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The Complex of Dahshur, home to the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu the father of Khufu. A wonderful engineering mishap that lead the way to the great pyramids.
From Sakkara to Dahshur, Egypt has a cornucopia of undiscovered treasures that typically fall off the traditional tourist radar. The greatest thing about the lesser known pyramids at these locations is that there will always be less crowds, giving you the opportunity to enjoy a more personalized and intimate tour of these historically significant monuments.
The Complex of Dahshur, home to the Bent Pyramid, is only an hour and a half drive outside central Cairo and, if time allows in your itinerary, is definitely worth the visit.
When tourists visit Egypt, Cairo is usually the first and most popular stop. Of course there is a lot of medieval history and heritage sites all across the sprawling metropolis from Old Cairo to the royal palaces peppered around to visit.
However, it is well known that the main attraction is the Giza Plateau to see the Great Pyramids and the iconic Sphinx. What most travelers don’t know is that the Ancient Egyptians actually left us more than 100 pyramids, and a number of those complexes are equally as impressive as the Giza Plateau; however, most travelers overlook them, missing out on extraordinary experiences.
The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur was constructed at the end of 27th century BC by Sneferu, the father of Khufu, the pharaoh who built the largest of the Great Pyramids at Giza.
It is a pivotal stepping stone in the evolution of pyramid construction in Ancient Egyptian history. Sneferu built a handful of pyramids at Dashur, but the Bent Pyramid was the first.
This was Sneferu’s second attempt to construct a smooth-sided pyramid. It is thought that the first attempt, at Meidum in modern day Fayoum, collapsed while it was being built.
That does not mean that this second attempt was not also plagued by some construction issues. However, unlike the Pyramid of Meidum, this second try was actually completed.
At the time of its construction, Sneferu’s builders were still in the learning process and actually had plans to build the massive monument with a steep inclination on each side.
However, building at this ambitious angle turned out to be unstable and caused the workers to pause in the middle of construction and change the angle. That’s essentially what gave it the bent appearance. The angle of its sides changes abruptly about one-third of the way up from a sharp 54 degrees to a gentler slope of 43 degrees.
That is why this pyramid is classified as a transitional pyramid as it doesn’t quite fit the mathematical standards.
Regardless of this engineering mishap, the Bent Pyramid stands tall today and remains an impressive site for the world to marvel at. It stands at a whopping 332 feet tall and it is remarkable among the some 100 standing pyramids in Egypt in that a lot of its original limestone casing remains intact.
That means that travelers can get an idea of what all of the pyramids were supposed to look like before the outer stones fell off or were stripped to be used for other construction projects in the millennia that follow.
The Bent Pyramid features two entrances, one situated on the northern side, adorned with modern wooden stairs for easy access. The other entrance is located at a high elevation on the west side.
Each entrance leads to a chamber with a corbelled roof, giving a gradual incline effect. The chamber of the northern entrance is actually below ground level. As opposed to the western entrance chamber which was strategically built higher up in the body of the Bent Pyramid.
From the entrance in the northern end, a downward passageway links with a small horizontal corridor which subsequently leads to an uphill hallway that ends at a tiny chamber that features a vaulted roof.
It is thought that this corbelled roof may have served as inspiration for the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid of Giza constructed by his son Khufu. The chamber at the end of this hallway is too narrow and tight for holding a human burial, so it is most likely attributed to having been of ritual significance.
The Dahshur pyramid complex was originally encased by an enclosure wall that was composed of a muted yellow gray locally sourced limestone. Within this enclosure, sat the primary pyramid, a satellite pyramid thought to be erected for ritual purposes, a tiny mortuary temple and a small courtyard which leads out to the valley temple.
The tiny satellite pyramid located to the south of the main pyramid was built by laying down courses horizontally to form the slope. This is a more advanced method than the older one which saw casing blocks laid at the angle of the slope.
There are numerous patches in the masonry where large fragments of stone were displaced during the repair and renovation work that proved necessary later on. However, the outer limestone casing is well-preserved and largely intact.
The Bent Pyramid has not been open to the public since 1965, until in 2019 when the Egyptian government decided it was ready for public viewing. During the following decades, the 331-foot-tall structure was subject to a lot of restoration and renovation work.
Experts repaired internal and external stairs, built an extensive lighting network and fixed a lot of the stone work in the internal maze-like corridors and chambers.
Thanks to their hard work, visitors are now able to access the ancient monument through a raised entrance on the pyramid’s northern end. They will be able to climb down a long and winding passage and discover two ancient chambers.
In addition to opening the Bent Pyramid in 2019 for the first time in 50 years, Egypt has also re-opened the nearby 59-foot satellite pyramid, which could have been constructed for Sneferu’s main wife, Hetepheres or for ritual purposes.
Further, the avid research and archeological work near the Dahshur Dahshūr pyramids unearthed a cornucopia of masks, tools and coffins, finding a number of well-preserved mummies in the process.
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