Unfinished Northern Pyramid Of Zawyet El'Aryan
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The Unfinished Northern Pyramid of Zawyet El Aryan, also known as Pyramid of Baka, Pyramid of Bakare and Pyramid of Bikheris is the term
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
s and
Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...
s use to describe a large shaft part of an unfinished pyramid at
Zawyet El Aryan Zawyet El Aryan () is a town in the Giza Governorate, located between Giza and Abusir. To the west of the town, just in the desert area, is a necropolis, referred to by the same name. Almost directly east across the Nile is Memphis. In Zawyet El ...
in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. Archaeologists are generally of the opinion that it belongs to the early or the mid-
4th Dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to c. 2498 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with othe ...
(2613–2494 BC) during the Old Kingdom period. The pyramid owner is not known for certain and most Egyptologists, such as
Miroslav Verner Miroslav Verner (born 31 October 1941) is a Czech egyptologist, who specializes in the history and archaeology of Ancient Egypt of the Old Kingdom and especially of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Verner is a specialist on the archaeology of the O ...
, think it should be a king known under his hellenized name,
Bikheris Bikheris () is the Hellenized name of an ancient Egyptian king, who may have ruled during the 4th Dynasty ( Old Kingdom period). Next to nothing is known about this ruler and some Egyptologists even believe him to be fictitious.Jürgen von Becke ...
, perhaps from the Egyptian ''Baka(re)''. In contrast, Wolfgang Helck and other Egyptologists doubt this attribution.


Research history

The first descriptions of the monument were made between 1842 and 1846 by the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
egyptologist
Karl Richard Lepsius Karl Richard Lepsius (; 23 December 181010 July 1884) was a German people, Prussian Egyptology, Egyptologist, Linguistics, linguist and modern archaeology, modern archaeologist. He is widely known for his opus magnum ''Denkmäler aus Ägypten ...
. He investigated the main shaft and its surroundings and marked the pyramid in his pioneering list as "Pyramid XIII".Miroslav Verner: ''Die Pyramiden''. Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek 1999, , p. 270-272. The pyramid shaft was examined more closely in 1904–1905 by the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
archaeologist
Alessandro Barsanti Alessandro Barsanti (1858–1917) was an Italian architect and Egyptologist who worked for the Egyptian Antiquities Service. He excavated throughout Egypt (most notably he 'discovered' the tomb of Akhenaten in 1891–1892). He was also in ...
.
Gaston Maspero Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (23 June 1846 – 30 June 1916) was a French Egyptologist and director general of excavations and antiquities for the Egyptian government. Widely regarded as the foremost Egyptologist of his generation, he be ...
, then director-general of the
Supreme Council of Antiquities The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA; ) was established in 1994, responsible for the conservation, protection, and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavations in Egypt. From 1994 to 2011, the SCA was a department of the Egyptia ...
of Egypt, visited Barsanti's excavations and was struck by the monumental size of the construction. He writes:Alexandre Barsanti, Gaston Maspero: ''Fouilles de Zaouiét el-Aryân (1904-1905)'', Annales du service des antiquités de l'Égypte (ASAE) 7 (1906), pp. 257–286
available online copyright-free
/ref> Barsanti undertook further work on the site in 1911–1912 but the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
brought all excavations to a halt and Barsanti died in 1917. As a consequence, nothing happened on the site until 1954 when a set was needed for the
epic film Epic films have large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The term is slightly ambiguous, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply big-budget films. Like epics in the classical literary sense, it is often focused on a her ...
''
Land of the Pharaohs ''Land of the Pharaohs'' is a 1955 American epic historical drama film in CinemaScope and WarnerColor from Warner Brothers, produced and directed by Howard Hawks. The cast was headed by Jack Hawkins as Pharaoh Khufu and Joan Collins as one of ...
''. The landscape of Zawyet El Aryan seemed to be the perfect place and the pyramid of Baka was chosen as a backdrop for the movie. Consequentlty, the shaft and its surroundings were cleared from sand and rubbles which had covered the area since Barsanti's excavations.Rainer Stadelmann: ''Die Ägyptischen Pyramiden: vom Ziegelbau zum Weltwunder'' ( = ''Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt'', vol. 30). von Zabern, Mainz 1985, , p. 77, 140-145. Since 1964, the pyramid of Zawyet El Aryan lies within a military restricted area. Consequently, no excavations are allowed, the necropolis surrounding the pyramid is overbuilt with military bungalows and the shaft is misused as a local dump. Thus, the status of the shaft is now uncertain and most likely disastrous.Roman Gundacker: ''Zur Struktur der Pyramidennamen der 4. Dynastie''. In: ''Sokar'', vol. 18, 2009. , p. 26–30.


