Egypt's Other Pyramids Part II: Dashur

Pharaoh Snefru's next construction project, at Dashur (Dahshur), is now known as the Bent Pyramid. Unique of all the large pyramids, the Bent Pyramid has two distinct slope angles, rising steeply to about half its height and then more gently. The archeologists bring out their favorite "change of plan" explanation, pointing to the collapsed Medium Pyramid as the cause for the revision.

For those who like to believe that the Egyptians knew what they were doing (after all they built these things - which we cannot duplicate) there is another possibility:
"The Bent pyramid ... has two entrances - one in the North face (as was customary), and one in the West face. These entrances lead down to two completely separate sets of internal chambers via descending passages, and seem to suggest a deliberately planned duality in design, which is matched of course, by the external design." quote from: ancient-mysteries.com.

Snefru did not stop there - he built yet another pyramid, the Red Pyramid, also at Dashur. Sadly there does not seem to be any controversy concerning the Red Pyramid. It is big, it covers almost the ground area of Cheops' (it is not as tall), and it is red.

:::Yawn:::

The Bent and Red Pyramids at Dashur
by David Roberts, 1838.


So why all the pyramids? Why all the effort and precision? There are several points to consider and at first glance they contradict each other. The lavish furnishings of King Tut's tomb (1200 years after Snefru) show that the Egyptians spared no expense regarding the provision of their dead Pharaohs. The stone box in the King's chamber of the Great Pyramid could easily be a sarcophagus. So it is plausible that the Pharaohs intended to be buried in their pyramids, located as they were on the West side of the Nile surrounded by other tombs.

Snefru built three pyramids. He could only be buried in one. Perhaps he intended to use the others as the spirit equivalent of vacation cabins. That is somewhat problematic, since all three are in the same area and later pharaohs built only one pyramid each.

Secondary tombs (cenotaphs) are known in ancient Egypt, most commonly at Abydos, the spiritual center of Osiris. At Abydos the builders of secondary tombs wanted to have a connection with the god of rebirth. I am unaware of other instances where two tombs for the same personage are located a mile from each other as are the Red and Bent pyramids.


Many people think that there is special energy found within the pyramid shape, at least when the proportions match those of the Great Pyramid. The work of Schwaller de Lubicz at the Temple of Luxor has shown that the Egyptians were very conscious of the spiritual effects of angles and proportion and used them to carefully define sacred space of numerous types. The vast number of mathematical correlations found in the Great Pyramid compel that similar studies be done on the other pyramids.


The precision shown in pyramid construction had a spiritual purpose. They were tombs, tombs of the Pharaoh-god. They also were temples of the Pharaoh-god carefully designed to enhance the flow of spiritual energy and as such were intended to bring benefit to the people and the land of the Nile.


Ascending Passage Directory is an exploration of alternative views of ancient Egypt, and the companion website of this blog. Topics mentioned here are explained in more detail in AscendingPassage AscendingPassage.com.


PYMD.com is about the pyramids of the Third and Fourth Dynasties, when the greatest pyramids were built, and on the immense mystery of their construction - the largest, most accurate stone buildings built by man at the supposed beginnings of human civilization: Pyramid Secrets and Stories.


While Egypt has the best preserved sites and the most amazing art and architecture, there are signs of lost advanced civilization all over the world. Explore AncientMystery.info.


ShaktiNode Directory is an effort to bring together hints and glimpses of the energy of the Universe, called in the Hindi language Shakti:Shaktinode.com.


Interesting Ethnic jewelry at wholesale prices can be found at: JewelryTibet.com. Tibetan and Nepalese jewelry is also for sale to wholesale and retail customers at: AccentNepal.com - which is a part of Ebay hosted stores and has set prices, not auctions.

A Falcon in the Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is the home of the world's largest collection of antiquities from Ancient Egypt. It is a vast, dark building overflowing with art and artifacts guaranteed to completely overwhelm the first time visitor. I explored this treasure house in 1981, visiting it on six occasions. I would gladly have come back six more times.

The ground floor of the museum is laid out as a timeline of Egyptian civilization from the predynastic era over 5000 years ago to the Greek occupation by Alexander the Great. Here the contrast between the simple pre-dynastic artifacts of stone and clay and the exquisite artworks of the early dynasties could not be more striking.

In a room devoted to the Old Kingdom is a statue of Pharaoh Chephren (Khafre), builder of the second largest pyramid. This large statue, carved of diorite, a hard, difficult to work stone, shows the Pharaoh in a sitting posture. Standing on the back of his throne is the falcon god Horus, his outstretched wings in a protective position around the Pharaoh's head. The falcon's head looks out above that of the Pharaoh. Horus is guiding the Pharaoh and the effect is so awesome that this statue is considered one of the world's greatest works of art.

I was unaware of its reputation but this statue caught and held my attention each time I passed it, rising above all the wonders on display. The face is so well carved you would not be surprised to hear it speak, and the falcon-god gives this statue a intensely powerful spiritual aspect unlike anything I had ever seen.

There are guards in each room of the museum, sometimes explaining the exhibits or showing something extra in the hopes of a little bakshesh (tip). They start clapping at closing time to move the patrons toward the entrance, a system I took advantage of by positioning myself at the back of the museum as closing approached so I could be one of the last to leave.

The guards are professional but informal so, on my last visit to the museum I reached out and placed my hand on the back, uncarved, portion of Chephren's statue. No one disturbed me as I held the contact for perhaps a half minute. Nothing dramatic happened - no great shockwave of energy, no reincarnational insight, just the satisfaction of sharing space with something I admired greatly.

Sadly I do not have a picture I can post here of Chephren's (Khafre's) statue, however a good one is located at: www.egyptmyway.com. Scroll down about 2/3 of the page to see it.

One remarkable and meaningful facet of the diorite Chephren statue is that the figure of Horus cannot be seen when viewing the statue from the front. Thus the Egyptian populace does not see the guiding hand of the god as the Pharaoh rules the country. A good frontal view of the statue is here.

Ancient Egypt has a wealth of beauty and mystery. The Ascending Passage website explores some of the lesser known approaches to this important culture: AscendingPassage.com

The pyramids, viewed from the Nile.
Chephren's is second from the right.
Etching from a sketch by David Roberts, 1838.


PYMD.com is the story of the pyramids of Egypt, The Chephren page includes an account of the discovery of the internal passages and chambers of his, the second greatest pyramid: Egyptian Pyramids - Secrets and Mystery.


An ancient mystery - the lost history of the Human Race beyond the meager 6,000 years from which we have written texts - is the focus of: AncientMystery.info


A directory of anomalous hints of realities beyond the academic canon, Whycat.com features a wide range of spiritual, paranormal and hippie topics with links to selected websites.whycat.com