So you got to the pyramid of Djoser, wanted to climb it, and … you will immediately be told that this is exactly what it is forbidden to do! And you can go down into the dungeon only with a guide and with special permission. The fact is that only two rooms are lit there, full of nasty bats, and you will need to descend to a depth of 26 meters. On the walls of the two chambers, you will see beautiful cladding and … that's all! There is no sarcophagus in it, and it was not. The most interesting things were taken out of the tomb long ago! Wall reliefs are in the Cairo Museum, as is the statue of Djoser itself (42nd hall of the lower floor), and in the prayer room at the pyramid there is only a copy of it, and the door frames, on which Djoser's name is written, are in Berlin. True, walking around in it is useful. To see roughly cut stones, "between which not even a knife blade will pass", as the adherents of antediluvian civilizations claim, cracks in the ceiling and stones hanging overhead. Everything is crude, primitive, and nothing supernatural.
Pyramid in Medum
The pyramid of Sekhemkhet, the son of Djoser, is located half a kilometer from the pyramid of his father and about it there is an excellent book "The Lost Pyramid" by M. Goneim, who himself dug it out. But even more mysterious pyramids remained from the III dynasty, to which it is very difficult to get (they are located in a closed zone), and besides, they are in the desert, and far from Saqqar. There is a completely mysterious pyramid in Sale, in the eastern part of the Fayum oasis. Moreover, it is clear that they are destroyed, but all the same they are pyramids. There are as many as four small pyramids in the town of El Kul, just 3 kilometers from the Nile. They were investigated by the Belgians in 1946 and 1949, but … the entrances to them were never found, and what is inside them is a secret to this day. And, by the way, whoever has money and desire, he may well do it. After all, no one knows whose they are and what is hidden under them! And besides, there are seven of them - enough for everyone!
The mysterious pyramid in Sale. South side. Located on a mountain between Fayum and the Nile, 6 km north of the railway that connects the cities of Vasta and Fayum. It was found in 1898 by the archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. In 1987, the ruins of an altar and two steles were found near it, and for some reason on one of them there was a cartouche of Pharaoh Sneferu. The most important thing about it is that its sides are almost exactly oriented along the four cardinal directions, which was not observed before.
Well, now we say goodbye to the pyramids of the Pharaohs of the III dynasty and go (according to the speedometer, this is 80 km from Cairo) to the village of Medum, from which it is only 3 km to the most unique pyramid in Egypt - the Medum pyramid. It is 4600 years old, but it bears little resemblance to a pyramid; rather, it is the foundation of some ancient … lighthouse.
Section of the pyramid in Medum: 1 - tiers covered with sand, 2 - presumably, the last tier of the pyramid, 3 - burial chamber, 4 - part towering above the sand.
In fact, however, it is the first "true" pyramid in Egypt, not the step pyramid that was built before it. But … only the third and fourth steps remained of it, and its entire cladding collapsed from it, exposing the inner core. However, under the sandy sediments, it is still preserved, and from it one can determine its size, and even the estimated height. Which, presumably, could reach 118 meters at a base of 144 x 144 meters.
The entrance to the pyramid in Medum is located in its lowest open layer, about 20 meters above the base. It was discovered in 1882. There was no sarcophagus in the burial chamber, only fragments of a wooden coffin were found, which, according to the style of manufacture, belonged to the Old Kingdom. The burial chamber is located exactly under the apex of the pyramid.
Exit outside.
Moreover, it is obvious that they began to erect it as a stepped one, but then the steps were laid with stone and revetted. They even found a tile on which the ancient architect depicted her drawing with three and four steps. However, the written indication of which king ordered to build it has not been found so far. Previously, it was believed that it belongs to Pharaoh Sneferu - the first king of the IV dynasty, but now it is believed that its builder was Pharaoh Huni - the last king of the III dynasty and, possibly, Sneferu's father, and he just ordered it to be finished. Why did they start to think so? And the fact is that then Sneferu ordered to build himself two more pyramids (!) In Dashur, and they are very different from the Medum one. That is, we can say that the first stage of the evolution of the construction of the pyramids was completed on it: starting with the step Djoser, it ended with the first "true", albeit only outside, the Sneferu pyramid!
