- Mazghuna -

| Monuments and Sites | Amenemhat IV (?) | |||||
| Nefrusobek | ||||||
Southern Pyramid: Base: 52.5m |
| Location |
||
Mazghuna is located some 4 to 5 kilometres to the
South of Snofru's Bent
Pyramid of Dashur. Two unfinished
pyramids located there are probably to be dated to the end of the 12th
Dynasty. Amenemhat
IV and Nefrusobek,
the two last monarchs of that dynasty, have sometimes been suggested
as owners of these two pyramids, but there are no inscriptions or finds
that would confirm this identification. |
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| The Southern Pyramid |
||
The southern pyramid was surrounded by an almost square, wavy wall, with entrances in the East and Southeast. A mud brick chapel, with one large central chamber and smaller magazines on either side of the chamber, was built against the East wall. The Pyramid itself stood at the centre of the area surrounded by the enclosure wall. Its superstructure was never finished. The entrance to the substructure of this unfinished pyramid was located in the south, where a narrow staircase leads down underneath the ground. Some portcullis slabs were intended to block the passage, which takes a couple of turns before reaching a service chamber and the actual burial chamber. Several features, such as the substructure's layout and
the arrangement of the closing lid of the receptacles for the coffin
and canopic chest suggest
that this pyramid was built after Amenemhat
III. |
Map of the Southern Pyramid. |
|
| The Northern Pyramid |
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The Northern Pyramid of Mazghuna was planned to be larger than the Southern, it was neither finished nor does it seem to have been used. The precise measurements of the superstructure are not known. The entrance, located in the North, leads down to a passage that ends in a first chamber. A staircase in the West of this chamber leads further down to several portcullis chambers and eventually, after several turns, to the antechamber and the burial chamber. The sarcophagus was made from a quartzite monolith meant to contain both the coffin and the canopic equipment. It almost completely fills the burial chamber. As is the case with the Southern Pyramid, it is clear that this monument was built after the reign of Amenemhat III, but again, there are no inscriptions that would help identify for which king it was built. |
Map of the Northen Pyramid. |