Abu Roash Attractions
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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.
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.
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.
Tips: ACCESS. - The Pyramids of Abu Roash, northwest of Giza (Mena House), can be reached by cross country vehicle, camel, donkey or horse drawn carriage on a track which runs along the edge of the cultivated land (canal); then a 1.5 hour climb on foot.
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