Sneferu built several pyramids, including the first true pyramid without stepped sides. A. Meidum is Sneferu’s first attempt to build a true pyramid. The structure began as a stepped pyramid, the steps later to be filled in with limestone. B. Today, the Meidum pyramid resembles a collapsed tower with a pile of rubble at its base. One theory holds that the pyramid collapsed while it was under construction. 1. Next to the pyramid is a small temple where priests could make offerings for the soul of Sneferu throughout the centuries. On top of this temple are two stelae (sing., stela; a round-topped stone carved with an inscription), but they were never inscribed. For this reason, some scholars believe that the pyramid collapsed before it could be finished. 2. The burial chamber at Meidum is within the pyramid, not beneath it. This innovation presents an engineering problem: Literally tons of rock are bearing down on the ceiling of the burial chamber. A corbelled ceiling was used to redistribute the weight of the rock and prevent collapse. Again, the burial chamber was never used. 3. Structural problems may have led to the pyramid’s abandonment, but later excavations show that it did not collapse during construction. The limestone casing stones used to fill in the steps of the pyramid were unstable. C. Given that the pyramid at Meidum is uninscribed, how do we know that it was Sneferu’s? Graffiti from the 18th Dynasty, 1,000 years after Sneferu’s reign, tells us that the temple was his. III. After the abandonment of the pyramid at Meidum, Sneferu’s second pyramid was begun at Dahshur, a site about 15 miles away from Meidum. A. This second attempt to build a true pyramid resulted in what is now called the Bent Pyramid. About halfway up the structure, the angle of the sides changes, causing a bend in the pyramid. B. For stability, pyramids cannot be built on sand. The sand must be cleared away to the bedrock, and the bedrock must be leveled; then, the blocks can be laid for the foundation. The pyramids at both Saqqara and Meidum are constructed in this way. C. Two of the corners of the pyramid at Dahshur are not resting on solid bedrock. As levels of stone were added to the pyramid, the base began to shift, causing cracks in the walls of the interior burial chamber, which had already been constructed.
D. To keep the pyramid from collapsing, Sneferu had thick cedar beams installed in the burial chamber to brace the walls. He finished the construction quickly and inexpensively by allowing the bend in the pyramid, which would require less stone and take some of the pressure off the interior walls of the burial chamber. E. Although this pyramid, too, was never used, it was finished to serve as one of two burial places for Sneferu. Since Narmer’s time, the pharaoh had two tombs to symbolize his leadership of both Upper and Lower Egypt. F. Less than a mile away from Dahshur, Sneferu built a third pyramid, the Red Pyramid. This structure, built at a more gradual angle than the two earlier constructions, is the first true pyramid and is the burial place of Sneferu. IV. Sneferu’s international policies took him beyond the borders of Egypt. A. He sent a trading expedition to Lebanon to acquire the cedars used to brace the walls in the Bent Pyramid. 1. Egyptians were not good ocean sailors; they had been spoiled by their experience on the Nile, which required them only to follow the prevailing winds when sailing upriver or the current when sailing downriver. 2. They called the Mediterranean “The Great Green” and avoided venturing into its waters. 3. Expeditions to Lebanon, then, were great adventures, but the Egyptians needed cedar to build ships and massive temple doors. B. Sneferu also sent armed expeditions to the turquoise mines in the Sinai. Inscriptions there call Sneferu the “smiter of barbarians in the foreign territory.” His wife, Hetepheres, had beautiful inlaid turquoise jewelry. V. Sneferu established artistic traditions that would last for the next 2,500 years. The first life-size statues were sculpted of Sneferu’s family members during his reign. VI. Finally, Sneferu is the first individual in history about whom we have anecdotes; that is, we know a little about him as a person. A. The Papyrus Westcar, in Berlin, tells us that Sneferu was rowed in a boat by young ladies wearing exotic fishnet clothing. B. One of the girls rowing the boat lost her turquoise amulet over the side. Sneferu calls a magician who parts the waters—centuries before Moses—and the amulet is retrieved. C. The story is obviously fictional, but it indicates that Sneferu was an approachable, sympathetic pharaoh.