Chapter 14
In This Chapter
● Developing more impressive burials
● Clarifying the pyramid complex
● Outfitting pyramids with items for the afterlife
● Expanding the popularity of pyramids to non-royals
Pyramids are synonymous with ancient Egypt. Over the years, these structures have been the topic of many discussions and books - some of a somewhat dubious nature.
The function of pyramids changed over the years, with the Old and Middle Kingdom pyramids acting as tombs designed as imposing declarations of wealth and status, and the smaller New Kingdom pyramids used to surmount a tomb, but not functioning as burial places themselves.
The history of the development of pyramids is a long one, peppered by mistakes and miscalculations before the ‘true pyramid’ was achieved. Even after the Great Pyramid was built, pyramid structure did not remain static. New innovations appeared in an attempt to build a perfect monument, one that was better than the ancestors’ pyramids.
This chapter focuses on the development of these amazing structures during the course of more than 3,000 years of Egyptian history.
Defining the Shape
The shape of the pyramid had religious significance long before the pyramid structure itself.
So what exactly are they?
Researchers and historians now know that pyramids were tombs, even though some authors still dispute the fact. But for many centuries, people debated the function of these great monuments.
● Prior to the fifth century AD, the writer Julius Honorius believed the pyramids were granaries built by the biblical Joseph. This idea was also adopted by later Renaissance scholars.
● The Duc de Persigny (1808—1872 AD) tried to prove that the pyramids were screens against the desert sand to stop the Nile from silting up, although logically many more barriers would have been needed to create an
effective barrier. Along the same lines, Arab writers of a similar period thought the pyramids were built as places where people could seek protection from natural disasters.
● Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819-1900) wrote two books about the pyramids, which he believed enshrined God's plan for the universe. Through mathematical measurements, Smyth believed this divine plan would be revealed and spent a great deal of time trying to decipher it. Whether he succeeded is unknown, but people are still looking for the deeper meaning to these funerary monuments.
Piles of desert rubble were initially used to cover pit burials during the pre-dynastic period. Over time, these mounds became more elaborate and developed into superstructures (see Chapter 13) and eventually step pyramids. These heaps were believed to represent of the mound of creation, from which all life began. All life started on this mound, so it obviously possessed creative powers and helped the rebirth of the deceased (see Chapter 9 for further information on Egyptian religion).
The pyramidal shape is just a stylisation of the mound of creation and was called a benben. As time progressed, the benben became closely associated with the sun god. The solar connection of the pyramids can’t be denied - the shape was thought to resemble the rays of the sun, and the Pyramid Texts even refer to the pyramid as a ramp leading to the sky, enabling the dead king to join his ancestors, who became stars upon death.
Fitting in the Gaps: Achieving the True Pyramid Shape
After the development of step pyramids (see Chapter 13), the next, um, step necessary to create a true pyramid was for the Egyptians to fill in the steps with masonry. There were, however, a few errors in the process, resulting in some interesting-looking monuments.
Indiana Jones and the temple of Meidum
The first attempt at a true pyramid was at Meidum, just south of Cairo. You can visit and explore inside this pyramid today. The pyramid of Meidum was built by Sneferu, the first king of the fourth dynasty. The pyramid was originally built as a step pyramid with seven steps, but before the fifth step was completed, the whole structure was enlarged to eight steps.
All that is visible today are the top three steps, because the casing stones have been removed. It was initially believed that this pyramid collapsed during construction, but recent excavations have uncovered no evidence of bodies, tools, or ropes, which would all indicate that the structure was indeed completed.
The burial chamber of this pyramid is at desert level and is reached via an entrance in the centre of the north face, nearly 17 metres above the ground. The entrance passage descends into the pyramid, ending in a horizontal passage that then leads to a vertical shaft, which ascends to the burial chamber. Cedar beams embedded in the walls leading to this chamber may have been used to haul the sarcophagus up to the chamber, although the sarcophagus is no longer there. This shaft is ascended today by a rather rickety wooden staircase.
The burial chamber is not complete, and it seems that a burial did not take place here - although fragments of a wooden coffin were discovered in the burial chamber. Sneferu built another two pyramids at Dahshur and may have been buried in one of these.
Gotta Dahshur
Sneferu’s two pyramids at Dahshur are known as the Bent Pyramid and the Red or North Pyramid, which is only exceeded in size by the Great Pyramid at Giza. You can still visit these pyramids today.
