The Bent Pyramid

The Bent Pyramid is one of the pyramids built by King Sneferu, the first king of the 4th dynasty. It was called “bent” because of its broken lines due to a change of angle, an engineering issue in its design. Indeed, the pyramid construction began at an angle of 55 degrees but had to be adjusted to 43 degrees due to an overload in stones resulting in instability. Despite their adjustments, the King’s designers made a new pyramid at a short distance, in Meidum, the Red Pyramid. The first angle of the Bent Pyramid suggests the transition phase between the Step-pyramid design of King Djoser in Saqqara and the later smooth-faced pyramids.

The Bent Pyramid has two entrances, one on the north side, with modern wooden stairs, and the other is high on the west side. Each entrance leads to a chamber with a corbelled roof, giving this gradual effect. The northern entrance chamber is below ground level. As for the western entrance chamber, it is built higher up in the body of the Bent Pyramid.