Merenre pyramid
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 Merenre pyramid (1990s)
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The Merenre pyramid in Saqqara is the tomb of the ancient Egyptian king Merenre from the 6th dynasty . It is located southwest of the pyramid of his father Pepi I and west of the Djedkare pyramid and is 450 meters away from both. The structure was not completed and is now badly damaged. As in the graves of his predecessors, the so-called pyramid texts can also be found here . The autobiography of Weni , a high official under Merenre, is an important document for the procurement of materials for the pyramid.
exploration
A first description of the building was provided by John Shae Perring in the 1830s. Research into the chamber system began in 1881 by Gaston Maspero and the brothers Emil and Heinrich Brugsch . More detailed excavations, however, did not begin until 1971 under the direction of Jean Leclant .
The pyramid
The pyramid body was never completed due to Merenre's early death. Due to massive stone robbery, the remains are in a very poor condition today. Accurate measurements of the pyramid dimensions have not yet been carried out, but it is assumed that the pyramid with a side length of 150 King Sellen (about 78.60 meters) and a height of 100 King Sellen (about 52.40 meters) designed was. The angle of inclination was therefore 53 ° 7'48 ". These dimensions are the same as those of the pyramids of its two predecessors Teti and Pepi I.
Weni's autobiography reports that granite from Aswan was used to build the pyramid . As material for the pyramidion was greywacke determined that Weni from the Nubian place Ibhat induce managed. Perring was also able to determine that blocks made of white limestone were used for the cladding, but nothing is left today.
The substructure
The chamber system of the Merenre pyramid is very similar to that in his father's tomb. From the middle of the north side, a corridor leads down to the bottom and then goes horizontally . In this passage there are three granite blocking stones that should block access to the burial chamber. Still, grave robbers had managed to overcome this barrier by driving a tunnel into the west side of the corridor through which they could bypass the blocking stones.
Directly below the planned top of the pyramid is the antechamber and to the west of it the actual burial chamber. The ceilings of the two rooms consist of a gable roof, which is decorated with a painting with white stars on a sepia-colored background. Pyramid texts are carved into the walls of the corridors and chambers and painted with green paint.
At the western end of the grave chamber is composed of basalt -made sarcophagus , a gilding were found on the remains. It has a length of 2.72 meters and a width and height of 1.12 meters. The lid still rests on the sarcophagus and has only been pushed aside a little. A canopic box made of rose granite was found 60 cm south of the sarcophagus . However, no trace was found of the four canopic jugs for which it was intended as a container. There was nothing left of the rest of the grave goods either , apart from two alabaster vessels and a wooden knob.
Although the pyramid had clearly been robbed, Maspero found a mummified body inside the sarcophagus . It is unclear whether this is really Merenre. The dead man's hair is braided into a side curl, which identifies him as a youth. At the beginning of the 20th century, the mummy expert Grafton Elliot Smith assumed a subsequent burial from the 18th dynasty . Since the mummy, which is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo , has not yet been examined in more detail, the question of its chronology cannot be clearly answered.
The pyramid complex
Merenre may have planned the port facility for the pyramid complex in the nearby Wadi Tafla , which is indicated by traces in the area. The way up would then have had to overcome a height difference of 27 meters for a distance of 300 meters to the pyramid. Perring already found the remains of this driveway. He also found the remains of a mud-brick enclosure wall .
The mortuary temple was on the east side of the pyramid . The limestone flooring and remains of the walls are still preserved today. In the sacrificial room there were still traces of the main sacrificial table, another, better preserved table as well as a trough and an elliptical basin embedded in the flooring. Numerous relief fragments were also found that were only sketched out and had not been completed.
literature
- Wolfgang Kosack : The ancient Egyptian pyramid texts. In a new German translation; completely edited and edited by Wolfgang Kosack. Christoph Brunner, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-9524018-1-1 .
- Jean-Philippe Lauer: The royal tombs of Memphis. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1988, ISBN 3-7857-0528-X , pp. 170-173.
- Audran Labrousse: The pyramids from the 6th Dynasty. In: Zahi Hawass (ed.): The treasures of the pyramids. Weltbild, Augsburg 2004, ISBN 3-8289-0809-8 , pp. 270-271.
- Mark Lehner : The Secret of the Pyramids in Egypt. Orbis, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-572-01039-X , pp. 160-161.
- Rainer Stadelmann : The Egyptian pyramids. From brick construction to the wonder of the world (= cultural history of the ancient world . Volume 30). 3rd, updated and expanded edition. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-8053-1142-7 , p. 195.
- Miroslav Verner : The pyramids (= rororo non-fiction book. Volume 60890). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-60890-1 , pp. 398-399.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Translation after R. Stadelmann: The Egyptian pyramids. From brick construction to the wonder of the world.
Coordinates: 29 ° 51 '2 " N , 31 ° 12' 54" E