The Edfu South pyramid is part of a group of seven similar small-step pyramids built far from the main centres of Egypt. Very little is known, along with the pyramids of Elephantine, el-Kula, Naqada, Saujet el-Meitin, Sinki and Seila. It is located about five kilometres south of Edfu near Naga el-Ghoneimeya. It was first identified as a pyramid in 1979 when the German archaeologists Günter Dreyer and Werner Kaiser were leading a survey of Edfu after a tip-off from the inspector. Further investigation and surveys of the surrounding area have been undertaken since 2010 by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Location of Edfu South pyramid
The Edfu Pyramid is located about 500 miles (800 kilometres) south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Until the recent archaeological excavations began, it wore a shroud of sand that had accumulated for centuries. The structure is one of several identical pyramids built at about the same time in early provincial centres in southern Egypt—Seila in the Faiyum, Zawiet el-Meitin, Abydos, Naqada, Hierakonpolis, and Elephantine near Aswan.
Description of Edfu South Pyramid
According to the findings of Dreyer and Kaiser, the Edfu South pyramid was 35–36 cubits long on each side (about 18.30–18.80 metres). It is now about 4.9 metres high. It consisted of a core structure measuring 8.3 metres on each side, surrounded by two courses of stone about four cubits thick. Dreyer and Kaiser suggested that the pyramid has three steps. The slope angle cannot be accurately determined, but it was probably between 10° and 14°. The pyramid is almost oriented to the north but is slightly off true north (like the other pyramids named above) as it is primarily directed to parallel the Nile. The pyramid is built from local grey-blue and red sandstone. The individual blocks are only roughly hewn – on average, they are 30 cm thick, but the most extensive examples measure 60–80 cm. A mixture of clay and sand was used as mortar.
Construction and function
The builder and purpose of the pyramid are unknown. Dreyer and Kaiser thought it and the other pyramids named above were part of a single building project of Pharaoh Huni, the last ruler of the Third Dynasty. Andrzej Ćwiek mostly agrees but suggests that Huni’s successor, Sneferu (c.2670–2630 BC), the founder of the Fourth Dynasty, was the builder. Speculation about the function of the pyramids ranges from a representation of the king, a depiction of the benben, or a symbol of the political and religious unity of the land to a cenotaph for a royal wife.
