The pyramid lying immediately to the north-east of Djoser's Step
Pyramid complex at Saqqara, belongs to Userkaf who was the traditional
founder of Dynasty V. Today his mortuary monument is known as the
'Ruined Pyramid' (el-haram el-makherbish) because of its poor
condition - attributed to the removal of the limestone casing in
antiquity. The most interesting remains here are the mortuary temple
ruins, situated on the south side of the pyramid. |
Userkaf's pyramid was first entered by Perring, through a robbers'
tunnel in 1839, but it was not known at the time who the structure
belonged to. The pyramid was later excavated by Cecil Firth in 1928,
who discovered the owner's name, then in the 1950s Jean-Philippe Lauer
continued investigations. The entrance to the robbers' tunnel was
completely buried by rubble during an earthquake in 1991.
The pyramid's original entrance was from a pavement in the court in
front of the north face and led to a descending passage running south
towards a T-shaped magazine or storeroom, an antechamber and the
burial chamber. These rooms were blocked off at the bottom of the
passage by a large portcullis of pink granite. The antechamber lies
directly under the centre of the pyramid and was lined with white
limestone, as was the burial chamber which is about twice the length
of the former room. Both chambers have a gabled ceiling of enormous
white limestone slabs. Archaeologists found remains of a black basalt
sarcophagus, empty and undecorated, set into the floor of the burial
chamber.
In a departure from tradition the mortuary temple was situated on the
south side of the pyramid - these structures had previously been found
on the north or east side of earlier pyramids. Archaeologists suggest
several reasons for this departure. It may have been due to the ground
on the east being too uneven for building, or perhaps because of a
huge trench around Djoser's pyramid enclosure or even for ideological
reasons such as the flourishing of the Heliopolitan sun cult. 'Solar'
temples began to be introduced around this time. The whole plan of the
temple seems to have been untraditional. The usual elements face
south, away from, rather than towards the pyramid and the small
offering chapel with its false door on the east side of the pyramid
(now ruined) is entirely separate from the rest of the temple. The
mortuary temple remains are today badly damaged, having been robbed
for stone, but also because of the position of a large Saite shaft
tomb which was built within the structure.
A valley temple and causeway (still unexcavated) led to the south-east
corner of the pyramid complex and into an area of storage chambers, a
vestibule, an L-shaped entrance hall and a colonnaded court. The
surviving remains suggest that there was a staircase leading to a roof
terrace near the entrance. The court contained pink granite pillars on
three sides with hieroglyphic inscriptions of Userkaf's names and
titles and the floor was paved with basalt. Remains of the paving can
still be seen. Around the sides of the court a basalt dado was
beautifully decorated with naturalistic scenes, including birds in a
papyrus thicket (in Cairo Museum) and an orchard scene with birds
caught in a net. There were also fragments of scenes of a boat with
its crew and names of Upper and Lower Egyptian estates. The head of
one of the oldest royal colossal statues - Userkaf wearing a memes
headdress with uraeus, was found here in the debris of the court and
is now on display in the Cairo Museum. The inner parts of the mortuary
temple consisted of a hall with eight pink granite columns and a
chapel with niches for cult statues of the King.
On the south-west corner of the complex and within the original
enclosure wall, stood a small satellite pyramid, 21m square, with a
subterranean chamber entered from the northern side. Only the lower
two levels of the core remain today. Another small pyramid with its
own decorated mortuary temple is situated outside the south enclosure
wall and is thought to belong to an unnamed queen. Its underground
chambers were a smaller version of those in the King's pyramid, but
without the magazine.
There are still many questions surrounding the location of Userkaf's
pyramid, and the whole history of the beginning of Dynasty V, which
perhaps one day could be answered by further excavations at Saqqara,
an area which is revealing more information every year. |