The Collapsed Pyramid of Meidum, Egypt, 30 December 2022 | Snefru's 3-in-1 pyramid! скачать в хорошем качестве

The Collapsed Pyramid of Meidum, Egypt, 30 December 2022 | Snefru's 3-in-1 pyramid!

The Collapsed Pyramid of Meidum is one of Egypt's forgotten ancient sites. However, its a very important place for understanding the evolution of the pyramids and the complexes around them, as Meidum featured innovations which future pyramid builders would adopt as a standard. Watch my other videos from Egypt:    • Egypt | Egipto 🇪🇬   The Meidum pyramid lies about 50 km south of Dashur on the western edge of the cultivated area where it becomes desert. The Pyramid of Meidum was originally ascribed to the king Huni, who ruled for around fourteen years at the end of Dynasty III. The current archaeological thought is that it was probably built by Snefru (reign c. 2613-2589 B.C.), Huni’s son and successor and the first king of Dynasty IV, although Huni may have laid the foundations. There is no record of Huni at all in the structure but several blocks with Grafitti giving the date of Snefru’s 17th year of reign. There is also a Dynasty XVIII Grafitti naming Snefru in a passage and chamber of the mortuary temple. Also, several sons of Snefru were buried in Meidum in mastabas. The pyramid of Meidum was constructed in steps in the manner of the old style step pyramids, first with seven steps which were amended to eight and then filled in with packing and regular courses of better quality stone to create a smooth surface. The Meidum Pyramid appears to be the transition point between the early step pyramids and the great monuments such as those seen at Giza. It would appear that the Meidum pyramid was built in three phases of construction. Phase I consisted of the building of a seven stepped structure, which was then enlarged and covered in phase II and filled in with its final casing in stage III, probably during the later years of Snefru’s reign. Today only three steps are visible, towering out of its mound of rubble as a tower. There are many theories as to how it lost its casing: an early collapse during construction, an earthquake in antiquity, but the most likely explanation is that the casing blocks were easy to quarry away. Records show that the stone was still being quarried from the pyramid in the late 19th century. Some limestone casing blocks still are visible on the western side of the pyramid. The pyramid is entered from the north face, some 18.5 meters above the ground, an innovation which future pyramid builders would adopt as a standard. The corbelled roof of the burial chamber projects above the bedrock in the masonry of the pyramid and looking up you can see the high corbelled walls, where there are still traces of an ancient wooden beam, perhaps intended to be used to facilitate lifting the sarcophagus. No trace of a sarcophagus or a king’s remains were found in the burial chamber, suggesting that there was never a burial. Other innovations at Meidum are the advent of the satellite pyramid and the mortuary temple built on the eastern side of the pyramid. The chapel consisted of a vestibule and a courtyard with a central altar and two tall stelas that are missing inscriptions. If they had been inscribed the stelas would have given the name of the pyramid’s owner. The Meidum pyramid also had the new feature of a causeway, almost 200m long, which probably ended in a valley temple which so far has not been discovered. It is well known that Snefru went on to practice his pyramid building at Dashur with the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid (they will be featuring in my next YouTube video!). But it is still unknown why Snefru abandoned the Pyramid of Meidum and his residential city of Djedsnefru with its necropolis to move to Dashur, as it seems likely that the Meidum structure did not collapse until at least the New Kingdom (c. 1539-1075 B.C.). https://www.jeandar.net Music: Jean Dar - Astronaut Album: Rays of Light https://www.jeandar.com