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The Pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest probably completed in the 26th century BC.
of the three main Pyramids of Giza, locat- It lies a few hundred yards southwest of its
ed on the Giza Plateau in the southwest- larger neighbours, the Pyramid of Khafre
ern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. It is thought and the Great Pyramid of Khufu in the Giza
to have been built to serve necropolis.

as the tomb of the fourth
dynasty Egypian Pharaoh At the end of the twelfth
Menkaure. century al-Malek al-Aziz
Pyramid of Othman ben Yusuf, Sal-

Menkaure’s pyramid had adin’s son and heir, at-
an original height of 65.5 Menkaure tempted to demolish the
meters (215 feet) and was pyramids, starting with
the smallest of the three that of Menkaure. Work-
major pyramids at the men recruited to demol-
Giza Necropolis. It now ish the pyramid stayed at
stands at 61 m (204 ft) their job for eight months,

tall with a base of 108.5 m but found it almost as ex-
(356 ft). Its angle of incline is approximate- pensive to destroy as to build. They could
ly 51°20’25”. It was constructed of lime- only remove one or two stones each day.
stone and Aswan granite. The first sixteen Some used wedges and levers to move the
courses of the exterior were made of the stones, while others used ropes to pull them
red granite. The upper portion was cased down. When a stone fell, it would bury it-
in the normal manner with Tura limestone. self in the sand, requiring extraordinary ef-
Part of the granite was left in the rough. forts to free it. Wedges were used to split
Incomplete projects such as this pyramid the stones into several pieces, and a cart

help archaeologists understand the meth- was used to carry it to the foot of the es-
ods used to build pyramids and temples. carpment, where it was left. Despite their
South of the pyramid of Menkaure are efforts, workmen were only able to damage
three satellite pyramids, with each ac- the pyramid to the extent of leaving a large
companied by a temple and substructure. vertical gash at its northern face.
The easternmost is the largest and a true
pyramid. Its casing is partly of granite, like
the main pyramid, and is believed to have
been completed due to the limestone pyra-
midion found close by. Neither of the other
two progressed beyond the construction of

the inner core.
The pyramid’s date of construction is un-
known, because Menkaure’s reign has not
been accurately defined, but it was