Senusret III (Khakaure)

Monuments

Pyramid Complex
Initially investigated in 1894-95 by deMorgan.
Located NE of the Red pyramid
Surpasses earlier 12th dynasty pyramids in size
Valley temple has never been found, but a causeway leads to the southeast.
Mortuary temple in the cente rof the east side, although too ruined to determine its
structure.Possibly it reduced to the o ffering hall to a granite false door. The wall
decorations were probaly done in high relief.
A larger, newer tample was built in the expanded enclosure wall to the south. It is also
ruined, but probabloy contained two sections (forecourt and sanctuary).
Earlier 12th dynasty pyramjids used a framework of extensions from the corners of the
core and cross slabs (forming a grid) which were filled in with rubble, sand, and
mubrick before the casing stones were added. A ditch was du aroudn thepyramid to
secure the bottom of the casing stones.. This pyramid still buries the casing, but does
not have the grid to support the casing stones, only the core
The core was built up in stepped horizontal courses. The mubrdicks vary in side,
suggesting that no mould was used. Some retain fingermarks from their maker.
Pyramid lasted into the reign of Ramesses II – from grafitti of visitors – but it wasr
uined within 200 years.
Casing was joined with dovetail cramps .
IN 1895, found a robbers tunnel entrance to the pyramid that led to the burial
chamber. Entrances were no longer placed consistently on the side, etc, eventhough
there is a north chapel. The entrance was hidden in the pavement to the west, with a
vertical shaft led to a descending corridor that heads east under the p yramid, then
turning south to an antechamber, then the burial chamber, which does not like near the
vertical axis of the pyramid. Walls are sheathed in granite and covered with a thin
layer of gypsum stucco. Elsewhere, the walls are coveredin limetone and painted with
red and black dots to resemble the red granite.
A ganite sarcophagus was found by the west wall. The wall had 15 niches (much like
Djoser’s complex)
Grave robbers left picture sof themselves, scrastches into the walls of the burial
chamber – this may be why nothing is left inside.
To the north of the pyramid are may tombs of princes, arranged in two galleries. At
least four of them may have had pyrajid superstructures. Under each gallery, a
principal shaft provded access to a vaulted corridor connecting chambers hlding
sarcophagi and canopic chests.
Much jewerly was found, belonging possibly to Sit-Hathor (sister/wife to Senusret)
and Mereret (possibly wife or daughter). Items are in the Cairo Museum.
At least on ot he burial chambers is under the corner of the pyramid, for a wife
Khnumetneferhedjetweret, wife of Senusret II and mother of Sensuret III.
All the sutrcdtures contained in a perimeter wall with a niched façade – pointing to
the revival in interest of Djoser’s complex. An innte rpermieter wall surrounded only
the pyrajid and north chapel.
Six funerary boats found in the nw corner of the complex. Each was 6m long. Two are
in the Cairo museum.
Sesostris III was the second king of the 12th Dynasty to chose Dashur as location for
his funerary monument. He built his pyramid complex at some distance to the
Northeast of Snofru's Red Pyramid.
The pyramid was built directly on the desert gravel, which did not add to the stability
of the monument. The inner core was made of mudbricks laid in stepped horizontal
courses. No mortar was used to attach the bricks to eachother. The core was encased
in limestone block joined together with dovetail-shaped cramps. The bottom course
was built on a foundation of three courses of mudbricks.
Some of the original casing blocks were found, revealing that the monument was built
with a slope of 56°18'35". The pyramid measured 105 metres at the base and rose to a
height of some 78 metres.
The entrance to the pyramid is located in front of the western face of the monument,
near the northern corner. The tradition, which dates back to the Early Dynastic Period,
of having the entrance passage point towards the northern stars was no longer
followed.
From the entrance, a passage descends under the pyramid, turning south to an
antechamber. There is a small magazine to the east of the antechamber, while the
burial chamber is located to the west.
The burial chamber was made of granite, which was plastered with gypsum. The
granite sarcophagus stood to the west, while the canopic chest was stored in a niche in
the south of the burial chamber.
The burial chamber was found as good as empty, without any trace of a burial. It is
not certain that the king was actually buried here.
The pyramid was surrounded by a a square enclusore wall which was then extended to
the south and north. To the east of the pyramid there was a small temple. The the
north, there was an entrance chapel, but as the actual entrance was not located there,
this chapel was just a remnant of an abandonned tradition.
Also to the North, there were some shaft tombs for some of the women of the roayl
family. There are four pyramids located there, but the gallery of tombs located here is
more complex. In one of the tombs, belonging to princess Sat-Hathor, a chest with the
princess's jewellery was found. More treasure was found in another tomb, belonging
to the princess Merit.
