The Layer Pyramid (known locally in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

as ''el haram el midawwar'', ar, الهرم المدور, meaning 'rubble-hill pyramid') is a ruined

step pyramid A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several ...

dating to the 3rd Dynasty of Egypt (2686 BC to 2613 BC) and located in the necropolis of Zawyet El Aryan. Its ownership is uncertain and may be attributable to

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

Khaba. The pyramid architecture, however, is very similar to that of the

Buried Pyramid The Buried Pyramid (also called the Pyramid of Sekhemkhet) is an unfinished step pyramid constructed c. 2645 BC for Sekhemkhet Djoserty. He was the second pharaoh of the Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, which reigned over Egypt circa 2686� ...

of king

Sekhemkhet Sekhemkhet (also read as Sechemchet) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. His reign is thought to have been from about 2648 BC until 2640 BC. He is also known under his later traditioned birth name D ...

and for this reason is firmly datable to the 3rd Dynasty. The pyramid was excavated at the beginning of the 20th century by two different teams who reported conflicting estimates regarding its size and number of subterranean chambers. No artefacts were found over the course of the excavations, and no trace of a burial could be found. For this reason, it is unclear whether the pyramid was used to bury a pharaoh or was abandoned following the premature death of the king. At the time of its construction the pyramid was surrounded by a necropolis housing large mastabas belonging to the high officials of the 3rd Dynasty state. A mortuary temple was built on the eastern side of the pyramid and a valley temple was possibly located several hundred metres from it. Nowadays, the pyramid is located within the confines of a restricted military area, barring modern excavations of the site. Khaba 1

Research history

The Layer Pyramid was first examined and its surroundings explored in 1839 by John Shae Perring. Soon after, in 1848, the pyramid was identified as such by Karl Richard Lepsius, who listed it as number XIV in his pioneering list of pyramids. Mark Lehner: ''Z500 and The Layer Pyramid of Zawiyet-el-Aryan''
Excerpt available online
Around 40 years later, in 1886,

Gaston Maspero Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (23 June 1846 – 30 June 1916) was a French Egyptologist known for popularizing the term "Sea Peoples" in an 1881 paper. Maspero's son, Henri Maspero, became a notable sinologist and scholar of East Asia. ...

unsuccessfully searched for the entrance of the subterranean passages of the pyramid, which was discovered in 1896 by

Jacques de Morgan Jean-Jacques de Morgan (3 June 1857, Huisseau-sur-Cosson, Loir-et-Cher – 14 June 1924) was a French mining engineer, geologist, and archaeologist. He was the director of antiquities in Egypt during the 19th century, and excavated in Memph ...

. The latter undertook excavations of the pyramid but stopped after clearing the first few steps of the descending stairway. Further investigations were then performed in 1900 by

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 ...

,Alexandre Barsanti: ''Ouverture de la pyramide de Zaouiet el-Aryân'', Annales du service des antiquités de l'Égypte, Vol. 2, 1902, pp. 92-94
available online
who uncovered the vertical access shaft leading to the burial chamber. Barsanti, seeing that several corridors and chambers were seemingly unfinished and that all were completely devoid of artefacts, deemed that the pyramid had never been used. Shortly after, in 1910–1911,

George Reisner George Andrew Reisner Jr. (November 5, 1867 – June 6, 1942) was an American archaeologist of Ancient Egypt, Nubia and Palestine. Biography Reisner was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His parents were George Andrew Reisner I and Mary Elizabeth ...

and Clarence S. Fisher worked on the site,G.A. Reisner and C.S. Fisher: ''"The Work of the Harvard University - Museum of Fine Arts Egyptian Expedition" (pyramid of Zawiyet el-Aryan)'', Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts (BMFA) 9, Boston, No. 54 Vol. IX (December 1911), pp. 54-59
available online
/ref> excavating the north and east exteriors of the pyramid as well as the cemeteries surrounding it.Dows Dunham: ''Zawiyet el-Aryan - The Cemeteries Adjacent To The Layer Pyramid'', Museum of Fine Art, Boston 1978, The dimensions of the pyramid as estimated by Barsanti, Reisner and Fisher differ greatly and even the numbers of subterranean galleries they report are in disagreement.Aidan Dodson: ''The Layer Pyramid of Zawiyet El-Aryan Its Layout and Context'', Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 37 (2000), pp. 81-90
Available online
/ref> Unfortunately, the pyramid lies within a restricted military area since 1970 and consequently no excavation has been undertaken there since Reisner and Fisher's superficial work, leaving the structures beneath the pyramid in doubt. Furthermore, the pyramid is now sanded up, hampering modern estimations of its dimensions.

Description

Location

The Layer Pyramid lies close to the necropolis of Zawyet El Aryan, south-west of Giza and north of

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis ...

Miroslav Verner Miroslav Verner (born October 31, 1941 in Brno) 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. Biography Verner was the director of th ...

