Mazghuna North Pyramid
Northern Mazghuna Pyramid · Sobekneferu Pyramid? · Mazghuna North (Amenemhat IV?)
Middle Kingdom, 12th–13th Dynasty, ~1800 BCE·Ancient Egyptian·🇪🇬 Giza Governorate, Dahshur south (Mazghuna, 5 km south Dahshur), Egypt
About
About Mazghuna North Pyramid
Northern of paired close mudbrick pyramids at Mazghuna, 5 km south of Dahshur at desert-necropolis edge (12th–13th Dynasty, c.1800–1700 BCE). Attributed speculatively to female pharaoh Sobekneferu (1777 BCE) or Amenemhat IV. Base 52.5 m (100 cubits), height ~30 m intended but unfinished at ~10 m core, surrounding mudbrick enclosure and outer wall. Excavated 1910 Ernest Mackay, 1911 Flinders Petrie who found quartzite sarcophagus 4.2×2.1 m weighing 35 tonnes inside pit, unfinished descending corridor blocked with limestone portcullis still. Petrie's plan shows inverted V relieving chamber design borrowed from Hawara.
Why it mattersLast royal pyramids built before Hyksos takeover; female king Sobekneferu attribution would make it only pyramid of a reigning queen as pharaoh; portcullis engineering link to Hawara.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Sister/brother pairing north-south 400 m apart — joint reign burial?
Theories
- 01Brother-sister successors Amenemhat IV (south) and Sobekneferu (north) planned adjacent but unfinished
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1803 BCE, late 12th Dynasty (Sobekneferu/Amenemhat IV)
- Period
- Middle Kingdom, 12th–13th Dynasty, ~1800 BCE
- Culture
- Ancient Egyptian
- Builders
- Ancient Egyptian (Sobekneferu/Amenemhat IV, Hawara-trained architects)
- Purpose
- Royal tomb for late 12th Dynasty ruler, paired with southern pyramid 400 m south (brother/sister pair)
- Abandoned
- c.1790 BCE unfinished after monarch's death, usurped? Or political collapse
- Rediscovered
- 1910 Mackay probes; 1911 Petrie fully records plan, sarcophagus, portcullis
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1803 BCE
Foundation on desert gravel south of Dahshur with mudbrick mass
1911
Petrie records 52.5 m base, finds quartzite sarcophagus in pit and granite portcullis
1928
Jéquier compares inverted V chamber to Hawara
2009
Theis re-attributes north to Sobekneferu via masonry analysis
On the ground
Structures & features
29.7100° N · 31.2500° E · 45 m · 3 mapped features
North pyramid mudbrick core
pyramid52.5 m base mudbrick mass 10 m high with outer enclosure traces
29.7100° N · 31.2500° EQuartzite sarcophagus pit
sarcophagusCentral pit 6 m deep containing 4.2×2.1 m monolithic quartzite sarcophagus (35t) with lid
29.7098° N · 31.2502° EGranite portcullis corridor
corridorNorth descending corridor with granite portcullis slab still seated in grooves
29.7102° N · 31.2499° E