The Bent Pyramid in Dahshur was a turning point in the evolution of pyramid construction throughout Egypt.
Reopened in 2019, following a major restoration process, for the first time since the 1960s, the pyramid is unique in design and structure.
When it was built, it was the first attempt to create a geometric pyramid shape in Egypt’s history.
It then opened the door for the construction of pyramids as we know them now.
The first 49 metres of the Bent Pyramid rise from its base at an inclination of 54 degrees, while its top section is built on a 43-degree angle.
This gives the structure of the pyramid a singular, curved character that distinguishes it from all the pyramids that were constructed in Egypt later.
According to archaeologists, the change in the angle may have been a decision of its architects, something induced by the instability the structure may have shown because of the steepness of its initial inclination.
This is why this pyramid is of special importance for the understanding of the transition from the step-sided pyramids to smooth-sided constructions.
The Red Pyramid, built by the same pharaoh near the Bent Pyramid and immediately after it, adopted a pyramidal shape in a geometrical sense, with a 43-degree angle from its base.
Visitors enter the Bent Pyramid from its main entrance, on the northern side about 20 metres high and descend through a 79-metre tunnel to its first chamber, which is below ground level.
From there, they reach a second chamber, located at a greater height, as well as the passage that connects to the western entrance of the pyramid.
The two entrances of the pyramid are seen as some of its additional unusual characteristics.
The Bent Pyramid has preserved largely intact much of its original outer casing, built of polished limestone, which is rare in Egypt.
The pyramid was built some 4,600 years ago during the times of the founder of the Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt Pharaoh Sneferu, who introduced major innovations in pyramid construction.
His son Khufu, also known as Cheops, is thought to have the commissioned construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt’s most famous pyramid and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Bent Pyramid is located at the royal necropolis of Dahshur, 40 kilometres south of Cairo. It is included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
The pyramid is located on the southernmost fringe of the Memphis necropolis, which includes Giza and Saqqara.
The 2019 reopening of the Bent Pyramid aimed to invite tourists’ attention to the attractions of Dahshur, seen as the Cinderella of all tourist destinations in Giza.
As a destination, Dahshur remained off the mainstream tourist map for a long time, given the considerable distance between it and the heart of Cairo.
Apart from the Bent Pyramid, visitors of the area can enter what is known as the ‘Satellite Pyramid’, an 18-metre-high structure, 55 metres south of the Bent Pyramid and thought to have been built for Hetepheres, Sneferu’s wife.
Those wishing to visit the Bent Pyramid from Cairo’s centre have a large number of transport options, including taxis that can charge 400 pounds (around $21.6).
Most of the nation’s tour operators include Dahshur in their Giza packages which usually also include the Pyramids of Giza.
