Today it is strongly believed it had been the work of Huni in the first place and then completed by his son after his death. CTRL + SPACE for auto-complete. Entering the tomb was a matter of quite a ways down, then up on some ladders, and finally arrival in the burial chamber which is unadorned, although the bats checking us out added a certain 'inside the pyramid' charm to the place. >> Pyramid Index / Fayoum. When the workers were 2/3 finished the pyramid became unstable because the slope was too steep. There was also a causeway cut into the bedrock and paved with limestone but this is largely ruined. It has often been assumed that the original builder of this Step Pyramid was Huni, the last king of the 3rd Dynasty. I can simply call it a virgin site. Chambers inside the pyramid were found intact and king’s remains found even including the viscera (the group of tissues and organs inside the body) ... Pyramid of Meidum – Route from Cairo Pyramid of Meidum Map. According to researchers, Meidum might have been the second pyramid completed after Djoser’s. It contains a large pyramid and several mudbrick mastabas. The Meidum pyramid may have been first built for Sneferu's father Huni, but Sneferu certainly finished it, and it is named after Sneferu. Meidum Pyramid: Meidum Pyramid, down near Fayoum - See 89 traveller reviews, 63 candid photos, and great deals for El Wasta, Egypt, at Tripadvisor. The inside of Meidum’s pyramid also features an important architectural mark. This graffiti on the eastern wall of the temple, was left by some ancient Egyptian travelers from the time of the 19th dynasty (1300 BC) recording their admiration of the great structure that King Senfru had built in Mydoum. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Cookies that are necessary to enable my site to function. On the east side of the large open courtyard created by this wall there was a large mastaba possibly intended for the Crown Prince. After a long interruption Petrie again returned to Meidum with Egyptologists, Ernest Mackay and Gerald Wainright. Inside the Bent Pyramid, an inscription with Snefru's name and a stela discovered by archaeologists alongside the neighboring, subsidiary pyramid shows Snofru himself.) It was originally designed as a seven step pyramid with a further step being added once construction was in a fairly advanced stage. Unfortunately this is one of the forgotten sites. The pyramid at Meidum is thought to be just the second pyramid built after Djoser's and may have been originally built for Huni, the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty, and continued by Sneferu. It would most likely have run around two hundred meters to connect with the valley temple at the edge of the Nile, but due to the marshy nature of the ground and the high water level no evidence of this building has been found. Unfortunately the mummification temple has been destroyed and nothing left of it.. We are a team of professionals who specialize in tourism in Egypt with over 15 years of experience. I love this tomb; to go inside is a real adventure! However the name of king Huni has never been found at Meydum. In older literature king Huni of the Third Dynasty is often named as the owner of the pyramid at Meydum. It is the highlight of the visit. In the XV century Egyptian historian and geographer Al-Maqrizi was the first, who reported about the unusual shapes of the Pyramid. There we found some great paintings considered the best and the oldest ever found in a tomb, exhibited in the Egyptian Museum in the same room as you will see the statues of Ra hotep and his wife. Fill out the form to book the Tour. The pyramid was Egypt's first straight-sided one, but it partially collapsed in ancient times.The area is located around 62 miles (100 km) south of modern Cairo. There you have to pay an entrance ticket, it costs 16LE( 3$) and to use your camera you have to get a camera ticket that will cost you 5 LE (1$). It is great to see and touch, to put your hand on the handle of something that is thousands of years old. It is hard today to believe that one king did actually have 3tombs built for him, the two pyramids in Dahshour, and a third one in Mydoum. It was built a long way south of most of the pyramids, at Meidum, which is about 60km south of Cairo. The last King of the 3rd Dynasty, King Huni, built the Pyramid of Meidum in the style of a step pyramid. Visitors Can Now Explore Hidden Tombs Inside Two Newly Opened Pyramids in Ancient Egypt. The chapel at the Bent Pyramid is similar to the one at the Meidum Pyramid. Meidum Pyramid is a bit off the normal tourist route. For a long time Egyptologists believed that the pyramid was built by King Senfru, the builder of the two pyramids in Dahshour, the belief came as we found some graffiti in the funerary temple located at the eastern side of the pyramid which had been discovered at the end of the 19th century. This pyramid was probably built during the reign of the 4th Dynasty King named Sneferu. It was an optional extra on my Egyptian holiday so here I was. Then you will find a larger passage way and huge blocks of limestone, midway across this tunnel you will find the entrance to the