As outlined for pyramids in the preceding
pages, apply in principle also to the building of the temples, causeways,
temenos walls, and other structures forming the pyramid complex,
except insofar as the different types of structure required different
individual treatment.
The drain on the country’s resources did not end when the pyramid complex was completed ; for a large staff of priests, overseers, and other officials were maintained, not only during the king’s lifetime but also for some centuries after his death. It was inevitable that such a state of affairs could not long continue, and the system eventually collapsed for economic and other reasons. Some of the kings were not above rewarding their favourites with funds misappropriated from the mortuary endowments of their predecessors.
With the passage of time each pyramid complex tended to be built smaller and smaller, and more and more crudely, although some exceptions there naturally were. By the latter part of Dynasty XII the main body of pyramids had degenerated to mud-brick, limestone being reserved merely for the internal chambers and passages and external casing. After Dynasty XIII no more pyramids were built, except some very degenerate examples not to be compared with those of the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Very soon afterwards the whole sixty-mile range of pyramids from Gîza to Maidûm had become a desert solitude.
The special problems involved in the building
of the pyramid temples are outside the scope of this work, and the
reader is therefore referred to the works of Choisy, Reisner, and Clarke
and Engelbach (...).
Sequence of Building
Evidence of the order in which the various parts
of the pyramid complex were built is derived from unfinished pyramid
complexes, and from dated inscriptions on some of the stones used. It
was broadly as follows :
(1) The substructure of the pyramid was hewn out of the rock
(example : Zâwyet el Aryân, North, where the building of the
pyramid advanced little beyond this stage).
(2) The sarcophagus was placed in the tomb chamber before the rest
of the pyramid was built (example : Zâwyet el Aryân north
pyramid). In at least one instance (Neit) the sarcophagus was
placed in the tomb chamber in a rough-hewn condition.
(3) The sarcophagus chamber and other parts of the interior were
walled, paved, and roofed (probably in that order).
(4) The causeway was then, or perhaps earlier, built for transporting
limestone and other materials.
(5 ) The pyramid superstructure was added.
(6) The casing blocks were dressed after being placed in position.
(7) The upper temple was built after the pyramid was nearly completed, as shown by dated stone blocks from the pyramid complexes of Khendjer and Ammenemes.
(8) After the causeway had ceased to be used for transport of stone
for the pyramid, temenos wall, and upper temple, it was paved,
walled, and roofed.
(9) The lower temple was probably built last of all.
Although the main building sequence was most likely as outlined
above, it should be noted that at the time of the death of Mycerinus his
pyramid, upper temple, and lower temple were all well advanced
although none had been actually completed. The lengthy process of
dressing the pyramid casing must have proceeded while the other parts
of the pyramid complex were being built.
The Time Taken to construct the Pyramid Complex
It was said by
Herodotus that it took ten years to build the causeway and twenty
years to construct the pyramid of Kheops. As there are about 2,300,000
blocks in this pyramid, a building period of 20 years would have implied
the quarrying, transport, and laying of over 300 blocks a day throughout
each year. Available evidence suggests that the larger pyramids of the
Old Kingdom may have taken between 20 and 30 years to build,
although about 4 years would have been enough for some of the smaller pyramids of the Middle Kingdom, which were not well built.
The following table embodies the chief available data :
The following table embodies the chief available data :
(...)
Maintenance.
The drain on the country’s resources did not end when the pyramid complex was completed ; for a large staff of priests, overseers, and other officials were maintained, not only during the king’s lifetime but also for some centuries after his death. It was inevitable that such a state of affairs could not long continue, and the system eventually collapsed for economic and other reasons. Some of the kings were not above rewarding their favourites with funds misappropriated from the mortuary endowments of their predecessors.
With the passage of time each pyramid complex tended to be built smaller and smaller, and more and more crudely, although some exceptions there naturally were. By the latter part of Dynasty XII the main body of pyramids had degenerated to mud-brick, limestone being reserved merely for the internal chambers and passages and external casing. After Dynasty XIII no more pyramids were built, except some very degenerate examples not to be compared with those of the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Very soon afterwards the whole sixty-mile range of pyramids from Gîza to Maidûm had become a desert solitude.
extrait d' Egyptian Pyramids, 1947, par Leslie Grinsell (1907-1995), archéologue et conservateur de musée anglais. Durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, il a rejoint la Royal Air Force et a servi en Égypte, où il s'est familiarisé avec les vestiges archéologiques de l'Égypte antique.
