The Meidum Pyramid

The Meidum Pyramid, which was built during the 4th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom and is close to the Fayoum Governorate, may hold important archaeological finds. This pyramid looks very different from other pyramids, especially when compared to the Pyramids of Giza.

Location:

By car, it takes about 50 minutes to get to Fayoum City, while it takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to the center of Cairo.

History:

Archaeologists who study ancient Egypt think that the Pyramid of Maidum was built by Snofru or his father, Huni. Snofru’s followers think that he made the red and crooked pyramids at Dahshur. But he didn’t need a third place to store his wealth, so the Pyramid of Meidum was built instead. A different idea is that Snofru started building Maidum as a step pyramid and then added an outer shell to make it a “real” pyramid.

But because of a flaw in the way the pyramid was built, the pressure was spread outward instead of inward. This made the structure fall apart under the weight of its overall size. The premise of this argument is that Snofru started building another pyramid at Dahshur, but the angle of that pyramid quickly got worse (hence the name “Bent Pyramid”), and that the Red Pyramid was the last attempt to do things right. The end of this argument is that Snofru was right the last time he tried to do things right.

Around the pyramid are the remains of many mastabas, such as the beautiful frieze of “Maidum Geese” and the famous statue of Snofru’s son Rahotep and his wife Nofret (both are now in the Cairo Museum). It is likely that there is another shaft, but no one has found it yet. To get to the entrance of Mastaba #17, you have to go down a 47-meter-long corridor and a set of hand-built stairs.