Lost and Lesser-Known Pyramids of Ancient Egypt

The three pyramids of Giza are the most famous buildings in the world, but they are far from the only pyramids. More than 100 Egyptian pyramids have been catalogued (Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, 1997; Miroslav Verner, The Pyramids, 2001), scattered along a narrow strip of desert from Abu Rawash in the north to Meidum in the south, with the great majority clustered in the Memphis necropolis. Many of them are smaller, more ruined, or more obscure than their Giza cousins, but several are of major historical and architectural interest. This guide is a tour of the most important of them.

For a deeper look at specific sites, see our article on the Step Pyramid of Djoser and the Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III.

Saqqara: The Great Necropolis of Memphis

The site of Saqqara, on the west bank of the Nile about 30 km south of modern Cairo, is one of the great archaeological sites of the ancient world. It was the principal necropolis of Memphis, the ancient capital, and was in use for more than 3,000 years. At least 16 major pyramids are known here, and the site is far from fully excavated.

The most important pyramid at Saqqara is the Step Pyramid of Djoser, built c. 2670 BCE for the pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty. The world’s first large stone building, it was designed by the architect Imhotep and began the entire pyramid tradition. For the full story, see our guide to the step pyramids and to the Step Pyramid of Djoser.

Other important pyramids at Saqqara include:

• The Pyramid of Sekhemkhet, an unfinished step pyramid built for Djoser’s successor. The burial chamber was found empty when excavated in the 1950s, suggesting the king’s body was never placed there.
• The Pyramid of Userkaf, a Fifth Dynasty structure, was the first to include a sun temple beside it, reflecting the new religious prominence of Ra.
• The Pyramid of Teti, a Sixth Dynasty structure, is one of the best-preserved Middle Kingdom pyramids. Its interior contains Pyramid Texts, the oldest religious literature in the world.
• The Pyramid of Pepi I, also a Sixth Dynasty structure, with the longest set of Pyramid Texts yet discovered.
• The Serapeum, a vast underground complex for the burial of the Apis bulls, the sacred bulls of Memphis. It is not a royal tomb, but it is one of the most spectacular monuments at Saqqara.

For the broader context, see our guide to the Old Kingdom of Egypt.

Dahshur: Sneferu’s Masterpieces

The site of Dahshur, on the west bank of the Nile about 25 km south of Saqqara, is home to several of the most important pyramids of the Old and Middle Kingdoms. It is dominated by the work of the pharaoh Sneferu, the founder of the Fourth Dynasty, who built three major pyramids here.

The most spectacular of the Dahshur pyramids is the Bent Pyramid, so named because the angle of its sides changes from 54° to 43° partway up. The change in angle was almost certainly a structural compromise: the builders, perhaps detecting cracks in the structure, reduced the angle to stabilize it. The Bent Pyramid is the only major Egyptian pyramid to retain most of its original outer casing, giving a vivid impression of how the pyramids looked when they were new.

Sneferu’s other Dahshur monument is the Red Pyramid, named for the reddish hue of its limestone. The Red Pyramid is the first true “smooth-sided” pyramid in Egyptian history, the form that would be used at Giza. It was Sneferu’s last and most successful pyramid, and a number of Egyptologists believe it was the model for the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

The Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III, built in the Middle Kingdom, takes its name from the dark, mudbrick core that is visible where the original casing stones have been robbed away. For the full story, see our article on the Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III.

Meidum: The Ruined Tower

The Meidum Pyramid, at the site of Meidum about 100 km south of Cairo, is one of the most unusual pyramids in Egypt. Originally attributed to the pharaoh Huni (the last king of the Third Dynasty), it is now generally attributed to Sneferu, the founder of the Fourth Dynasty.

The pyramid is a curious ruin: a tall, three-stepped tower, leaning slightly, surrounded by a heap of fallen stone. The structure was originally a step pyramid, like the Step Pyramid of Djoser, but it was later modified into a true pyramid by the addition of a smooth outer casing. At some point (perhaps in antiquity, perhaps much later) the outer casing collapsed, leaving the tower we see today.

The site is also notable for the mastaba of Nefermaat and Itet, high officials of the early Fourth Dynasty, which contains the famous “Meidum Geese,” a painting considered by some to be the supreme masterpiece of Egyptian art.

Abusir: The Fifth Dynasty Necropolis

The site of Abusir, about 20 km south of Giza, was the principal royal necropolis during the Fifth Dynasty. It contains the remains of 14 pyramids, five of them major, all originally built of stone and now largely ruined.

The most important are:

• The Pyramid of Sahure, the first Fifth Dynasty king, with a well-preserved mortuary temple.
• The Pyramid of Neferirkare, the largest pyramid at Abusir, named for the builder of a famous sun temple.
• The Pyramid of Neferefre, an unfinished structure, the smallest of the Abusir pyramids.
• The Pyramid of Niuserre, with its well-preserved causeway and valley temple.

Abusir was extensively excavated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by the German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt and by the Czech team led by Miroslav Verner, whose Abusir: The Realm of Osiris (2002) is the standard reference. The work has produced an exceptional picture of Fifth Dynasty state organization and religion.

Hawara: The Pyramid and the Labyrinth

The site of Hawara, in the Fayum region southwest of Cairo, is dominated by the pyramid of Amenemhat III, a Middle Kingdom pharaoh who also built the Black Pyramid at Dahshur. The Hawara pyramid was famous in the ancient world for the Labyrinth of Hawara, an enormous building of 12 large courts and 3,000 rooms described by Herodotus as surpassing even the pyramids in wonder.

Almost nothing of the Labyrinth survives today. It was robbed of its stone in antiquity and is now little more than a heap of mudbrick foundations. The descriptions by Herodotus and the later Greek writer Strabo, however, suggest that it was one of the great architectural achievements of the ancient world, on a par with the pyramids themselves.

Lisht: The Middle Kingdom Capital

The site of Lisht, on the west bank of the Nile about 65 km south of Cairo, was the principal royal necropolis of the Middle Kingdom. It contains the Pyramid of Amenemhat I and the Pyramid of Senusret I, the founders of the Twelfth Dynasty, but both are now largely ruined.

Abu Rawash: The Lost Pyramid of Djedefre

The site of Abu Rawash, about 8 km north of Giza, is home to the Pyramid of Djedefre, the son and successor of Khufu. The pyramid was the first to be built at a site other than Dahshur or Saqqara, and it is now almost completely ruined. Only the foundations and the lower courses remain, and the causeway can be traced for several hundred meters. For more, see our guide to the Fourth Dynasty pharaohs.

The Nubian Pyramids

Although Egyptian in form, the Nubian pyramids, built by the kings of Kush (now in the Sudan), are a separate tradition. The most numerous are at Meroe (about 200), Nuri (about 20), and El-Kurru (about 7). They are smaller and steeper than their Egyptian predecessors, but they were built in the tradition established by the Old Kingdom pharaohs more than a thousand years before.

A useful reference point, if you can find it, is the older edition of J. P. Lauer, Le Mystère des Pyramides (1988), which remains the most readable single book in French on the lesser-known pyramids. In English, the appendix tables in Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids (1997) are the most useful single resource.