Description


Location

The pyramid of Baka is located in the Northern sector of Zawyet El Aryan, around south-west of
Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...
, in the North-Eastern corner of the military restricted area.


Superstructure

Next to nothing is known about the superstructure of the pyramid as indeed only the square base, made of natural bedrock, was finished. It measures and shows traces of a surrounding pedestal, preserved for the limestone covering. The exact planned size and slope cannot be evaluated because no covering blocks nor any
pyramidion A pyramidion (plural: pyramidia) is the capstone of an Egyptian pyramid or the upper section of an obelisk. Speakers of the Ancient Egyptian language referred to pyramidia as ''benbenet'' and associated the pyramid as a whole with the sacred b ...
were ever found and pyramid pedestals were always larger than the base of the pyramid itself. Thus, it cannot be excluded that the planned size of the pyramid could have been noticeably smaller.


Substructure

The substructure consists of a T-shaped shaft, the corridor of which is on a South to North axis and the chamber on an East to West axis. The complete shaft has no remaining ceiling and it is possible that it never had any. A steep stairway leads down to the chamber. At half its length, the stairway is interrupted by a horizontal surface of unknown purpose. The shaft walls are smooth but were never covered with stones and the chamber was never completed. Only the floor of the chamber was finished and covered with massive
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
blocks, each being long and thick and weighing up to 9 tons each. Close to the Western end of the chamber, an unusual vat was discovered. It has an oval shape and was embedded into one of the stone blocks constituting the chamber floor. It seems that the vat was brought into the chamber some time during the construction of the foundations since it is too big to fit through the passageway leading to the chamber. The vat is long, broad and deep. The oval lid was found in situ, indicating that the vat was found sealed. According to Barsanti, small traces of a substance were found inside the vat, but unfortunately they were never examined closer and today they are lost. Furthermore, Barsanti claims to have found a damaged dedication tablet with the name of king
Djedefre Djedefre (also known as Djedefra and Radjedef; died 2558 BC) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. He is well known by the Hellenization, Hellenized form ...
on it.


Pyramid complex

The alignment of the pyramid complex is very similar to that of the
pyramid of Djedefre The pyramid of Djedefre is Egypt's northernmost pyramid. Believed to have been built by Djedefre, son and successor to king Khufu, it consists today mostly of ruins located at Abu Rawash in Egypt. Excavation report on the pyramid complex was publ ...
. It consisted of a enclosure wall within which the mortuary temple should have been located. However, since the first layer of the pyramid was never even started, the surrounding complex was also left unfinished and there are no traces of a mortuary temple, a causeway, a valley temple or any other cultic building. File:Vue3-grande-excavation.jpg , Descending stairway, 1912 photography File:Vue2-grande-excavation.jpg , Burial chamber, 1912 photography File:Coupe-grande-excavation.jpg, Transverse view of the stairway and burial chamber File:Sarcophage-grande-excavation.jpg, Drawing of the oval vessel


Dating


Dynasty

Egyptologists and historians continue to debate the dating of the pyramid of Baka. They point to several graffiti made of black and red
ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...
, which were found in the chamber and in the descending stairway. Alessandro Barsanti recorded at least 67 inscriptions. They record the names of different workmen crews as well as the name of the planned pyramid complex: ''Seba ?-Ka'', meaning "The Star of ?-Ka". The workmen crew whose name appears most often — thus being the leading crew during the building works — was ''Wer-ef-seba ?-Ka'', meaning "Great Like the Star of (King) ?-Ka". Inscription No.35 gives the name ''Neferka-Nefer'' (meaning "His Beautiful Ka is Flawless"), but otherwise lacks any reference to known people from the 4th Dynasty. Graffiti No.15 and No.52 also mention an interesting royal name: ''Nebkarâ'', meaning "Lord of the Ka of Râ". It is unknown if this is actually the name of a yet unknown king or that of a prince. A further inscription, No.55, mentions a possible Gold name: ''Neb hedjet-nwb'', meaning "Lord of the Golden Crown". Some egyptologists propose that this is either the Horus name of king
Huni Huni (original reading unknown) was an ancient Egyptian king, the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom period. Based on the Turin king list, he is commonly credited with a reign of 24 years, ending c. 2613 BC. ...
or the Gold name of king
Nebka Nebka (meaning "Lord of the '' ka''") is the throne name of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Third Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period, in the 27th century BCE. He is thought to be identical with the Hellenized name Νεχέρωχις ( ...
. This, however, would implicate that the pyramid was built during the late
3rd Dynasty The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty III) is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth. The capital during the period of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis. Overview Af ...
rather than the 4th.