To the south of the pyramid, there were also some shaft tombs for the women of the
royal family. The tomb of Queen Weret, the mother of Sesostris III had its entrance in
the south, but the actual burial chamber was located underneath the pyramid of the
king. Some scattered bones inside the sarcophagus may perhaps have been Weret's.
Also to the south, outside the original enclosure but inside the second, stood a temple.
Only the outline of the temple has been preserved. There was a forecourt with
columns followed by a covered part with the actual sanctuary. Parts of the decoration
that were found suggest that this followed the tradition withrepresentations of the Heb
Sed.
Some boatpits were found just outside the second enclosure wall, to the South.
A causeway connected to the southeast part of the second enclosure, but it has not
been examined. It is not known if this causeway connected to a Valley Temple.
Although his father Senwosret II built a pyramid at el-Lahun, Senwosret III chose a
site to the north at Dahshur, to the north-east of Snefru's Red Pyramid, where the
necropolis borders South Saqqara. Although the ancient name of this monument is not
known, it is the largest of the Dynasty XII pyramids as would befit one of the most
important Middle Kingdom rulers.
The mudbrick stepped core of this pyramid was once covered with blocks of fine Tura
limestone, which have now almost completely disappeared so that all that remains of
the monument is a huge pile of rubble rising to around 30m from the desert surface.
Originally its height was thought to be about 61.25m and its base length is 105m. Of
the early explorers, Perring and Vyse first visited the pyramid in 1839 and it was later
excavated by Jacques de Morgan, who was the first to enter the structure in 1895 via
an ancient robbers tunnel. The pyramid's original entrance was concealed beneath the
pavement of the courtyard to the north-west of the western side and a small 'entrance'
chapel constructed on the northern side was obviously intended to deceive robbers.
A vertical shaft led eastwards from the pavement to a descending corridor before
turning south into two chambers, magazines to the east and the antechamber and the
burial chamber to the west. The plastered and whitewashed granite walls of the burial
chamber were supported by a false ceiling of granite which concealed a vaulted roof
consisting of five pairs of huge limestone beams. A false door, also of limestone, was
painted red to simulate granite. At the western end of the burial chamber a huge
empty granite sarcophagus was found, decorated with a motif of fifteen niches and
near the southern wall a niche which would have been intended to contain a canopic
chest was also empty. Some archaeologists have voiced doubts about whether the
king was ever buried in his Dahshur pyramid, suggesting that he may have been
interred instead in his complex funerary monument at Abydos. His empty and
unusually-positioned burial chamber at Dahshur lends support to this hypothesis, but
if it is true then we still do not know the reasons for Senwosret's decision.
De Morgan discovered a second shaft to the north-east of the pyramid which is
connected to a complex of four tombs for royal ladies. Above the ground the
superstructures of the tombs resembled small pyramids which covered shafts giving
access to two galleries. The gallery at the lower level had eight niches containing
mostly plundered burials of royal princesses - but in two of these, inscribed
sarcophagi were found naming princesses Menet and Seneb-senebty. The remains of
the burial of Princess Sithathor, a daughter of Senwosret II, were also found and
although her coffin lay empty, a canopic chest with four alabaster lidded jars
remained, along with a hidden chest containing the princess's jewellery and other
funerary goods. De Morgan also found another empty coffin and a collection of
jewellery belonging to Queen Meret, wife of Senwosret III. These treasures are now
on display in Cairo Museum.
On the southern side of Senwosret's monument de Morgan found three more
mastabas, which have recently been found to be small pyramids, also belonging to
royal women. While two of these were entered by de Morgan, the third entrance was
not discovered until 1994 when the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
Expedition, directed by Dieter Arnold, was excavating the area. This shaft, known as
'Mastaba 9', leads to the burial chamber of Queen Khnemet-nefer-heget, known as
Weret, wife of Senwosret II and mother of Senwosret III. The Met Expedition found
the Queen's sarcophagus, canopic jars and another rich cache of jewellery.
The king's pyramid complex, which included the pyramids of the royal ladies, was
enclosed by a square perimeter wall decorated on the outside with niches. A small
mortuary temple, now destroyed, lay at the centre of the eastern side of the pyramid.
In a second phase of construction the perimeter wall was extended to north and south
and another larger 'southern temple' was constructed, with a courtyard and causeway.
The causeway has not yet been investigated and a valley temple has never been found,
but to the south-west of the complex a mudbrick vaulted structure was found buried
by sand. Close to this was a crypt containing the burial of six wooden funerary boats,
each 6m long.

