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The
Pyramid at Meidum
Beginning
with this pyramid we begin to see all of the components of a typical pyramid
complex. On the north face is the entrance. The original casing can be seen
as we walk up the sand ramp to the steps which were installed in modern times
to enter the pyramid:


Part
way down the lining of the passageway becomes very roughly hewn and no longer
is smooth and neat. We finally get to the bottom and enter the first antechamber:
In antiquity the entrance to all pyramids were concealed, usually ingeniously
covered by casing stones which were indistiguishable from other parts of
the casing. Long since the entrance has been found and is currently protected
by metal doors which are kept locked. As the doors are opened you can see
down into the descending passageway which ultimately leads to the burial
chamber. One can almost fully stand straight in this passageway unlike the
descending passageways of later pyramids. At first the lining of the passageway
is smooth and evenly cut:
Part
way down the liningof
the passageway becomes very roughly hewn and no longer is smooth and neat.
We finally get to the bottom and enter the antechamber:
When
you enter the antechamber and turn around you can see the vaulted ceiling
leading back up the passageway. The antechamber is also roughly hewn, and
there is a niche-like shelf to the right side. Through another short passageway
you can see the the ladder that leads to the main burial chamber. As you climb
up the ladder the temperature rises slightly.
As
you enter the main chamber you can see the first traces of a corbelled roof
inside a pyramid. At points in the ceiling you can see the remnants of wood
over 5000 years old straddling the upper courses. Perhaps this was used to
lower the lid onto the sarcophagus and also for the workers to climb in and
out of the chamber. Ironically, if the pyramid was ever used it could have
also been used by the very looters that plundered the burial. The cut of the
courses in the corbelling is rough, yet it it still has an thrilling impact
when you first see this. The floor bears traces of a space that was possibly
once occupied by a sarcophagus, but it is not certain that this pyramid was
ever completed or that any king was ever buried here.
 
You
have visited the interior of the first "true" pyramid. Perhaps
started as a step pyramid, this pyramid was the first one known in Egypt
to have had the steps filled in to create a smooth true pyramid. It appears
from the exterior as though the steps themselves may have been covered with
a smooth outer casing which may either explain its collapse or the ease
in which the casing was stripped away and quarried as building materials
in later structures.
Return
to Meidum
Special thanks to: Guardian's Egypt - Copyright © 1995-99 Andrew Bayuk All Rights Reserved
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