Name of the king

The main problem is the correct reading of the cartouche name found within at least six ink inscriptions. Whilst the lower and therefore second hieroglyphic sign is certainly a ''Ka''-symbol, the first sign is illegible. Unfortunately the excavator,
Alessandro Barsanti Alessandro Barsanti (1858–1917) was an Italian architect and Egyptologist who worked for the Egyptian Antiquities Service. He excavated throughout Egypt (most notably he 'discovered' the tomb of Akhenaten in 1891–1892). He was also in ...
made no
facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of r ...
s of the inscriptions and made rather slipshod hand-drawings instead, so that the first hieroglyph remains indecipherable. As a consequence there are several alternative readings of the cartouche name:
Kurt Sethe Kurt Heinrich Sethe (30 September 1869 – 6 July 1934) was a German Egyptologist and philologist from Berlin. He was a student of Adolf Erman. Sethe collected numerous texts from Egypt during his visits there and edited the '' Urkunden de ...
reads ''
Nebka Nebka (meaning "Lord of the '' ka''") is the throne name of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Third Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period, in the 27th century BCE. He is thought to be identical with the Hellenized name Νεχέρωχις ( ...
'' ("His Ka is the lord"),
Jean-Philippe Lauer Jean-Philippe Lauer (7 May 1902 – 15 May 2001) was a French architect and Egyptologist. He was considered to be the foremost expert on pyramid construction techniques and methods. Biography Arrival in Egypt He was born in the 8th arrondi ...
reads ''Bik-Ka'' ("his Ka is divine"),
Peter Kaplony Peter Árpád Kaplony (15 June 1933 in Budapest – 11 February 2011 in Zurich) was a Hungarian-born Swiss egyptologist. Life Kaplony, son of a Hungarian military officer, emigrated to Switzerland as a child in December 1944. He became a Swiss ...
reads ''Schena-Ka'' ("his Ka is forceful") and
Gaston Maspero Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (23 June 1846 – 30 June 1916) was a French Egyptologist and director general of excavations and antiquities for the Egyptian government. Widely regarded as the foremost Egyptologist of his generation, he be ...
reads ''Nefer-Ka'' ("his Ka is beautiful/flawless").Nabil M.A. Swelim: ''Some Problems on the History of the Third Dynasty'' (= ''Archaeological and historical studies'', vol. 7). Archaeological Society of Alexandria, Cairo 1983, p. 143-145.
Wolfhart Westendorf Wolfhart Westendorf (18 September 1924 – 23 February 2018) was a German Egyptologist. He was a student of Hermann Grapow, and with him, was a co-author of the ''Grundriss der Medizin der alten Ägypter'' (''Plan of Medicine of the Ancient ...
even proposes the depiction of a
giraffe The giraffe is a large Fauna of Africa, African even-toed ungulate, hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa.'' It is the Largest mammals#Even-toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla), tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on ...
, an animal that was seen as wise and bedizen with shamanistic powers.
Jürgen von Beckerath Jürgen von Beckerath (19 February 1920 – 26 June 2016) was a German Egyptology, Egyptologist. He was a prolific writer who published countless articles in journals such as '':fr:Orientalia, Orientalia'', ''Göttinger Miszellen'' (GM), ''Journa ...
and George Reisner instead think that the pyramid was planned as the tomb for a well attested prince of the 4th Dynasty named
Baka Baka, baká or BAKA may refer to: Ethnicities and languages * Baka people (Cameroon and Gabon), an African ethnic group * Baka people (Congo and South Sudan), an African ethnic group * Baka language, a dialect cluster of Cameroon and Gabon * Baka ...
, a son of king Djedefre. Baka's name is written with the hieroglyphs of a
ram Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...
together with the Ka-symbol. Beckerath assumes that Baka changed his name into ''Bakarê'' ("Soul and Ka of Râ") when he ascended the throne but then died unexpectedly, leaving nothing more than an unfinished tomb shaft. Thus, Beckerath and Reisner read the mysterious name at Zawyet El Aryan as ''Ba-Ka'' ("His Ka is his Ba").Jürgen von Beckerath: ''Chronologie des pharaonischen Ägypten. Die Zeitbestimmung der ägyptischen Geschichte von der Vorzeit bis 332 v. Chr.'' (= ''Münchner ägyptologische Studien'', vol. 46). von Zabern, Mainz 1997, , page 158.George Andrew Reisner: ''A History of the Giza Necropolis'', vol. I, Harvard University Press, Harvard 1942, page 28.
Aidan Dodson Aidan Mark Dodson (born 1962) is an English Egyptologist and historian. He has been honorary professor of Egyptology at the University of Bristol since 1 August 2018. Academic career Dodson, born in London on 11 September 1962, studied at Lang ...
