It is believed that the pharaohs Cheops and Khafren, that is, Khufu and Khafre, were despots and tyrants of their Egyptian people, although … this opinion came from the Greeks, and the Egyptians themselves, most likely, thought quite differently. They were accustomed to working hard. The main thing is that they were fed for their work, and maybe even some money was given. And then, after all, they built tombs for the gods, that is, they were engaged in a godly deed, and who knows what exactly they thought about this? Maybe they were sincerely happy, like, for example, the builders of the Belomor-Canal, but they were happy … If you believe the newspaper "Pravda", of course! And let the Menkaur pyramid be smaller than the two previous ones. But this could indicate an undermining of the economy, but the public "morality" could remain at the same level.
This is how the pyramid of Pharaoh Djedefre could have looked if it had been built.
Moreover, after Menkaur, the pyramids continued to be built! True, not pyramids. And there is only one pyramid from the period of the IV dynasty, which we have to examine. It was ordered to be built by Pharaoh Jedefra - one of the most mysterious personalities among the ancient Egyptian kings. In the "Abydos" and "Sakkarsk" lists of pharaohs, he is indicated as ruling between Khufu and Khafre. The Greek historian Manetho possibly calls Ratoises and puts Menkaure behind. Egyptologists such as Brestad and Gardiner considered him the son and, most likely, the successor of the Pharaoh Khufu; by Dryoton and Wandier, he was the successor of Pharaoh Menkaur. According to Reisner, he was the son of Pharaoh Khufu from his Libyan (side) wife. Another version is that he, on the contrary, was the son of Menkaur from a concubine (or not the main wife). And he, in turn, was married to his half-sister - the daughter of Menkaura, born of the main queen of Hentkau, which helped him to sit on the throne. It is known that Djedefra ruled for eight years and, most likely, achieved the royal crown in a not entirely legal way. The assumption that he was a usurper coincides with information about the troubles at the end of the 4th dynasty. By the way, this allows us to shed light on some of the ambiguities associated with his pyramid. Including the fact that it, apparently, was never finished, and immediately after his death, and, most likely, violent, was robbed.
And this is how she looks today.
The story with Pharaoh Djedefra was used by the famous Soviet science fiction writer in his famous dilogy "The Journey of Baurjed" and "On the Edge of the Oycumene", in fact, the books seem to be children's, historical, but if you think about them and read them carefully, then … quite anti-Soviet. I was struck by this direction of theirs even in childhood, but … the adults "uncles and aunts from where it should come from" did not notice anything!
Reconstruction of the burial complex of Pharaoh Djedefre.
In The Journey of Baurjed, Djedefra is depicted as a kind of antipode to Khufu. He seeks to oppose the despotism and fanaticism of the priests of Ra with the wisdom of the priests of Thoth. As a result, he falls ill - one must assume that the priests of Ra simply poisoned him, and then they also lure him into their own pyramid and kill him there! After that, naturally, so as not to share the fate of his predecessor, Pharaoh Khafra again strains the forces of the whole country for the sake of building another “great pyramid”. But … no one has proved that Ivan Efremov was right. As well as the fact that he was wrong!
The companion pyramid in the southeastern corner of the burial complex of Pharaoh Djedefre.
Well, now let's go to the Djedefra pyramid - the northernmost of all Egyptian pyramids. It is located near the village of Abu Roash (the village got its name from the Coptic monastery of St. Roch that was once located here), about nine kilometers northwest of Giza. Naturally, you have to go there, because you can't walk so much in the desert! It is located in a depression behind a pyramidal-shaped cliff not far from another pyramid and currently looks like a pitiful heap of ruins. Its dimensions were supposed to be approximately 100X100 meters, but the builders failed to achieve anything of the planned. Today, its highest part does not even reach 10 meters. But its underground structures are well preserved, accessible almost to the very burial chamber; the fact is that it was built by the method of … an "open pit", and when its surface part was destroyed, the underground remained open from above. The length of the entrance corridor is about 50 meters, the walls have a slope of 22 °, the pyramid itself was faced with granite, but, however, today its burial chamber is entirely covered with stones that have fallen from above.
"Trench" (the tongue does not dare to call it "dock") for the funeral boat.
Almost nothing has survived from the royal funeral church built on its eastern side; As for the ruins of the lower temple, they, perhaps, can still be found under the deposits of sand, if you go back, that is, down the "ascending" road, which can be partially traced for about 750 meters. To the east of the funeral church, a dark trench ten meters deep, 35 meters long and 3.7 meters wide was carved into the gray rock. Most likely, it was carved for the royal "solar boat", although it is not clear why it is so deep. Its bottom is covered with reddish limestone chips and rock fragments. In them you can easily recognize fragments of statues that were smashed, most likely deliberately and at the same time. Ivan Efremov, for example, writes that they were defeated immediately after the murder of Pharaoh and that the priests of Ra did their best. But … after all, no one was holding a torch for them, so no one knows who and how broke these statues.
It is not recommended to walk in the vicinity of the Djedefra pyramid alone. You can easily fall into some ditch, and who will get you out of there?
For the first time this pyramid was reported by the Englishman Perring, who visited it and measured it on behalf of Weiss in 1837. Six years later, the famous archaeologist Lepsius arrived here, who had previously studied the remains of another pyramid next to her, which for some reason Perring did not notice. Lepsius made a drawing of the pyramid of Djedefre; and then it was higher than it is now, its height reached 12 meters.
