Menkaure and the last Great Pyramid
Menkaure was the fifth Egyptian pharaoh of the fourth dynasty during the Old Kingdom. Egyptian transliteration of his name is (mn-k3w-R`) which means (Eternal like the soul of Re). Herodotus named him Mykerinos under the Hellenistic period (Greek) while Manetho named him Menkheres.
According to Manetho, he was
the successor of king Bikheris but this turned out to be false. According to more sound archaeological evidence, he was the successor of king Khafre who was his father.
Menkaure died after at least
26 years of his rule leaving his complex unfinished while the work was completed
by his successor, Shepseskaf in mud brick.
The Pyramid of Menkaure
It was the last and the smallest pyramid of the three main pyramids, located on the Giza plateau in the southwestern outskirts of Cairo. Herdotus wrote that there once was a very rich woman called Rhodopis who claimed that the pyramid of Menkaure belonged to her. This was almost believed until it was disproved because of the discovery of the triads of Menkaure in the valley temple holding his name and titles and emphasizing indeed that he is the only the owner of the pyramid.
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| The last pyramid of the Great Pyramids triad Photo attribution: David Broad / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) |
How to enter this pyramid?
The entrance lies
on the north side of the pyramid, then we will find a descending passage leading to a panelled chamber with false door motifs, after which we find a horizontal passage with three
portcullises leading to a rectangular antechamber oriented from east to west. There, we find a passage leading to the burial chamber with another mysterious chamber with four niches on the
right side of the passage.
Inside the burial chamber, Vyse found a dark Sarcophagus with a palace facade panelling. The Sarcophagus was removed to be taken to England and was, unfortunately, lost at the sea on the ship Beatrice.
The Queen's pyramids
They were built south of Menkaure's pyramid. Their number is three. All the Queen's pyramids had mud brick chapels, all received from
burials of queens of whom only a body of a young woman in the burial chamber of the middle
pyramid was found.
The Mortuary Temple and Causeway
The unfinished granite casino of the Temple was concealed by a casing of mud brick which was plastered and white washed namely because Shepseskaf could not provide the granite.This white wash has disappeared today leaving only brown mud brick. We also found there fragments of royal statues including heads, chests, laps, knees and shin as well as the (thankfully) complete Alabaster statue of Menkaure.
Shepseskaf completed the causeway with mud brick and it was probably used as a construction ramp for delivering stone to complete the magnificent building.
The Valley temple
It lies at the mouth of the main Wadi. It was built in two phases; the first phase laid out by Menkaure by local limestone and later the Temple was completed in mud brick by Shepseskaf. It was then rebuilt again during 6th dynasty in the reign of Peppi until it was flooded.
Reisner found there the bases
of the four Alabaster statues of menkaure and his triads.
The complete pyramids by Mark Lehner
The Egyptian pyramids by Ahmed Fakhry
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