Athena Review Image Archive ™
Giza: Pyramid of Menkaure
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The Pyramid of Menkaure (Google Images)
This aerial view shows the Pyramid of Menkaure (A) and its adjacent mortuary temple (B), at the end of a processional way (F) leading west from the Valley Temple. Menkaure was the son of Khafra and the grandson of Khufu, and Menkaure's pyramid is the smallest of the three major pyramids at Giza. On its south side are three satellite pyramids (C, D, and E), each with its own temple. Two of these are thought to represent the tombs of two wives of Menkaure, Queen Khamerernebty II and Queen Rekhetre.
The pyramid's exact date of construction is unknown, but it was probably completed in the 26th century BC. Built of limestone and granite, it was originally 65.5 meters high with a basal width of 108.5 m. The burial chamber of Menkaure was discovered in 1837 by Richard Vyse, an English army officer, and an engineer named John Perring.
Within they found an uninscribed, 8 foot long stone sarcophagus made of basalt. Adjacent to the burial chamber were wood coffin fragments with the name of Menkaure and a partial skeleton. The sarcophagus was sent by ship to the British Museum in London, but was lost at sea in October, 1838. Recent radiocarbon dating shows the coffin was a replacement after an ancient looting, dating as late as the Coptic period of the early centuries AD.
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