"Open pit" of the Djedefra pyramid.
In 1900, an expedition of French archaeologists worked here. They found two heads from statues of Djedefre, one of which is in Cairo, and the other, obviously, in the Louvre. It is interesting that both are made of flint, which, apparently, corresponded to the character of the lord. The French tried to clear the blockage from the stones that covered the burial chamber, but … they did not have enough money! So if someone rich "invests" in this business, then … he may well unearth the royal sarcophagus (or what is left of it!), Which should be under these stones. Why is there so little left of her? The fact is that, due to its secluded location, it was convenient to disassemble it into stone. It is known, for example, that in the 1880s, 300 camels loaded with stone were taken out of the territory of this pyramid per day! Disassembling other pyramids was already dangerous at that time. And few people knew about this one, its base was lined with valuable pink granite - so it was dismantled for building material!
Schematic drawing of the burial chamber of the Djedefre pyramid.
Indeed, until now, neither the pyramid of Djedefra, nor its nameless neighbor, has aroused any interest in anyone else. Tourists do not go there either, although Abu Roash is not far from Cairo.
We say goodbye to the pyramid of Jedefre …
But, nevertheless, some processes in the Egyptian society of that time still took place. And the processes are very significant in all respects, because otherwise it is simply impossible to explain why the last pharaoh of the IV dynasty, Shepseskaph, built himself not a pyramid, but a mastaba, which is called “Pharaoh's Mastaba”. This is something completely different from the tombs of his predecessors! A gravestone in the form of a huge sarcophagus made of solid, yes, solid granite blocks; although its cladding was made of limestone slabs. The dimensions of the base are impressive: 100X75 meters, and the height of the mastaba, it is believed, could reach 20 meters. But again the mastaba copies this "structure" only externally. In fact, this is just a huge block of stones, without any premises inside. To the east of it is a memorial church connected by a kilometer-long road to the lower church. The Pharaoh's Mastaba was surrounded by a double fence. The underground part of Shepsescaff's tomb is well preserved: there is a low corridor leading to the "front" and then to six rectangular storerooms. Its area is 7, 8X4, 1 meter, height - 4, 4 meters. From the inside, the walls of the chamber are covered with granite slabs. In addition, inside it you can still see fragments of a sarcophagus made of a very rare material - black sandstone. At first, scientists considered this structure an unfinished pyramid, which the same Lepsius wrote about in 1843, then another equally famous archaeologist Mariette (in 1859), but who this mastaba belongs to was identified only in 1924/25 by French archaeologists.
Mastaba Shepsekafa
Closer …
Closer…
We got to her corner …
… And here again we look at it a little from afar.
So, Shepsescaph amazed everyone with his burial: not only his subjects (as there are hints), but also modern scientists. Why did he choose for him a form that is characteristic only of the tombstone of tsarist officials? Why did he not order to bury himself next to Menkaura, Khafra and Khufu, built a tomb in Sakkara near the tombs of the same Sneferu? Why did he find such a strange place for her in the form of a bare crevice in such a place in the necropolis in Saqqara, from where the pyramids in Giza and Dashur are practically invisible? But at first everything went along the knurled path. So, on the reverse side of the Palermo stone, the chronicles of Shepseskaf were discovered. And although only a part of the first year of his reign has survived, you can read there: “choose the place of the Kebehu-Shepsescaf pyramid”, that is, “Shepsescaf is clean”. So, at first he still wanted to be buried in the pyramid? But then, for some reason, he ordered it to be rebuilt into a mastaba! One gets the impression that by his burial he wanted to distinguish himself from all his other predecessors. Although, this act of his, in general, is not even so indicative - well, "I liked the place." More significant is the fact that, unlike the pharaohs who preceded him, he did not include the name of the god Ra in his throne name. But this is already serious! After all, with this name he was supposed to appear before the gods. Do you understand what it means to appear before the gods ?! It's scary! Therefore, the gods should be appeased, and not … embittered. And for some reason he did not want to be called "the son of Ra"!
But this is the head … either Shepseskaf or Menkaur, but no one knows for sure.
Moreover, his heir Userkaf again built himself a pyramid, and even a solar temple. That is, if then in Egypt there were some kind of palace intrigues or "graters" with the priests, they did not have the character of a "movement", but were a kind of "personal affair" of the pharaoh. But be that as it may, the fact is present and the mystery remains!
Reconstruction of the appearance of the Shepseskaf mastaba and its internal structure.
Burial chamber. Its location and structure.
Traditionally, it is believed that the grandiose pyramids of the kings of the 4th dynasty ruined the country much more than all the lost wars combined. Legends say that the people rebelled against their megalomania, and, although they considered them gods, refused to obey. Perhaps that is why Shepsescaph did not want to, or maybe he simply could not build a pyramid for himself. And not being an adherent of the cult of the god Ra, he was not very worried about the sacred benbenet shining over his resting place. But all this is just guesswork, and Shepsescaph took all his secrets with him to the grave.
Entrance to Shepseskaf's mastaba. As you can see, the gaps between the stones here are such that not only the blade of a knife is an ax, and it will easily enter. And this "it" was built by people who studied with the aliens ?!
Only one thing is obvious: the "era of the great pyramids" in Egypt ended with the king, who did not build a pyramid for himself at all. But did the construction of the pyramids stop after his death? Well, the answer to this question will be given in the next article.