The inner plan of the chambers of the Medum pyramid.
Note the false vault of the chamber ceiling. Obviously, the Egyptians did not yet know how to make a real vault, and they arranged the ceilings with a "ladder".
The same false vaults are found in the pyramids and temples of the Maya Indians. By the way, the job is very rough.
This is how we came to the name of this pharaoh, who played a very important role in the Egyptian "pyramid building", but for most people it is completely unknown. Therefore, we will first tell a little about him, and then about his pyramids.
The "Palermo Stone" (what it is, needs to be told separately) describes Sneferu (reigned 2575 - 2551 BC) as an active and warlike ruler. So, a hike around 2595 BC. NS. in Nubia, south of the 1st threshold, allowed to bring 4,000 male captives, 3,000 more women, and in addition 200,000 bulls and rams. About four or six years later, he captured another 1,100 people and 13,100 head of cattle in the country of Tehena, that is, in modern Libya. Sneferu sent an expedition of 40 ships to the Phoenician port of Byblos, and they returned with a cargo of Lebanese cedar for the construction of temples and large ships. The Sinai Peninsula, rich in copper and turquoise, was colonized. There is a picture of Sneferu striking enemies, and where he is named "The Victorious Barbarians". Well, it is clear that the copper mines were of such economic and political importance for Egypt that one of the mines was named after him; and he was considered the patron god of these lands. At the same time, Sneferu, who ruled for 24 years, was also the greatest builder in the history of Egypt, and that completely unique pyramids were built during his reign.
In addition to the pyramids, there are mastabs in Dashur next to them. Here is one of them # 17.
Moreover, if there are no sarcophagi in Sneferu's pyramids, then in mastab # 17 it is!
In total, three pyramids belong to the time of his reign: the Medum tomb (perhaps the cenotaph is a "false" burial, or "completion" of what Huni began.), The southern ("broken") pyramid in Dashur, and here, to the north of her - North ("Pink" or "Red") pyramid.
Southern or "broken pyramid" and its companion pyramid.
Egyptologists could not figure out why Sneferu decided to abandon the stepped pyramid, but ordered to make the side faces straight. However, both of its pyramids bear the stamp of a search, which is obvious, one has only to look at them. The fact is that the Southern Pyramid in Dakhshur is called "broken", and not without reason. Unlike other pyramids of the Old Kingdom, it has two entrances - on the north side and on the west. The entrances on the northern side of the pyramids were made in the era of the Old Kingdom. But why did you need an entrance in the west as well? There is no sarcophagus in it, but it is definitely Sneferu's pyramid, since his name was found in it, and it was also found on a stele in the fence of the companion pyramid - a very small pyramid built next to the large one.
View of the "Broken Pyramid" from the northwest corner.
The angle of inclination of its edges at first has 50 degrees 41 minutes, but at a height of 45 it seems to "break" and changes the slope by 42 degrees 59 minutes to quickly finish the work. At present, its height is 100 meters, but it could have been higher with the original slope of the walls - 125 meters! It was suggested that the pyramid in Medum and the southern pyramid in Dashur were built almost simultaneously, and when the skin collapsed at the pyramid in Medum, they decided to reduce the angle of inclination of the sides on the pyramid in Dashur, moreover, when it was actually half built.
Schematic plan of the "Broken Pyramid".
Archaeologists managed to find out that the pyramid was rebuilt three times, as evidenced by the location of stone blocks in it. Apparently, they wanted to make it more durable, but "it turned out as always," that is, it only got worse. The pressure of the stone blocks on the inner chambers increased, causing cracks to appear, which could lead to collapse.
"Pink" or "Red pyramid" Sneferu.