Getting bent
The Bent Pyramid was built before the Red Pyramid and got its name from a bend half way up the structure, which was caused by a change in design that went wrong. The structure was initially built with an angle of 60 degrees (the true pyramid angle ranges from 72 to 78 degrees). While workers were building the pyramid, there was a problem with subsidence - the weight of the stone caused the foundations to sink into the ground. To counteract this, a girdle was built around the base, changing the slope at the base to 55 degrees. The top of the pyramid was completed with a 44-degree slope, creating a distinct bend in the centre, as you can see in Figure 14-1.
Figure 14-1: The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur
The Bent Pyramid is also unusual because it features two entrances, one in the north face and one in the south:
● The northern passage leads to a narrow chamber with a corbelled roof. The burial chamber, also with a corbelled roof, was directly above, probably reached by a ladder.
● The western passage leads through a series of portcullis blocking systems (vertical sliding blocks sealing the tunnel) to a second corbelled burial chamber.
Both of these burial chambers were for Sneferu as the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, with a chamber for each role. At a later date, the two chambers were connected by a passageway cut through the masonry, clearly by someone who knew the location of the two chambers - perhaps by some very sharp robbers.
The Bent Pyramid was abandoned because of weaknesses in the structure caused by the unsuitability of the desert plateau that the pyramid was built on. Sneferu was not to be put off though, and started the construction of the Red Pyramid.
In the red
The Red Pyramid is second in size only to the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza and was the first successful true pyramid. It gained its name from the colour of the exposed granite under the casing stones of limestone used to encase the pyramid. The capstone (also called the pyramidion or benberi) was representative of the mound of creation from which all creation started, and was made of a single block of limestone, which archaeologists discovered on the site. You can still visit this pyramid at the site of Dahshur.
The entrance to the pyramid is in the north face and leads to a 63-metre descending corridor, which ends in two corbelled antechambers. High up in the wall of the second chamber is a short, horizontal corridor, which leads to the 15-metre-tall corbelled burial chamber. This burial chamber is not subterranean and is almost in the centre of the superstructure. Some human remains were discovered in the burial chamber, although whether these belong to Sneferu is unknown.
Middle Kingdom Kings at Dahshur
Kings of the Middle Kingdom continued to use Dahshur as a royal burial ground. Senwosret III and Amenemhat III of the 12th dynasty built their pyramids here.
Senwosret Ill’s pyramid was built to the north-east of the Red or North Pyramid of Sneferu. The quality of construction had declined by this period (1878-1841 BC), and Senwosret Ill’s pyramid was made of irregular-sized mud bricks in stepped courses, which were then covered in limestone casing stones. The entrance to the pyramid is at ground level on the west side of the pyramid and leads to a sloping passageway, ending in a store room. The antechamber lies at a 90-degree angle to the store, which then leads to a burial chamber constructed of granite. There is a granite sarcophagus in the burial chamber. Despite the discovery of a few objects in the pyramid, researchers doubt whether Senwosret was buried here.
As with all pyramids, Senwosret Ill’s was part of a wider complex consisting of
● Seven pyramids for royal women
● A mortuary temple and causeway
● A further temple in the south
Senwosret Ill’s son and successor, Amenemhat III, followed in his father’s footsteps and built his pyramid at the same site. He also built his pyramid of mud brick with limestone casing blocks, all of which have since been removed for reuse. The son’s pyramid stood 75 metres high. There are two entrances to this pyramid on the east and west sides, and the pyramid is entered via staircases rather than ramps. These staircases lead to a combination of corridors and chambers, a layout more complicated than that of any other pyramid. The complex includes
Three burial chambers within the pyramid, one of which contains canopic equipment (see Chapter 10) of a queen named Aat, indicating she was buried here.
The burial chamber situated just east of the central axis housed a sarcophagus, although Amenemhat III was probably not buried here.
Several nearby underground chambers that feature a number of small chapels and a shrine.
Package tour - ancient style
One of the statue rooms of the funerary complex of Djoser at Saqqara contains graffiti showing the site was visited in later (but still ancient) periods as a tourist site. One of the inscriptions dates to the winter of year 47 of the reign of Ramses II. Two scribes of the treasury, the vizier and two brothers called Hednakht and Panakht, record their visit to the site.
