The Red Pyramid of Snefru at Dahshur, also called the North Pyramid, is the largest of the pyramids located in the Dahshur Necropolis in Cairo, Egypt. The Red Pyramid of “King Snefru” is the third-largest pyramid in Egypt after the pyramids of his son Cheops and grandson Chephren, but it is the oldest and most successful after the failed experience of the Rhomboid Pyramid.
The Rhomboidal Pyramid was probably the first designed from the beginning to be a true pyramid with smooth sides. The Rhomboid Pyramid of Snefru was probably the first or second of Snefru’s pyramids, depending on who built the middle pyramid. Pharaoh Snefru was the founder of the Fourth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom.
His reign was marked by expansion in foreign trade, sending disciplinary campaigns and mining campaigns, and reached with his engineer and adviser Imhotep the complete shape of the pyramid, where he built several pyramids that remain to this day.
Almost certainly the rhomboid pyramid was built before his other one at Dahshur, the Red Pyramid. The Rhomboid Pyramid is sometimes also called a false or blunt pyramid. The ancient Egyptians called it “Snefru Shines – South (pyramid)”.
The Red Pyramid is one of the tallest and most important pyramids in Dahshur; because it is the first pyramid to assume a complete hierarchical form and named for the rusty reddish hue of its red limestone.
The Red Pyramid was not red. It was once lined with white limestone brought from Tura, but now only a few of these stones remain at the base of the pyramid, at the corner. During the Middle Ages, much of Tura’s white limestone was taken for buildings in Cairo, revealing the red limestone beneath.
Snefru managed to build a complete pyramid after several attempts that we can say had failed. He built a pyramid in the city of “Medium” and it collapsed after its construction and he tried again when he built a pyramid in Dahshur, which is called a broken pyramid or dent. This geometric flaw affected him and it did not take the shape of a real pyramid.
The height of that pyramid is 105 meters. The engineers of the Red Pyramid learned from their past mistakes in Dahshur and Meidum, so this pyramid was the first real pyramid in Egypt, and the locals called it the Pyramid of Bats, and this pyramid was the tallest stone building in the world at the time of its construction.
The entrance to the Red Pyramid
The entrance is located on the north side of the pyramid and rises 20 meters above the surface of the earth, and upon entering the pyramid we find a corridor sloping for a distance of 60 meters to ground level, and this passage takes us to another horizontal corridor. This corridor takes us to a room with a ceiling height of over 10 meters.
At the end of the first room is another corridor that takes us to the second room that resembles the first room, and what sets that room apart is that it is located directly in the center of the pyramid, and the entrance to the corridor that leads to the main burial chamber rises 8 meters above the ground surface on the south side of this room.
The characteristic high ceiling where some wooden stairs were installed in the corridor leading to the burial chamber, and this is how visitors can climb up this corridor. Although Snefro built the red pyramid but was not buried in any of the burial chambers here as they were all unused. The floor of this room was destroyed long ago by grave robbers.
Some of us believed that there were no pyramids except the three famous “pyramids of Giza”, but based on the hadith of Dr. Zahi Hawass said that the pyramids of Egypt, which have been discovered so far, exceed 124 pyramids, and there are many under the sand and still undiscovered until now.
Where exactly is it located?
About 30 minutes from downtown Cairo and 15 minutes from the 3 Pyramids of Giza, the Red Pyramid is easily located by road and is surrounded by a green belt and local villages.
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