ISS017-E-8285 Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record.
Several monuments are visible in this image, including the large Red and Bent Pyramids built by Snofru, first king of the Fourth Dynasty, which lasted from 2575–2465 BC. Other visible monuments include the pyramid complexes of Amenemhat III and Sesostris III, both kings of the Twelfth Dynasty (1991–1783 BC). Both of these complexes are poorly preserved, due to both the unstable ground conditions and the dismantling of the limestone blocks forming the outer pyramid casings during later historical periods.
The Bent Pyramid (image upper right) is so called because the slope of the outer face was lessened halfway through construction, leading to a distinctive “bent” profile. Scholars have offered different explanations for why this was done: perhaps to decrease the mass of the pyramid to prevent its collapse or to reduce the work necessary to complete it. The Red Pyramid to the north (image center) was built after the Bent Pyramid, and is named for the coloration of the building stone at the structure’s core. Compare the shadows of the Red and Bent pyramids in the image to see the different profiles of the structures (easier to see in the large image.) An irregular, dark feature to the southeast of the Bent Pyramid is not a shadow cast by a monument; it is an irrigation area extending into the desert.
