Pyramid of Seila | |
---|---|
Owner uncertain, possibly Sneferu | |
Coordinates | 29°22′57″N31°3′13″E / 29.38250°N 31.05361°E |
Constructed | c. 2600 BC |
Type | Step pyramid |
Material | limestone |
Height | c. 6.65 m |
Base | c. 25 meters |
The pyramid of Seila is one of a group of seven small step pyramids which are very similar to one another, along with the Edfu South pyramid, the pyramid of Elephantine, the pyramid of El-Kula, the pyramid of Naqada, the pyramid of Zawyet el-Maiyitin, and the pyramid of Sinki. These pyramids were all built far from the major centres of Egypt and very little is known about them. The pyramid is located on an outcrop between the Faiyum Oasis and the Nile Valley, about 6 km north of the motorway from Wasta to Faiyum. Its builder may have been Snefru, the founder of the Fourth Dynasty. It was discovered in 1889/1890 by Flinders Petrie [1] and revisited in 1898 by Ludwig Borchardt. [2]
The pyramid is about 25 m long on each side and now stands 6.5-6.8 m tall. It is not oriented exactly to the cardinal directions, but diverges about 12° to the northwest. The reason for this orientation is that, like the pyramids at Elephantine, Naqada, and Saufet el-Meitin, the structure was oriented to be parallel to the course of the Nile, which would have been difficult to accomplish given the great distance of the pyramid from the river. The pyramid originally had four steps and consisted of three layers, which encased an inner core. The building material was local limestone, with a mixture of Nile mud and sand being used for mortar. There does not seem to have been a burial chamber.
In 1987, fragments of an offering table, two stele and the remains of a causeway were found on the east side of the pyramid. One of the steles bore the name Snefru, which may indicate that he was the builder. The purpose of the structure remains unclear. Jean-Philippe Lauer suggested that it might have been the original tomb of the queen Hetepheres I, but this is unlikely given the absence of a burial chamber. Egyptologists generally consider the group of seven step pyramids named above to have been a unified project, but have not reached an agreement on what the purpose of the group was. Different scholars have suggested that they were representations of the primeval mound, symbols of the political and religious unity of Egypt, or monuments commemorating the royal wives.
Hotepsekhemwy is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who was the founder of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. The exact length of his reign is not known; the Turin canon suggests an improbable 95 years while the ancient Egyptian historian Manetho reports that the reign of "Boëthôs" lasted for 38 years. Egyptologists consider both statements to be misinterpretations or exaggerations. They credit Hotepsekhemwy with either a 25- or a 29-year rule.
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The Edfu South pyramid is part of a group of seven very similar small step pyramids which were all built far from the main centres of Egypt and about which very little is known, along with the pyramids of Elephantine, el-Kula, Naqada, Saujet el-Meitin, Sinki and Seila. It is located about five kilometres south of Edfu near Naga el-Ghoneimeya. It was first identified as a pyramid in 1979, when the German archaeologists Günter Dreyer and Werner Kaiser were leading a survey of Edfu after a tip off from the inspector. Further investigation and surveys of the surrounding area have been undertaken since 2010 by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
The Lepsius XXIV Pyramid is an Egyptian pyramid, which was probably built for a wife of King Nyuserre Ini. The largely destroyed 5th Dynasty structure is located in the pyramid field of Abusir, east of the Pyramid of Neferefre and south of the Pyramid of Khentkaus II.
The pyramid of Naqada, also called the pyramid of Ombos, is part of a group of seven very similar small step pyramids, which were all erected far from the major centres of Egypt and about which very little is known. It is located about 300 metres north of the ruins of the ancient site of Ombos, near the modern city of Naqada in Upper Egypt. The first excavation was undertaken in 1895 by Flinders Petrie and James Edward Quibell.
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