MEIDUM, PIRAMID of Snefru

The Pyramid at Meidum is thought to have been originally built for Huni, the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty, and was continued by Sneferu. The architect was a successor to the famous Imhotep, the inventor of the stone built pyramid. He modified Imhotep's pyramid design in a way, which is likely to have caused the collapse of the pyramid in conjunction with the decision to extend the construction plan two times in a row, while the pyramid was already under construction. Because of its unusual appearance, the pyramid is called el-heram el-kaddaab — (Pseudo Pyramid) in Egyptian Arabic.

The second extension turned the original step pyramid design into a true pyramid by filling in the steps with limestone encasing. While this approach is consistent with the design of the other true pyramids, a couple of fatal errors were made at Meidum. Firstly, the outer layer was founded on sand and not on rock, like the inner layers. Secondly, the inner step pyramids had been designed as the final stage. Thus the outer surface was polished and the platforms of the steps were not horizontal, but fell off to the outside. This severely compromised the stability and is likely to have caused the collapse of the Meidum Pyramid in a downpour while the building was still under construction.

Another view of Meidum Pyramid

Some believe the pyramid to have collapsed not until the New Kingdom, but there are a couple of facts contradicting this theory. The Meidum Pyramid seems never to have been completed. Beginning with Sneferu and to the 12th dynasty all pyramids had a valley temple, which is missing at Meidum. The mortuary temple, which was found under the rubble at the base of the pyramid, apparently never was finished. Walls were only partly polished. Two Steles inside, usually bearing the names of the pharaoh, are missing inscriptions. The burial chamber inside the pyramid itself is uncompleted, with raw walls and wooden supports still in place which are usually removed after construction. Affiliated mastabas were never used or completed and none of the usual burials have been found. Finally, the first examinations of the Meidum Pyramid found everything below the surface of the rubble mound fully intact. Stones from the outer cover were stolen only after they were exposed by the excavations. This makes a catastophic collapse more probable than a gradual one. The collapse of this pyramid during the reign of Sneferu is the likely reason for the change from the usual 52 to 43 degrees of his second pyramid at Dahshur, the Bent Pyramid.

By the time it was investigated by Napoleon's Expedition in 1799 the Meidum Pyramid had its present 3 steps. It is commonly assumed the pyramid still had 5 steps in the fifteenth century and was gradually falling further into ruin, because al-Maqrizi described it as looking like a five-stepped mountain. But Mendelssohn claimed this might be the result of a loose translation and al-Makrizi's words would more accurately translate into "five-storied mountain". A description which could even match the present state of the pyramid with four bands of different masonry at the base and a step on top.

Bron: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meidum

De trappenpiramide van Snofroe van Meidoem is een Egyptische piramide, had een oorspronkelijke hoogte van 93,5 meter en de lengte van de zijde bedraagt 147 m.
De piramide wordt toegeschreven aan Snofroe. Omwille van enkele graffiti uit het Nieuwe Rijk die in de grafkamer zijn aangebracht, bestaat er twijfel of ze wel van hem is en niet van zijn vader Hoeni. De piramide is immers nog een trappiramide en geen 'echte' piramide. Toch staat er ook nergens een vermelding van Hoeni, dus voorlopig is het nog onduidelijk. De afwerking van de piramide is zeker door Snofroe gebeurd, want er zijn verschillende graffiti van de arbeiders op de blokken. De twijfel dat Snofroe hem bouwde ligt aan het feit dat deze nog twee andere piramiden heeft gebouwd: de (Rode piramide van Snofroe en de knikpiramide van Snofroe.

De noordzijde van de piramide bevat de toegang tot een ondergrondse kamer, waar een ondergrondse grafkamer (zonder sarcofaag) in is. Auguste Mariette was in 1881 de eerste die de piramide binnendrong.
De piramide heeft een zeer bizarre vorm: ze heeft een grote basis, maar versmalt dan plots. Er zijn verschillende theorieën hiervoor:

• symbool voor de zonnestralen (vergelijk: obelisk)
• een deel van de deklaag is weg
• de piramide is onafgewerkt