New work on the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (Old Kingdom, Sneferu) makes a strong case about that famous "secret" chimney. Stone courses run unbroken from the antechamber, across the lower chamber with its corbelled ceiling, and up the shaft — meaning it was built with the rest of the lower structure, not hacked in later. That kills several favourite theories: a hidden upper chamber, an abandoned intended link, or a construction centering device. The joining tunnel to the two portcullises was cut only after the core masonry was already at that height. By contrast the Red Pyramid's middle chamber sits on the central axis, so it needed no centering shaft at all. Archaeology quietly dismantling its own mysteries 🏺🔺
Bent Pyramid chimney masonry shown to be contemporary with its lower chamber
EgyptArchitecture
Site mentioned
Key facts
- The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur contains an antechamber, a stone-lined pit of undetermined depth and use referred to as the 'secret vault', and a lower chamber under a corbelled vault
- Courses of masonry run continuously from the antechamber through the lower chamber to the chimney, indicating the chimney was built with the rest of the lower structure rather than added later
- Three existing interpretations are rejected: an entrance to an undiscovered upper chamber system, an abandoned intended connection to the existing upper chamber later replaced by a connecting tunnel, and a centering device
- The connecting tunnel between the two portcullises was cut only after the core masonry had been laid at least up to the level of the horizontal passage
- In the Red Pyramid the middle chamber lies on the pyramid's central axis, so no centering shaft was required there
Sources
cheopspyramide.de
Linked in video description
web.ujaen.es
Linked in video description
digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de
Linked in video description
(PDF) Using the so‑called chimney in the Bent Pyramid to ...academia.edu
The so-called "chimney" is a deep, vertical shaft located in the centre of the Bent Pyramid that starts at ground level and descends for over 15 metres into ...
Dashur: Bent Pyramid of Sneferuancientegyptonline.co.uk
A short corridor leads out of the burial chamber to the south west where it meets a vertical shaft (known as the “chimney”) which is aligned with the vertical ...
Bent Pyramiden.wikipedia.org
A short corridor leads to a shaft, mostly called "chimney", right at the pyramid axis; both corridor and shaft are covered by another corbelled roof.
The Bent Pyramid - Discover Egypt's Monumentsegymonuments.gov.eg
The Bent Pyramid has two entrances, one on the north side, with modern wooden stairs, and the other is high on the west side. Each entrance leads to a chamber ...
Dahshur. Bent Pyramid of Sneferu.isida-project.ucoz.com
1839 John Perring was the first to explore the internal rooms of the Pyramid and penetrate the Upper Passage and Chamber. 1882 Flinders Petrie investigated the ...
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.