The Red Pyramid in Dahshur

About

The Red Pyramid, also known as the North Pyramid, is the largest pyramid at Dahshur in Giza, Egypt. Named for the rusty red color of its red limestones, this pyramid is also the third largest Egyptian pyramid, after the Pyramids of Khufu and Chephren in Giza. It is also believed to have been the first successful Egyptian attempt to build a «royal» smooth-sided pyramid. Locals refer to the Red Pyramid as the «Bat Pyramid». red.

It was faced with white limestone from Tura, but few of these stones now remain at the base of the pyramid in the corner. During the Middle Ages, much of the white Tura limestone was used in buildings in Cairo, exposing the red limestone beneath.

Isnad al-Haram 

The reason for the attribution to Snefru was originally that the nearby necropolis contained only the tombs of that king’s officials. In addition, the judgment of King Pepi I found in the valley temple refers to the pyramid city of Snefru. This attribution can be confirmed, because in the area of ​​the associated temple a limestone block with remains of hieroglyphs was found at this point with the name of King Horus: Nebma’et (one of the royal titles of King Snofru)

Exploration 

The first description of the first two chambers of the pyramid comes from della Vallee when he visited the pyramid in the winter of 1615/1616. Edward Milton visited the Red Pyramid in 1660, as did the Bohemian Franciscan missionary Vaclav Remedios Protky in the 18th century. Map of the Dahshur pyramid field on a Lepsius map (north right!) Archaeological exploration of the Red Pyramid began with investigations by John Sherbering in 1839 and the Prussian Lepsius Expedition in 1843. From 1944, Abd al-Salam Husayn carried out a more detailed investigation and from 1951

History 

The first, the Meidum Pyramid at Meidum, collapsed in ancient times, while the second, the Leaning Pyramid of Sneferu, drastically changed its inclination angle from 54 to 43 degrees with construction. The result of this change was the slope of the curved pyramid, and the red pyramid then starts at a slope that is known to be less prone to instability and therefore less prone to catastrophic collapses

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The modern era

A corridor, 3 feet high and 4 feet wide, with a 27 degree drop over 200 feet to a short horizontal corridor leading into a room with a vaulted ceiling 40 feet (12 m) high and increasing ten degrees. At the southern end of the room, but facing west, another short horizontal corridor leads to the second room. This leads to a short horizontal corridor leading to the third and final room with a 50 15 m (ft) vaulted ceiling.

pyramid 

Using this angle of inclination, a height similar to that of the Leaning Pyramid of about 105 m (200 cubits) can be achieved by greatly increasing the length of the base to about 220 m (420 cubits). The pyramid is now in the mortuary area in front of the Red Pyramid and, like the pyramid cladding, is made of fine Torah limestone. This pyramid is steeper than the remaining remains of the Red Pyramid or the top of the older neighboring pyramid. from Sneferu (approx. 43 degrees) and is as steep as its bottom.

Infrastructure 

The entrance to the pyramid is on the north wall at a height of 28 meters and is offset 4 meters east of the central axis. The descending corridor descends 62.63 meters at an angle of 27 degrees to the base of the pyramid. From the south-west corner of the first antechamber, a 3 meter long corridor leads to the north-east corner of the second antechamber, which is located right in the middle of the pyramid. At a height of 7.6 meters on the south side of the chamber is the entrance to another 7 meter corridor leading to the royal burial chamber.

Pyramid Complex

Unlike other Fourth Dynasty pyramids, the Red Pyramid has no cult pyramid. This item may have been ruled out because the nearby Leaning Pyramid of Sneferu assumed its function as the symbolic southern tomb. The remains of the temple path have not been preserved. it has not yet been found, although it was certainly planned between the valley and the mortuary temple. However, this may not have been completed or even started. A larger brick building was found to the southeast of the complex, which appears to have housed workshops.

Remains of an oven were also found here

Perimeter wall 

During Stadelmann’s excavations, the remains of a mud building were found in the north-east corner of the pyramid, which was immediately adjacent to a wall also made of mud. Additional exploratory excavations may test the enclosing wall around the pyramid. .The distance between the wall and the pyramid varies on all four sides: 15 to 16 meters on the north and south sides, 19 meters on the west side and 26 meters on the east side. Unlike the wall of the curved pyramid, it is not square but slightly east to west.

Funerary temple

The mortuary temple was largely destroyed and only survived in the form of a few primitive ruins. It is not yet the size of the mortuary temples of the later pyramids. In the center of the temple was a place of sacrifice with a false door. in the internal structure. It is no longer possible to determine whether these chapels were independent buildings or whether they were combined with the inner courtyard and temple to form a building complex. The north and south courtyards of the temple contain circular depressions that may have once been used as pits for plants or offerings.

Valley Temple

During agricultural work in the spring of 1904, remains of a 100 m by 65 m limestone enclosing wall were discovered. In the south-east corner of the walls there was a memorial stele with a decree from the pharaoh Pepi I Ludwig Borchardt, who secured the stele containing the find on the wall surrounding the pyramid city. According to Stadelmann, it is the area surrounding the Valley Temple, since the walls of the pyramid cities (except Giza) were made of mud brick. The wall found, with a thickness of 3.65 square meters, is made of yellow limestone and the white facades sloping on both sides correspond to the sacred architecture.