burial chamber, it is so impressive, so elegant, all of limestone. The mortuary temple was the first example to be built on the east side rather than the north, and although it is a simple building it is fairly well preserved. The pyramid of Maidum was originally a seven-stepped pyramid. The pyramid is generally attributed to Pharaoh Sneferu, the king behind the two pyramids at Dahshur and the father of Khufu.Most Egyptologists believe that Sneferu built a step pyramid at Meidum before going on to build the Bent and Red pyramids. There underneath the lid, you will notice a small ancient hammer stuck underneath the heavy led, forgotten by the ancient tomb robbers. After we went through the gates a car with 4 guards led us out to the pyramid and stayed while we went inside. In front of the temple you can see the causeway that traditionally led to the mummification temple located at the end of the causeway. Required fields are marked *, One of the forgotten sites and rarely found in the regular tourist itineraries, as most of the visitors nowadays follow a very traditional itinerary, which mainly includes the traditional sites such as Giza pyramids and the step pyramid in Sakkara. The entrance of the pyramid is located almost 30 meters above the ground level in the northern side of the pyramid. It took the ancient Egyptians about 400 years to progress from using building materials such as wood, reeds, and mudbrick to smooth-sided pyramids. Our stay inside the pyramid was short and rushed, as by that time it was nearing dusk. The pyramid at Meydum was the first of these three buildings. The one at Meidum is believed to have collapsed as the builders tried transforming it from a step pyramid to a smooth-sided one. When it was newly constructed, it featured 8 steps, one built right on top of the other! With the pyramid of Sekhemkhet at Saqqara and the pyramid at Zawyet el-Aryan, credited to Khaba being left unfinished, the one at Meidum was the second large-scale Step Pyramid to have been completed. This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience. Your choices will not impact your visit. You simply drive along the road that takes you to Sakkara, past the site of Sakkara and drive straight for about an hour, or until you can see the pyramid. From the entrance on the north face an unusually high fifteen meters above ground level, a steep passage descends to meet a horizontal passage just below ground level. The pyramid of Meidum is often known as the “collapsed pyramid” because of its ruined state. The pyramid of Mydoum was built by the last king of the third dynasty king “HUNI” in the style of a step pyramid, it was originally 8 steps on top of each other. While inside, look up to see a corbeled ceiling. Archaeologists agree that the stepped pyramid was built by pharaoh Huni who reigned about 2599 - 2575 BC and that Snefru who reigned about 2575 to 2551 BC converted it to a true pyramid . During the first two stages of building, the blocks were angled towards the middle of the pyramid (as was done with the pyramid of Djoser) which increased stability. Height: 65 meters (213 feet) The Meidum Pyramid was built for, and during, the reign of Sneferu. It leads to a descending corridor that goes for 54m, it is unique among all the descending corridors in that you don’t have to bend down to enter it, unless you are really a tall person… Here you have to have a torch to light your way, as most of the lamps are broken (I have told the inspectors there several times to change them, but no one cared). The last layer, therefore, rested not on solid rock but rather on three layers of limestone blocks and sand. One of them is a tomb for an unknown person that was found with no inscription at all. It has a corbelled roof that is not well done and the rest of the room is empty. Before the Pyramid at Meidum was built, the only preceding pyramids were all "step" or "layer" pyramids. To get into the inner burial chamber, you will need to descend down a narrow passage and crawl through a hole, which is the highlight of the visit for many. A cookie which helps me track how many visitors come to my site and what pages they look at. There is some evidence that the pyramid was built within the first fifteen years of his reign and then he abandoned Meidum for Dashur. Meidum Pyramid is a bit off the normal tourist route. It was plundered by tomb robbers thousands of years ago. The inside had two passageways. Just across from the Fayoum in the Nile Valley, south of Cairo, situated alone on the edge of the Western Desert above the lush green fields at Meidum is a tower shaped structure some sixty-five meters high that was once a pyramid that we believe was built by the 4th Dynasty King, SnefruEgyptologists. This pyramid was 25 miles north of the Meidum Pyramid. The entrance on the north face leads down to a small burial chamber in which fragments of a limestone stele bearing the image of Horus were found. The burial chamber is very small if compared with other burial chambers found inside other pyramids. You can drive on the Fayoum oasis road and then join the Asyout desert road, after about 77KM you can see the pyramid of Mydoum on your left side. They