Pyramid of Unas
The Pyramid of Unas was built in the 24th century BC for the Egyptian pharaoh Unas. It is the smallest Old Kingdom pyramid, but significant due to the discovery of Pyramid Texts, spells for the king’s afterlife incised into the walls of its subterranean chambers.
About Pyramid of Unas in brief
The Pyramid of Unas is a smooth-sided pyramid built in the 24th century BC for the Egyptian pharaoh Unas. Unas built his pyramid between the complexes of Sekhemket and Djoser, in North Saqqara. It is the smallest Old Kingdom pyramid, but significant due to the discovery of Pyramid Texts, spells for the king’s afterlife incised into the walls of its subterranean chambers. Inscribed for the first time in Unas’s pyramid, the tradition of funerary texts carried on in the pyramids of subsequent rulers, through to the end of the Old Kingdom, and into the Middle Kingdom through the Coffin Texts that form the basis of the Book of the Dead. The pyramid was briefly examined by Karl Richard Lepsius, who listed it on the list as number XXXV on his pioneering list of pyramids. Entry was first gained by Gaston Maspero, who examined its structure in 1881. He had recently discovered a set of texts in the Pyramids of Pepi I and Merenre I. Those same texts were discovered in Un as’s tomb, making this earliest known appearance in 1901 to 1901. From 1899 to 1901, Egyptologist Alessandro Barsanti conducted the first systematic investigation of the pyramid site, succeeding in succeeding excavations in succeeding years. The site was later used for numerous burials of Fifth Dynasty officials, private individuals from the Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties, and a collection of Late Period monuments known as the \”Persian tombs\”.
The causeway joined the temple in the harbour with the mortuary temple on the east face of the Pyramid. Just south of the upper causeway are two long boat pits, These may have contained two wooden boats: the solar barques of Ra, the sun god. The entry chapel of the inner temple has been completely destroyed, though it once contained five statues in niches. The room is otherwise ruined. Quartzite is an atypical material to use in architectural projects, though examples of it being used sparingly in the Old KINGDOM exist. The material is associated with the sun cult due to its sun-like coloration. The temple was laid out in a similar manner to Djedkare Isesi’s. A transverse corridor separates the outer from the inner Temple, with a single quartzite column that was contained in the antichambre carrée. A series of series of tombs from the Second Dynasty and the Later Period were also found in the temple, as well as a series of Later Period tombs of those of the Second and Third dynasties. These include Hotepsekhemwy, Nebra, and Ninetjer, among those that lie under the causeway. Two Second Dynasty tombs, presumed to belong to HotepSEkhem Wy, and are believed to have been used for burials by Unas and his son Teti. A significant stretch of Djoser’s causeway was reused for embankments. Tombs that were on the path had their superstructures demolished and were paved over.
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This page is based on the article Pyramid of Unas published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
