronology of the construction of


most of the major pyramids mentioned here. Each pyramid is
identified through the pharaoh who ordered it built, his approximate
reign, and its location.

Piye's pyramid at El-Kurru


Pyramid /
Reign Field Height
Pharaoh
c.
Djoser 2670 Saqqara 62 meters (203 feet)
BC
c.
2612–
Sneferu Dashur 104 meters (341 feet)
2589
BC
Taharqa's pyramid at Nuri
65 meters (213 feet) (ruined)
c.
2612– *Would have been 91.65
Sneferu Meidum
2589 meters (301 feet) or 175
BC Egyptian Royal cubits.

c.
2589– 146.7 meters (481 feet) or 280
Khufu Giza
2566 Egyptian Royal cubits
BC
c.
2566– Abu
Djedefre 60 meters (197 feet)
2558 Rawash
BC
136.4 meters (448 feet)
c.
2558– *Originally: 143.5 m or 471
Khafre Giza
2532 feet or 274 Egyptian Royal
BC cubits

c.
2532– 65 meters (213 feet) or 125 Egyptian
Menkaure Giza
2504 Royal cubits
BC
c.
2494–
Userkaf Saqqara 48 meters (161 feet)
2487
BC
c.
2487–
Sahure Abusir 47 meters (155 feet)
2477
BC
c.
Neferirkare 2477–
Abusir 72.8 meters (239 feet)
Kakai 2467
BC
c.
Nyuserre 2416– 51.68 m (169.6 feet) or 99 Egyptian
Abusir
Ini 2392 Royal cubits
BC
c.
Amenemhat 1991–
Lisht 55 meters (181 feet)
I 1962
BC
Senusret I c. Lisht 61.25 meters (201 feet)
1971–
1926
BC
48.65 m (159.6 ft; 93 Egyptian Royal
c. cubits) or
1897– el-
Senusret II
1878 Lahun 47.6 m (156 ft; 91 Egyptian
BC Royal cubits)

c.
Amenemhat 1860–
Hawara 75 meters (246 feet)
III 1814
BC
c.
1764– 37.35 m (122.5 feet), now 1 m (3.3
Khendjer Saqqara
1759 feet)
BC
20 meters (66 feet) or
c. 721
Piye El-Kurru
BC 30 meters (99 feet)

40 meters (132 feet) or


c. 664
Taharqa Nuri
BC 50 meters (164 feet)

Construction techniques
Constructing the pyramids involved moving huge
quantities of stone. In 2013, papyri discovered at the
Egyptian desert near the Red Sea by archaeologist Pierre
Tallet revealed the Diary of Merer, an official of Egypt
involved in transporting limestone along the Nile River.
These papyri reveal processes in the building of the Great
Pyramid at Giza, the tomb of the Pharaoh Khufu, just
Drawing showing transportation of a colossus. The outside modern Cairo.[28]
water poured in the path of the sledge, long
dismissed by Egyptologists as ritual, but now Rather than overland transport of the limestone used in
confirmed as feasible, served to increase the building the pyramid, there is evidence—in the Diary of
stiffness of the sand, and likely reduced by 50% Merer and from preserved remnants of ancient canals and
the force needed to move the statue.[27] transport boats—that limestone blocks were transported
along the Nile River.[29] It is possible that quarried
blocks were then transported to the construction site by
wooden sleds, with sand in front of the sled wetted to reduce friction. Droplets of water created bridges
between the grains of sand, helping them stick together.[30]

See also
Pyramidion
Al Ahram (Arabic for "the pyramids"), name of Egyptian newspaper

List
List of Egyptian pyramids
List of megalithic sites

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29. Holloway, April. "Archaeologists Announce that New Discoveries Solve Mystery of How the
Great Pyramid Was Built" (https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/archaeolo
gists-announce-new-discoveries-solve-mystery-how-great-pyramid-was-021628). Ancient
Origins. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
30. "Solved! How Ancient Egyptians Moved Massive Pyramid Stones" (http://m.livescience.com/45
285-how-egyptians-moved-pyramid-stones.html). Live Science. Retrieved 26 February 2018.

Bibliography
Edwards, I. E. S., The Pyramids of Egypt Penguin Books Ltd; New edition (5 December 1991),
ISBN 978-0-14-013634-0
Lehner, Mark, The Complete Pyramids, Thames & Hudson, 1997, ISBN 978-0-500-05084-2
Mendelssohn, Kurt, The Riddle of the Pyramids, Thames & Hudson Ltd (6 May 1974),
ISBN 978-0-500-05015-6

External links
Ancient Egyptians from BBC History (https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians)
Pyramids World Heritage Site in panographies (https://web.archive.org/web/20131029213522/
http://www.whtour.org/86) – 360-degree interactive imaging
The Pyramids of Egypt (http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/pyramids_of_egypt/index.php) –
The meaning and construction of the Egyptian pyramids by Egyptologist Professor Nabil S
welim.
Ancient Authors (http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/digital_egypt/hawara/bibliography_old.html#her) –
A site that quotes descriptions of the "Labyrinth" of Amenemhet III's pyramid at el-Lahun by
various ancient authors.
Ancient Egypt – History & Chronology (http://www.narmer.pl/indexen.htm) – A site detailing the
major pyramid sites of ancient Egypt and Nubia (Sudan).

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