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The Bent Pyramid of Dahshur

Dahshur-Egypt
Mahmoud

Tour Guide, Cairo, Egypt

| 2 mins read

The Bent Pyramid of Dahshur was the second of three pyramids constructed by King Snefru: the red Pyramid and the Meidum pyramid. It is considered an important step in developing the construction of pyramids in ancient Egypt. King Snefru is the founder of the 4th dynasty, the old kingdom. Also, he is the father of King Khufu, who owns the Great Pyramid of Giza Plateau. His main wife was queen HetepHeres I, who also is the mother of King Khufu.


The Bent Pyramid

It is called the bent Pyramid because of its broken lines due to a change of angle during the construction. It was an engineering issue in the Pyramid design, as the Pyramid's construction started with an angle of 55 degrees. Still, in the middle of the Pyramid, this angle had to be changed to be 43 degrees due to an overload in stones resulting in instability that posed a danger to the inner chambers of the Pyramid.

The Bent Pyramid can be considered as a transition phase between the step pyramid of King Djoser at Saqqara and reaching the true Pyramid as the red Pyramid. This angle of 43 degrees became the used angle in constructing later pyramids such as the red Pyramid and the Great Pyramid of King Khufu at Giza Plateau. The bent Pyramid still has remains of its limestone casing that refer to how the pyramids looked like with their limestone casing.

The plan of The Bent Pyramid-

This Pyramid has two entrances, the first entrance on the north side and the second on the west side. There are wooden stairs newly added for the northern entrance. Both of those entrances lead to chambers with a corbelled roof. The chamber of the northern entrance is built below ground level, while the chamber of the western entrance is built at a higher level in the body of the Pyramid.