The Great Pyramid of Giza was also visited as an ancient monument from the New Kingdom onwards, as attested by graffiti. Records note that Cleopatra took Mark Antony to the pyramids at Giza (they were already nearly 2,000 years old during her reign) on a romantic tour.
This structure was abandoned before completion because of unstable clay foundations and instability within the pyramid structure caused by the huge number of rooms it contains.
The Great Pyramid: Finalising the details
After the true pyramid was perfected by Sneferu at Dahshur, the next stage was to enlarge the structure, which is what Khufu did at the virgin site at Giza. The three main pyramids at Giza belong to Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura, all of the fourth dynasty (2613-2494 BC).
The Great Pyramid of Khufu (shown in Figure 14-2) - Khufu is the son of Sneferu - is 146 metres high and was originally encased in limestone blocks, each weighing 16 tonnes. The entrance is in the north face of the pyramid and was entered via a descending passage, which led to a subterranean chamber. Near the beginning of the passage is another passage that ascended to the grand gallery, which led to the burial chamber.
The burial chamber is constructed of red granite and has five stress-relieving chambers above it that take the weight of the pyramid. Exactly placed on the central axis of the pyramid is the red granite sarcophagus, which was put in the chamber before completion because the doorway is too narrow to take the large block of stone. The burial chamber is sealed by a series of portcullis-type blocks and plugging stones that block the entrance to the grand gallery.
At the base of the grand gallery is a horizontal passage, which leads to the so-called queen’s chamber and may have been a serdab (a chamber with a hole in the wall so that the statue can see out) designed to house the ka statue of the king (see Chapter 10). The burials of the bodies of the queens of Khufu took place in the three satellite pyramids to the east of the pyramid.
Figure 14-2: The Great Pyramid of Khufu, Giza
The pyramid complex was surrounded by a limestone wall standing 8 metres tall, enclosing a courtyard that could only be reached via the valley temple, causeway, and mortuary temple - all standard elements of the pyramid complex.
Following up one of the greats: Khafra's pyramid
The Great Pyramid was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - indeed, it is the only one still standing.
Khafra, the son of Khufu, had a difficult act to follow, but he still decided to build his pyramid alongside that of his father. Because he was unable to beat the monumental splendour of the Great Pyramid, Khafra built his pyramid on a higher area of the Giza plateau, giving it the appearance of being larger, although it is in fact smaller. Cunning, eh?
There are two entrances to the pyramid, one at ground level and the other 11.5 metres (38 feet) above ground level on the northern side of the pyramid. The lower passage descends to a small chamber (which may have functioned as a serdab) and a horizontal passage, which gradually ascends to meet the descending passage of the upper entrance. This horizontal passage then leads to the burial chamber.
The sarcophagus in the burial chamber is made of black granite. The sarcophagus did contain bones, which were later identified as those of a bull. The bones are thought to have been given as an offering to the king’s ka at a later date, after the body had been removed by robbers.
What a way to build a pyramid!
Herodotus records that Khufu was a bit of a tyrant, a reputation that the king has maintained for 4,000 years. While building his own pyramid,
Khufu was also constructing pyramids for burying his queens. However, due to the expense of such huge construction works, he forced his daughter to pay for her own pyramid. According to Herodotus:
Cheops (Khufu) moreover came, they said, to such a pitch of wickedness, that being in want of money he caused his own daughter to sit in the brothels, and ordered her to obtain from those who came a certain amount of money (how much it was they did not tell me): and she not only obtained the sum appointed by her father, but also she formed a design for herself privately to leave behind her a memorial, and she requested each man who came in to give her one stone upon her building: and of these stones, they told me, the pyramid was built which stands in front of the great pyramid in the middle of the three, each side being one hundred and fifty feet in length.
At one stone per sexual encounter, she would have been a very busy lady because there are probably more than 50,000 blocks used to build her pyramid!
Bringing up the rear: Menkaura's pyramid
The pyramid of Menkaura is the smallest of the three pyramids at Giza. The bottom courses are cased with granite, and limestone was used for the top. Granite was considered a superior building material, and clearly at this time size was not the primary concern. Although his pyramid was small, Menkaura increased the size of his mortuary and valley temples.