Amenemhet III (Nimaatre)

Monuments

Pyramid at Dashur (Black Pyrmiad)

Attempt to build the first true pyramid. Failed.
Built on unstable subsoil of hard clay and being built on one of the lowest locations in
Egypt. It is only 33 feet above sea level. Additinoally, so many coridors and chambers
within cause structural problems, especialy with poor ceilings.
Ground water seeped in early on, causing cracks in the corridor and chamber walls
soon after it ws completed. The weight of the pyramid was pyshing down so hard on
the queens chamber that the walls sank up to 2 inches into the pavements in some
places.
Called the “Black Pyramid”
This took 15 years to built, but waas abandoned for a second pyramid in Hawara
Mentioned by Perring,b ut not investigated. Noticed in 1843 by Lepsius, but no
investigation. Extensive excavations were done by deMorgan. Modern escavation was
done between 1976 and 1983.
Valley temple is simple and very damaged. The side walls are thickened to resemble a
pylon. Inside ther uins was found a limestone model of the subterranean corridros and
chambers of a 13th dynasty pyramid that has not yet been found. It may be a model of
the pyramid at Hawara
A causeway led from the valley temple and mortuary temple. It was built between two
brick walls.
Mortuary temple was small, and badly damageed.
Two plastered mudbrick enclosure walls surround the pyramid, with the inner wall
diviting the open courtyard of the temple from the inner sanctuary.
Pyramid core is mudbrick, but lacked the stone and fill framework grid of earlier
pyarmids. They attempted to strengthen the pyramid by buildling the core in step
form. The outer mantle was 5m of blocks of limestone held together wit a system of
wooden dovetail joining pegs. Near the top ot the pyramid the angle decreased and the
top was a pyramidon, discovereed in the rubble in 19990, that was 1.3 meters tall.
First pyraid built to hold the remains of a king and several of his queens, so the
substructure differs markedly from earlier pyramids. Inside, the chambers are divided
into two parts – the kings, and the his consorts, connected by a corridor. The entrance
ot the kings tomb is near the se corner on the east side.
The kings section lies under the easter quadrant of the pyramid and are lined in white
limestone.
More underground chambers and passages than any other pyramid since the 3rd
dynsty.
Bones of two queens found in the queen’s part of the pyramid, and four additional
burials have been found. Some believe that two fo them may be Amenemhet IV and
Sobekhnefru.
Sealed in year 20 of Amenemhet IIs reign – no only filling the entrance stairway, but
alsothe king’s chambers and antechambers, queens burial chambers and etrnace
corridoers with limestone blocks, and the rest of the chambers with mudbrick.
Outside, two enclosure walls. Between the on thenorth are shaft tombs for the
reamining royal familyl Second tomb from the east belongs to Princess
Nubheteptikhered. First tomb on the east ususrped by King Auibre hor (13th dynasty)
The pyramid remains in a military zone and can be seen only from afar from Dashur
proper.
Possibly Joseph's Pharaoh from the old testament
Limestone casing is gone, leaving a black mud brick core
Basalt capstone (pyramidion) is in the Cairo museum
The last pyramid to be built at Dashur is dated to the reign of Amenemhat III, towards
the end of the 12th Dynasty. It was located in the South of Dashur, quite near to the
edge of the cultivated land. The choice of location was probably inspired by the
presence of a nearby lake.
The core of this pyramid was made up entirely of mudbricks. This core was encased
in limestone blocks that were joined together by dovetail shaped cramps. Most of the
encasing blocks were removed over the centuries by stone robbers, so that only a
mound of mudbrick blocks remains.
The pyramid had a base length of 105 metres and a slope that with its 57°15'50" was
slightly more steep than the pyramid of Sesostris III, which stands a bit more to the
North. It rose to an estimated height of more than 75 metres.
Unfortunately, the pyramid was built too close to the valley and to Lake Dashur and
the mudbrick core was weakened by ground water. The substructure was too complex
