Pyramid of Djedefre

Coordinates: 30°01′56″N 31°04′29″E / 30.03222°N 31.07472°E / 30.03222; 31.07472
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Pyramid of Djedefre
Photograph of a ruined pyramid
Ruined stub of Djedefre's pyramid
Djedefre
Coordinates30°01′56″N 31°04′29″E / 30.03222°N 31.07472°E / 30.03222; 31.07472
Ancient name
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Sḥdu Ḏd-f-Rˀ[1]
Sehedu Djed-ef-re
"Djedefre's starry sky"[2]
"Djedefre is a sehed-star"[3]
ConstructedFourth Dynasty
TypeTrue (original)
Ruined (present)
Height67 m (220 ft; 128 cu) (original)[4]
11.4 m (37 ft; 21.8 cu) (present)[5]
Base106 m (348 ft; 202 cu)[5][4]
Volume131,043 m3 (171,398 cu yd)[6]
Slope51°[5] to 52°[4]
Pyramid of Djedefre is located in Egypt
Pyramid of Djedefre
Location within Egypt

The pyramid of Djedefre is Egypt's northernmost pyramid. Believed to have been built by Djedefre, son and successor to king Khufu, it today consists today mostly of ruins located at Abu Rawash in Egypt. Excavation report on the pyramid complex was published in 2011.[7]

Theories

Though some Egyptologists in the last few decades have suggested otherwise, recent excavations at Abu Rawash carried out by Dr.

Giza pyramids.[10] It is believed to have originally been the most beautiful of the pyramids, with an exterior of polished, imported granite, limestone and crowned with a large pyramidion. It is also believed for this reason the completed pyramid was largely deconstructed by the Roman Empire to build their own construction projects after the conquest of Egypt under Roman Emperor Augustus. The pyramid's ancient name was "Djedefre's Starry Sky".[11] The destruction started at the end of the New Kingdom at the latest, and was particularly intense during the Roman and early Christian eras when a Coptic monastery was built in nearby Wadi Karin. It has been proven, moreover, that at the end of the nineteenth century, stone was still being hauled away at the rate of three hundred camel loads a day.[12]

Description

Djedefre's pyramid was architecturally different from those of his immediate predecessors in that the chambers were beneath the pyramid instead of inside. The pyramid was built over a natural mound and the chambers were created using the "pit and ramp" method, previously used on some mastaba tombs. Djedefre dug a pit 21m x 9m and 20m deep in the natural mound. A ramp was created at an angle of 22º35' and the chambers and access passage were built within the pit and on the ramp. Once the 'inner chambers' were finished, the pit and ramp were filled in and the pyramid built over the top. This allowed the chambers to be made without tunneling, and avoided the structural complications of making chambers within the body of the pyramid itself. He also reverted to an earlier style of construction by creating a rectangular enclosure wall oriented north-south, similar to those of Djoser and Sekhemkhet.

Several pyramids and sun temples were built over natural mounds; utilising these may have been a way of shortening the actual work required, although the mound may have been symbolic of the primaeval mound of

Egyptian creation myths
.

See also

References

  1. ^ Budge 1920, pp. 684b–685a.
  2. ^ Verner 2001d, p. 217.
  3. ^ Edwards 1975, p. 297.
  4. ^ a b c Lehner 2008, p. 17.
  5. ^ a b c Verner 2001d, p. 462.
  6. ^ Bárta 2005, p. 180.
  7. OCLC 731043888.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  8. ^ "Could Djedefre's Pyramid be a Solar Temple?".
  9. ^ "CyberScribe 178" (PDF). www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk. 2010. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  10. ^ Vallogia, Michel (1997). Études sur l'Ancien Empire et la nécropole de Saqqara. 418
  11. History. Archived from the original
    on 2009-03-20. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  12. ISBN 9781782396802
    .

Sources

External links
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