Pyramid of Ameny Qemau

The Pyramid of Ameny Qemau is an ancient Egyptian pyramid located in southern Dahshur. It was constructed c. 1790 BC for Ameny Qemau, the 5th king of the 13th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.[1] The stone constituting its upper structure has been entirely robbed but the damaged substructures remain. The pyramid was discovered by Charles Arthur Musès in 1957 and excavated in 1968. The pyramid originally stood 35 metres (115 ft) high with a base length of 52 metres (171 ft). The burial chamber comprised from a single colossal block of quartzite similar to that of Amenemhat III, with receptacles for the sarcophagus and the canopic jars hewn out of the interior of the block.[2]

Pyramid of Ameny Qemau
Layout of substructures of the pyramid of Ameny Qemau in Dahshur
Ameny Qemau
Coordinates	29°46′54″N 31°13′17″E
Constructed	c. 1790 BC[1]
Type	True pyramid now ruined
Height	35 metres (115 ft)
Base	52 metres (171 ft)

Discovery and excavations

The earliest known historical mention of the Pyramid of Ameny Qemau is found in the book of the medieval Arab historian Taqi al-Din Ahmad Al-Maqrizi "Geography and History of Egypt"[3] where Al-Maqrizi describes the "pyramids of Dashur". The pyramid of Ameny Qemau was rediscovered in 1957 by a team led by Charles Arthur Musès.[4] Shortly after, in 1968, Vito Maragioglio and Celeste Rinaldi investigated the architecture of the pyramid.[5] More recently, the remains of the funerary equipment of the king were published by Nabil Swelim and Aidan Dodson.[6]

See also

• Egyptian pyramid construction techniques
• List of Egyptian pyramids
• Lepsius list of pyramids

References

1. K.S.B. Ryholt: The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, c.1800-1550 BC, Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications, vol. 20. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997
2. Mark Lehner: The Complete Pyramids, London: Thames and Hudson (1997), p.185 ISBN 0-500-05084-8.
3. Taqi al-Din Ahmad Al-Maqrizi: Geography and History of Egypt, French translation available online.
4. Robert Schiestl: Pottery from Pyramids of the 13th Dynasty in the Dahshur Region: Survey in Dahshur 2006 in: Bulletin de Liaison de la Ceramique Egyptienne 23 (2012), Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale ISBN 978-2-7247-0635-2, pp. 51–62
5. V. Maragioglio, C. Rinaldi: Note sulla piramide di Ameny ‘Amu, Orientalia n.s. 37 (1968), pp. 325–338
6. Nabil Swelim, Aidan Mark Dodson: On the Pyramid of Ameny-Qemau and its Canopic Equipment, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 1998, p. 319–334.