The internal structure of the pyramid is a complicated collection of descending ramps and chambers sealed by portcullis blocks. There were two burial chambers, one of which may be a serdab, and a sarcophagus was in the larger burial chamber. Within the sarcophagus was a wooden coffin with Menkaura’s name, although the coffin dates from the late period and the bones date to the Christian period, indicating that the sarcophagus had been reused at a later date.
Accessorising the Pyramids at Giza
Like any great outfit, a pyramid wasn’t complete without suitable accessories. Each Giza pyramid was part of a complex consisting of a number of buildings and elements, including
● Valley temple
● Mortuary temple
● Queens’ tombs
● Burial chambers - three for Khufu, one for Khafra, and three for Menkaura
Kliufu also went further and included boat pits, a sphinx, and a sphinx temple. The following sections examine the boat pits and sphinx; see Chapter 12 for more on the temple.
Sailing for eternity
Five full-size boat pits were constructed near the pyramid of Kliufu, two of which definitely contained boats. One has been opened and consisted of a 31- metre-long by 8-metre or so deep and 7-metre-wide pit covered with large stone blocks. A 43.5-metre-long boat, dismantled into 1,224 pieces, was placed within one of the pits. Luckily, because the pit remained watertight over the centuries, the boat survived and has been reconstructed and is now on display in the boat museum at Giza (see Figure 14-3).
Figure 14-3: Reconstructed boat from remains in the boat pit, Giza
Dreams of the sun god
The stela (curved top stone monument) between the feet of the sphinx is known as the Dream Stela and was set up by Thutmosis IV. Thutmosis IV slept near the sphinx and dreamt that the solar god spoke to him, legitimising his claim to the throne. The voice in the dream instructed Thutmosis IV to remove the sand that had covered the sphinx up to the neck. He recorded this on the stela between the sphinx's paws;
On one of these days it came to pass, that the king's son Tuthmosis, came, coursing at the time of mid-day, and he rested in the shadow of this great god. A vision of sleep seized him at the hour when the sun was at the zenith, and he found the majesty of this revered god speaking with his own mouth, as a father speaks with his son, saying; 'Behold me, see me, you, my son Thutmosis. lam your father Harmakhis-Kheperi-Ra-Atum who will give
to you my kingdom on earth at the head of the living. You shall wear the white crown [of Upper Egypt] and the red crown [of Lower Egypt] on the throne of the earth-god Geb... The land shall be yours in its length and in its breadth, that which the eye of the All-Lord [sun god] shines upon. The food of the two lands shall be yours, the great tribute from all countries, the duration of a long period of years. My face is yours, my desire is towards you. You shall be to me a protector for my manner is as if I were ailing in all my limbs. The sand of this desert upon which I am, has reached me; turn to me, to have that done which I have desired.'
Thutmosis IV removed the sand as the god requested and then ruled on the throne, indicating that he had pleased the sun god.
The entire boat was constructed using wooden pegs and ropes only. (The boat currently on display has a number of gaps between the planks of wood. The wood expanded when wet and sealed the holes, making the vessel watertight.)
Evidence suggests that the boat was used at least once, probably during the funeral of Khufu, as his body sailed from the east to the west bank of the Nile, The boat had ten oars, five down each side, a covered chamber that may have held the body of the dead king at the rear, and an open shrine at the front that may have displayed a ka statue of the king as part of the funerary procession.
Khufu, however, wasn’t the first king to include boat pits in the burial complex:
● King Khasekhemwy of the second dynasty had 12 boat pits surrounding his Abydos tomb. Each pit contained a boat.
● Unas of the fifth dynasty had boat pits, although these pits probably never contained any boats.
● Senwosret III had six boat pits at his pyramid at Dahshur. These boats were believed to have a solar connection. The sun god sailed in his solar bark through the afterlife, accompanied by the king.
Phew - what a sphinx!
The sphinx is another prominent feature of the Giza plateau and is an enduring symbol of ancient Egypt (shown in Figure 14-4). Although smaller sphinxes exist, the sphinx at Giza is the only one of this size and prominence in Egypt. It is situated at the end of the causeway leading to Khufu’s pyramid and was carved from the natural bedrock, which was of the right proportions and approximate shape (although, saying that, the body is in fact too long). The sphinx consists of a lion’s body with a human head, wearing the nemes headdress (the blue and gold headcloth) in place of the mane.