to support the weight of the pyramid. Wooden beams were intended to give the roofs
of chambers additional support, but ultimately, work on this pyramid was largely
abandonned.
The pyramid's substructure is one of the most complex in the history of Ancient
Egypt. Like Snofru's Bent Pyramid, which stood at some distance to the West, this
pyramid has two entrances. One entrance was in the south side of the East face of the
pyramid, the other opposite that in the West face. Both entrances start with a
descending passage, at the end of which there are some chambers. But before getting
to the first chambers, each passage has a corridor splitting off to the South, leading to
two South Tombs. This is reminscent of the South Tomb in the complexes of
Netjerikhet and Sekhemkhet at Saqqara, and the satellite pyramids of the Old
Kingdom complexes.
Following the western entrance corridor into the first chamber leads to a set of
chambers to the North where the sarcophagus of a queen named Aat was found, along
with the remains of her canopic chest.
Continuing along the western entrance corridor, there is a second set of chambers to
the North, with a burial chamber for a second queen. Both in Aat's and in the second
queen's burial chamber, some bones were found of women aged around 35 and 25
respectively.
A corridor connects the two queen's chambers with an antechamber. The chamber to
the south of this antichamber leads to the eastern entrance corridor, while a corridor in
the East wall of the antechamber leads to another set of chambers and to the King's
unused burial chamber. The sarcophagus inside this burial chamber was made in
granite. It was decorated to resemble the Enclosure Wall of the complex of
Netjerikhet in Saqqara, including a larger bastion in the Southeast where the
"entrance" was located.
Eventhough the pyramid itself was abandonned due to structural problems, a temple,
causeway and Valley Temple were constructed. Only little remains of the mortuary
temple. The Valley Temple consisted of two open courts, located on a different level.
The front of the first court was heavier and formed a pylon-like entrance.
Archaeological research has shown that this pyramid was abandonned somewhere
around Amenemhat's 20th year, after the burial of Queen Aat. The corridors were
stuffed with mudbricks, perhaps in an attempt to add further support to the pyramid or
to mislead any tomb robbers. The king would ultimately be buried in a pyramid at
Hawara, near the Fayum Oasis, to the South of Dashur.
About 2km to the east of Snefru's Bent Pyramid at Dahshur is one of a series of three
Middle Kingdom pyramids, a dark ruined structure rising from the sand and looking
more like a rocky outcrop than the remains of a pyramid. Sometimes called the 'Black
Pyramid', Amenemhet III's monument was built with a core of dark unfired mudbrick,
but without the stabilising stone framework of other structures of its type. It's strange
shape is mostly due to the effects of weathering after its outer limestone layer was
removed by robbers. Amenemhet III Nimaatre, the son and successor of Senwosret III
(who had also built a pyramid at Dahshur), was one of the last great rulers of Dynasty
XII.
The Black Pyramid from the west
The Black Pyramid was visited by Perring and Lepsius in the mid-1800s and first
investigated by Jacques de Morgan and Georges Legrain in 1894-5. It was during an
inspection of the Dahshur site by the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation in 1900 that a
beautiful dark basalt pyramidion was found on the eastern side of the structure,
decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions on each side (now in Cairo Museum). It is
not known whether the pyramidion was ever set in place on the top of the pyramid,
though it seems unlikely because of its well preserved condition. The small
monument raises important questions because the name of the God Amun has been
deleted from the inscriptions - presumably during the reign of Akhenaten, which
suggests that it was not at that time in place. The Black Pyramid has been re-
investigated in modern times by the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo,
directed by Deiter Arnold since 1976.

