Location: 40 km South of Cairo Map
Open: 8am- 4pm Oct- Apr
8am- 5pm May- Sep
8am- 3pm during Ramadan
Dahshur Archaeological Site is an ancient archeological site located 40 km South of Cairo in Egypt. The unique architecture of pyramids presented here made this site an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The most notable structures of the site is Bent (South) Pyramid and Red (North) Pyramid that were constructed during rule of Sneferu of the 4th dynasty. These magnificent tombs are easily accessed by roads. You have to take in consideration that hiking around a desert carries its dangers. Take plenty of water with you, cover your head and take plenty of sun screen if you don't want to burn under unforgiving Saqqara sun.
Following the first Meidum pyramid project, the construction of the Dahshur pyramids during the reign of Snefru was an extremely important learning experience for the Egyptians. It enabled them to acquire the knowledge and the know-how necessary to pass from a step pyramid, such as that of Djoser, to a pyramid with smooth faces. Ultimately, the breadth of their experience will enable them to build the Great Pyramid of Giza, the last of the Seven Wonders of Antiquity still standing today.
The Egyptian Bent Pyramid is the southern of the two great
pyramids at Dahshur and differs from all other Egyptian pyramids
because of its unique shape caused by construction problems. She
was born around 2650 BC. Built under Pharaoh Snofru, the first
king of the 4th dynasty. This pyramid is the first structure
designed from the ground up as a real pyramid, although Snofru
was already busy building a tomb in the form of a step pyramid
at the Meidum pyramid. It is the fourth largest Egyptian
pyramid. In contrast to all other pyramids, the outer cladding
has been largely preserved here. This pyramid was probably not
used for burial, but only as a cenotaph or place of worship,
since the Red Pyramid was another real pyramid that was built as
a tomb for Snofru. In July 2019, the Bent Pyramid was opened to
the public for the first time since 1965.
As early as the
17th century, European travelers to Egypt such as Robert
Huntington, Richard Melton and Richard Pococke described the
unusually shaped pyramid in their travelogues. The pyramid
complex was first systematically examined by John Shae Perring
in September 1839. Karl Richard Lepsius in the 19th century and
Flinders Petrie in the early 20th century also dealt with the
building. After 1945, Abdel Salam Hussain and Alexandre Viarille
conducted research, but the documentation did not survive. A
fundamental investigation did not take place until the early
1950s under Ahmed Fakhry. Research by Vito Maragioglio and
Celeste Rinaldi, Josef Dorner and by the German Archaeological
Institute in Cairo under the direction of Rainer Stadelmann
followed around 1980.
The Bent Pyramid was begun by King
Sneferu in the 15th year of his reign as a second tomb after the
completion of his step pyramid at Meidum. As a location, he
chose a new necropolis near today's Dahshur. The reason he
started building a second pyramid is not known, but may have to
do with moving the capital. The new structure was the first
pyramid planned from the beginning as a real pyramid, although
it could not be completed as such due to construction problems.
The location of the structure called Apparition of Snofru -
South Pyramid is a desert plateau, the subsoil of which consists
of relatively soft argillaceous slate slabs. The pyramid was
built in the hitherto unused area of roughly hewn blocks
quarried from the local limestone. Gaps in the masonry were
filled with boulders and rubble and in some cases with plaster
of paris.
First construction phase
In the first
construction phase, a steep pyramid with a base length of 157 m
and an inclination angle of about 58° (possibly even 60°) was
planned. If the pyramid had been completed in this form, it
would have reached a height of about 125 m. The pyramid was
built in this form using the technique of inclined layers that
had been tried and tested in step pyramids to date. While this
technique improved the stability of the step pyramids, in which
the substructure lay under the pyramid, it led to massive
problems with this pyramid, since the inclined positions
increased the pressure on the inside of the pyramid and in the
chambers and in the pyramid body corridors led to stability
problems, cracks and even a risk of collapse. In this phase, the
building was probably only half bricked up when the stability
problems became evident. Due to the good overall degree of
preservation of the pyramid, this first construction phase can
only be indirectly verified by misalignments at about 12.70 m
from the entrance in the lower descending passage and at about
11.60 m in the upper descending passage.
