Through the Eras

Architecture and DesignArcheologists uncover what they believe is the world’s oldest paved canal beside the Giza sphinx and the Chepren pyramid in Giza,Egypt. © AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS, INC. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.Great Pyramid. Menkaure’s pyramid thus represents lessthan one-quarter of the area of the Great Pyramid andonly one-tenth of the mass. Lehner speculated that thereduction in size stemmed from the reduced amount ofspace then available in Giza after the construction of thefirst two pyramids rather than an indication of diminishedimportance. The more elaborate decoration ofMenkaure’s pyramid and valley temples, along with anapparent increased attention to their complexity and size,supports this theory, as does the greater use of granite inMenkaure’s temple—a more expensive building materialthan the limestone used in the other two Giza pyramidcomplexes. A single tunnel that begins on the northface of the pyramid allows access to the interior of thetomb. The tunnel—1.05 meters wide and 1.2 meters(3.4 by 3.9 feet) high—descends 31.7 meters (102 feet)to a paneled chamber. The chamber—3.63 by 3.16 meters(11.9 by 10.3 feet)—has walls carved with the falsedoor motif. The false door represents the first return ofinternal decoration of a pyramid since the time of Djoser,over 100 years earlier. A horizontal chamber leads fromthe paneled chamber to an antechamber (an outer roomthat serves as an entrance to the main room) measuring14.2 by 3.84 meters (46.5 by 12.5 feet) with a ceiling4.87 meters (15.9 feet) above the floor. A short ascendingtunnel was abandoned in antiquity, but a descendingtunnel from the antechamber leads to the burialchamber. A small room on the right of the passage beforereaching the burial chamber may have been for storage.The burial chamber is 6.59 by 2.62 meters (21.6 by8.5 feet) with a ceiling 3.43 meters (11.2 feet) above thefloor. In the granite-lined burial chamber the English explorerRichard H. W. Vyse found the sarcophagus in1837. He shipped it to England in 1838, but it was lostat sea in a storm between Malta and Spain and was neverrecovered. In addition to the sarcophagus, Vyse found awooden coffin dating to Dynasty 26 but inscribed withMenkaure’s name. This wood coffin was roughly 2,000years younger than the pyramid. In addition, humanbones dating to the Christian period in Egypt were inthe upper chamber. This evidence of activity of such variedperiods indicates that access to the pyramid after theArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 27