Menkaure

Because first of all, you've got Jedef-Rei at Abu Ruash, and then Kai-ef-Rei, Kefren.

And Menkaure, who built the third pyramid at Giza.

Menkaure, exactly.

And what have these three pharaohs all got in common? Re in their names.

The sun god, Ray, was clearly central to the beliefs of these pharaohs, so much so that they even adopted his name.

As the pharaohs became more obsessed with worshipping the Sun, they had to choose pyramid sites which would guarantee a good view of the center of Heliopolis.

So the pharaoh Jadavray had built his pyramid at Abu Ruash to ensure he had a clear view of the temple of his favorite god, Ray.

The next pharaoh, Caiaphré, went back to Giza, as did his successor Menkaure, but both chose sites where they still had a clear line of sight with Heliopolis.

It reappeared under the Ptolemies for the last time before becoming extinct forever.

Snofru was probably, therefore, one of the most popular kings of the good old times, but his fame, however great it may have been among the Egyptians, has been eclipsed in our eyes by that of the pharaohs who immediately followed him, Cheops, Khephren, and Mykerinos.

Not that we are really better acquainted with their history.

All we know of them is made up of two or three series of facts, always the same, which the contemporaneous monuments teach us concerning these rulers.

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Chapter 2.

The Memphite Empire, Part 4 Of Chephren's sons, Menkari, Mykerinos, who was his successor, could scarcely dream of excelling his father and grandfather.

His pyramid, the supreme huru, barely attained an elevation of 216 feet, and was exceeded in height by those which were built at a later date.

Chapter three, The Death Bridal of Nitokris.

The day of the bridal of Nitokris the queen with Menkaura the conqueror had come and gone in a blaze of golden splendor.

In all the upper and lower lands no head was held so proudly as the head of Menkaura.

No heart beat so high as his that day, nor did any cheek bloom so sweetly, or any eyes shine so brightly as the cheeks and eyes of Nitokris.

So strange are the workings of a woman's heart, and so far are its mysteries past finding out.

The choicest meats and the rarest fruits that ripened under the glowing suns of Khem, all was there that could make glad the heart of man and fill his soul with contentment.

At the center of the table, which stood on a raised platform in the front of a great black pedestal of the Colossus of Pepi, Nitokris the queen sat in her chair of ivory and gold, clad in almost transparent robes of the finest silk of Kos, shining with gems and crowned with a uræus snake and the double diadem of the two lands.

On her right sat Menkaura, crowned and robed in royal vesture, and on her left Amun-Ha in his priestly garments of snowy linen.

Yeah.

So like Menkaura, for example, does have granite on the lower casings of stones.

But again, if you look at the, the bottom, the biggest stones are at the bottom.

Yeah.

Chapter 2.

The Memphite Empire, Part 4 Of Chephren's sons, Menkari, Mykerinos, who was his successor, could scarcely dream of excelling his father and grandfather.

His pyramid, the supreme hieru, barely attained an elevation of 216 feet, and was exceeded in height by those which were built at a later date.

Up to one-fourth of its height it was faced with cyanide, and the remainder up to the summit with limestone.

It contained a sloping passage cut into the hill itself, and an oblong low-roofed cell devoid of ornament.

The main bulk of the work had been already completed, and the casing not yet begun, when it was decided to alter the proportions of the whole.

Mykerinos was not, it appears, the eldest son and appointed heir of Chephren.

While still a mere prince he was preparing for himself a pyramid similar to those which lie near the horizon, when the deaths of his father and brother called him to the throne.

Egypt is dotted with dozens of these structures, spread across more than a thousand years of construction, scattered along the edge of the Nile Valley like stepping stones through time.

There's Saqqara, home to the step pyramid of Djoser, widely considered the oldest of the great stone pyramids, a kind of staircase reaching toward the sky built centuries before gizeh even existed there's darsho where you'll find the bent pyramid and the red pyramid early experiments in getting the shape right monuments to trial and error as much as to any pharaoh there's abu rawash less famous partially ruined often overlooked but still part of this same sprawling family of structures And then of course there's Giza, the most famous plateau on earth, home to the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, the smaller Pyramid of Menkaure, and standing quietly nearby, watching over all of it, the Great Sphinx.

It's worth pausing here to separate a few things that often get blended together in popular imagination.

A pyramid is not the same thing as a temple.

That association is strong in conventional Egyptology, though, as we will see later.

The Sphinx has become one of the central points of debate for people who argue that Giza may preserve something older.

Then came Menkaure, usually dated around 2532 to 2503 BCE.

His pyramid is much smaller than the other two, but smaller is a relative word here.

But do you think I could have told you who built the third pyramid?

Menkaura.

He was the son of Shepsen.

Good.

The Memphite Empire, Part Four.

Of Kephron's sons, Menkari, Mykerinos, who was his successor, could scarcely dream of excelling his father and grandfather.

His pyramid, the Supreme Hiru, barely attained an elevation of two hundred and sixteen feet, and was exceeded in height by those which were built at a later date.

Up to one-fourth of its height it was faced with cyanide, and the remainder up to the summit with limestone.

It contained a sloping passage cut into the hill itself, and an oblong low-roofed cell devoid of ornament.

The main bulk of the work had been already completed, and the casing not yet begun, when it was decided to alter the proportions of the whole.

Mykerinos was not, it appears, the eldest son and appointed heir of Kephren.

While still a mere prince he was preparing for himself a pyramid similar to those which lie near the horizon, when the deaths of his father and brother called him to the throne.