Memphis and Its Necropolis World Heritage Site

Memphis and Its Necropolis World Heritage Site: Giza (N29o59’ E31o8’) (Note: All coordinates approximate).

  • Great Pyramid of Giza (tomb of Khufu), 2550 BC, is 481’ tall and was the tallest man-made structure for 3,800 years. It is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. On the east side is the site of a funerary temple and causeway leading to a valley temple, now buried under a modern town. Cemeteries with the tombs of important relatives and government officials are to the east (East Field), west (West Field), and south (Cemetery G 1 South) of the pyramid.
  • Pyramid G1-a was built to honor his mother, Queen Hetepheres, to the east of the Great Pyramid. She was buried in a shaft tomb, to the east of the structure. A boat pit is adjacent.
  • Pyramid G1-b, also to the east of the Great Pyramid, is believed to honor Queen Meritites or Queen Noubet. A boat pit is adjacent.
  • Pyramid G1-d is believed to be related to the Sed Festival on the continued rule of a pharaoh after 30 years.
  • Pyramid G1-c is believed to honor Queen Henutsen.
  • Pyramid of Khafre, 2520 BC, Giza, originally 471’, now 448’, is a complex consisting of a subsidiary pyramid to the south, a funerary temple to the east, and a causeway leading to the valley temple.  South of the valley temple is a cemetery (the Central Field) of tombs of important relatives and government officials.
  • Great Sphinx is adjacent to the causeway from the Pyramid of Khafre and is believed to have been part of the complex since the face of the sphinx appears to be pharoah Khafre.
  • Pyramid of Khenthaus I was a two-stepped tomb of a Queen from the 4th Dynasty.
  • Pyramid of Menkaure is a complex consisting of a 215’ pyramid, a funerary temple adjacent, and a valley temple to the east. South are three queen’s pyramids. These were built for a 4th dynasty pharoah.
  • Tura (N29o56’ E31o19”) was the primary limestone quarry of ancient Egypt, located on the east bank of the Nile. There are six km of underground quarries.
  • Zawyet el Aryan (N29o56′ E31o10′) contains two unfinished pyramids.
    • Unfinished northern pyramid of Zawyet el Aryan or Pyramid of Baka consists of a t-shaped shaft dating to the mid-4th Dynasty.
    • Layer Pyramid dates to the Third Dynasty and is an unfinished step pyramid.

Memphis and Its Necropolis World Heritage Site: Abu Sir

  • Abu Sir (N29o54′ E31o12′) contains five pyramids and additional tomb complexes.
    • Sun Temple of Nyuserre Ini is the best preserved solar temple of the Fifth Dynasty. Ruins of an obelisk, most like 35 to 50 m high are on site. A covered corridor contained carved reliefs on interior walls which depict the sed festival of renewal. Painted reliefs also depict the seasons of inundation and harvest.
    • Sun Temple of Userkaf or the Stronghold of Ra was a mastaba from the Fifth Dynasty. Seal impressions bear king’s names.
    • Unfinished pyramid assigned to Shepseskare was begun in the Fifth Dynasty but only foundation work was done; he died after a short reign.
    • Pyramid of Sahure is a Fifth Dynasty pyramid with finely carved reliefs, one of which is a hunting scene. The complex includes a valley temple, causeway, mortuary temple, cult pyramid, and main pyramid.
    • Mastaba of Ptahshepses, a royal official under Nyuserre, is the most extensive non-royal tomb of the Old Kingdom. The entrance is announced by two six-meter limestone columns shaped as lotuses.
    • Pyramid of Nyuserre was a Fifth Dynasty pyramid, build adjacent to and on top of the Neferirkare Pyramid complex, consisting of a L-shaped mortuary temple, cult pyramid, causeway, and valley temple.
    • Pyramid of Neferirkare was a Fifth Dynasty pyramid, famous for discovery of the Abu sir Papyri. This pyramid has a mortuary temple but not a valley temple, causeway, or cult pyramid.
    • Khentkaus II Pyramid was built for the wife of Neferirkare in the Fifth Dynasty. It is adjacent and to the south of his pyramid.
    • Neferefe (Raneferet) unfinished pyramid is a Fifth Dynasty structure started as a pyramid but converted into a mastaba after his early death at age 20. A limestone statuette of Neferefre was found on site. It is one of the most famous examples of Egyptian royal sculpture of the Fifth Dynasty. There are four additional masabas in a line extending south from this pyramid.
    • Lepsius Pyramid XXIV is a 5th dynasty pyramid, now rubble, likely built for the wife of King Nyuserre.
    • Double Pyramid or Lepsius Pyramid XXV dates from the Fifth Dynasty and is considered a tomb for two female members of the royal family.
    • Shaft tomb of Iufaa contained a mummy from an undisturbed burial at the bottom of an 82-foot shaft. The mummy was of Iufaa, a priest and administrator of palaces during the 26th dynasty just before the Persian conquest. Source: Zaih Hawass. 1998. Abusir tomb. National Geographic 194(5):102-113 (November 1998).
  • El-Omari (N29o52’ E31o19’) is a neolithic settlement in modern-day Helwan, occupied 4,600 to 4400 B.C., now damaged by road construction. Farming was similar to that of the Old Kingdom. Source: Egyptian Arch-Map, Map – Archaeological Map (cultnat.org).