do not store any information about you other than that which is strictly required for navigation and function, and I have no aceess to any of the data. Required fields are marked *, Enquiry about the Tour availability or anything you’d like to know. The burial chamber is the first to have been cut into the core of the pyramid and, to bear the weight of masonry above, it has a corbelled roof. In the last few years I have led special groups to that pyramid. But nobody was ever actually buried in the Meidum pyramid, and the two stelae inside remain unmarked, furthering the idea that it was abandoned mid-construction. The pyramid at Meidum is thought to be just the second pyramid built after Djoser's and may have been originally built for Huni, the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty, and continued by Sneferu. NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using. The builders of the pyramid constructed a long passage from near the center of the northern face of the pyramid, leading to the alleged burial chamber. I have noticed in the last few years that some travel agencies have been trying to organize trips to the pyramid of Mydoum together with the pyramid of Dahshour in a one-day trip. The entrance of the pyramid is located almost 30 meters above the ground level in the northern side of the pyramid. 14. Experts were tempted to ascribe the pyramid to Huni partly because he is not associated with any other large pyramid or mastabas; although he may have built one or more of the seven small pyramids stretched from Seila to Elephantine. It was Borchardt who first realised that this was because the pyramid was built in three stages with the design altering at each point. Originally built as a stepped pyramid, Meidum was later converted into what is known as a ‘true pyramid’, defined with smoothed surfaces, just over 300 feet (92 meters) tall. When the pyramid was complete it is estimated that its proportions were similar to those of the Great Pyramid but it is likely that the pyramid began to crumble during the reign of Sneferu and that this may have contributed to his decision to alter the angle of his pyramid at Dashur in mid construction. Ricke has suggested that the myth of Osiris was incorporated into the worship of the dead king at around this time and that this caused a theological shift towards solar rather than stellar religion which in turn altered the form of the pyramid from step to true and the orientation away from North-South to East-West. In the midst of the 19th century a small wooden coffin was found here and later on it was taken to the Egyptian Museum. However, in the final stage blocks were laid horizontally, which both reduced the cohesion of the layers of the monument and made the work of stone thieves easier. It was then turned into the first true pyramid by filing in the steps and capping them with limestone. They investigated the inside of the pyramid and discovered the pyramid temple, an approach causeway, and a series of private tombs in the area around the pyramid. Every time I go there I get overwhelmed with the place and the feeling that there still dozens of secrets in this site uncovered, I feel it never had the chance to have a proper investigation. In front of the eastern side of the pyramid you will find a small funerary temple that is still intact. The corridor connects with a vertical shaft which rises ten meters to meet a small burial chamber. Started as a Step Pyramid but then converted into a true pyramid, the pyramid at Meidum marks the transition from the Early Dynastic Period to the Old Kingdom. RA- HOTEP was the son of King Senfru and the commander of the Egyptian army in the 4th dynasty a chief priest of center of the worship of god RA the sun god. Pyramid of Meidum. Exactly how or when she died is a mystery, though the experts say the site itself dates back to the end of the Third Dynasty roughly 4,600 years ago. This discovery has not been released to the public yet. Malek, Jaromir (2000) “The Old Kingdom”, in. These tombs yielded great treasure to the Egyptian Museum. No pharaoh would ever put their inscription on this failure, for fear it would be their legacy. And at the end of this room you will find a wooden ladder that leads up to the burial chamber. However, unlike other pyramids a smooth outer layer was added to each level. Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. I just hope they keep doing this. There is another way to reach Mydoum, it is longer but faster. The Bent Pyramid located at Dahshur was the next attempt to build a true pyramid. The Meidum Pyramid was originally built as a step pyramid and the limestone slab casing was added later making it a true pyramid. Meidum Pyramid is located 65 km to the South of Sakkara and can be visited as part of a Fayoum tour. The funerary set is very simple and constitutes one of the rare private sets of satellite pyramids. You may change your settings at any time. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Write CSS OR LESS and hit save. It’s permitted to … At the end of the corridor you will find a small chamber roughly cut in the bed rock exactly underneath the apex line of the pyramid.