Northern pyramid of Masghuna

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Northern pyramid of Masghuna
Data
place Masghuna
builder Nofrusobek  ?
construction time 12th / 13th dynasty
Building material Clay brick (planned)
Base dimension > 52.50 m
Cult pyramid No

The northern pyramid of Masghuna is an ancient Egyptian royal tomb that was erected during the 12th or 13th Dynasty . The building remained unfinished. It is unknown which pharaoh was to be buried here, and no corresponding written evidence has yet been found. Since the neighboring southern pyramid of Masghuna due to structural similarities to the Hawara pyramid Amenemhets III. Considered by many researchers as the tomb of his son Amenemhet IV , the very similar northern pyramid could have been intended for his sister Nofrusobek , the last ruler of the 12th dynasty. Some researchers, however, count both structures as part of the 13th dynasty. According to a last comparison made between the subterranean structures of the last pyramids of the twelfth dynasty with those ascribed to the thirteenth dynasty, the northern pyramid of Masghuna appears to have been around 1750 BC. BC and would therefore be attributed to a previously unknown ruler of the 13th Dynasty.

The only investigation of the pyramid so far took place in 1910 by Ernest Mackay .

The pyramid

The underground chamber system

All that remains of the pyramid is the underground chamber system; the superstructure seems to have never been started. Therefore it was not possible to determine exact values ​​for the planned side length and height. It could only be determined that the pyramid was planned larger than its southern neighbor, which has a side length of 52.50 meters.

The substructure

The chamber system is similar to that of the southern pyramid, but is more complex. The entrance to the pyramid is in the north. From there a staircase leads down to a square chamber. In the right angle , another staircase turns, passes through you to the first, nor unsealed blockage. A block of quartzite weighing 42 tons rests in a niche there . Via an angled system of chambers, you first pass a second, smaller blocking stone and finally arrive at the burial chamber. This is completely filled by a huge sarcophagus vault, which was carved from a single block of quartzite. The lid was no longer put on and is still in a side chamber. All of the exposed quartzite that had been built into the pyramid had been painted red and in places also decorated with vertical black stripes.

The pyramid complex

From the pyramid complex only an access road from the east was discovered. In the middle of the way there was another blocking stone that had probably just been left there when the construction of the pyramid was stopped.

literature

  • Mark Lehner : The Secret of the Pyramids in Egypt . Orbis, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-572-01039-X , pp. 184-185.
  • WMF Petrie , GA Wainwright, E. Mackay: The Labyrinth, Gerzeh and Mazghuneh (= Publications of the Egyptian Research Account and British School of Archeology in Egypt, 18th year, 1912 ). School of Archeology in Egypt, University College, London 1912.
  • 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. 251.
  • Christoffer Theis: The chronological order of the pyramids of the 13th dynasty. In: Sokar. Volume 19, 2009, pp. 52-61.
  • Miroslav Verner : The pyramids (= rororo non-fiction book. Volume 60890). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-60890-1 , pp. 472-474.

Web links

Commons : Northern Pyramid of Masghuna  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoffer Theis, The chronological sequence of the pyramids of the 13th Dynasty, In: Sokar 19 (2009), pp. 52-61.

Coordinates: 29 ° 46 ′ 3 ″  N , 31 ° 13 ′ 15 ″  E