The lion was both a solar symbol and a symbol of the might and strength of the king. Having a human head on a lion’s body indicates that the power of the lion is governed by the intelligence and wisdom of the king. The position of the sphinx at the end of the causeway to the great pyramid suggests its function is that of guardian, as well as being a large monument representing the importance of the king.
Figure 14-4: The Sphinx, Giza
Evolving Further: Later Pyramids and Complexes
Over the centuries, kings continued to construct pyramids and surrounding complexes of tombs and temples.
Making up for shoddy workmanship: Unas at Sahara
The fifth-dynasty pyramid complex of Unas at Saqqara is not as well preserved as the pyramid of Djoser at the same site. Unas built his pyramid of mud brick, but it is still a perfect example of a fully developed Old Kingdom pyramid complex. The complex included all the elements that the king needed in the next life:
● A valley temple
● A causeway
● A pyramid
● Boat pits
This pyramid at Saqqara is the first to house the Pyramid Texts, carved on the walls of the burial chamber and antechamber. These texts described the following:
● Creation myths
● Myth of Osiris and Isis
● Myth of Horus and Seth
● How to survive death in the afterlife
The Pyramid Texts formed the basis for the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts and the New Kingdom Book of the Dead. See Chapter 10 for information on these funerary texts.
The causeway of Unas leading to the mortuary temple is particularly noteworthy. It shows unusual depictions of a famine, with graphic images of emaciated men, a woman rummaging in her hair for head lice in the vain attempt to find something to eat, and a child with a distended stomach begging for food.
This famine may not have taken place in Egypt, as such an event was unsuitable to record for eternity. Rather, the paintings depict a famine that affected the nomadic tribes in the surrounding desert. The appearance of some of the people is very un-Egyptian, and Egypt is represented as a wealthy and generous nation, coming the aid of these earliest refugees.
Jumping on the bandwagon: More Middle Kingdom pyramids
Pyramids continued to be used as tombs well into the Middle Kingdom. All the kings of the 12th dynasty had one, with complexes at Dahshur, El Lahun, and Hawara. Some kings of the Middle Kingdom had both a pyramid and a rock-cut tomb (see Chapter 13).
In the Middle Kingdom, the Faiyum region was very popular with royalty and nobles alike for the hunting of birds and other marshland wildlife. The popularity of the site saw the construction of a number of pyramid complexes situated at
● Lisht: Amenemhat I and Senwosret I of the 12th dynasty built pyramids here. Amenemhat’s complex includes a number of tomb shafts for the burials of the royal women. Senwosret’s complex also houses nine subsidiary pyramids of his queens.
● Lahun: A pyramid complex built by Senwosret II of the 12th dynasty. The foundation is built of a natural outcrop of limestone and the upper part is made of mud brick. There is a double enclosure wall around the pyramid with a number of queens’ shaft burials between the walls.
● Hawara: The pyramid here was built by Amenemhat III of the 12th dynasty and was part of a complex containing a labyrinthine building with lots of interconnecting winding corridors and dark chambers.
Growing popularity: Small pointed things
By the start of the New Kingdom (approximately 1540 BC), pyramids were no longer being used by the royal family, who were now buried in secretive rock-cut tombs. Pyramids were adopted for non-royal burials of wealthy people, albeit on a much smaller scale.
At Deir el Medina, the workmen constructed small, hollow, mud-brick pyramids over the tops of their subterranean tombs, which limited the weight that the tomb roof needed to support. The pyramidia at the top of these structures were made of limestone and were carved with images of the tomb owner.
From the 19th dynasty onwards in Nubia, small pyramids were attached to mortuary chapels built over a shaft burial beneath, combining the pyramid and the practical cult of making offerings of food and drink to the deceased. These pyramids have small bases and are tall, narrow structures.
The 26th dynasty (664-525 BC) saw the last development in pyramid evolution at Abydos and Thebes. These mud-brick pyramids have a domed interior and are similar to granaries or ovens. Attached to the side of the pyramid was a rectangular chamber, which led to the shaft burial beneath and was the focus of the funerary cult.
By this period, the 3,000-year evolution of the pyramid came to an end. These structures have remained a symbol of all things Egyptian, even though they were only a small aspect of the wider funerary beliefs.