The pyramid of Menkaura
Giza Plateau
Mn-kAw-Ra
His name means: ”stable is the Ka’s of Ra”.
5th king of the 4th Dynasty and Khafra’s immediate successor.
Family:
He is the son of Khafra and Khamerernebty I, according to an inscription on a flint knife found in his mortuary temple.
He lost one son and the other son was Shepseskaf, who succeeded his father on the throne.
Menkaura married Khamererneby II, daughter of Khamerernebty I.
Rekhetra was probably a sister and another wife of Menkaura.
Reign:
Manetho is uncertain about the length of his reign, which is probably 18 years rather than 28 years.
Monuments:
He is the owner of the smallest pyramid at Giza. He died before his complex was finished and the construction was completed under his son Shepseskaf
Pyramid complex of Menkaura
The complex
The complex was excavated by G. Reisner.
It contained 3 queens’ pyramids but no boat pits.
The work was completed in mud brick apparently in haste by Menkaura’ s successor Shepseskaf.
1.Main Pyramid
Menkaura is divine.
Original height: 65-66 m.
1/10 of the building mass of Khufu’s pyramid.
The upper part of the pyramid was cased with fine Turrah Limestone.
At the bottom, 16 courses of red granite casing were left undressed.
Why was the pyramid so small?
Why was the pyramid so small?
Not enough room at the plateau.
The king as the son of the sun-god has to place more emphasis on temples and less on the pyramid as a personal tomb.
Large use of granite.
The pyramid
shrank
Mortuary
temples
expanded in
size
Entrance 4 m above ground level.
Descending passage leading to the paneled room, which is decorated with panels imitating false doors.
The room contains the first decorative element since the reign of Djoser.
A horizontal passage with 3 granite blocks opens into a rectangular Antechamber, directly under the vertical axis of the pyramid.
Another passage opens in the wall of the chamber directly above the point where the horizontal passage enters.
After a short horizontal section, an upper section slopes up and stops in the core of the pyramid.
The upper passage was abandoned when the floor of the room was lowered.
In the middle of the floor of the antechamber, a short passage opens into the burial chamber.
On the right of the passage is another small room with 6 niches.
Burial chamber
Chamber with Niches
The burial chamber was cut in the rock and cased with granite.
The ceiling is around the vaulted roof.
Inside the room, Vyse found a sarcophagus with palace-façade panels.
The sarcophagus was removed from the pyramid and was sent by ship to the British Museum in London, but the merchant ship Beatrice carrying it was lost after leaving port at Malta on October 13, 1838.
A wooden coffin was found inside the sarcophagus along with bones and wrappings for a male body.
The coffin was inscribed with the name of Menkaura, however its decoration dates to the Saite Period.
Mortuary temple
Begun by Menkaura and completed under shepseskaf.
Core made of limestone and casing of granite.
The construction was completed with mudbrick under Shepseskaf.
Under the mud brick casing, Reisner found marking lines and measurements as well as the names of work gangs.
Inside the temple fragments of a large alabaster statue of Menkaura was found.
Causeway
The causeway was unfinished.
It was probably a ramp used for delivering stones.
Valley temple:
The temple was built in many phases:
First under Menkaura with huge limestone blocks.
Completed in haste with mud brick under Shepseskaf.
In the 6th Dynasty was completely rebuilt after it suffered from severe flooding.
The Queens’ Pyramids
G IIIa-c.
All three pyramids had a mortuary temple.
Most probably they were assigned to the wives of Menkaura, of whom Khamerernebty II is a candidate.
G III a was believed to be a satellite pyramid.
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