The substructure of the pyramid has a complex plan differing from other Dynasty XII
structures, with two entrances connected by corridors. The first entrance, low on the
south-east corner of the eastern side, has a descending staircase leading to a warren of
passages, chambers and side-chambers at various levels on the eastern side of the
pyramid. The royal burial chamber was oriented east to west with a vaulted roof and
like most of the underground chambers was sheathed in fine white limestone. A large
empty pink granite sarcophagus was found on the western side of the burial chamber.
The second entrance, on the western side of the pyramid, mirrors the first, and leads to
the burial apartments of two of Amenemhet's queens. The first chamber, reached from
the descending corridor belongs to a Queen Aat and although we do not have a name
for the owner of the second apartment, it would seem that two queens were buried in
the pyramid. In Aat's chamber a sarcophagus was found, similar in decoration to that
of the king, along with a canopic chest and several items of funerary equipment which
had been left behind by robbers. A sarcophagus was also found in the second queen's
chamber.
Another series of passageways connects the king's and queens' apartments via an
underground corridor lying outside the southern side of the pyramid. It has been
suggested that this may represent a 'south tomb' similar to the dummy tomb built by
Djoser at Saqqara.
The pyramid is surrounded by two perimeter walls, built from mudbricks and
plastered. The inner wall, which was decorated with niches on its outer sides, bisected
a simple mortuary temple on the east, which is now almost completely destroyed. The
inner part of the funerary temple consisted of a long offering hall up to the first
perimeter wall and the outer part had a large courtyard with a portico supported by 18
papyrus columns.
There may have been a small 'entrance' chapel on the pyramid's northern wall
although nothing now remains. Between the inner and outer northern perimeter walls
de Morgan discovered a row of ten shaft tombs which were found to belong to
members of Amenemhet's family. The shaft at the eastern end was usurped by a little-
known Dynasty XIII king, Hor-Awibre, whose mummy was found in a wooden coffin
in the tomb. Other funerary equipment included a wooden ka statue which is one of
the treasures of Cairo Museum. A canopic chest which bore the seal of Nimaatre
(Amenemhet III) has puzzled Egyptologists, who now suggest that this name may
refer to Khendjer, one of Hor-Awibre's successors. The next tomb belonged to a
Princess Nubhotepti-khered.
A wide mudbrick open causeway led eastwards from the mortuary temple to a badly
damaged valley temple which consisted of two open courts built on terraces - the first
Dynasty XII valley temple to be partially cleared. A limestone model of an unknown
Dynasty XIII pyramid's subterranean chambers was found in Amenemhet's valley
temple, as well as the name of Amenemhet IV. On the northern side of the causeway
there are the remains of residential buildings for temple personnel. Although
Amenemhet III was not buried in his Dahshur pyramid, there must have been a
funerary cult for his queens - fragments of a false door of Queen Aat were found in
these buildings.
Amenemhet III seems to have virtually completed then abandoned his Dahshur
pyramid at around year 15 of his reign, when he began a new monument at Hawara in
which he was buried. It would appear that the construction of the Dahshur pyramid
had become too unstable with structural stresses placed on the underground chambers.
This was probably partly due to its location on unstable ground too close to the Nile
valley floor - a similar mistake previously made by Snefru when he constructed his
'Bent Pyramid'.

