Through the Eras

Architecture and Designcompletely understood. Sneferu converted the pyramidinto a true pyramid shape near the end of his reign,about Year 28 or 29 (2597–2596 B.C.E.). The structure,in turn, changed dramatically when the site functionedas a rock quarry during the Middle Ages, resulting inthe destruction of several layers. Sheikh Abu MohammedAbdallah described the Meidum pyramid ashaving five layers when he saw it between 1117 and1119 C.E. In 1737, the Swedish traveler Frederick LouisNorden saw only three layers, as is visible today. Duringthis 620-year period, a large amount of stone musthave been removed from the site. Recent attempts at reconstructingthe original appearance of the pyramidsuggest it had up to eight layers. Moreover, at some timein antiquity the outer casing that Sneferu had added toturn the earlier step pyramid into a true pyramid collapsed.Recent excavations revealed that this collapseprobably occurred after construction had been completedat Meidum. Earlier commentators speculated thatthe collapse had occurred during construction and infact had led to the abandonment of the monument. Theabsence of evidence such as workmen’s corpses or ofFourth-dynasty tools found in the rubble surroundingthe pyramid’s core makes this theory unlikely. The timingof the collapse is important. If it occurred in themiddle of construction, subsequent construction techniquechanges should be seen as a response to the collapse.If, on the other hand, the collapse occurred muchlater, as is now believed, then the collapse has no directbearing on decisions that engineers made at Sneferu’stwo later pyramids.INTERIOR OF THE MEIDUM PYRAMID. The interiorof the Meidum pyramid set the new precedent forconfiguring the burial. Rather than a vertical shaft as wasfound in Djoser’s dynasty-three pyramid, at Meidum theentrance to the burial came from the north face of thepyramid. A descending passage, 58 meters long and 0.84meters by 1.65 meters (190 by 2.7 by 5.4 feet), led downto two small rooms. At the end of the second room, avertical shaft led up to a burial chamber 5.9 by 2.65 by5.05 meters (19.3 by 8.6 by 16.5 feet). Corbelledblocks—blocks placed on top of each other but projectingslightly over the edge of the lower course from twosides to eventually meet at the ceiling—formed the roofof the chamber. This is the first known example of thisearly form of arch in Egypt, though it remains incomplete.The remains of cedar logs found in the shaft leadingto the burial chamber may have been pieces of awooden coffin, although no sarcophagus was found. W.M. F. Petrie, the English archaeologist who first excavatedat Meidum, did find pieces of a wooden coffin ina plain style. The change in the entrance to the burialchamber from a vertical shaft to a descending passage isdifficult to interpret. It could have been a technical improvementmaking it easier to bring the sarcophagus intothe burial. On the other hand, such drastic changes areoften a change in symbolism that reflects a real changein belief. It is not possible to determine conclusivelywhich kind of change is at work in this instance.OTHER ELEMENTS AT MEIDUM. The other elementsfound at the Meidum Pyramid demonstrate itsvalue as a bridge between past and future pyramid styles.The subsidiary pyramid south of the main pyramid perhapshad the same function as the South Tomb atDjoser’s complex in Saqqara, though that function is notfully understood. Looking to the future, a small altar onthe east side of the main pyramid, with two blank, unfinishedsteles, is a precursor of the pyramid temples builtlater in Dynasty Four at Dahshur and more elaboratelyat Giza by Sneferu’s son and grandsons. A covered causeway,another common feature of later pyramid complexes,connected Sneferu’s Meidum pyramid to thevalley, but not to any known temple. Only mud brickwalls were found at the valley end of the causeway showingthat the valley temple was never completed in stoneas Egyptologists would expect if Sneferu himself hadcompleted the structure.SNEFERU’S BENT PYRAMID AT DAHSHUR. In thefifteenth year of King Sneferu’s reign (2610 B.C.E.), heabandoned his building project at the Meidum Pyramidand moved his court 25 miles north to Dahshur. At thispoint in his reign, the Meidum Pyramid was still a steppyramid, more similar in shape to Djoser’s pyramid atSaqqara than to the true pyramids built later. The moveto Dahshur indicates a break with the step-pyramid stylein an effort to create a true pyramid. The builders’ firstattempt was the pyramid that Egyptologists call the BentPyramid. Step pyramids slope at approximately 78 degreeson each face. A true pyramid like the Great Pyramidat Giza has faces that slope at 53 degrees. The facesof the lower section of the Bent Pyramid were first constructedwith a slope at sixty degrees, but this slope wastoo steep to form a true pyramid that could be supportedadequately. At some point in the construction, thebuilders added more stone to the lower levels and reducedthe slope to 54 degrees, 27 minutes, in order tosupport the inner core. As work proceeded, further structuralproblems emerged that forced the builders to reducethe angle of slope even further to 43 degrees on theupper half of the pyramid. This reduction accounts forthe distinct bend in the shape of this pyramid. The basemeasures 188 meters (617 feet) and is 105 meters (345Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 17