Pyramid of Unas

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The Pyramid of Unas (Ancient Egyptian: Nfr swt Wnjs meaning "Beautiful are the places of Unas") is a smooth-sided pyramid built in the 24th century BCE for the Egyptian pharaoh Unas, the ninth and final king of the Fifth Dynasty. The pyramid is situated on the Saqqara plateau and lies on a line running from the pyramid of Sekhemkhet to the Pyramid of Menkauhor.

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Overview

The Unas Pyramid is the smallest Old Kingdom pyramid, but significant due to the discovery of Pyramid Texts, spells for the king's afterlife incised into the walls of its subterranean chambers. Inscribed for the first time in Unas's pyramid, the tradition of funerary texts carried on in the pyramids of subsequent rulers, through to the end of the Old Kingdom, and into the Middle Kingdom through the Coffin Texts that form the basis of the Book of the Dead.

Unas built his pyramid between the complexes of Sekhemket and Djoser, in North Saqqara. The site required the construction of an exceptionally long causeway to reach a nearby lake, suggesting the site held some significance to Unas.

External Architecture

circa 2360 BCE

Outer Casing
The pyramid of Unas was encased with fine white limestone blocks quarried from Tura. Some of the casing on the lowest steps has remained intact. The pyramid was smooth-sided.

Interior

circa 2360 BCE

Passage A
From the vestibule, a 14.10 meters (46.3 feet) long horizontal passage follows a level path to the antechamber and is guarded by three granite slab portcullises in succession. The passage ends at an antechamber, a room measuring 3.75 meters (12.3 feet) by 3.08 meters (10.1 feet), located under the centre axis of the pyramid.

circa 2360 BCE

Burial Chamber
The burial chamber lies to the west, measures 7.3 meters (24 feet) by 3.08 meters (10.1 feet), containing the ruler's sarcophagus. The roof of both the antechamber and burial chamber were gabled, in a similar fashion to earlier pyramids of the era. Near the burial chamber's west wall sat Unas's coffin, made from greywacke rather than basalt as was originally presumed. The coffin was undamaged, but its contents had been robbed. The ceiling of the burial chamber was painted blue with gold stars to resemble the night sky.

Gallery

References

Allen, James (2005). Der Manuelian, Peter (ed.). The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. Writings from the Ancient World, Number 23. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 978-1-58983-182-7.
Lehner, Mark (2008). The Complete Pyramids. New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-28547-3.
Verner, Miroslav (2001d). The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-1703-8.
Nicholson, Paul T.; Shaw, Ian, eds. (2006). Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-45257-1.
Altenmüller, Hartwig (2001). "Old Kingdom: Fifth Dynasty". In Redford, Donald B. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 597–601. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.
Dodson, Aidan (2016). The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Archaeology. ISBN 978-1-47382-159-0.
Lucas, Alfred (1959) [1948]. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries (Third Edition, Revised ed.). London: Edward Arnold (Publishers) LTD. OCLC 1057992706.
Málek, Jaromír (2003). "The Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2160 BC)". In Shaw, Ian (ed.). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-815034-3.
Arnold, Dieter (2003). The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-86064-465-8.

Pyramid of Unas

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Overview

External Architecture

Interior

Gallery

See Also

References

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