Second
construction phase
To improve stability, the builders reduced
the angle of inclination to 54°. For this purpose, an
approximately 15.70 m wide belt was built around the pyramid of
the first construction phase. This increased the base length to
188 m. Here, too, inclined wall layers were used. If the slope
angle of 54° had been maintained, it would have reached a height
of 129.4 m and a volume of about 1,524,000 cubic meters. The
Bent Pyramid would thus be the third tallest pyramid in the
world, but would still be behind the Red Pyramid (1,694,000
cubic meters) in volume, so even then it would only be the
fourth tallest pyramid in Egypt. However, since the construction
problems could not be solved by the measures, the construction
was stopped at a height of 49 m. The masonry of this phase is
faced with fine Tura limestone.
Third construction phase
In the third phase of construction,
the angle was reduced to 43° and the masonry, just like in the
Red Pyramid, was laid in horizontal layers, resulting in a
depressurization of the interior. This created the unique kink
that is not found in any other pyramid. Due to the lower angle
of inclination of the upper part, the total height was reduced
to 105 m. The total volume was 1,440,808 cubic meters. The upper
section is also faced with fine Tura limestone.
construction problems
The pyramid was built on a soft
argillaceous slate subsoil, unlike most others on solid rocky
subsoil. This was probably done to facilitate substructure work
as the slate was easier to excavate. However, the subsoil
offered insufficient support for the stone masses of the
pyramid, and subsidence occurred, which was shown by cracks in
the masonry of the pyramid and in particular the passages and
chambers. Combined with the problems caused by the
inward-sloping masonry, this apparently led to doubts about the
stability and thus the suitability of the structure as a tomb.
At first an attempt was made to cover up cracks in the walls of
the corridors with plaster mortar, later wooden beams were
attached as supports in the chambers. Apparently the quality of
the building was not good enough for the king's burial, which
presumably led him to commission another monument, the Red
Pyramid, a little further north. At the same time he operated
the conversion of the Meidum pyramid to a real pyramid. The Bent
Pyramid itself was completed with a reduced temple program and
probably took over the function of a cult pyramid for the Red
Pyramid to the north.
The substructure
The interior of
the Bent Pyramid is unique in that two entrances to two separate
burial chambers were created here, which are connected by a
subsequently created corridor.
Lower chamber system
An
entrance is in the middle of the north side, about 11.80 m above
ground level. During the first construction phase, the entrance
was about 6 m high. A 25° steep, 74 m long, 1.05 m high and 1.10
m wide passage descends to an antechamber which is already
underground. The dimensions of the antechamber are 5.40 m long
and 12.60 m high with a corridor width of only 1.10 m. The
ceiling of the antechamber is formed by a corbelled vault made
of massive limestone blocks.
A steep and narrow staircase
leads to the actual lower main chamber at a height of 6.50 m.
This also has a ceiling made of corbels and is therefore 17.20 m
high with a floor area of 4.96 m × 6.30 m. There is no
evidence that this chamber was ever used for burial. On the
southern side of the corbel vault, the passage leading to the
upper chamber system opens at a height of about 12 m. A short
passage opens into a vertical shaft, which lies exactly on the
axis of the pyramid. This shaft is usually referred to as a
"chimney". The shaft ends at the top with a small corbelled
vault. A few meters above the short entrance to the shaft there
is also a small corbelled vault for pressure relief, which is
open to the lower main chamber.
Upper chamber system
The second entrance is at a height of 33.32 m on the west side.
A 67.66 m long passage leads downwards. At the end of the
sloping passage is a small pit, which may have been used to keep
rainwater out during construction. On the last section in front
of the upper burial chamber, the now horizontal, approximately
20 m long corridor is provided with two barriers.
The
locking systems are unique in that they consisted of chambers
with an inclined plane on which the locking stone could slide
into position rather than the usual falling stone dams. Between
the two barrier systems is a shaft the full width of the
corridor. Like all chambers, the quarry stone chambers are
provided with corbelled vaults. The exterior of the two locking
systems was locked. The barrier stone is still in position
today, but is pierced with a rectangular opening. The inner
locking mechanism was never closed. Its locking stone is still
held in the open position by a wooden beam.
This burial chamber measures 7.97 m × 5.26 m and is 16.50 m high
due to the vault that cantilevers on all sides. The upper
chamber appears to have never been completed, as the masonry was
left rough and not smoothed. Cracks in the chamber and corridor
walls were lined with plaster. One of the blocks walled up in
the burial chamber showed construction worker graphics with the
name of Sneferu, which clearly assigned the pyramid.