Memphis and Its Necropolis World Heritage Site: Saqqara

  • North Saqqara contains numerous pyramids and tomb complexes.
    • Mastaba of Ti (N29o53’ E31o13′) contains two cellars with scenes of everyday life in the Fifth Dynasty.
    • Serapeum of Saqqara (N29o53’ E31o12’) is the burial place for the sacred bulls of the Apis cult in the New Kingdom, Nineteenth Dynasty, 1200 B.C. There are burials of mummified bulls.
    • Headless Pyramid (Lepsius XXIX), believed to be the pyramid of Menkauhor (N29o53’ E31o13’), dates to the Fifth Dynasty.
    • Pyramid of Teti (N29o53’ E31o13’) is a Sixth Dynasty, smooth-sided pyramid with pyramid texts. There is a satellite pyramid and pyramids of Queens Khuit II Queen Iput I, and the king’s mother Sesheshet. Today it resembles a small hill.
    • Pyramid of Userkaf (N29o52’ E31o13’) dates to the Fifth Dynasty, 2494-2487 B.C. It resembles a conical hill and is called the Heap of Stone. A separate cult pyramid is withini the enclosure wall. A separate pyramid and mortuary temple 10 m to the south of the enclosure wall is for queen Neferhetepes, now a mound of rubble.
    • Pyramid of Netjerikhet (Djoser) (N29o52’ E31o13’) was the first step pyramid to be built, dating to the 27th century B.C. and Third Dynasty. There are six tiers, 4 sides, and it is 200 feet tall, along with enclosure walls, entrance colonnade. This may the earliest large-scale cut stone construction made by man, but Caral, South America, is contemporary.
    • Pyramid of Unas (N29o52’ E31o13’) is from the Fifth Dynasty, 24th Century B.C. A causeway leads eastward. Beneath the causeway are Nymetjer’s tomb (Gallery Tomb B), from the Second Dynasty; and Gallery Tomb A, also from the Second Dynasty, believed to be Hotepsekhewy’s burial.
    • Gisr el-Mudir (Great Enclosure) (N29o52’ E31o12’) is a rectangular enclosure. The walls are 15 m apart and were 10 m in height. The entrance is on the south between two parallel walls. The purpose is unknown and it is believed to date from the Second Dynasty.
    • Pyramid of Sekhemkhet (Buried Pyramid), (N29o52’ E31o13’) is an unfinished step pyramid of the Third Dynasty with an enclosure wall.
  • Middle Saqqara (N29o51′ E31o13′) contains three pyramid complexes. The Pyramid of Merenre dates to Dynasty VI, c. 2490 BC. The Pyramidi of Djedkare Isesi or the Sentinel Pyramid dates to the Fifth Dynasty. Adjacent to the northeast of Pyramid of Djedkare Isesi is the Pyramid of Setibhor, built for a queen. The Pyramid of Pepi I dates from the 6th dynasty and is known for pyramid texts. To the southwest and adjacent are 9 queen’s pyramids, mostly wives of Pepi I. The Pyramid of Reherishefnakht is to the west of the Pyramid of Papi I and adjacent to the queen’s pyramids.
  • Memphis or Mit Rahina  (N29o51’ E31o15’) was the capital of Egypt during the Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom. It is to the east of the pyramid fields along the Middle Ring Road. The Great Temple of Ptah was here, along with the colossus of Ramesses II and a large sphinx monolith. To the southeast was the royal palace of King Merenptah, sone of Rammeses II, a royal palace with porch, courtyard, throne room, with artifacts in the Penn Museum. It is noted that palaces are rare in Egyptian archaeology (The Palace of Pharaoh Merenptah: Examining an Archaeological “Cold Case” (youtube.com)).
