Bent Pyramid

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Paula Terrey

15 March 2000 (afternoon)

At Dashur we stop first at the Bent Pyramid which, like Meidum, belongs to Sneferu. It’s the third-largest pyramid in Egypt.

Dashur — the Bent Pyramid

The reason for the name is obvious. The builders reportedly began with a core at a slope of 60 degrees, then added a low perimeter reinforcement at 55 degrees, and then about halfway up changed the remainder to 43 degrees.

Approaching the Bent Pyramid

The upper and lower portions also have different styles. The lower blocks — both core and girdle — slope down and in as accretion layers, just like Djoser’s Step Pyramid, the pyramid of Sekhemkhet (Djoser’s successor), Meidum Pyramid, and a pyramid tentatively attributed to Khaba at Zawiyet el-Aryan. But once the angle changes the courses are set in horizontal layers for the first time.

Bent Pyramid Casing Stones

Another interesting feature: most of the casing stones are still in place and the missing ones are at top, not the bottom – just the opposite of what one might expect in a stone looting situation. The remaining casing stones give us a chance to imagine a fully finished pyramid in all its smooth, bright, limestone glory. It must have dazzled, although now the look is more like a thin layer of icing spread on an enormous scone.

Closer look at core blocks, the Bent Pyramid

The Bent Pyramid is unsafe and so we can’t go inside, but walk all the way around. (There’s a subsidiary pyramid to the south, too.)

Pyramids were built in stages and Bill, who’s an engineer, grabs a flake of limestone and kneels in the sand to illustrate. Scholars are still debating the reason for the angle change of this pyramid. Was it planned from the start or an innovation in response to subsidence problems?

The ancient Egyptians placed the Bent Pyramid directly on desert soil, not on rock. The interior chambers are shored up with cedar beams, apparently proving there were signs of instability even during construction. Most Egyptologists have thus concluded that stability issues were the reason for the change in angle — to lessen the weight of stone — but there are those who believe the angle may have been a deliberate choice arising from changing religious beliefs. The interior, which I now long to see more than ever, has two entrances (intended, not just robber’s tunnels) and three magnificent corbelled chambers.

If you’d like to read more about the Bent Pyramid and see some photos of the interior then I recommend this link: The Guardian’s Bent Pyramid

Exposed corner, Bent Pyramid

Mastabas at Meidum

Posted on December 25, 2014 by Paula Terrey

15 March 2000 (morning, continued)

The ruined exterior of Mastaba 17

Next we visit Mastaba #17, which is right next to Meidum pyramid. Its bulk is impressive, but because it was mostly built of mudbrick it’s lost its form. If it weren’t so rectangular and sitting alone in the middle of a perfectly flat plain it could pass as a weathered hill.

Sarcophagus of an unknown prince

We enter via an old robber’s tunnel but it’s tricky. First we must crawl through a narrow passage, then climb down a wooden ladder to an area where we can stand, then crawl again over a limestone block that was one of several used to seal the original burial chamber passage. The real entry has a curved wall and massive stone blocks line the burial chamber.

Ancient wooden mallet propping lid

The sarcophagus is as big as a teenage elephant and an ancient wooden mallet — perhaps left by tomb robbers? — is still in place, propping open the lid. We’re told that the rifled mummy of a prince, name unknown, was discovered inside.

Palace façade remains of Mastaba 16

“Meidum Geese,” Mastaba 16. Photo courtesy of Roland Unger, Wikimedia Commons. They are on display in the Egyptian Museum.

After Mastaba #17 we take a short drive to Mastaba #16, which belonged to Nefermaat, one of Sneferu’s sons. The famous “Meidum Geese” painting came from inside this tomb and the outside has a palace façade that’s still intact in places. This hints at exciting things to explore, but when we enter through a tunnel we find it’s dark and bat-nasty. These conditions are more romantic on paper than in person and we don’t make it far. Then it’s back on the bus for the drive to Dashur.

Tomorrow is the feast of Eid Al-Adha, commemorating Abraham’s near-miss sacrifice of his son, and preparations are underway. We see women in tropical-bright robes walking toward an irrigation ditch, massive aluminum pots on their heads, and I can’t help but wonder if they’ll use that water to cook.