: ''Die Pyramiden''. Rowohlt, Wiesbaden 1999, , p. 174-177. Mark Lehner: ''The Complete Pyramids'', London: Thames & Hudson, 2008, , p. 96. The main structure is located on a rock ridge just above the floodplain.

Superstructure

The Layer Pyramid has a square base whose side is about long, slightly smaller than the step pyramids of Djoser and Sekhemket. Based on the dimensions of the pyramid of Djoser, the egyptologist

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 ...

estimated that the layer pyramid was originally planned to comprise five steps and would have reached c. in height. Today, only two of these steps remain, reaching a height of about . The current ruined state of the pyramid allows a view of its core, which is an pyramidal mound made of poor quality rough stone blocks taken from the local bedrock. This core is surrounded by a thick casing of the same masonry. This is in turn surrounded by 14 layers of

mud brick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also been f ...

s bonded with clay mortar and disposed almost vertically, with an inward inclination angle of 68°. Just as the inner-most stone casing of the pyramid core, each mud brick layer is thick. Whether the pyramid was finished or left unfinished is disputed among experts. The egyptologist

Rainer Stadelmann Dr. Rainer Stadelmann (24 October 1933 – 14 January 2019) was a German Egyptologist. He was considered an expert on the archaeology of the Giza Plateau. Biography After studying in Neuburg an der Donau in 1933, he studied Egyptology, orienta ...

believes that the pyramid was indeed finished, but others, such as

, think that the building was left unfinished because of the pharaoh's premature death.

: ''King Huni: His Monuments and His Place in the History of the Old Kingdom''. In: Zahi A. Hawass, Janet Richards (Hrsg.): ''The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt. Essays in Honor of David B. O’Connor''. Band II, Conceil Suprême des Antiquités de l’Égypte, Kairo 2007, p. 425–431
available online
/ref> In particular, no traces of outer cladding were found, which could hint that there never was one because the pyramid was not completed. Mud bricks were found at the base of the pyramid, which are not associated with the pyramid itself, but are interpreted as remnants of a construction ramp.

Substructure

The disposition of the substructures of the layer pyramid is extremely similar to that found in the

of Sekhemket. Consequently, Mark Lehner and others suggest that the two pyramids must have been constructed very close in time. The entrance to the subterranean structures lies on the east, a disposition which would be unparalleled until the construction of the pyramid of

Senusret II Khakheperre Senusret II was the fourth pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1897 BC to 1878 BC. His pyramid was constructed at El-Lahun. Senusret II took a great deal of interest in the Faiyum oasis region and began work on an ...

, almost 1000 years later. The egyptologists Vito Maraglioglio and Celeste Rinaldi proposed that this unique feature was chosen by the Egyptian architects in order to free the north side of the pyramid for the construction of a temple. Aidan Dodson showed however that in this situation, the pyramid construction ramp would have "impinged on any northern temple construction even more damagingly". Rather, he explains this unique eastern entrance as resulting from a desire by the architects to allow for easy access to the pyramid store rooms, located immediately beneath the eastern entrance. The entrance immediately leads to a long steep stairway and then down on to a corridor which heads west. The corridor ends in a straight vertical shaft, at the top of which is the so-called upper corridor, an unfinished passage which goes south toward the center of the pyramid. At the bottom of the shaft is a T-shaped crossway. To the left, this crossway leads south to the lower corridor, half-way of which is a narrow stairway, so narrow that a sarcophagus could hardly have been passed through it. The lower corridor then finishes in the king's burial chamber. In this area of the stairway, Barsanti drew another gallery leading above the burial chamber, but this gallery is absent in Reisner's and Fisher's notes. To the right of the T-shaped crossway is a U-shaped gallery system. The ground plan of the gallery system resembles that of a comb, comprising rows of chambers, totalling 32, which were possibly destined to be storage rooms for the gravegoods. The gallery proved to be "clean and empty, as if the workmen had only left". The king's burial chamber is located below ground, is nearly square in shape, with a base of , and a ceiling height of . The burial chamber contained no traces of a sarcophagus, which together with the absence of artefacts in the gallery, hints to the premature death of the king.

Funerary complex and necropolis

Funerary complex

The funerary complex of the layer pyramid shows no trace of an enclosure wall, which is present in both earlier and later pyramid complexes. This could be because the stones constituting the wall were robbed over time, or simply because the wall was never started, being usually the last element of the pyramid complex to be built. At the eastern side of the pyramid, the remnants of brick walls could indicate the presence of a mortuary temple, but the archaeological traces are so tenuous that any closer examination and more precise reconstruction is impossible today. The same goes for the ruins of a building several hundred metres away from the pyramid, and which might have been the valley temple. If this was indeed a valley temple, its east-west orientation would be unique in all pyramid complexes.