  • South Saqqara (N29o50′ E31o13′) is part of the Memphis and its Necropolis World Heritage Site. Mastabat al-Fir’aun is the tomb of Shepsesket (2510-2503 BC), last king of the Fourth Dynasty, Old Kingdom. It is a stepped mastaba. The Pyramid of Pepi II, a ruler during the 6th Dynasty (c. 2284-2216 BC) is a complex with a main pyramid, a Ka pyramid, three queen’s pyramids to the northwest o the pyramid, a temple linked to Memphis by a canal, and a mortuary temple. There is also a 400-m causeway leading northeast to the Nile. The Pyramid of Ibi (Qakari Ibi) is adjacent to the causeway of Pepi II and was the tomb of a pharoah in the First Intermediate Period (2181-2055 BC). Ibi was based in Memphis and not ruler of all of Egypt (Source: Wikipedia)
  • Dahshur is the southern-most of the ancient Memphis pyramid complex. The two pyramids of King Sneferu of the 4th Dynasty are found here. The Red Pyramid (N29o49’ E31o12’) is the third largest Egyptian pyramid at 105 m high and 220 me wide. It was built from 2575 to 2563 BC. The Bent Pyramid (N29o47’ E31o13’) is the southernmost of the two pyramids of Sneferu and is 105 m high. It was an experimental rhomboidal pyramid where the angle of construction changed as it was built. It is known for the original polished limestone construction which remains intact. Also at Dahshur are the pyramid of Senusert III (N29o49’ E31o14’) with a granite burial chamber dating to the 12th Dynasty, White Pyramid of King Amenemhat III (N29o48’ E31o13’), now destroyed, the Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III (N29o47’ E31o13’), believed to be a fake tomb, and the Pyramid of Ameny Qemau (N29o47’ E31o13’), dating to the 13th dynasty or 1790 B.C. Other tombs and cemeteries are interspersed among the pyramids (Sources: Egyptian Arch-Map, Map – Archaeological Map (cultnat.org) and Wikipedia).
  • Sadd el-Kafara (N29o48’ E31o26’) is a masonry dam constructed on Wadi al-Garawi, built in the third millennium BC for flood control. It is the oldest dam of such size in the world. The dam was 111 m long and 14 m tall with no spillway. It was not finished and was destroyed by a flood, perhaps because of the lack of a spillway. (Source: Wikipedia).
  • Northern Mazghuna pyramid (N29o46’ E31o13’) is an unfinished pyramid by an unknown owner, believed to date to the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (Source: Wikipedia).
  • Southern Mazghuna pyramid (N29o46’ E31o13’) is an unfinished pyramid by an unknown owner, but it is a copy of the pramid at Hawara built by Amenemhet III at Faiyum. The Mazghuna pyramid dates to the 12th Dynasty, Middle Kingdom. There is a staircase and horizontal passage, and an empty burial chamber. (Source: Wikipedia, Map – Archaeological Map (cultnat.org)).

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