Pyramid of Neferirkare
Pyramid of Neferirkare Kakai · Ba-Neferefkare
Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty mid·Ancient Egyptian·🇪🇬 Giza Governorate, Abusir, Egypt
No machine-readable author provided. Neithsabes assumed (based on copyright claims). · Public domain
About
About Pyramid of Neferirkare
Largest 5th Dynasty pyramid at Abusir for third king Neferirkare Kakai (originally 72 m high, 105 m base, angle 54°), built as step pyramid then converted to true pyramid but left unfinished at stepped form. Contains important Abusir Papyri archives discovered in mortuary temple. Ongoing Czech excavations reveal administrative history of Old Kingdom.
Why it mattersAbusir Papyri – largest Old Kingdom administrative archive; illustrates 5th Dynasty economic system.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Unfinished conversion to true pyramid
Theories
- 01Premature death forced abandonment; economy increasingly strained
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. 2475–2455 BCE (Neferirkare Kakai)
- Period
- Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty mid
- Culture
- Ancient Egyptian
- Purpose
- Tomb of Neferirkare Kakai
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c. 2475-2455 BCE
Construction begun as step pyramid, conversion to true pyramid left unfinished
c. 2445 BCE
Funerary complex completed by sons Neferefre and Nyuserre
1893
Abusir Papyri surface from the mortuary temple archives
1902-08
Borchardt (Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft) excavates the complex
1970s-
Czech Institute of Egyptology excavations in the southern necropolis
1979
Inscribed as part of Memphis and its Necropolis UNESCO World Heritage Site (id 86)
On the ground
Structures & features
Gallery