There are at least 118 pyramids in Egypt, each thousands of years old, though many more may be hidden.
Grand structures, the pyramids stand as reminders of how much the Ancient Egyptians glorified life after death, the structures built as monuments to house the tombs of the pharaohs.
Giza is perhaps the best-known site of the ancient kingdom’s pyramids, the neighbourhood holding the likes of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure.
Yet, there are other pyramids outside of the locality, some of which elude Egyptologists to this day.
This includes Abu Rawash, the site of Egypt’s most northerly pyramid which doubles up as what experts have described as the ‘Lost Pyramid’ of Egypt.
Built in the Fourth Dynasty, more than 4,000 years ago, the Pyramid of Djedefra sits around five miles from its neighbours in Giza. For context, construction on Stonehenge had only begun hundreds of years before.
Originally, it was thought that the pyramid had never been completed, but more recent excavations suggest that it was finished and matched the Pyramid of Menkaure – the third largest of the Giza pyramids — in size.
Mysterious abound when it comes to the pyramid. Firstly, Djedefre was different to its contemporaries in that its chambers were beneath the pyramid instead of inside it. Why this was is not yet known.
The pyramid’s structure was also unique, having been built on a naturally occurring mound, something that experts say may have shortened the amount of time it took to build the pyramid.
Inside, remains from several different periods in Ancient Egyptian history, from the Early Dynastic to the Coptic period have been found, hinting at just how long the building was used for.
Of all the finds, all have one thing in common: they appear to be exclusively related to the funerary process.
Today, the Pyramid of Djedefra is in ruins. All that remains is a massive 49-metre-long channel cut into the bedrock to a 20-metre-deep shaft.
This makes up perhaps the most mysterious aspect of the pyramid, a staircase carved directly into the bedrock which leads a to shaft cut into the rock, though the staircase appears to lead to nowhere.
While little is known about the pyramid itself, there is a wealth of information about the site. It was built on the orders of the pharaoh Djedefre, the Egyptian king of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and the son and successor of the famous Pharaoh Khufu.
It took about eight years to build and was constructed using limestone blocks angled towards the centre, something which was first seen at the Step pyramids of Saqqara, a technique intended to increase the stability and durability of the structure — ironic given its current condition.
Excavations carried out in the 19th and 20th centuries helped to identify whose tomb lay inside the pyramid as researchers discovered a cartouche — an oval with a line at one end tangent to it indicating royals’ names — with Djedefre’s name inscribed on it.
Between 1900 and 1902, French Egyptologist Émile Chassinat led excavations that further uncovered a funerary settlement, a boat pit, and numerous statuary fragments bearing Djedefre’s name.
Evidence shows that the first burials at the site date back to the First Dynasty with the outlines of a relatively big Thinite cemetery still present.
Several relics from this era have been found, including ones bearing the names of the Pharaohs Hor-Aha and Den.
