Monument sights in Dahshur
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Bent Pyramid
Experimenting with ways to create a true, smooth-sided pyramid, Sneferu's architects began with the same steep angle and inward-leaning courses of stone they used to create step pyramids. When this began to show signs of stress and instability around halfway up its eventual 105m height, they had little choice but to reduce the angle from 54 degrees to 43 degrees and begin to lay the stones in horizontal layers. This explains why the structure has the unusual shape that gives it its name.
Most of its outer casing is still intact, and inside (closed to visitors) are two burial chambers, the highest of which retains its original ancient scaffolding of great cedar beams to c…
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Red Pyramid
The world's oldest true pyramid is the North Pyramid, which is better known as the Red Pyramid. It derives its name either from the red tones of its weathered limestone, after the better-quality white limestone casing was removed, or perhaps from the red graffiti and construction marks scribbled on its masonry in ancient times.
Having learnt from their experiences building the Bent Pyramid, the same architects carried on where they had left off, building the Red Pyramid at the same 43-degree angle as the Bent Pyramid's more gently inclining upper section. The entrance - via 125 extremely steep stone steps and a 63m-long passage - takes you down to two antechambers with st…
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Black Pyramid
Of the three Middle Kingdom pyramid complexes built by Amenemhat II (1922-1878 BC), Sesostris III (1874-1855 BC) and his son Amenemhat III (1855-1808 BC), only the oddly shaped Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III is worth a look. The towerlike structure appears to have completely collapsed due to the pilfering of its limestone outer casing in medieval times, but the mud-brick remains contain a maze of corridors and rooms designed to deceive tomb robbers.
Thieves did manage to penetrate the burial chambers, but left behind a number of precious funerary artefacts that were discovered in 1993.
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