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An Extraordinary Site 

This is an extraordinary excavation site which continues to reveal its secrets.    It is part of a much larger necropolis.  And when you establish the link with the pyramids of Giza, its an intriguing story.  It’s an active investigation site that travellers rarely go to and with our expert guides, you will be enthralled.

• The Pyramid of Djedefre at Abu Rawash is an amazing archaeological site in that it offers insights into ancient Egyptian construction techniques in a way which wasn’t possible before its discovery.
• You will be able to walk down the ramp and into the burial chamber, remembering that as you walk down the secrets of construction are revealed.  And this is what is appealing to Egyptologists and travellers.
• The plundering of stone that occurred from the site from about 1570 BC, left Egyptologists with a rare opportunity to see the internal construction methods that the Egyptians used. The end result was like cutting a cake and seeing the internal layers.
• Some of the methods in construction were throwbacks to earlier periods of pyramid construction whilst  others were new adaptations.
• The underground burial chamber was completely different from anything before. It consists of an internal T-shaped room, with internal dimensions of 24m long and 11m wide.  Djedefre’s cartouche was found in the chamber which identified him as the owner.   His sarcophagus and remains have, however, never been found.
• The pyramid was, based on the calculations of Egyptologists, a massive construction which would have had a commanding presence because of its position on the escarpment.

How Was Djedefre Pyramid Constructed?

Djedefre Pyramid was constructed on a hill and hence the inner structures of this pyramid was made up of the existing hill.  This is estimated to have saved construction time by reducing the amount of stone require to be cut and laid and which would have accounted for approximately 40% of the mass of the building.

Hence it was various layers of the casing stones, which were laid over the natural formation of the hill, that was  impressive in the design and its application.  Djedefre’s Pyramid had a solid core.

What About the Burial Chamber?

Djedefre’s pyramid was different from those of his grandfather and various other pyramid builders.   The burial tombs were underneath the pyramid and not inside it.  Djedefre pyramid had been built by digging a ramp and pit down into the exiting rock.  The burial tomb’s access passage was built within the pit and deep into the ground. Once the ‘inner tomb and various chambers’ were complete, the pit and ramp were back filled with stone and sand, forever sealing it.  It was only then that the pyramid was built atop.  So, the burial tomb was made without tunnelling, and it avoided the difficulties of making tombs within the body of the pyramid itself.

What is Left of Djedefre’s Pyramid?

Djedefre’s pyramid had all the supporting infrastructure (causeway, valley temple and surrounding walls etc) associated with a pharaohs pyramid for the worship rituals of the priests to help the pharaoh transcend to the gods.  But when the pharaonic period withered and the site eventually abandoned, the site was plundered of its stone.  The causeway which linked the pyramid to the valley  (estimated at over 1,700 metres long) was the major culprit.  It gave easy road access to the pyramid and the stone’s removal.  It has been researched and suggested that the destruction started at the end of the New Kingdom (1570 – 1544 BC). About 2-3 meters of casing stone has been left above ground.  So essentially and for the first time in history, the pyramid was dismantled stone by stone.