A
sarcophagus was not found, but the lower part of the chamber was
bricked up and remains of cedar beams were found. Vito
Maragioglio and Celeste Rinaldi took the view that the lining
was either a base for a coffin, or should serve as a sarcophagus
substitute for a wooden coffin. According to Rainer Stadelmann,
both the masonry and the beams may have served to prepare for
the smoothing of the corbel vault or to support the chamber
against an impending collapse.
Stadelmann suspects that
the western entrance was only planned during construction, since
subsidence problems in the lower chamber system were possibly
already struggling at that time. Thus, the "fireplace" should
have represented the originally planned entrance to the burial
chamber
The corridor of the upper chamber system was
closed until the 1950s and could only be reached through the
connecting corridor from the lower chamber system. It was only
opened to the outside of the pyramid during the exploration at
that time.
Connecting corridor
Both burial chambers
are connected by a 0.74 m wide and 0.92 m high slightly winding
sloping tunnel that started between the barriers in front of the
upper chamber and ended high in the corbel vault of the lower
chamber. This corridor was only subsequently hewn into the
masonry and is evidence of a precise knowledge of the location
of the chambers. It was probably intended to connect the upper
corridor system with the chimney shaft of the lower system.
Apparently, this shaft was just missed and the corridor ended in
the upper corbel vault of the lower main chamber.
The Red Pyramid, also known as the North Pyramid, is the largest
of the pyramids in the Dahshur Necropolis. It owes its name to
the reddish color of the rock from which its unclad core was
built. It is about as high and almost as old as the Bent Pyramid
two kilometers to the south. After this South Pyramid, the North
Pyramid of Dahshur was the third great pyramid built for King
Sneferu (Pharaoh c. 2670-2620 BC) during the 4th Dynasty of the
Old Kingdom and probably served as his tomb. With it, a real
geometric pyramid, planned as such from the beginning, was
completed for the first time. The Red Pyramid is the third
largest of the ancient Egyptian pyramids and even surpasses the
Pyramid of Chephren in its base dimensions.
Pietro della
Valle provided the first description of the first two chambers
of the pyramid during his visit to the pyramid in the winter of
1615/1616. Edward Melton visited the red pyramid in 1660, as did
the Bohemian Franciscan missionary Václav Remedius Prutký in the
18th century. Robert Wood, James Dawkins and Giovanni Battista
Borra carried out a first survey in 1750, but could not reach
the burial chamber because they did not have a suitable ladder.
Archaeological research into the Red Pyramid began with the
investigations of John Shae Perring in 1839 and the Prussian
Lepsius Expedition in 1843. Richard Lepsius cataloged the
pyramid under number XLIX (49) in his pyramid list. This was
followed by investigations by Flinders Petrie and George
Reisner. From 1944 more detailed research was carried out by
Abdulsalam Hussein and from 1951 by Ahmed Fakhry. However, these
works have not been published. However, a thorough, systematic
investigation was not carried out until 1982 by Rainer
Stadelmann.
The pyramid complex was in a restricted
military zone until the mid-1990s and is currently the site of
several excavations. A workers' settlement of the builders and a
necropolis were found in the district.
The attribution to
Snofru originally arose from the fact that the nearby necropolis
only includes graves of officials under Snofru. Furthermore, a
decree of King Pepi I found in the Valley Temple refers to the
pyramid city of Sneferus. This assignment could be confirmed
because in the area of the mortuary temple cladding stones
were found that bear inscriptions, including the king's name
Sneferus. A limestone block with remains of hieroglyphs was also
found there, which can be added to the Horus name Snofrus,
"Neb-maat" (nb-m3ˁ.t).
Construction of the pyramid
probably began in the 29th or 30th year of the reign of Sneferu
(about 2640 BC). This is supported by a hieratic inscription on
one of the foundation blocks, which refers to the year of the
15th cattle census, which was probably carried out every two
years under Snofru. The most recent found inscription of the
construction period refers to the 24th year of the cattle
census. This made it the third great pyramid erected for this
pharaoh. At the time construction began, the step pyramid in
Meidum was already completed as an eight-step pyramid. The Bent
Pyramid was also largely completed in Dahshur, but it showed
serious structural defects that made it undesirable to use it as
a royal tomb.
