Pyramid of Meidum

The Pyramid of Meidum, 6mi/9km southwest of the village of that name, stands on the edge of the Western Desert Plateau, near the middle road into the Fayyum. It is believed to have been begun by Huni, the last King of the third Dynasty, and completed by his successor Sneferu, founder of the fourth Dynasty and the immediate predecessor of Cheops, but was probably never used as a burial place. It is so different from all other pyramids that it is known as El-Haram el-Kaddab, the "False Pyramid". Although a variety of theories and speculations some of them decidedly far fetched have been put forward about the history of the pyramid, it has never been systematically investigated.

The Pyramid of Meidum was built in three phases, which can still be clearly identified. The earliest structure, at the core of the pyramid, was a seven stepped mastaba modeled on the older Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara and built over a knoll of rock which is still visible to a height of 130ft/40m. The first step, still exposed, is 37ft/11.20m high; the second is 32ft/9.90m; and the third, largely destroyed, is 22ft/6.85m high.