Meidum Pyramid in Beni Suef, Egypt | Secrets, Facts The First Pyramid In Egypt, History, Map, Entrance Ticket Prices, Opening Hours and more…
The facts and history of the false pyramid, the secrets of building it from the inside, the oldest ancient pyramids of the pharaohs, how much is the entry ticket price, official working hours, and more.
The pyramid of Meidum is considered one of the mysteries of the Pharaonic era, which not much is known about, despite its distinction. Scientists call it the false pyramid due to the strangeness of its construction, as it is distinguished as the only pyramid that takes a cube-like shape and not the pyramidal shape.
and archaeologists and researchers consider the Meidum pyramid a transitional stage in architecture between the shape of the stepped pyramid, such as the pyramid of Djoser, and the complete triangular pyramid, such as the pyramids of Giza. The pyramid of Meidum is the fifth pyramid in the history of ancient Egypt.
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Where is the Meidum Pyramid located?
The Pyramid of Meidum is located on the West Bank of the Nile in the village of Meidum in Al-Wasiti Center in Beni Suef Governorate, which is about ninety kilometers away from Cairo Governorate.
Who built the pyramid of Meidum?
The Pyramid of Meidum is considered a historical witness to a transitional phase between the families of the Pharaonic era. Where King Huni, the last king of the Third Dynasty, ordered to start building the Meidum pyramid to be his royal tomb in the afterlife. However, its construction during his reign did not exceed one terrace due to the death of the king before its completion, so no drawings or inscriptions in the name of King Huni were found inside the pyramid of Meidum or in an area close to it.
● Despite the kings’ habit of not completing the traces of previous kings and sometimes obliterating the traces of those who preceded them, King Sneferu, the founder of the Fourth Dynasty, was impressed with the construction of this structure and issued the order to complete the construction of the entire pyramid of Meidum, to become the first complete pyramid in the history of Egypt. That is why archaeologists considered King Senefru the greatest Egyptian builder in history.
When was the pyramid of Meidum built?
● The construction of the pyramid of Meidum dates back to the year 2620 BC, and it was built at intermittent intervals, as King Senefru issued the order to complete its construction in his fifteenth year of rule, to give up after that completing it for a period and start building a new royal cemetery containing two pyramids 40 km away from it In a city called Dahshur, it takes the form of a triangular pyramid, not a cube. Then the king returns to complete the pyramid of Meidum in the twenty-ninth year of his reign. Thus, he fulfilled his desire to build three pyramids bearing his name.
Historical facts of Meidum Pyramid:
The Hidden or False Pyramid The history of the establishment of the most important pyramids of the Dahshur region in the Wasti Center of Bani Suef, ancient Egypt. Secrets of building the most important pyramids built by King Senefru, what is the interior design of the pyramid and what it contains of the culture of the Pharaonic civilization.
King Sneferu built the pyramid of Meidum in 2620 BC, as soon as he ascended the throne of ruling the country, as the place of building the pyramid is close to the seat of the royal rule, “Gedi Sneferu”.
The ancient engineers were interested in developing the techniques used in the pyramid of Meidum, where they chose a strong plateau that could support rocks and stones, in addition to adding a stone to place the mummy after mummification in a royal sarcophagus.
It is interesting that King Senefru decided not to be buried in the pyramid of Meidum despite the completion of the construction of the pyramid, and he went to build the tilted pyramid in the Dahshur region after transferring the seat of government to it.
Archaeologists discovered from the Pharaonic inscriptions that the one who built the Meidum pyramid was his son “Nefer Maat” and he was a minister at that time, and with the passage of time the mastabas were worn out, as it was composed of 5 mastabas and is currently only 3 mastabas.
The pyramid is called the hidden or false pyramid.
The most important tourist places in Giza Governorate, as the governorate is full of Pharaonic antiquities, due to its location west of the Nile, where the ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile symbolizes life, while the sun sets on the Nile and death, which is very sacred to the Pharaohs.
Among the most prominent Pharaonic monuments; The pyramids of Dahshur, which strongly express the greatness of ancient Egypt, although places such as the Giza plateau; are larger tourist sites, Dahshur is something like a history book, telling a great and glorious story of ancient Egyptian history.