At the first stage, the base was folded and about 12.70 m of tunnels were made at the entrance (descending corridor) and about 11, 60 m of the corridor leading upward. At the second stage, the builders decided to reduce the angle of inclination to 54 °, and for this increase the length of each side of the base of the pyramid by as much as 15, 70 m. The length of the base of the renewed pyramid is now equal to 188 m. the base is 188 m, its height could be 129, 4 m, and the volume - 1, 592, 718, 453 m³. But here, at a height of 49 meters, construction suddenly stopped.
Schematic plan of the Sneferu pyramid.
At the third stage of construction, a radical change in the slope of the upper - unfinished part of the pyramid was carried out - it was reduced to 42 degrees 59 minutes. Accordingly, the total height of the pyramid has now also decreased to 105 m. Why so, there are two options, and both have their supporters and opponents. The first explanation is the simplest. Pharaoh died, and his heir ordered to finish the pyramid as soon as possible. The second explanation is more complicated. It was built in the same way as the step pyramid in Saqqara, but its upper parts collapsed and … the builders changed the angle of inclination of its edges so that the cladding would hold better! It is believed that the second hypothesis has more evidence, since there are so many debris at the base of the pyramid that could only fall from above, otherwise they simply would have nowhere to come from. Well, yes, and then the king died, and they did not begin to clean them up.
The entrance to the pyramid.
The Northern Pyramid can rightfully be called the first "true" pyramid in Egypt, because … it really is a pyramid - without steps and kinks. Why is it called pink or red? This is due to the color of the stone blocks in the rays of the setting sun, becoming pink or red. When it was built, its walls were covered with slabs of white limestone. But then the facing of the pyramid has lost. Moreover, it was on several blocks of facing found near the pyramid that the name Sneferu was found, written in red paint. That is, it is clearly his pyramid.
Descent into the pyramid.
Passage from the first chamber to the second.
"False" (stepped) vault, and some fools, of course, signed on it.
In terms of height, this is the third (!) Pyramid in Egypt, after the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre in Giza. Its dimensions are really very large: 218.5 by 221.5 meters, and its height is 14.4 m. It has a very low slope of the walls - 43 degrees 36 minutes. As if the architects were afraid that if it is "cool", then … it will fall apart. The volume of the pyramid is 1,694,000 m³. Perhaps both pyramids were built at the same time. And the verified slope of the "pink" pyramid was then used in the construction of the upper part of the "broken pyramid". You can enter through the entrance on the north side, which leads down to three adjacent chambers, each of which is about 17 meters high. All of them are accessible for tourists, but for this you need to go to Dashur!
These are the stairs you need to climb to the burial chamber. If there was something there and thieves got here, can you imagine how they, the poor, had to work hard to get there ?!
PS: They say that the animal runs to the catcher. We did not have time to prepare the first material about the Djoser pyramid, when a message appeared in the press that the ancient papyri are exhibited in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which describe the work on the construction of the pyramids in Giza. To date, six of the 30 papyri found in 2013 in the area of the small town of Wadi al-Jarf on the Red Sea are on display. All of them belong to the era of Pharaoh Cheops or Khufu, and today they are the oldest texts known to science, which describe events that took place about 4500 years ago.
South side of the "Pink Pyramid". It is clearly noticeable that the angle of inclination is "not the same".
Director of the Egyptian Museum Tarek Taufik said that these papyri clearly prove that they were built by the most ordinary people, and not at all by the "gods" from Atlantis or equally mythical "aliens". These documents detail how and from where the materials were delivered to the construction site and what the workers were fed with.
Pyramid facing blocks (north side).
So, one of the papyri belonged to a senior official named Merrer. It is clear from the text that he was responsible for transporting huge blocks to the Cheops pyramid from quarries in the south of the Sinai Peninsula. At first, they were transported by sea, and after that - along the Nile and a canal specially dug for this. In addition, the papyrus of Merrer describes a three-month period of operation and provides daily reports on the delivery of building materials to the pyramid. So more, in fact, you can not argue about anything. Everything fell into place.
