Chapter 33: Snefru Begins the Age of the True Pyramid

readx;? In order to consolidate his position, Snefru married Huney's daughter, Heteferreth I. Pen | fun | pavilion www. biquge。 info

It is said that he had at least three married women bear him sons. Including his eldest son, Nefilmaet, who became a minister. They did not recognize each other as fathers and sons, so they were not considered eligible to inherit the throne of Egypt.

For the first time in Egyptian history, he completed the complete conquest of Nubia (Ethiopia) by ancient Egypt. According to the Palermo Stone, he "destroyed the capital of the Nissi, capturing 7,000 men and women, and 200,000 large and small livestock."

He marched into the Sinai Peninsula and mined the local turquoise, which was worshipped as a god by the locals, as evidenced by the cedar beams preserved in his burial chamber. During the time of his reign, Egypt had already begun commercial trade with Lebanon in Asia Minor.

During his reign, the cult of the god Ra was officially manifested and quickly reached its peak, which lasted for more than 1,000 years, until the reign of Ahnatun in the New Kingdom, when it reached a low ebb.

During the reign of Snefru, the worship of the sun god Ra grew, and the cult of Osiris also began to influence the religion of Egypt.

Snefrü also succeeded in elevating the royal family's status in the country's administrative system. It is possible that two of his sons became ministers, and many other royal sons held important positions. It was not until the end of the Sixth Dynasty that the administrative power in Egypt was greatly dispersed, and the royal family lost power, which was one of the reasons why Egypt fell into the first intermediate period of chaos.

Usually during Egypt's most powerful and prosperous periods, there would have been a strong central government, and Snefrú laid the foundation to facilitate this centralization of power. He rearranged land ownership into the hands of the nobles who supported him in order to prevent the nobles from becoming too powerful.

The relative peace of the Third Dynasty allowed the rulers of the Fourth Dynasty to have more leisure time and to discover more artistic and cultural pursuits. The architecture of the Snefrú period ranged from stone-chambered tomb-style stepped pyramids to the development of smooth 'true' pyramids on the sides of the Giza plateau. No other period in Egypt's history has achieved such architectural achievements as the Fourth Dynasty.

The Fourth Dynasty built many pyramids, and Snevru, the founder of the dynasty, started construction of at least three pyramids, and some believe that he started at least a quarter of the total number of pyramids built by the Fourth Dynasty. So, while his son, the successor Khufu, built the largest pyramid in Egypt, the Snefreu period had far more stones and bricks to use than any other pharaonic period.

Khufu and his son Khafre, and his grandson Menkaure both gained long-lasting fame for the pyramids they built. The organization and construction of these pyramids required a broad concentration of government power, and Egyptologists believe that the Old Kingdom had such a level of sophistication at this time.

The pyramids show that Egypt enjoyed unprecedented prosperity during the Fourth Dynasty. The construction of these pyramids shows that the Egyptian people were forced to work. These kings - especially Khufu - are remembered as tyrants.

Snefrur ruled Egypt for about 24 years, and he first continued the pyramid of Medum at Huni, which was built, but it was expanded as if motivated by experimentation. Its expansion was largely unsuccessful.

After that, he began to build a mausoleum for himself. The most testament to his prowess is his "Curved Pyramid", located in Dakhsur, 10 km south of Saqqara, which was the beginning of the age of the real pyramid (pyramid).

The pyramid of Snevlu was originally built according to 54°31, but later changed to 43°21 when it was built to a height of 45 meters due to the steep angle, so it formed a gently inclined pyramid with a steep upward and steep bottom, so it is often called the "curved pyramid".

The entire pyramid is 97.26 meters high and has a side length of 188.26 meters. This seemingly uncalculated building ended up witnessing another key link in the evolution from Jossell to the pyramid in the true sense of the word.

Unable to seem satisfied with the "Curved Pyramid", Snefrü built a new one for himself in the northern part of it, often called the "Red Pyramid" because of its red limestone. With a side length of 213 meters, a height of 101.15 meters and an inclination of 43°40, this pyramid is a masterpiece of sprawl and magnificence. Snefrú himself was not buried in this lavish burial chamber, but the significance of the "Red Pyramid" lies in the fact that it was the first pyramid in ancient Egyptian history to be built according to the design of the pyramid, and the pyramids since then have been built according to this model.

Snefru himself not only created a dynasty, but also an age of pyramids, and it was his son, Khufu, who brought this architectural model to a miraculous peak. Since then, the pyramids have officially become the symbol of Egypt and have not faded for thousands of years.

The first pyramid of Snevlu was the Pyramid of Medum, which was originally built in the shape of a stepped pyramid, then expanded after completion, and then limestone was added to the outside in an attempt to make it look like a pyramid. As a result, due to the unreasonable design, the limestone outside fell off, and the pyramid was abandoned.

The burial chamber left 4,000-year-old cedar wooden columns, but there is no indication that the burial chamber was used, this is the first above-ground burial chamber in Egyptian history, and the main breakthrough in the history of pyramid construction is that it uses the earliest material-bearing ceiling in human history, which solves the load-bearing problem of the burial chamber.

Of course, Sneefru was not satisfied with this, so he ordered another pyramid of real pyramids to be built in Dasur. However, due to design errors, it was found that the angle was too large halfway through the construction, and the angle had to be changed, resulting in a diamond-shaped pyramid, or curved pyramid. It can be said that the Sneffru period was a period of transition from a hierarchical pyramid to a true pyramid of horns.

The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul ascended to heaven after death, and the ladder of the pyramid was the ladder to heaven for the soul of the king. The large wooden boat found underground next to the Pyramid of Khufu was also used to carry the king's soul to heaven, and the pyramid with a pyramid symbolizes the worship of the sun god, as the four ridges of the pyramid resemble the rays of the sun. He argues that the Snefflu period was a period of transformation between these two different religious ideas.

Khufu, reigned 63 BC, 2587-2524 BC.

In 2587 BC, Khufu, the son of Chhufu, succeeded to the throne of pharaoh of Egypt.

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