Pyramid of Hawara
Of Amenemhat (1842-1797 BCE)
Stripped of limestone casing, a lumpy mound with good views
Entrance is blocked, but on the south side
Sarcophagus was looed, found next to daughter Nefer-Ptah
To the ast lies a bone and bandate littered necroplis
Also the site of the Labrynth, with 3000 chambers, probably trhe mortuary temple of
Amenemhat III
Site of the 146 Fayoum portraits in the cemetary (beeswax-based paint and
perfunctory embalming
As the oasis of el-Faiyum became more important during Dynasty XII, a number of
religious monuments were built there and the next pharaoh to construct his pyramid in
the region was Amenemhet III. This was not the king's first choice of burial site - he
had previously built a pyramid at Dahshur, to the north, during the early part of his
long reign, but due to structural stresses which became apparent during the
construction, Amenemhet opted to begin a second pyramid at Hawara, near the site of
his grandfather's monument at el-Lahun. It was to be the last major pyramid complex
in Egypt.
Pyramid of Amenemhet III The Labyrinth extending to the south across the canal
The King's second pyramid was built with a core of mudbricks and a white limestone
casing, which was removed in Roman times. The pyramid was entered directly
through the casing on the south side with a stairway and corridor descending into the
substructure, which today is flooded by groundwater. A series of corridors and blind
passages wound around the inside of the pyramid, before finally coming to the burial
chamber at a higher level to the west of the pyramid's centre. This was reached via a
concealed entrance in the ceiling of one of the passages and was blocked by a massive
quartzite slab. Because of his experience with the Dahshur pyramid, Amenemhet's
architects took extra care in reinforcing and protecting the burial chamber, by
constructing a series of triangular lintels which supported a high gabled roof of large
limestone blocks beneath another vault of mudbricks. The chamber itself was a single
piece of quartzite, weighing over 100 tonnes, into which was carved a trough which
held the sarcophagus and canopic chests. The sealing block of the chamber was an
enormous slab of quartzite which was ingeniously lowered into place by means of
slowly releasing the sand which had supported the stone slab into side galleries. The
King's burial chamber was sufficiently protected to withstand the enormous weight of
the brickwork and stone above it, but it would seem that the complicated
precautionary measures taken to deter robbers was ultimately unsuccessful.
When Petrie investigated the sarcophagus in Amenemhet's burial chamber he
discovered remains of a burned inner coffin, presumably damaged by ancient grave-
robbers. A second wooden coffin was found in an antechamber, along with a carved
alabaster offering-table bearing the names of a Princess Neferu-ptah, thought to be a
daughter of the King and it was assumed that the princess had been buried with her
father. However, in 1956 the remains of an almost destroyed small pyramid 2km
south-east of the King's pyramid was investigated, and the tomb of Neferu-ptah was
found. Her red granite sarcophagus and other objects inscribed with her name were
found in the burial chamber, but up to date archaeologists are still puzzling about the
real location of Neferu-ptah's burial.
Remains of a Roman statue on the east side of the pyramid Entrance corridor on the
southern side of the pyramid Remains of crocodile reliefs from the mortuary temple
Within the enclosure, immediately to the south of Amenemhet's pyramid, Petrie
excavated the King's mortuary temple - an extensive and very complicated structure,
which is now so ruined that it is difficult to reconstruct a plan. This is probably the
structure which classical authors referred to as 'the Labyrinth' which so impressed
early travellers. This unique building, covering an area of 2.8 hectares, was described
by Herodotus as having been constructed from a single rock and to contain three
thousand rooms connected by winding passages and courts. He may have exaggerated
as other writers disagreed about the number of chambers and courts. Strabo called the
complex 'a palace composed of as many smaller palaces as were formerly nomes', that
is, forty two. Petrie discovered remains of two statues of the gods Sobek and Hathor
in the structure and a statue of Amenemhet III nearby in the irrigation canal.
Unfortunately the 'Labyrinth' today is little more than a bed of rubble, its stone
quarried away since Roman times. It extends across the modern canal to the south of
the pyramid.
The pyramid complex was enclosed by a perimeter wall with a causeway leading
from the south-eastern corner to the valley temple, neither of which have been fully
investigated.
In a cemetery north of the pyramid complex, Petrie also found 146 mummy-portraits
dating to the Roman Period. One of these can be seen in the small museum at Kom
Ushim and more Faiyum Portraits are in Cairo Museum.