Secrets of building the pyramid:
It contains the pyramid of Meidum, which was built in 2680 BC during the reign of King Senefru, the first king of the Fourth Dynasty, which is the family that built the pyramids of Giza, and thus the pyramid of Meidum was the first pyramid in the history of the world.
The pyramid of Meidum consists of square terraces, one above the other, and only three terraces remain. Although it is of the stepped type, it differs in general shape from the Step Pyramid of Saqqara.
The pyramid has a door on the north side. And the pyramid is now about 65 meters high.
The base area is 144 meters, the height is 92 meters, and the angle of inclination is 52°.
No trace was found indicating the use of this pyramid to be a royal burial, either when it was examined by (Bring) and (Vis) and cleaned inside, or when it was re-cleaned in 1947.
(Sneferu) was also famous for his campaign that he sent to the south to restore security and order to the southern borders of Egypt, and his name was also found in the Sinai mines, which proves his interest in mining in that region.
His memory remained for several centuries among the Egyptians, and they referred to him by saying: the benevolent king, the merciful king, the beloved king. Some of the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, about seven centuries after his death, chose the same area to be buried near him, and they worshiped him along with other gods such as (Ra), (Osiris), (Sukar) and others.
The two pyramids of Snefru, built of stone, aroused the attention of those interested in Egyptian antiquities at the beginning of the nineteenth century, especially the British archaeologists.
(Bring) and (Vis), who cleaned the inner parts of these two pyramids in 1839, and then the (De Morgan) mission came, and it was the first scientific mission to dig in this region, between 1894 and 1895.
De Morgan also found the famous collection of jewelry that now fills a number of cabinets in the Egyptian Museum in the tombs of princesses from the Middle Kingdom in this cemetery.
On the eastern side of the pyramid, there is an institute that is a wide courtyard with two large rooms, and near it is a group of tombs in the form of terraces, which is a courtyard for the princes.
What are the details?
● it is a pyramid of five degrees, with the addition of the fourth mastaba to the pyramid it took the shape of a cube instead of an amphitheater, which makes scientists puzzled so far as to whether this construction was the result of an architectural error or if it was an attempt to move the shape of the pyramid from the amphitheater to the complete triangle.
● Scientists and historians believe that the pyramid was supposed to rise by two degrees, but it collapsed because of an earthquake or by erosion factors in the families following the Fourth Dynasty. Others also believe that the collapse occurred in the outer layer during its construction, making it difficult to complete.
● it has a height of 93 meters above ground level, and the volume of the pyramid is supposed to be about 638,733 cubic meters, and its entrance rises to 20 meters. It is located on the northern face of the Meidum pyramid.
● The pyramid is covered from the outside with layers of limestone.
● The pyramid begins with an internal corridor of about 57 meters long that leads to a burial chamber. And two small rooms to the right and left of the corridor.
● The burial chamber is very small, measuring 5.90 meters from north to south and 2.65 meters from east to west. It has two levels: one in the ground and the other above the ground
● There is no sarcophagus or any traces of burial of a king inside the pyramid of Meidum. However, there are large wooden boards inside the burial chamber that could have been used to transport the coffin to the mortuary temple.
● Next to the pyramid of Meidum from the eastern side, there is its own mortuary temple. This temple has been preserved in good condition over the years due to its disappearance under the ground.
● There are also other terraces that are likely to have been the nucleus for building other pyramids. And a sloping path leads to another temple that was built near the pyramid of Meidum.
● The internal structure of the pyramid of Meidum is very simple compared to other pyramids. However, it retains its status and importance due to being an innovation and the principle criterion for building the pyramids in their modern form.
What is the price of a ticket to visit for the Egyptians?
● The ticket fee for visiting for adults: 10 Egyptian pounds
● As for the ticket fees for visiting for Egyptian students, they are: 5 Egyptian pounds
What is the price of a ticket to visit for foreigners?
● The ticket fee for visiting is 60 Egyptian pounds
● In the event that the visitor is a foreign student, the entry fee is 30 Egyptian pounds.
