Sneferu, the greatest ever pyramid builder.
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Sneferu ruled Egypt from 2613-2589 and was the first pharaoh of the fourth dynasty. He went down in history as the man who built 3 pyramids, the “Meidum Pyramid”, the “Bent Pyramid” and the “Red Pyramid”. Unfortunately, the first two presented Sneferu and Neferma’at, his eldest son, vizier and architect, with big problems but to their credit, they had a third attempt and constructed the Red Pyramid. This was the first “true pyramid” with straight sides and a square base. When people refer to a pyramid, this is what is envisaged.
What can I see when I visit the Meidum Pyramid?
I have visited the Bent Pyramid and the Red pyramid but I did not have time to visit the Meidum Pyramid. The history of this pyramid is that Sneferu ordered, Neferma’at to build the greatest ever tomb, far more impressive than Djoser’s Step Pyramid, built about 70 years earlier. Dojoser’s Step Pyramid had 6 steps and was 205 feet high. Sneferu demanded 8 steps which would rise to 305 feet. To get to and remain in the “Afterlife”, Sneferu needed to be remembered and have his name used for eternity. Such a large and stunning pyramid would surely deliver his goal. It was decided to locate his pyramid at Meidum, 65 km to the south of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. It was conceived as a giant resurrection machine, that when it worked would take Sneferu to the Afterlife and, in turn, would then facilitate his people to get there too upon their death.
Above; Loretta’s impression of the Meidum Pyramid.
Today, only the core of the pyramid remains. Originally, it was 305 feet tall but today, it remains only reach 230 feet. Unfortunately, after it had collapsed over the next 3 1/3 thousand years and in the medieval period, its exterior stones were taken and re-used for Mosques, castles and other major building projects.
The question is, why did Sneferu abandon his first pyramid? Sneferu decided, when it was near completion, that it was inadequate and now he wanted to have a pyramid with smooth, flat sides ie a “true pyramid”. This was a revolutionary idea. Professor Bob Briers in his History of Ancient Egypt Lecture 8 points out that they did try to fill in the steps with white limestone but it didn’t work. The theory he uses is that the limestone blocks kept slipping and so eventually, Sneferu gave up and concentrated on his next pyramid at Dasher.
It is thought that the Meidum pyramid was designed with 7 steps shown by the dark blue line, but was altered to 8 steps (the red line). The black outline shows its goal of a smooth sided pyramid which unfortunately came crashing down.
2.What can I see when I visit a Dahshur?
Twenty-eight miles to the north of Meidum, at Dahshur, Sneferu built two more pyramids, the “Bent” or “Blunt”, Pyramid and the “Red” Pyramid. Whilst beginning his new pyramid, the Bent Pyramid, he continued to construct the Meidum pyramid and so now he had doubled the scale of production. This meant he needed more workers in every sphere of construction and more food and drink for all of the workers! This new pyramid was to be a true, flat sided limestone covered from the start but another requirement was soon added. Sneferu wanted a a burial chamber inside the pyramid and not underground. He wanted to be very different from all of predecessors and this was a good idea. He was worried about tomb robbers and that his mummy might be desecrated and thus he would not be able to get to the afterlife or stay in it! An inaccessible vault with some blocked passages would improve his chances of eternal life. However, there was a big problem with this new idea, the ceiling of the burial chamber seemed impossible to build without it caving in. If they simply put a slab across the top it would not be strong enough and the weight of all the stone above it would come crashing down through the slab. Their solution was to build what was called a corbelled ceiling. The ceiling would be a kind of arch but with blocks over lapping towards each other: ie each successive block has been placed slightly closer to the centre and the gap between each side progressively lessens. See the photos below of the inside of the Red Pyramid to illustrate this technique. This would have to be a very high ceiling but the downward force would go down the sides and the ceiling and sides would not come crashing down. They also used cedar wood from the Lebanon (no forests grew in Egypt) to bolster up the walls in the Bent Pyramid.
Above; A weak corner of the bent pyramid. Some Eghyptologists suggest that the corners were built on sand which was too weak to sustain the weight.
Above; The red arrow points at the facing stone that has been carefully shaped to impress. Much of the stone facia still remains in place. The green arrow shows that the stones were positioned to slope inwards and hold their place.
Above and the next 3 photos below show the inside of the Bent pyramid. Photos courtesy of Walk My world .com (the task was too difficult for us, but not our son, Joe and his partner, Cat)
Unfortunately, this period too developed unsurmountable problems. The initial degree of the original sides was 60 degrees. This was deemed too steep half way through the construction because the sides were seen as unstable. A casing was put around the outside making the sides now 54 degrees and this too had cracks developing and so the top half of the pyramid was at a reduced angle of 43 degrees. The pyramid was completed at this angle but if you look at it now you can see that the corners have subsided! On the plus side, this was now the tallest building in the world. The Meidum pyramid was 305 ft but Sneferu’s second pyramid was now 344 ft tall. Another plus is that today, it still has about 70 % of its casing stone. However, Sneferu was not content with this solution to preserve his pyramid, he wanted actual straight, flat sides and so he asked for a third pyramid to be built. This is what we call today the Red Pyramid.
