Lisht

The pyramids and mastabas of Lisht lie to the north of the village of that name, some 19mi/30km south of Dahshur. Amenemhet I, founder of the 12th Dynasty, moved his capital from Thebes to Lisht in order to establish firmer control over Lower Egypt, and near here, on the edge of the desert, he and his son Sesostris I, who for a time ruled jointly with him, built their pyramids. The pyramids, now visible only as sand covered mounds, were surrounded by smaller pyramids for female members of the royal family and hundreds of mastabas belonging to high State officials. A few irregularities in the ground on the edge of the cultivated land no doubt markthe site of the erstwhile capital of ltj-towy.