The pyramid of Amenemhat I is an Egyptian burial structure built at Lisht by the founder of the

Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is a series of rulers reigning from 1991–1802 BC (190 years), at what is often considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI–XIV). The dynasty period ...

Amenemhat I :''See Amenemhat (disambiguation), Amenemhat, for other individuals with this name.'' Amenemhat I (Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ''Ỉmn-m-ḥꜣt'' meaning 'Amun is at the forefront'), also known as Amenemhet I, was a pharaoh of ancient ...

. This structure returned to the approximate size and form of

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynast ...

pyramids.Lehner, M. (1997b). The Complete Pyramids. London:Thames and Hudson ltd. It also, however, established a new tradition of giving each component structure in the pyramid complex its own unique name. The structures together were known as "The places of the appearances of Amenemhat".

Construction

Archaeological evidence suggests that Amenemhat started to build his pyramid at Thebes but for unknown reasons switched his capital and the location of his pyramid to Lisht (1991–1778 BC). The pyramid upon its completion rose to a height of 55 m, with a base length of 83 m and a slope of 54 degrees. The core of the pyramid was made with small rough blocks of local

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

with a loose fill of sand debris and mud brick. Some of the limestone was stripped from other monuments - blocks of stone from the pyramids 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 ...

, Khafre,

Unas Unas or Wenis, also spelled Unis (, Hellenization, hellenized form Oenas or Onnos; died 2345), was a pharaoh, king, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. Unas reigned for 15 to 3 ...

and Pepi II (or possibly

Pepi I Pepi I Meryre (also Pepy I; died 2283 BC) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, king, third king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled for over 40 years from the 24th to the 23rd century BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Ki ...

) have been found in the pyramid. Inside the pyramid a sloped shaft blocked with granite plugs upon burial ran from the ground level entrance chapel to a vertical shaft that descended directly to the burial chamber. The overall construction of the pyramid was poor and little of it remains today. Around the pyramid were found tombs of high officials serving the king. These include the tombs of the high steward

Nakht Nakht was an ancient Egyptian official who held the position of a scribe and astronomer of Amun, probably during the reign of Thutmose IV of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. He was buried in the Theban Necropolis in tomb TT52. ...

, the treasurer Rehuerdjersen and the vizier Intefiqer.

Excavation

The first excavation of the site was undertaken by the French

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 ...

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 ...

in 1882. His work was later continued by a French archaeological expedition under the direction of J.E. Gautier and Gustave Jéquier in 1894 and 1895. The investigations were continued from 1920 to 1934 by Albert Lythgoe and Arthur Mace in a team from the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. By the time of these excavations the pyramid had undergone much disintegration and it is now only 20 meters high with most of the surrounding complex gone. None of the expeditions successfully explored the interior of the pyramid due to the internal passageways being flooded with groundwater.

References

Sources

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External links

Pyramid of Amenemhet I at el-Lisht
{{coord, 29.5749, N, 31.2253, E, source:wikidata, display=title Amenemhat I Lisht Buildings and structures completed in the 20th century BC 20th century BC in Egypt

Construction

Excavation

See also

References

Sources

External links