Apparently, the first construction work for
another great pyramid in Dahshur was started when the Bent
Pyramid was still being built next to it; parallel to this, the
expansion of the step pyramid into a non-stepped,
smooth-surfaced pyramid was carried out in Meidum. The problems
that arose during the construction of the Bent Pyramid were
taken into account in the new construction project in a number
of ways. A building site further north with a more stable
subsoil was chosen, a building with a flatter angle of
inclination was planned and the building was constructed using
adapted masonry technology so that problems with cracks in the
masonry no longer occurred. In addition, no tunnel system was
laid underground.
The pyramid rests on a foundation of
several layers of high quality Tura limestone. The core of the
pyramid, on the other hand, consists of reddish limestone blocks
that were extracted from quarries in the immediate vicinity of
the pyramid. The current name of the Red Pyramid comes from the
coloring of this material. Inscriptions with dates were found on
several blocks of the built material. Based on the information
found, it can be concluded that about a fifth of the pyramid was
erected within two years, assuming that the cattle census took
place every two years. However, the two-year cycle of the
livestock census is not without controversy.
The pyramid was built using the improved techniques used for the
top part of the Bent Pyramid. The stone layers were now
horizontal from the start, so that the pressure inside the
pyramid – which had led to cracks and the danger of the chambers
inside the Bent Pyramid collapsing – was not increased. As for
their upper side surfaces, the angle of inclination has now been
set to less than 44°. John Perring gives it as 43° 36′ 11″,
based on the surviving stones of the cladding, with a base
measurement of the equivalent of 219.3 m and a height of 104.4
m.
This angle determined by Perring corresponds to an
ancient Egyptian angle specification of 7.35 seconds, i.e. a
tangent of 7/7.35 (= 20/21). With this angle of inclination, a
height comparable to the Bent Pyramid of about 105 m (200 royal
cubits) could be achieved by significantly increasing the base
length to about 220 m (420 royal cubits). The side faces of the
pyramidal core have a slightly concave kink running up from the
center of the base. This should possibly improve the stability
of the fairing mounted on it. In contrast to the previous
buildings, the pyramid was completed without any changes to the
plan.
In 1982 R. Stadelmann discovered the fragments of a
pyramidion in the rubble of Dahshur in front of the east side of
the pyramid. The reassembled and restored pyramidion is now set
up in the area of the mortuary temple in front of the Red
Pyramid and, like the cladding of the pyramid, consists of fine
Tura limestone. It was carved from a monolithic block and
measures 3 king cubits (about 1.57 m) at its base, the not quite
equal angle of inclination of the sides is about 54°. This
pyramidion is therefore steeper than the remains of the Red
Pyramid or the upper part of the neighboring older Bent Pyramid
(around 43°) and about as steep as the lower part. There are no
inscriptions on the stone, nor any indication of the attachment
of metal sheets which, according to Herodotus, are said to have
been at the tops of the pyramids.
All the corridors and
chambers of the Red Pyramid are above the base of the pyramid in
the brick core. It is the first and only pyramid that does not
have any underground passages. The reason may lie in the king's
increasing identification with the sun god Re, but for purely
practical reasons it is also conceivable that work on the
pyramid could be accelerated by doing without subterranean
components. Although the chambers are above ground, they are
walled up on a shallow excavation about 10 m deep.
The
entrance to the pyramid is on the north wall at a height of 28 m
and is shifted 4 m from the central axis to the east. The
descending corridor descends 62.63 m at an angle of 27° to the
base of the pyramid. This corridor is only 3 feet high and 4
feet wide. At the foot of the descending passage is a short
shaft, presumably intended to prevent rainwater from entering
the chambers during construction. From there a short horizontal
passage leads to the first antechamber. Fallsteinsperre are not
available.
The two antechambers have identical
dimensions. With a length of 8.36 m and a width of 3.65 m, the
eleven-tiered corbelled ceiling rises to a height of 12.31 m.
Pyramid. From the south-west corner of the first antechamber, a
3 m long corridor leads to the north-east corner of the second
antechamber, which is located exactly in the middle of the
pyramid. At a height of 7.6 m, on the south side of the chamber,
is the entrance to another 7 m long corridor, which leads to the
actual burial chamber. The wooden staircase in the second
antechamber is a modern construction to allow visitors to enter
the burial chamber.
