Pyramid Of Sahure At Abusir

Pyramid Of Sahure At Abusir

The second king of the Fifth Dynasty was Dynasty Sahure. He was the first pharaoh to construct a pyramid complex of his own in Abusir. A small hill that is on the outskirts of the desert was where Userkaf built his monument, which he called Sahure’s ba shines. We know it as the Pyramid of Sahure. The pyramid is barely standing today because bad quality stones were used for its construction. But it does have a causeway and mortuary temple which are in greater shape.

Approximately 6 steps of mortar and limestone were used to construct the pyramid of Sahure. Fine white limestone casing was used to help preserve it. The original measurements are roughly 48 meters in height, 78.5-meter length sides, and represents a Fifth Dynasty pyramid perfectly.

During the late 1800s, the monument was investigated by Lepsius. Another investigation by Perring came a little bit later, and he became the first person to explore the underground chambers. Ludwig Borchardt organized the first official excavation of the Pyramid of Sahure which came in the early 1900s.

The northern entrance of the pyramid has a small declining passageway with granite portcullis slabs blocking it. This passage leads to a small vestibule and then inclines to a burial chamber and antechamber. The burial chamber has a gabled roof that was built with 3 tiers containing huge limestone blocks. Over the years, the underground chambers were severely destroyed by stone robbers. There is not much left there now. The rubble and debris make it impossible to access the inside of the pyramid.

The pyramid’s eastern side contains the mortuary temple of Sahure. Basalt and granite were mostly used to build the temple. This allowed it to stay preserved quite well for all these years. The temple’s exterior contains an entrance hall that goes to an open porticoed court. Colourful relief decorations are found on the side walls. These reliefs depict the battle victories that Sahure had over his enemies from Libya and Asia.

The courtyard’s eastern side has two restored palm columns. This is representative of Buto’s sacred grove. The king’s titles and names are on the pink granite columns. They depict Wadjet and Nekhbet, who are the cobra goddesses.

Two rows of magazines are found inside the mortuary temple. A transverse corridor links the magazines and all the other areas of the temple. Sahure developed a short satellite pyramid that had an enclosure wall. You can find it at the pyramid’s southeastern corner.

The causeway’s base has survived all these years. Decorations were originally put all throughout the causeway. The SCA conducted excavations recently and found big stone blocks that had an advanced type of relief. The depictions on the walls showed scenes with classic Egyptian enemies and various gods leading them. The causeway flowed east to Abusir Lake, which was the canal where the valley temple was positioned.

You would come out of the canal on a ramp that flows to the entrance and to two pillars and a T-shaped hall. After that, a staircase goes up to the roof terrace. Another entrance to the temple could be found on its eastern side. No one knows why there were two entrances constructed originally. The valley temple is currently in ruins and overgrown with vegetation.

 Updated on May 3rd 2020