A donkey so laden with clover we see only his nose and legs. Water wheels. Fields of onions, clover and wheat. Goats lounging on a pile of decayed mudbricks. Roaring diesel pumps. A cemetery surrounded by fields. A blue galabeya scarecrow with a plastic bag head. A tiny boy prodding a donkey. A butcher shop, cattle heads hanging from the awning. A cascade of purple morning glories. Cactus next to clover. Shimmering silver dust on palm fronds. Stick crates bursting with ripe tomatoes.

As we drive through a small town we see men building furniture by hand, long golden curls of wood falling from their planes and chisels. Other men are loading blocks of pure white limestone into the back of a pickup. Our driver toots his horn to warn our Mercedes bus is barreling down on them and a worker looks up, smiles, and waves as he leaps back, his face so coated with limestone dust he looks like a grinning ghost.

Meidum Pyramid from Mastaba 16

Saqqara

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Paula Terrey

13 March 2000 (afternoon & evening)

We leave the Memphis open air museum and stop at the Saqqara Palm Club for a buffet lunch of chicken, rice, tahini, and several other dishes. After that it’s a short distance to the Step Pyramid.

Djoser’s 3rd Dynasty step pyramid, Saqqara

The French archaeologist Jean-Philippe Lauer (pronounced “Lew-aire”) devoted more than thirty years to reconstructing the enclosure wall and subsidiary structures of the pyramid complex. The guards at the enclosure entrance wear black woolen uniforms, boots, berets, and machine guns.

Djoser pyramid complex, entrance colonnade. The stone columns have been carved to resemble bundled reeds.

We circumnavigate the pyramid and stop to examine the serdab, where the famous statue of Djoser was discovered in situ. It’s now one of the crown jewels of the Egyptian Museum, but a passable replica is in place here. We go by the entrance to the substructure and I’m itching to take a peek but it’s not open to the public.

It’s impossible to feel lonely at the Step Pyramid. We’re accompanied every step of the way by donkey boys shouting, “Taxi! Egyptian Cadillac! Taxi! Egyptian Cadillac!”

After the Step Pyramid we walk to the tomb of the “two brothers,” royal manicurists Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep. Then we walk past the 5th Dynasty pyramid of Unas and down his causeway. The causeway covering has been partially reconstructed. There are stars on the ceiling and some of the blue paint still shows.

Next we visit the 6th Dynasty Pyramid of Teti. This is the second pyramid to have “pyramid texts” (Unas was first) and we can go inside. Access to the burial chamber is via a quasi ladder/staircase made from metal rails fastened to boards that cover the steeply sloping surface of the passage. Teti’s sarcophagus is still in place (minus Teti of course) and it’s HUGE, much taller than I am and even taller than Chaz at 6’8″. A corner of the lid is gone, presumably the work of tomb robbers.

From there we go to the tomb of Mereruka. Mereruka was Vizier (Prime Minister) under Teti and a statue of him is still in situ. Then it’s the tomb of Ptahhotep with its raised relief scenes of daily life: acrobats, winemaking, a lion attacking a cow, and a gazelle nursing.

The highway between Saqqara and Giza is two lanes. It’s up on a levy so we look down from our bus onto fields, plant nurseries, and canals. People from Cairo have summer homes out here; one house has a huge satellite dish on top.

“Thirst is an ancient feeling”

A billboard with the slogan, “Drink Coca Cola – Thirst is an Ancient Feeling.” A Volkswagen bug packed with sheep. Donkeys braying. Little kids running. Narrow paths among the palms and weeds. Mud brick huts with thatched roofs. A house smothered in a painted design of vines and leaves. Crude wooden ladders to roof tops. Green shutters. Blue shutters. Thick orange dust on my boots.

It’s late afternoon when we return to the hotel and Chaz wants to rest. I’m too wound up so decide to walk to one of the papyrus “museums.” Getting there, however, proves to be easier said than done. There are no traffic lights and no crosswalks. The papyrus museum I selected from the bus is closed but a helpful gentleman suggests another place across the street and demonstrates the correct method for dealing with the murderous traffic. Simply step into the path of speeding cars and trucks, hold up your hand, smile, and hope they’ll stop for you.

Hand-painted papyri for sale at the “Sobek Papyrus Institute”

The Sobek Papyrus Institute has a colorful tent-like awning and a basement gallery. When I walk in I wonder if they’re really open because the lights are out but they promptly turn them on for me. It turns out this is typical – it saves on electricity.

Back at Mena House I retrieve Chaz. We go to dinner at a hotel restaurant called The Greenery and call it a night by 8:30.