The Red Pyramid
Sneferu’s final pyramid, the Red Pyramid with the Bent pyramid in the background.
Most of the facing stones have gone from the sides of the Red Pyramid but a few remain on the ground, in the foreground of this photo.
The photo above and the 2 below show the internal passageways and chambers of the Red Pyramid. The first phot below shows the corbeled ceiling, with each block on the sides being placed slightly inwards to create a safe ceiling that will not crash down. The gap between the sides reduces with each arrow.
This pyramid is the world’s oldest “true pyramid” with flat sides and a square base. It gets its name from the red coloured weathered limestone blocks that were exposed when all of the facing stones (the outer casing) were removed and reused in Cairo. It was once white, reflecting light from the sun and linking it to the sun god Re. Learning from errors made in constructing the Bent Pyramid, the Red Pyramid is not as steep with an angle chosen for this pyramid of 43 degrees, the same as the top of the Bent Pyramid. It is an impressive sight at 344 feet tall, the third largest pyramid after the 2 large ones at Giza.
Below; Local people call this pyramid “el-heramel-watwaat, which means the “Bat Pyramid” which Cat and Joe lucky enough to photograph.
There is a debate amongst Egyptologists as to how long it took to build ranging from 10 years to 17 years.
The “Black Pyramid” of Amenemhat III.
Above; Nearby(1.5 km) the Bent Pyramid is the “Black Pyramid”built, not by Sneferu but by Amenemhat III (1842-1797). It was originally 250 feet tall with sides of 350 feet in length. Although it was encased in limestone, the internal blocks were made of mud brick and clay which helps to explain its current condition. Another negative point was that it was built on clay, not a strong bedrock! Lastly, the pyramid was also built on land only 30 feet above sea level and therefore water from the Nile seeped into its foundations and added to its weakness. Due to its decayed state, the pyramid is not open to the public.
Can Sneferu be considered one of the great pharaohs?
Professor Bob Briers considers Sneferu to be up there with the greats. He built three massive pyramids to new designs, a considerable achievement and showed his successors how to construct “true pyramids”. He displayed great determination to create a third pyramid when the first two pyramids had problems. In building one pyramid Djoser had to dramatically change Egyptian society but Sneferu’s constructions were on a completely different level. It required at least twice as many workers at the construction sites, at the quarries and to transport the stone. This also required new levels of agricultural production to feed all of these workers and in civil servants to organise everything so that the projects ran smoothly. If the stone blocks did not arrive on time, no work could be carried out and the same would happen if there were insufficient food supplies. Sneferu must have had some highly efficient officials and an efficient hierarchical system to organise such vast projects overlapping in time. Thanks to Sneferu, his son, Khufu, was able to build one of the “Seven Wonders of the World”, the Great Pyramid at Giza.
He put Egypt on the international map when he sent missions to Lebanon to acquire supplies of cedar to shore up his pyramids and he sent traders to Sinai to purchase supplies of turquoise to create beautiful jewellery. Both missions required long journeys, organisation and a lot of effort.
Snefru also led successful raids into neighbouring territories. He invaded Nubia to the south bringing back substantial plunder and attacked the Libyans in the west.
Professor Briers mentions that in art, he argues that Sneferu created new standards and produced jewellery that had not been seen before. Sneferu had “made spectacular life-sized statues of his children made out of stone”. His sons were all depicted as fat and therefore, realistic. Briers maintains that this set new standards for sculpture that influenced sculptors for hundreds of years to come. Some statues dating from Sneferu’s reign have been life sized, beautifully painted and have rock crystal eyes that look realistic.
Essential information
Safety.
In all the places we went there were numerous police officers and soldiers carrying guns. The Egyptians are great hosts and are desperate to build up tourism and as a consequence are going out of their way to ensure the safety of the growing numbers of tourists. Most of the places we went to had airport style baggage checks with few queues.
Getting there
The easiest way to visit Sneferu’s Bent and Red pyramids is to hire a driver for the day. As there’s no public transport, hiring a driver will ensure you can see all the major sites and not have to worry about continuously haggling for a new taxi at every stop. You will need to haggle or negotiate with the driver but it will not be too expensive. Add to your itinerary the Step pyramid at Saqqara which is only a few miles away.
Entry fee. When we visited them, we bought one entrance ticket for the two which cost 60 Egyptian pounds.
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