Meidum Pyramid: The mystery of Egypt’s disputed royal tomb

December 15, 2025EgyptGeneralShare

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Key facts

• No surviving royal inscription at Meidum names its owner, but the pyramid is generally attributed to Fourth-Dynasty king Sneferu (c. 2613–2589 BC); calling it Egypt’s “unclaimed” pyramid is misleading.
• Some scholars place the beginning of construction under Huni, but this is a competing attribution rather than an established fact.
• The surviving core rises about 65 m; the original smooth-sided pyramid is estimated at roughly 92–93 m.
• Construction is generally divided into E1, a seven-step pyramid; E2, an eight-step pyramid; and E3, a smooth-sided pyramid.
• E3’s face angle was about 52.6°, close to the Great Pyramid’s roughly 51.8°.
• Structural collapse and extensive removal of casing and stone for reuse left the truncated core and surrounding debris; the relative roles of collapse and quarrying remain debated.
• The small eastern mortuary temple is commonly described as the oldest complete surviving mortuary temple, not the world’s oldest fully intact building.
• Two large stelae that do not name the pyramid’s owner were found at the temple.
• The north-face entrance is about 18 m above ground, and the descending passage is high enough for a person to walk almost upright.
• The roughly 1 m-square shaft is about 6.5 m deep, not high, and connects the descending passage with the subterranean chamber.
• The video argues that Meidum was Egypt’s first “true pyramid”; its precise place in the transition to smooth-sided pyramid architecture remains debated.

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