Menkaure Pyramid: Giza's smallest pyramid with a hidden cavity

December 15, 2025EgyptGeneralShare

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Key facts

• Menkaure is the smallest of Giza's three main pyramids; it was originally about 65 meters tall and now stands at about 61 meters.
• Its core was built from local limestone, and its roughly 102-by-105-meter base is about one-fifth the footprint of Khufu and Khafre.
• The lowest roughly 15 meters were sheathed in pink granite from Aswan, while the upper courses were cased in white Tura limestone.
• Modern electrical resistivity tomography detected a large anomaly near the base, interpreted as a hidden cavity beneath the lower granite casing.
• The entrance is on the north face about four meters above ground, with a passage descending at about 26 degrees.
• The passageway is lined in part with pink granite.
• The subterranean chamber has unusual recessed panel carvings along its walls.
• The burial chamber is oriented north-south, unlike the east-west burial chambers of Khufu and Khafre.
• The chamber was cut into bedrock approximately 16 meters below the pyramid's base.
• Howard Vyse's expedition discovered the sarcophagus in 1837; the ship carrying it sank in 1838 en route to England.
• Three subsidiary queens' pyramids stand south of the main pyramid.
• Caliph Al-Malik al-Aziz Uthman ordered a demolition attempt around 1196, leaving a large vertical gash in the north face.
• Work crews labored for about eight months but failed to bring the pyramid down.

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