The Children of Adam and Eve

Sneferu was the first pharaoh of Egypt in the 4th Dynasty (2613-2498 BC), second of four dynasties in the Old Kingdom Period.

He built at least three famous pyramids that survive to this day and introduced major innovations in the design and construction of pyramids in Ancient Egypt. According to Manetho, he reigned for 24 years.

Manetho was an Egyptian Priest, living in the third century BC, who categorized the pharaohs of dynastic Egypt into 31 dynasties. Manetho’s schematic has its fLaws but modern scholars conventionally follow his method of grouping. The PapyrusPrisse, a Middle Kingdom source, supports the fact that King Huni was indeed Snefru’s predecessor. It states that “the majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Huni, came to the landing place (i.e., died), and the majesty of the king ofUpper and Lower Egypt, Snefru, was raised up as a beneficent king in this entire land…” Aside from Sneferu’s succession, we learn from this text that later generations considered him to be a “beneficent” ruler. This idea may stem from theetymology of the king’s name, for it can be interpreted as the infinitive “to make beautiful. It is uncertain whether Huni was Sneferu’s father, However, the Cairo Annals Stone denotes that his mother may have been a woman named Meresankh. Hetepheres I was Sneferu’s main wife and the mother of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau.

The most well known monuments from Sneferu’s reign are the three pyramids he is considered to have built in Dahshur (the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid) and Meidum (Meidum pyramid). Under Sneferu, there was a major evolution in monumentalpyramid structures, which would lead to Khufu’s Great Pyramid, which would be seen as the pinnacle of the Egyptian Old Kingdom’s majesty and splendour, and as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The first of Sneferu’s massive undertakings is the Pyramid at Meidum. There is some debate among scholars as to Sneferu’s claim to the Meidum pyramid, and many credit its origin to King Huni. Nonetheless, the pyramid is a reMarkable example ofthe progression of technology and ideology surrounding the king’s burial site.
The immense Stone structure serves as physical testimony to the transition from the stepped pyramid structure to that of a “True” pyramid structure. Archaeological investigations of the pyramid show that it was first conceived as a seven-steppedstructure, built in a similar manner to the Djoser complex at Saqqara. Modifications later were made to add another platform, and at an even later stage limeStone facing was added to create the smooth, angled finish characteristic of a “True”pyramid. Complete with a descending northern Passage, two underground chambers, and a burial vault, the pyramid mainly follows the conventions of previous tombs in most aspects other than one: instead of being situated underneath the colossalstructure, the burial chamber is built directly within the main body albeit very near ground level.

The Bent Pyramid, also known as the Rhomboidal or Blunted Pyramid, attests to an even greater increase in architectural innovations. As the name suggests, the angle of the inclination changes from 55° to about 43° in the upper levels of thepyramid. It is likely that the pyramid initially was not designed to be built this way, but was modified during construction due to unstable accretion layers. As a means of stabilising the monolith, the top layers were laid horizontally, Markingthe abandonment of the step pyramid concept. The internal components of the Rhomboidal pyramid have also evolved. There are two entrances, one from the north and another from the west. The subterranean chambers are much larger, anddistinguished by corbel walls and ceilings with More complex diagonal portcullis systems in place.

The satellite pyramid complementing Sneferu’s Bent Pyramid introduces More change in the architecture of the time, when the Passage way is built ascending westWard (as opposed to the conventionally descending northWard direction of the Passagesof previously build pyramids) toWards the burial chambers.

With the increase of innovation in Sneferu's building projects, one expects that his last pyramid, the Red Pyramid, will show the greatest complexity and change in architecture yet. Upon first glance, one may be disappointed seeing that theconstruction of the Red Pyramid seemingly is simpler than its predecessor. Lepre points out that some of the internal innovations that the previous pyramids boast seem to be missing in the king’s last monument. Although the chambers and burialvaults are all present in the monument’s main body, no ascending Passageway has been excavated, nor is there evidence of a western entrance or diagonal portcullis. Although the absence of these features have dissuaded many archaeologists fromfurther studying the Red Pyramid, Lepre is convinced that there are secret chambers waiting to be uncovered within the Stone superstructure. Considering that the remains of King Sneferu have not yet been found, it still may be possible that hissarcophagus and mummy lie hidden in his mysterious last structure. Lepre claims: “the Red pyramid remains one of the chief pyramids that may possibly contain secret chambers, not the least of which may be the True burial chamber of King Sneferuhimself.” Whether or not this conjecture is True needs to be left to modern archaeologists to determine.