instead sees a sitting
Seth Seth, in the Abrahamic religions, was the third son of Adam and Eve. The Hebrew Bible names two of his siblings (although it also states that he had others): his brothers Cain and Abel. According to , Seth was born after Abel's murder by Cain, ...
-
animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...
and therefore reads the name found in the pyramid as ''Seth-Ka'' ("Seth is my Ka"). He believes that the pyramid was planned as the tomb of prince Setka, another son of king Djedefre. Dodson doubts the reading "Baka" and wonders why the cartouche name at Zawyet El Aryan contains no sun-hieroglyph when it was meant to be addressed to the sun god.Aidan Dodson: ''On the date of the unfinished pyramid of Zawyet el-Aryan''. In: ''Discussion in Egyptology (DiE)'', vol. 3, Oxford 1985, p. 21–24.Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. The American University in Cairo Press, London 2004, , page 61. Either way, both theories, if correct, would place the pyramid of Baka firmly in the 4th Dynasty. Supporting this datation, von Beckerath, Reisner and Dodson point to the architectural features of the burial shaft, in particular the use of hewn granite blocks for bases in such sizes occurs no earlier than the reign of
Khufu Khufu or Cheops (died 2566 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). Khufu succeeded his ...
. Additionally, according to Barsanti, fragments of a similar oval sarcophagus were found in the ruins of the pyramid of Djedefre. Furthermore, von Beckerath, Reisner and Dodson point to the dedication tablet of Djedefre allegedly found by Barsanti near the stairway of the pyramid of Baka as a proof of its 4th Dynasty date. Kurt Sethe,
Nabil Swelim Nabil M. A. Swelim (; 1930 – September 23, 2015) was an Egyptian Egyptologist who specialized in the study of pyramids. Nabil Swelim first embarked on a career as an officer in the Egyptian Navy. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from the E ...
and
Wolfgang Helck Hans Wolfgang Helck (16 September 1914 – 27 August 1993) was a German Egyptologist, considered one of the most important Egyptologists of the 20th century. From 1956 until his retirement in 1979 he was a professor at the University of Hamburg. ...
contradict the former arguments and date the shaft to the late 3rd Dynasty. They point out that, in general, the use of hewn granite as a floor covering in royal tombs was a tradition since the reign of king
Khasekhemwy Khasekhemwy (ca. 2690 BC; ', also rendered ''Kha-sekhemui'') was the last Pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. Little is known about him, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built the mudbrick fort known as S ...
, the last pharaoh of
2nd Dynasty The Second Dynasty of ancient Egypt (or Dynasty II, – ) is the latter of the two dynasties of the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, Egyptian Archaic Period, when the seat of government was centred at Thinis. It is most known for its last rule ...
. Furthermore, the tradition of building shaft-like tombs beneath a pyramid was a tradition of the 3rd Dynasty, not of the 4th Dynasty. The alignment of the pyramid complex on a South to North axis was also a common during the 3rd Dynasty. Additionally, W. Helck and
Eberhard Otto Eberhard Otto may refer to: * Eberhard Otto (Egyptologist) * Eberhard Otto (politician) {{hndis, Otto, Eberhard ...
point out, that the design similarities between the pyramid of Baka and that of Djedefre might be striking, but the design of Djedefre's pyramid was atypical for the 4th Dynasty anyway. Thus, to use Djedefre's tomb design as a comparison argument cannot confirm a 4th Dynasty datation. Finally, egyptologists doubt the evaluations of Barsanti concerning the size of the pyramid base. They think that the pyramid was not so big as Lepsius and Barsanti evaluated. They also doubt the finding of Djedefre's dedication tablet, because this artifact was never published.Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto: ''Lexikon der Ägyptologie'', vol. 5. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1984, , p. 310, 497-498.


See also

*
List of Egyptian pyramids This list presents the vital statistics of the pyramids listed in chronological order, when available. See also * Egyptian pyramids * Great Sphinx of Giza * Lepsius list of pyramids * List of Egyptian pyramidia * List of finds in Egyptian pyr ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unfinished Northern Pyramid of Zawyet elAryan Buildings and structures completed in the 26th century BC Pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Zawyet El Aryan Northern Pyramid of Zawyet El Aryan