THE RED PYRAMID

A VISIT TO DAHSHUR

At Dahshur, about 20 miles south of Cairo, Snefru the father of Khufu (Cheops) built two massive stone pyramids. These were the training grounds for the engineers who went on to build the famous pyramids of Giza, and although they are just as impressive as the later pyramids, they have remained relatively obscure. There are several reasons for this: there is no main road or village close to the site; for most of the 20th century the area was a closed military zone; and the interior chambers of the pyramids were choked with rubble and so impossible to enter. When I. E. S. Edwards wrote his classic book "The Pyramids of Egypt" in 1947, he had to rely on a description of the interior of these pyramids published by J. S. Perring in 1839. As recently as 1995, these pyramids were difficult to visit and impossible to enter.

But things have changed greatly in the last few years. The military zone has been redrawn, and now excludes the pyramids. The northern pyramid of Snefru, known as the Red Pyramid, has been cleared, fitted with electric lighting, and is now open to visitors every day. Although only about 45 minutes by taxi from Giza, the site still gets few visitors. I saw only a dozen or so other people while I was there, plus a few camel-mounted Tourist Police officers.

Although the Red Pyramid has lost its smooth outer casing stones, the faces are otherwise undamaged by tunnelling, quarrying or collapse.  This, along with an unusually gentle slope of 43 degrees, gives this pyramid a pleasing, natural and well-balanced appearance.

Exploring inside the Red Pyramid is quite hard work, with the entrance about one third of the way up the north face, and the first passage a steep 60m tunnel (approx. 200 feet), almost double the length of the ascending passage of the Great Pyramid. But it is worth the effort! The first two chambers have impressive corbelled roofs, like shorter versions of Khufu's Grand Gallery. A modern wooden staircase installed at the end of the second chamber takes you up into the roof, where a low passage leads into the third chamber. This is truly spectacular: a corbelled roof of 14 courses of masonry rises more than 15 metres (50 feet) above your head into the heart of the pyramid. If you are alone, you will find absolute silence and total stillness here - rare indeed in Cairo!

Shining a torch in the passage to the third chamber, you can find where the early explorers wrote their names in soot - Drovetti, Burton, and Perring amongst others, some recording the 19th century dates of their visits.

While at the site, it is worth driving the mile and a half south across open desert for a close look at the well-known "Bent Pyramid", Snefru's other monument at Dahshur. Although not open to the public, the exterior has most of the smooth casing stones in place, and gives a good idea of how the pyramids must have looked in ancient times. Scaffolding and other equipment at the north entrance suggest that this pyramid is currently being cleared - so maybe it too will be open to the public one day?

Stuart Grace.