FOURTH PYRAMID OF SENEFERU
2605 BCE
King Seneferu
constructed his fourth pyramid complex one mile north of his earlier pyramid at
Dahshur and titled it Khai
, which meant Glorious (the same name as his other pyramid complex in Dahshur). This
was the third geometrically true, smooth sided pyramid
in Egypt. The core was constructed with very large, finely shaped limestone
blocks that contained a high amount of iron, which had a reddish tint caused by
the oxidation of iron. During the Old Kingdom, the core was covered with
polished, white casing stones, and the pyramid was stark white. It had a gentle
angle of 44 degrees from top to bottom, so it seems slightly flat compared to other
pyramids, but it is quite elegant. Its dimensions are 720 feet square (almost as
wide as Khufu’s pyramid) and 324 feet high. It had a rain catchment potential
of 446, 900 gallons of water per inch of rainfall.
The catchment
basin was paved with fine limestone blocks that were joined with mortar. It
averaged 65 feet in width from the base of the pyramid. The width of the basin
was significantly reduced compared to Seneferu’s earlier pyramid at Dahshur.
The narrower basin was more practical because it caused the water level to
become higher, which improved its efficiency. At some point, the width was
reduced even further to about 40 feet on the east side of the pyramid. The
earlier wall preserved because it made an excellent wind barrier. The narrow
basin caused the water in the channel to become higher, which create mass and
made the water flow more efficiently towards the aqueduct. This essentially
pushed the water out of the basin and into the aqueduct more efficiently than a
shallow basin, which drained slowly. In the wider basins, the water rested too
long, which caused a certain amount of evaporation to occur. The water might
also leak. Huni pioneered the concept of the narrow basin for his small
step-pyramids because it was more advantageous for a small pyramid. However,
Seneferu assumed that a wider basin was more advantageous for his first mega-pyramid.
His assumption was incorrect, and he reacted by building a much narrower basin
for his second mega-pyramid. The new basin had a rain catchment potential of
85,000 gallons of water per inch of rainfall. After Seneferu’s reign, narrow
catchment basins became standard for all pyramid complexes of the Old Kingdom.
The enclosure wall of the basin was built
with fine limestone blocks that were polished and mortared. It was 25 feet high
and 15 feet wide.
The first known WMB (water
management building) was constructed at a pyramid complex. It resembled a
pavilion-like structure composed of eighty stone pillars supporting a stone
roof made of monolithic blocks of limestone. It was 90 feet by 100 feet, and
completely open on all sides except the west (the pyramid side). Thus, it would
have been an airy, shaded environment with an opening in the roof for light. It
contained a large colonnaded open-air courtyard as well as four stone
courtyards with rectangular cisterns. Its function was to receive rainwater on
its roof as water descended from the east side of the pyramid. There were inlets in the roof (perhaps eight to sixteen) that allowed
rainwater to drain into four courtyards that contained cisterns. Each of the
courtyards in the east half of the building contained a large, rectangular
stone cistern. The stout walls of the cisterns provided additional support for
the roof, which otherwise would have been held up entirely by pillars. When the
cisterns reached capacity and began to overflow, the excess water spilled over
the walls and fell onto the pavement to the catchment basin. The pavement was
about 15 inches higher than the catchment basin, which ensured that rainwater
would not accumulate around the cisterns. Most likely, this was a work area
where water jars were filled. The pavement declined from the pyramid to the
aqueduct so that rainwater would naturally flow to the aqueduct’s entrance.
The walls of the aqueduct were attached to
the enclosure walls of the catchment basin, near the center of the eastern
wall. The channel’s width was about 6 feet. The aqueduct may have been
extremely short compared to others, and this may be why most of the stone
blocks are missing. It is likely that this early aqueduct did not have had a
roof.
Egyptologists
have not determined the location of the WCB, although it may have been built on
a flat, rectangular area of land about 550 feet NE of the enclosure wall of the
pyramid. This area appears to have been artificially raised, and it would have
been a suitable size for a WCB (approximately 130 feet by 245 feet). This
location would have placed the structure at the end of a long canal that once
joined the Nile River.
The WCB of this complex was mentioned on a stone tablet found in
the ruins of the pyramid town called Djed.
This tablet contained a decree by Pepi I which essentially exempted the
townspeople from paying taxes for water-related facilities. It stated that the
residents would not be taxed for anything related to the use of water, which
included trees, garden ponds, private wells, and the two WCB structures that
were associated with Seneferu’s pyramid complexes. The decree referred to the
pyramid complexes as the double pyramid complexes. These structures were
approximately 300 years old when the decree was written, which implies that the
two WCB structures were still being used as cisterns long after Seneferu died.
Most likely, they had been maintained diligently by the local people who were
exempted from taxes.
Seneferu’s ambition to
build four major pyramid complexes was not the result of his need to design a
perfect pyramid for his burial. His father, Huni, had also built multiple
step-pyramids, and only one of them contained chambers (the one at Meidum).
Menkaurai built two pyramid complexes at different sites. These kings built multiple pyramids because they needed to provide
their newest settlements with large rain catchment systems. Southern Memphis
was located across the Nile River from Dahshur and it had a burgeoning population. Therefore, it needed two RCS.
Every pyramid complex Seneferu built required tremendous effort to construct
and a vast expenditure of resources. It can be assumed that these projects had
the enthusiastic support of everyone because these projects benefited thousands
of individuals, including the king. Prior to Seneferu’s reign, there were very
few giant RCS complexes in Egypt. The technology of the aqueduct-type pyramid
complex had just been invented prior to his reign. He experimented with the
design of the pyramid complex until his death, and most of his innovations
became vital to later pyramid complexes.
SENEFERU • PLAN OF FOURTH PYRAMID
COMPLEX • DAHSHUR
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