The actual burial chamber has the
dimensions 8.55 m × 4.18 m and a height of 14.67 m. In contrast
to the two antechambers, it is oriented in an east-west
direction, which was an innovation in pyramid construction.
Remains of a sarcophagus have not been found.
The chamber was severely damaged by grave robbers, and several layers of floor stones were torn out. The ceiling and walls are blackened with soot, which may be the result of torches and possible burning of the wooden sarcophagus by the grave robbers. When Perring reopened the chamber, it was partially walled up with limestone, which probably came from a restoration of the Ramesside period. When Hussein cleared the chamber in 1950, both the brickwork and loose stones of the flooring were removed and lost undocumented. Follow-up investigations by Stadelmann were unable to provide any more information about the remains of the original chamber contents.
The pyramid of Amenemhat II, also called "white pyramid" because of its limestone facing, is of the smooth-faced type. The monument was excavated in 1894 and 1895 by Jacques de Morgan. The complex is heavily ruined and little or nothing remains of the pyramid. Only part of the access corridor remains, the entrance to which was located to the north, and the underground apartments. The enclosure and the funerary temple have left some traces but the temple in the valley has never been found. This set acquired a certain celebrity thanks to the "treasure of Dahshur" discovered by Jacques de Morgan in the tombs of the princesses Ita, Itaoueret and Sithathormeret, tombs dating from the end of the XIIth dynasty and located in the enclosure to the west of the pyramid.
The smooth-faced type pyramid of Sesostris III was erected during the 12th dynasty. It is located northeast of the red pyramid. Discovered by John Shae Perring, it was successively excavated by Lepsius, Maspero, de Morgan and more recently Arnold. The discoveries of Jacques de Morgan have remained famous under the name of the Dahshur treasure and represent, among other things, magnificent jewels discovered in the galleries of the queens. Due to a caused explosion, the pyramid now has the appearance of a hill with a huge crater in its center. The difference between its pyramid and the one around it is that King Sesostris III had tombs and galleries built there for two princesses, Sit-Hathor and Merit.
The pyramid of Amenemhat III, also called the "black pyramid", is part of the first pyramid complex that Pharaoh Amenemhat III had built, before choosing another site in Hawara for his second pyramid which served as his burial place. Endowed with a remarkably complex infrastructure, the pyramid delivered one of the most beautiful pyramids that have come down to us. The monument was explored and identified for the first time in the 19th century by Jacques de Morgan. An in-depth study was then carried out by Dieter Arnold between 1976 and 1983.
The pyramid of Ameni Kemaou is of the "smooth-faced" type and is
located in Dahchour. It was discovered by Charles Arthur Musès
in 1957 and excavated by Ahmad Fakhri. Almost nothing remains of
the superstructure. In addition, the infrastructures, still in
place, are typical of the pyramids of the end of the XIIth
dynasty and of the XIIIth dynasty. The vault was cut in a
monolithic block of quartzite so as to receive the body of the
pharaoh who was very probably buried there, judging by the
presence of human fragments. The looters left the box of canopic
jars bearing the pharaoh's title.
2017 anonymous pyramid
In 2017, archaeological excavations revealed the remains of the
internal structure of an ancient 3,700-year-old pyramid, the
anonymous pyramid of 2017, probably from the XIIIth dynasty. The
discovery has been confirmed by the Egyptian Ministry of
Antiquities. Egyptian researchers have found a corridor that
leads inside the pyramid, which is still in "good condition".
Excavations will continue to discover the rest of the
archaeological site.
The necropolises
Between the two
pyramids of Snefrou is an Old Kingdom necropolis, formed of
great mastabas of the courtiers of the reign, who received the
privilege of having their tomb built near that of their
sovereign. Three sons of Snefru also built their mastaba at
Dahshur: Kanefer (mastaba no 28 in the southern part of the
sector east of the red pyramid, Iynefer (mastaba east of the
rhomboidal pyramid and Netjeraperef (mastaba II/1 in central
Dashur).
The site also includes mastabas from this Middle
Kingdom dynasty, including those of three of Sesostris III's
viziers, Sobekemhat, Khnumhotep and Nebit.