Tours: Pyramids of the Middle Kingdom

Learn about the various funerary monuments of the .
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|-|Revival of Pyramids=
During the Middle Kingdom era, the powerful rulers of the resumed the tradition of elaborate pyramidal tombs.
For example, built a funerary complex in , and Senwosret II selected the site in the Faiyum. and however, cast their favor towards . Amenemhat III built a pyramid there as well before moving to Hawara in the Faiyum.
|-|Smaller & Elaborate=
The plundering of tombs in troubled times prompted the architects of the Middle Kingdom to devise increasingly complicated means of security during construction.
As such, while the architectural plans of the Hawara pyramid were simpler than the one at Dahshur, the means used to protect it from looters were much more elaborate.
Beyond the use of blind passages and concealed trapdoors, the architects relied on a system of stone slabs which were slid into place at the end of construction. These massive stone stabs were meant to permanently block the passageways leading to the funerary chambers.
|-|The Decline of Pyramids=
The kings of the began building their pyramids at , south of Dahshur, then moved on to Faiyum and .
The kings of the , however, satisfied themselves with crowning their cave tombs with small pyramids of raw brick.
The kings of the gave up the shape of the pyramid as a royal tomb entirely. They chose a mountain with a pyramidal shape in the Valley of Kings, and dug their graves there.
|-|A Legacy=
It was not until the Nubian pharaohs of the that kings were once again buried under pyramidal tombs. In fact today, the area of ancient Nubia, modern , contains a record number of 220 known pyramids, to Egypt's 138. Despite their slow decline in use and quality, pyramids continued to fascinate all and sundry, up to the Roman era.
They remain to this day a symbol of the religious dedication of the Pharaohs, and the grandeur of ancient Egypt.
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Category:Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt