Seila Step Pyramid

Photo courtesy BYU Egypt Excavation Project. The Seila pyramid, seen from a distance.

Most egyptologists assume that the small pyramids were built by Huni. There are seven of these small pyramids, which may mark the boundaries of the land, or were built for ceremonial purposes...no one really knows. They aren't "complete" pyramids -- they don't have the whole pyramid complex around them, and most have no internal structures..

They wre built in the second half of the third dynasty, and are mostly on the west bank of the Nile, as befitting funerary momuments. They are not tombs, however, but some havesuggested that they are cenotaphs (false tombs) for queens, or religious shrines. Seila is the northernmost of these pyramids and may have been bult by Sneferu. It stands only 7 meters high and has a four-step core of local limestone.

The other pyramids include Zawiyet el-Meititin Pyramid near Minya, the SInki Pyramid sourth of Abydos, the Naqada Pyramid, the Kula Pyramid near Hierakonpolis, the Edfu pyramid, the Elephantine Pyarmid and a final one near Benha that has completely disapepared. Only scant remains of these pyramids exists and they are of little interest to most tourists.

Near Seila, on the canal road

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Golden Age:- Fourth Dynasty