Temple of Medinet Madi

I na sandy hollow, avenue of sphinxes and lions -- one bearded and another ruffled
like a renaissance grandee
Built for XII dyn Pharaohs Amenemhet III and IV and decidated to Sobek and
Renenutet
Ptolemies added two winged sphinxes
Legent attributes destruction to the 11th centur Nedj warriors enraged by the town's
refuasl of hospitality
Embankment is really the beach in ancient times, now nearly 68m tall
Limstone is a very soft medium; contains cartouches for both Amenemhets.

Amenemhet IV (Maakherure)

Monuments

The South Pyramid

The South Pyramid at Mazghuna is often attributed to Amenemhet IV, the last king of
Dynasty XII and the son of Amenemhet III, although no names have been found in
the complex. The reason for the attribution is based on stylistic grounds - the layout of
the substructure and burial chamber resembles that of Amenemhet III's pyramid at
Hawara in the Faiyum. Amenemhet IV completed his father's temples at Medinet
Madi and probably also built the temple at Qasr el-Sagha, but his reign was short and
there is no certainty about the location of his burial place. Mazghuna South Pyramid
was investigated in 1910 by British archaeologist, Ernest MacKay. Today, only the
ruined mudbrick core of the pyramid remains, with no trace of casing, suggesting that
the superstructure was left unfinished.
The pyramid's entrance opens in the centre of its southern side, with a descending
staircase in a corridor flanked by side ramps. As it levelled out the passage was
blocked by a barrier slab of granite, with two more blocking slabs at further points.
The position of the burial chamber was beneath the vertical axis of the pyramid, after
turning three times in a series of short corridors. A single massive block of red
quartzite fills the burial chamber, with a trench for the coffin and a carved recess for
the canopic jars - a similar arrangement and closing mechanism to Amenemhet III's
burial chamber at Hawara. The ceiling was probably supported by vaulted limestone
blocks.
The whole complex was surrounded by a wavy perimeter wall built from mudbrick,
with an entrance at the south-east corner. The mudbrick mortuary temple, consisting
of a large chamber or court with magazines on either side, was attached to the east
side of the enclosure wall, rather than to the pyramid itself. There is no trace of a
causeway or valley temple.

Neferusobek (Sobekkare) 1763 – 1759

Monuments

The North Pyramid

Immediately to the north of the previous pyramid, the second pyramid at Mazghuna is
also of uncertain origin, but is sometimes attributed to Amenhotep IV's successor,
possibly his sister (and perhaps wife), Queen Sobeknefru (Nefrusobek) who ruled for
about three years in her own right. Sobeknefru was the first definitely attested female
pharaoh (although Queen Nitiqret may have ruled in Dynasty VI). The North Pyramid
was planned to be larger than its neighbour and attributed to the queen solely on
structural grounds.
The superstructure of the pyramid seems never to have been begun, but the plan of the
underground chambers is more advanced than that of Amenemhet IV. The entrance to
the substructure is to the east of the northern side of the base and has a descending
staircase which turned several times through various chambers fitted with blocking
plugs before reaching the burial chamber. The burial chamber once more contained a
huge quartzite block with carved-out spaces for the coffin and canopic jars. Although
the sarcophagus block was smoothed, plastered and painted red, there was never any
burial here.
Neither was the rest of the pyramid complex completed, although mudbrick walls of a
causeway were found to approach the structure from the east. It was investigated in
1910 by Ernest MacKay.

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