The
Red Pyramid, also called the
North Pyramid is the largest of the three major
pyramidA pyramid is a building where the outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least four faces...
s located at the
DahshurDahshur , is a royal necropolis located in the desert on the west bank of the Nile approximately 40 kilometres south of Cairo...
necropolisA necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, meaning "city of the dead"...
. Named for the light crimson hue of its exposed granite surface, it is also the third largest Egyptian pyramid, after those of Khufu and
KhafraKhafra, or Khafre *ḫāʕaf-riʕu), was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, who had his capital at Memphis. According to some authors he was the son and successor of Khufu, but it is more commonly accepted that Djedefre was Khufu's successor and Khafra was Djedefre's...
at
GizaGiza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau: the site of some of the most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and a number of other large pyramids...
. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest man-made structure in the world. It is also believed to be the world's first successful attempt at constructing a "true" smooth-sided pyramid.
The Red Pyramid was not always red.
The
Red Pyramid, also called the
North Pyramid is the largest of the three major
pyramidA pyramid is a building where the outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least four faces...
s located at the
DahshurDahshur , is a royal necropolis located in the desert on the west bank of the Nile approximately 40 kilometres south of Cairo...
necropolisA necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, meaning "city of the dead"...
. Named for the light crimson hue of its exposed granite surface, it is also the third largest Egyptian pyramid, after those of Khufu and
KhafraKhafra, or Khafre *ḫāʕaf-riʕu), was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, who had his capital at Memphis. According to some authors he was the son and successor of Khufu, but it is more commonly accepted that Djedefre was Khufu's successor and Khafra was Djedefre's...
at
GizaGiza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau: the site of some of the most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and a number of other large pyramids...
. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest man-made structure in the world. It is also believed to be the world's first successful attempt at constructing a "true" smooth-sided pyramid.
The Red Pyramid was not always red. It used to be cased with white Tura limestone, but only a few of these now remain at the pyramid's base on the corner. During the Middle Ages much of the white Tura limestone was taken for buildings in
CairoCairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab World. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life...
, revealing the reddish pinkish limestone.
History
It was the third pyramid built by
Old KingdomThe Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley .The...
PharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt. This was true only during the New Kingdom, specifically during the middle of...
SneferuSneferu, also spelled as Snefru or Snofru , was the founder of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. Estimates of his reign vary, with for instance The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt suggesting a reign from around 2613 BC to 2589 BC, a reign of 24 years while Rolf Krauss suggests a 30 year reign and...
, and is located approximately one kilometer to the north of the
Bent PyramidThe Bent Pyramid, located at the royal necropolis of Dahshur, approximately 40 kilometres south of Cairo, of Old Kingdom Pharaoh Sneferu, is a unique example of early pyramid development in Egypt, about 2596 BCE...
. It is built at the same shallow 43 degree angle as the upper section of the Bent Pyramid, which gives it a noticeably squat appearance compared to other Egyptian pyramids of comparable scale. Construction began during the thirtieth year of Sneferu's reign, and John Romer believes that based on graffiti associated with the pyramid it took ten years and seven months to build.
Archaeologists speculate its design may be an outcome of engineering crises experienced during the construction of
SneferuSneferu, also spelled as Snefru or Snofru , was the founder of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. Estimates of his reign vary, with for instance The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt suggesting a reign from around 2613 BC to 2589 BC, a reign of 24 years while Rolf Krauss suggests a 30 year reign and...
's two earlier pyramids. The first of these, the Pyramid at
MeidumLocated about 100km south of modern Cairo, Meidum or Maidum is the location of a large pyramid, and several large mud-brick mastabas.-Pyramid:...
, collapsed in antiquity, while the second — the
Bent PyramidThe Bent Pyramid, located at the royal necropolis of Dahshur, approximately 40 kilometres south of Cairo, of Old Kingdom Pharaoh Sneferu, is a unique example of early pyramid development in Egypt, about 2596 BCE...
— had the angle of its inclination dramatically altered — from 54 to 43 degrees — part-way through construction.
Some archaeologists now believe that the Meidum pyramid was the first attempt at building a smooth-sided pyramid, and that it may have collapsed when construction of the Bent Pyramid was already well underway — and that the pyramid may by then have already begun to show alarming signs of instability itself, as evidenced by the presence of large timber beams supporting its inner chambers. The outcome of this was the change in inclination of the Bent Pyramid, and the commencement of the later Red Pyramid at an inclination known to be less susceptible to instability and therefore less susceptible to catastrophic collapse.
Modern day
"The Red Pyramid" is 105 m high (345 feet). A rare
pyramidionA pyramidion is the uppermost piece or capstone of an Egyptian pyramid in archaeological parlance. They were called benbenet in the Ancient Egyptian language, which associated the pyramid as a whole with the sacred benben stone...
, or capstone, for the Red Pyramid has been uncovered and reconstructed, and is now on display at Dahshur — however whether it was actually ever used is unclear, as its angle of inclination differs from that of the pyramid it was apparently intended for.
The Red Pyramid is one of the very few Egyptian pyramids to which members of the general public can gain comparatively unregulated interior access. An entrance high on the north side gives access to a 200 foot (62m) long passage that is inclined downwards at an angle of around 27°. The passage itself measures only approximately three feet (91cm) in height and approximately four feet (1.23m) in breadth. At the bottom of the passage is a short corridor leading to the first chamber which rises to a height of 40 feet (12.3m). It boasts a fine eleven-course corbel-vaulted ceiling. At the southern end of the chamber another short corridor leads to the second chamber, which has similar dimensions to the first and also features a corbelled ceiling. This chamber lies directly beneath the apex of the pyramid. A wooden staircase of modern construction at the southern end of this chamber leads to a third and final chamber, which is believed to be the burial chamber. This also features a corbelled ceiling rising to around 15 m (50 feet). Local residents refer to the Red Pyramid as
el-haram el-watwat, meaning the Bat Pyramid.
Further reading
- Verner, Miroslav, "The Pyramids Their Archaeology and History", Atlantic Books, 2001, ISBN 1-84354-171-8
See also
- World's tallest free standing structure on land
- Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt, and is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that survives substantially intact...
- List of Egyptian pyramids
- List of megalithic sites
External links