Zahi Hawass on archaeology: what the evidence says · JRE #2321
SUBJECT: ARCHAEOLOGY
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
But for a reason we do not know, he left it unfinished. And he went to a place called the shore. He built the
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
The pyramid-building sequence Hawass describes matches Egyptology consensus. Sneferu (first king of the 4th Dynasty, c. 2613 to 2589 BC) built at Meidum, where a step pyramid was begun and later reworked toward a smooth-sided form, before turning to Dahshur. There he built the Bent Pyramid, whose lower section rises at about 54 degrees while the upper part shifts to roughly 43 degrees, a mid-construction change in angle that gives the monument its bent profile. His subsequent Red Pyramid at Dahshur, built at the shallower 43-degree angle, is regarded as the first successful true (smooth-sided) pyramid. The account of a Meidum start followed by the angle-changed Bent Pyramid at Dahshur is accurate.