Abu Roash Attractions
Some 5mi/8km northwest of the Pyramids of Giza near the village of Abu Roash, commandingly situated on a steep sided rocky plateau some 500ft/150m above the Nile Valley in the Western (Libyan) Desert, are the remains of the Pyramid of Djedefre (Fourth Dynasty), son of Cheops, and his subsidiary wife Henutsen. This is the most northerly of all the pyramids.
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Must-see attractions nearby:
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Djedefre ensured his succession to the throne by marrying his half sister Hetepheres II, the legitimate heiress. During his short reign of only eight years - a period of serious internal tensions - he built his relatively small and modest pyramid well away from the burial area at Giza, opposite Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, thus demonstrating his devotion to the cult of the Sun. The cause of his death is unknown; and it is uncertain whether his pyramid was left unfinished or whether its poor state of preservation is the result of its use as a quarry of building material - a process which continued into modern times.
The Site
The rocky plateau, almost inaccessible from the east, can be reached either by a steep and strenuous path on the south side or, more easily, on the ancient causeway running up from the Wadi el Karen to the northeast, which survives for a length of 1,975yd/1,800m, still carried at certain points on an embankment 40ft/12m high.
The Site
The rocky plateau, almost inaccessible from the east, can be reached either by a steep and strenuous path on the south side or, more easily, on the ancient causeway running up from the Wadi el Karen to the northeast, which survives for a length of 1,975yd/1,800m, still carried at certain points on an embankment 40ft/12m high.
Related Attractions
Cemetery
Some 1mi/1.5km east of the Abu Roash Pyramid, on a rocky spur of the plateau above the village, lies a cemetery of the Old Kingdom with large mastabas (excavated by French archeologists 1922-24). Farther south, on a rocky ridge, are tombs of the Second-Fourth Dynasties.
Kerdasa, Egypt
In the village of Kerdasa woven carpets in native traditional patterns are made and offered for sale.
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Smaller Stone Pyramid
Farther to the southwest of the Pyramid of Djedefer are the scanty remains of a smaller stone built pyramid. In the plain, north of the village of Abu Roash, was another brick built pyramid which still stood to a height of 55ft/17m in the mid 19th C. but has since been entirely demolished except for the granite core containing the tomb chamber.
