من طرف Meidum Pyramid
The Meidum Pyramid, one of the earliest pyramids, is located 30 miles south of Memphis. It may have been built for King Huni, the last ruler of the Third Dynasty. No inscriptions have been found giving the name of the builder but there is graffiti. The graffiti was scribbled on the walls by visitors of the XVIII Dynasty, which suggested that the pyramid was at that time considered to be the work of Seneferu, the first ruler of the Fourth Dynasty (2575-2551 BC). One piece of graffiti translates, "On the twelfth day of the fourth month of summer in the forty first year of the reign of Tuthmosis III, the scribe Aakheperkare-senb, son of Amenmesu (the Scribe and Ritualist of the deceased King Tuthmosis I), came to see the beautiful temple of Seneferu. He found it as through heaven were within it and the sun rising in it. Then he said, 'May heaven rain with the fresh myrrh, may it drip with incense upon the roof of the temple of King Seneferu.'" Other graffiti dating as early as the VIth Dynasty mentioned Seneferu but did not state the temple belonged to him. At least two other pyramids at Dahshur were built by Seneferu that can be compared to Meidum. Many egyptologists credit Seneferu with ordering of the face of the pyramid.
In 1882, Sir Gaston Maspero was the first archeologist to enter the pyramid and noted that there was no sarcophagus. Sir Flinders Petrie first excavated Meidum in 1891. Petrie determined how the pyramid was constructed from the outside. To verify his theory his assistant, G.A. Wainwright bored a tunnel through the masonry at the base from the east face almost to the tomb chamber, which enabled Wainwright to study the foundations.
The initial building resembled a mastaba with a square base or a small step pyramid. The first form of the superstructure is a 7 stepped pyramid made of Tura limestone. A considerable enlargement took place soon after and the pyramid was converted to eight steps. Though both the initial construction and enlargements were meant to be final, another transformation took place. The steps were filled in with packed stone and the whole structure was overlaid with a smooth facing of tura limestone. Remarkably, the casing and backing stones did not rest on the underlying rock. They rested on platform of stone blocks that was evened up with a layer of sand. Sand, if dried and compacted properly, makes an effective foundation.
The tura limestone that covered the final structure was later mined for more modern structures. Some blocks recovered bore drawings etched by the quarrymen. These drawings showed buildings with two, three and four steps. It is difficult now to attach much reliance to these sketches but they may be regarded as supporting evidence for the several transformations before reaching the final form. The buildings belonging to this pyramid were arranged according to what had become the standard design for an Old Kingdom complex. These complexes were essentially the pyramid itself and at least one subsidiary pyramid standing on high ground within an enclosure, a mortuary temple, a sloping causeway and a building on the western fringe. Meidum’s valley building was connected with a river by a canal dug to enable the funeral procession of boats and avoid a long overland trek. A wide, mud-plaster pavement, bounded by a stone wall, surrounded the pyramid and the entrance was through the north face. Between the south face and the wall, there was the earliest subsidiary pyramid.
The mortuary temple was built against the east face and was connected entirely of Tura limestone. There are no carvings of any kind decorating the walls of the passages between chambers. There is a low limestone altar intended for daily offerings of food and drink for the dead king. There are two tall monolithic slabs of limestone with rounded tops mounted on low rectangular bases of the same material and one stands on each side of the alter. The absence of particular inscription as well as the undressed stones that formed the lowest course of the temple walls would suggest this building was never finished.
Written By: Cheryl Dawley
Sources:
The Pyramids of Egypt, I.E.S. Edwards, (Penguin Books, revised 1993), pages 71-78 :
Egypt: Land of the Pharohs, (Time Life Books, 1992), pages 50-52 :
The Meidum Pyramid, one of the earliest pyramids, is located 30 miles south of Memphis. It may have been built for King Huni, the last ruler of the Third Dynasty. No inscriptions have been found giving the name of the builder but there is graffiti. The graffiti was scribbled on the walls by visitors of the XVIII Dynasty, which suggested that the pyramid was at that time considered to be the work of Seneferu, the first ruler of the Fourth Dynasty (2575-2551 BC). One piece of graffiti translates, "On the twelfth day of the fourth month of summer in the forty first year of the reign of Tuthmosis III, the scribe Aakheperkare-senb, son of Amenmesu (the Scribe and Ritualist of the deceased King Tuthmosis I), came to see the beautiful temple of Seneferu. He found it as through heaven were within it and the sun rising in it. Then he said, 'May heaven rain with the fresh myrrh, may it drip with incense upon the roof of the temple of King Seneferu.'" Other graffiti dating as early as the VIth Dynasty mentioned Seneferu but did not state the temple belonged to him. At least two other pyramids at Dahshur were built by Seneferu that can be compared to Meidum. Many egyptologists credit Seneferu with ordering of the face of the pyramid.
In 1882, Sir Gaston Maspero was the first archeologist to enter the pyramid and noted that there was no sarcophagus. Sir Flinders Petrie first excavated Meidum in 1891. Petrie determined how the pyramid was constructed from the outside. To verify his theory his assistant, G.A. Wainwright bored a tunnel through the masonry at the base from the east face almost to the tomb chamber, which enabled Wainwright to study the foundations.
The initial building resembled a mastaba with a square base or a small step pyramid. The first form of the superstructure is a 7 stepped pyramid made of Tura limestone. A considerable enlargement took place soon after and the pyramid was converted to eight steps. Though both the initial construction and enlargements were meant to be final, another transformation took place. The steps were filled in with packed stone and the whole structure was overlaid with a smooth facing of tura limestone. Remarkably, the casing and backing stones did not rest on the underlying rock. They rested on platform of stone blocks that was evened up with a layer of sand. Sand, if dried and compacted properly, makes an effective foundation.
The tura limestone that covered the final structure was later mined for more modern structures. Some blocks recovered bore drawings etched by the quarrymen. These drawings showed buildings with two, three and four steps. It is difficult now to attach much reliance to these sketches but they may be regarded as supporting evidence for the several transformations before reaching the final form. The buildings belonging to this pyramid were arranged according to what had become the standard design for an Old Kingdom complex. These complexes were essentially the pyramid itself and at least one subsidiary pyramid standing on high ground within an enclosure, a mortuary temple, a sloping causeway and a building on the western fringe. Meidum’s valley building was connected with a river by a canal dug to enable the funeral procession of boats and avoid a long overland trek. A wide, mud-plaster pavement, bounded by a stone wall, surrounded the pyramid and the entrance was through the north face. Between the south face and the wall, there was the earliest subsidiary pyramid.
The mortuary temple was built against the east face and was connected entirely of Tura limestone. There are no carvings of any kind decorating the walls of the passages between chambers. There is a low limestone altar intended for daily offerings of food and drink for the dead king. There are two tall monolithic slabs of limestone with rounded tops mounted on low rectangular bases of the same material and one stands on each side of the alter. The absence of particular inscription as well as the undressed stones that formed the lowest course of the temple walls would suggest this building was never finished.
Written By: Cheryl Dawley
Sources:
The Pyramids of Egypt, I.E.S. Edwards, (Penguin Books, revised 1993), pages 71-78 :
Egypt: Land of the Pharohs, (Time Life Books, 1992), pages 50-52 :
