Pyramid of Hawara

Some 6mi/10km southeast of Medinet el-Fayyum and 1mi/1.5km north of the village of Hawaret el-Maqta, on a plateau at the edge of the desert, stands the Pyramid of Hawara, the Tomb of Amenemhet III, who did so much to develop the Fayyum - his second pyramid, for he had already built one at Dahshur. The Pyramid of Hawara is constructed of sun dried bricks made from Nile mud with an admixture of straw, and with its original limestone casing (which had already disappeared by Roman times) had a base measurement of 350ft/106m. At the core of the pyramid was an outcrop of natural rock 40ft/12m high. The entrance (now blocked) was on the south side and gave access to a complicated network of passages leading to the burial chamber.