The Red Pyramid, also called the North Pyramid, is the largest of the pyramids located at the Dahshur necropolis in Giza Governorate, Egypt. Named for the rusty, reddish hue of its red limestone stones, it is also the third-largest Egyptian pyramid, after those of Khufu and Khafre at Giza. Egypt’s first successful attempt at constructing a “true” smooth-sided pyramid is also. Residents refer to the Red Pyramid as el-haram el-watwaat, meaning the Bat Pyramid.
The Red Pyramid was not always red. It used to be cased with white Tura limestone, but only a few of these stones remain on the pyramid’s base at the corner. During the Middle Ages, much of the white Tura limestone was taken for buildings in Cairo, revealing the red limestone beneath.
Location of the Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid is the highest in Dahshur and is called “Red” due to the reddish rusty colour of its stones. It was not to be this colour but a beautiful pure white limestone of Tura, south of modern Cairo. All pyramids had a casing made of white limestone, which was reused in medieval times.
History
The Red Pyramid was the third pyramid built by Old Kingdom Pharaoh Sneferu and was constructed from 2575–2551 BC. The Red Pyramid is located approximately one kilometre north of the Bent Pyramid. It is built at the same shallow 43-degree angle as the Bent Pyramid’s upper section, giving it a noticeably squat appearance compared to other Egyptian pyramids of comparable scale. Construction is believed to have begun during the thirtieth year of Sneferu’s reign (c. 2590 BCE). Egyptologists disagree on the length of time Sneferu’sonstruct. Based on quarry marks found at various construction phases, Rainer Stadelmann estimates the completion time to be approximately 17 years. In contrast, based on this same graffiti, Rolf Krauss suggests a period of construction of 10–11 years, an estimate later supported by John Romer.
Archaeologists speculate its design may be an outcome of engineering crises experienced during the construction of Sneferu’s two earlier pyramids. The first is the Pyramid at Meidum, Sneferu’s in antiquity. In contrast, the second, the Bent Pyramid, had the angle of its inclination dramatically altered from 54 to 43 degrees part-way through construction.
Some archaeologists now believe that the Meidum pyramid was the first attempt at building a smooth-sided pyramid. And that it may have collapsed when construction of the Bent Pyramid was already well underway. And that the pyramid may have already begun to show alarming signs of instability itself, as evidenced by the presence of large timber beams supporting its inner chambers. The outcome was the change in inclination of the Bent Pyramid and the commencement of the later Red Pyramid at an inclination known to be less susceptible to instability and, therefore, less susceptible to catastrophic collapse.
Modern-day
The Red Pyramid is 105 metres (344 ft) high and 220 metres (720 ft) wide. A rare pyramidion, or capstone, for the Red Pyramid, has been uncovered and reconstructed and is now on display at Dahshur. However, whether it was ever used is unclear, as its inclination angle differs from the pyramid it was intended for.
The Red and Bent Pyramids were closed to tourists for many years because of a nearby army camp. It is now usually open for tourists, and somewhat invasive ventilation has been installed, which pipes air down the entrance shaft to the interior chambers. Visitors climb steps cut in or built over the pyramid’s stones to an entrance high on the north side. A passage, 3 feet (0.91 m) in height and 4 feet (1.2 m) wide, slopes down at 27° for 200 feet (61 m) to a short horizontal passage leading into a chamber whose corbelled roof is 40 feet (12 m) high and rises in eleven steps. At the southern end of the chamber, offset to the west, another short horizontal passage leads into the second chamber. This passage was probably closed once, and the offset was intended to confuse potential robbers.
The first two chambers have their long axis aligned north-south, but this chamber’s long axis is aligned east-west. The second chamber is similar to the first and lies directly beneath the pyramid’s apex. High in the southern wall of the section is an entrance, now reached by a large wooden staircase built for the convenience of tourists. This gives onto a short horizontal passage that leads to the third and final chamber with a corbelled roof 50 feet (15 m) high. Unlike the first two chambers, which have fine, smooth floors on the same chamber’s passages, the floor of the third chamber is very rough and sunk below the level of the access passage. It is believed that this is the work of robbers searching for treasure in what is thought to have been the pyramid’s burial chamber.