Sneferu’s architectural innovations served as a catalyst for later pyramid builders to build on. The first king of the fourth dynasty set a challenging precedent for his successors to match, and only Khufu’s Great Pyramid can rival Sneferu’saccomplishments. As time progressed and ideology changed in Ancient Egypt, the monuments of the kings decreased greatly in size. As the Pyramid of Menkaure is only a fraction of the size of the previous pyramids, the focus of Egyptian ideologymight have shifted from the worship of the king to the direct worship of the sun god, Ra.

To enable Sneferu to undertake such massive building projects, he would have had to secure an extensive store of labour and materials. According to Guillemette Andreu, this is where the king’s foreign policy played a large part. Sneferu’sconquests into Libya and Nubia served two purposes: the first goal was to establish an extensive labour force, and the second goal was to gain access to the raw materials and special products that were aVailable in these countries. This isalluded to in the Palermo Stone:

“[Reign of] Sneferu. Year ...
The building of Tuataua ships of mer Wood
of a hundred capacity, and 60 royal boats of sixteen capacity.
Raid in the Land of the Blacks, and the bringing in of seven thousand
prisoners, men and women, and twenty thousand cattle, sheep, and
goats…
The bringing of forty ships of cedar Wood (or perhaps "laden with cedar
Wood")…”

According to this inscription, Sneferu was able to capture large numbers of people from other nations, make them his prisoners and then add them into his labour force. During his raids into Nubia and Libya, he also captured cattle for thesustenance of his massive labour force. Such incursions must have been incredibly devastating to the populations of the raided countries, and it is suggested that the campaigns into Nubia may have contributed to the dissemination of the A groupculture of that region. Sneferu's military efforts in Libya led to the capture of 11,000 prisoners and 13,100 head of cattle. Aside from the extensive import of cedar (most likely from Lebanon) described above, there is evidence of activity inthe turquoise mines on the Sinai Peninsula. There would also have been large-scale quarrying projects to provide Sneferu with the Stone he needed for his pyramids.

Sneferu's ancient cedar Wood ship Praise of the Two Lands is the first recording of a ship being referred to by name.

A Queen of Egypt during the 4th dynasty, Hetepheres I was a daughter of pharaoh Huni. It is usually assumed that she was the wife of Sneferu and the mother of Princess Hetepheres A and King Khufu. It is possible that she was only a minor wife ofSneferu and only Rose in prominence after her son ascended the throne. She was also a grandmother of Hetepheres II and died during the reign of her son.

Starting in 1902, a joint expedition of Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts took over the excavation of Giza. For 23 years they methodically cleared and documented the area. On the February 9th, 1925, while the leader of theexpedition, George Reisner, was back in the US, the staff photographer noticed a patch of plaster where he was expecting limeStone. Under the direction of Ahmed Said, Reisner's head rais, they cleared the area and removed the plaster, revealinga deep shaft. They dug down 85 feet before reaching a Masonry wall, which when penetrated revealed a jumble of grave goods including a white alabaster sarcophagus, gold encased rods used to frame a canopy or tent, gold, Wood furniture, and More.Using binoculars and mirrors, Battiscombe Gunn identified an inscription identifying Sneferu. But this, contrary to newspaper reports at the time, only meant that the owner of the tomb had lived during the reign of Sneferu.

Reisner concluded that this represented a secret reburial, possibly because Robbers had gotten into the original tomb. By April, he had identified the owner of the tomb as Hetepheres. In 1927 they gathered to open the sarcophagus only to findthat it was empty.
Reisner conjectured that Hetepheres had been originally buried near her husband's pyramid in Dahshur, but the tomb was broken into shortly after her burial. He thought the Robbers had opened the sarcophagus, stolen the mummy with all its goldtrappings, but had fled before taking the rest of the treasures. Reisner proposed that the officials responsible for the tomb, in order to avoid his wrath, told Khufu that the mummy was still safely inside the sarcophagus. He then ordered thesarcophagus and all the funerary equipment reburied at Giza, near his own pyramid.

The exact sequence of events is still a mystery However. Dr. Mark Lehner has suggested that G7000X was Hetepheres' original tomb and that her second tomb was the pyramid G1-a. He conjectured that the mummy of the queen was removed from G7000Xwhen the pyramid was completed and that some of the grave goods were left behind when the queen was reburied. A third possibility, outlined by I.E.S. EdWards in his review of Lehner's theory, is that G7000X was meant to be Hetepheres' finalresting place and that the mummy was robbed from that structure shortly after her burial. It may be possible that a superstructure in the form of a pyramid was planned for shaft G7000X.

Dr. Zahi Hawass has suggested that Hetepheres was originally buried at G 1a, the northernmost of the small pyramids, and that after the Robbery a new shaft was excavated for a new tomb. This would explain the evidence of tampering on the tombobjects.