Necropolis

The layer pyramid is surrounded by a total of five cemeteries dating to the 1st Dynasty, 2nd Dynasty, late 3rd Dynasty, 18th Dynasty and Roman Period. Of these cemeteries, only the one dating to the late 3rd Dynasty contains large tombs, of which are four mud brick mastabas. Reisner and Fisher observe that this is to be expected of the necropolis surrounding the pyramid of a pharaoh, the large tombs being those of the royal family and court officials. In particular, around north of the layer pyramid is a huge mastaba, today known as ''Mastaba Z500'', which yielded eight

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

bowls inscribed with the

serekh In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a serekh is a rectangular enclosure representing the niched or gated façade of a palace surmounted by (usually) the Horus falcon, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The serekh was the earliest conven ...

of king Khaba. Reisner and Fisher therefore conclude that "if the mastabas belong to people connected with the king who built the pyramid, it is probable that the king’s name was Khaba". This opinion is shared by most egyptologists who attribute the layer pyramid to Khaba. File:Layer Pyramid Ensemble View.png, The layer pyramid as seen from the east, just prior to Reisner and Fisher excavations in 1910-1911. File:Layer Pyramid North.png, North face of the layer pyramid, 1910. File:Layer Pyramid North East.png, Mud-brick masonry of the layer pyramid, 1910. File:Layer Pyramid East.png, Nearly vertical masonry of mud-brick of the layer pyramid, looking east 1910.

Date and attribution

The architecture of the layer pyramid allows it to be securely dated to the time span between the reigns of king

and that of king Snofru, the founder of the

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 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other ...

. Rainer Stadelmann, Miroslav Verner and

compare the architecture of the layer pyramid with that of the step pyramids of

Djoser Djoser (also read as Djeser and Zoser) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch. He is also known by his Hellenized names Tosorthros (from Manetho) and Sesorthos (from Eusebiu ...

and Sekhemkhet, expecting the layer pyramid to have originally consisted of five steps, just as its near-contemporary predecessors. The layer pyramid exhibits at one site both complex developments concerning its substructures and simplifications concerning the building methods employed for the superstructure. According to these egyptologists, the layer pyramid is a clearly advanced version of the

buried pyramid The Buried Pyramid (also called the Pyramid of Sekhemkhet) is an unfinished step pyramid constructed c. 2645 BC for Sekhemkhet Djoserty. He was the second pharaoh of the Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, which reigned over Egypt circa 2686� ...

of Sekhemkhet.Jean-Philippe Lauer: ''Histoire monumentale des pyramides d'Égypte. Volume 1: Les pyramides à degrés (IIIe Dynastie)'', ''Bibliothèque d'étude'' vol. 39. Institut français d'archéologie orientale - Bibliothèque d'études, Paris 1962, p. 19-22. The remaining problem about the layer pyramid is the question of who had it built. Most scholars today believe that it was likely king Khaba of the late 3rd Dynasty.Jaromir Malek in Ian Shaw, ed. (2000): ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'', Oxford University Press
excerpts available online
p. 87 & 482. . This conclusion is based on stone bowls and vases bearing the

of Khaba discovered in Mastaba Z500, located just north of the pyramid. Rainer Stadelmann goes further and identifies Khaba with king Huni, the last ruler of the 3rd Dynasty. His hypothesis is based on his reading of the

Turin canon The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum) in Turin. The papyrus is the most extensive list av ...

, a kinglist compiled in the early

Ramesside period The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties furthermore togeth ...

c. 1300 BC, some 1400 years after Huni's lifetime. The Turin canon credits Huni with a relatively long reign of 24 years. According to Stadelmann, this time would be sufficient to cover the time span needed to complete the building of the layer pyramid. He also argues that royal monuments of the first three Egyptian dynasties only present a king's horus name in a serekh and only later do they record the throne or birth name. Thus, the serekh of Khaba could correspond to the throne name Huni. In this case, the layer pyramid would be Huni's tomb. This conclusion is contested by most Egyptologists who think that Huni instead built the Meidum Pyramid, point to the apparent unfinished state of the layer pyramid and identify Khaba with king

Hudjefa II Khaba (also read as Hor-Khaba) was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, active during the 3rd Dynasty of the Old Kingdom period. The exact time during which Khaba ruled is unknown but may have been around 2670 BC,Thomas Schneider: ''Lexikon der Pha ...

mentioned on the Turin canon.

References

{{coords, 29, 55, 58, N, 31, 9, 40, E, display=title Buildings and structures completed in the 27th century BC Pyramids of the Third Dynasty of Egypt 3rd-millennium BC establishments in Egypt 1839 archaeological discoveries 1848 archaeological discoveries 1896 archaeological discoveries 1900 archaeological discoveries 1910 archaeological discoveries Zawyet El Aryan Ancient Egyptian step pyramids