THE PYRAMID OF MENKAURE - GIZA EGYPT
good morning everyone the sun is shining the birds are chipping and we have a wonderful view of one of the most popular ancient sites in the world the three pyramids at the giza plateau the great pyramid built by khufu probably the most famous ancient structure in the world the second pyramid built by his son kafree and the smallest one built by khufu's grandson mancoyro we're going to explore that little beauty over there [Music] let's go [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] the pyramid of mankoya was constructed circa 2510 bc by the fifth king of the fourth dynasty of egypt mancoyra or greek missourinus or macarinus was the son and the successor of kafree and the grandson of khufu according to the turin king list he arrived for 18 or 22 years when koira was a just king close to his subjects and is remembered for his kindness and religiosity he had two wives the queen cameron nether ii was his own sister and the queen raquetre was his half-sister he had five children with them three sons and two daughters his second son shepz's cath became a successor to the throne as mancoya's eldest son died at an early age [Applause] [Music] the pyramid of manchoira which also bears an egyptian name when coira is divine measures 104 meters at the base and is today 61.5 meters high originally the pyramid was 65 meters high but centuries of sinking into the sand and erosion caused the decrease in its height walking through the scattered granite stones we cannot forget that what we see today are actually remnants of the glorious structures the white polish casing stones from the upper part of the pyramid which are long gone as well as granite blocks were reused by the local querymen in the later periods a long vertical gash on the northern side of the pyramid was created in eight months in 1196 a.d by the saladin's son the sultan of egypt as he wanted to demolish all pyramids in giza starting with the pyramid of encoira fortunately for us the destruction was too expensive the pyramid of manchoir is made of huge limestone blocks quarried from the giza plateau in contrast to khufu and caffrey pyramids which were covered entirely with a white polish limestone the 16 lower courses of the pyramid of manchora were made of red granite from aswan probably to ensure strength of the siding [Music] the granite blocks are in various states of smoothing it is clearly visible around the entrance and in the middle of the east face of the pyramid some blocks are flattened and some are highly irregular with notches and bulges archaeologists claim that it's because the pyramid was finished in haste probably by mankoyra's son shepzaskaff [Music] [Music] in the beginning i call the pyramid little as it has only one tenth the amount of stone as the great pyramid and is less than half the height of the two larger pyramids yeah i know they look like inca walls in peru the entrance to the pyramid is located 4 meters above ground level it was discovered in 1837 not by an archaeologist but by an english army officer richard william howard vice [Music] [Music] this is the mortuary temple of mancoyra it was a place of worship of a deceased pharaoh and depository for the offerings just take a look at these huge megalithic slabs eroded by thousand years of desert winds the simplicity of style in combination with gigantic blocks makes the ancient egyptian architecture just [Music] perfect [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the sanctuary was built against the eastern wall of the pyramid the mortuary temple of mancoyra was made of limestone the foundations and the inner core and of granite part of the floor and some wall facings [Music] according to an american archaeologist george anderson some of the limestone blocks used in the temple construction weigh as much as 220 tons and are the heaviest known in giza the heaviest granite stones were more than 30 tons we have to bear in mind that the granite blocks were transported from as1 which lies 934 kilometers south from giza up the nile river [Music] the mortuary temple was not complete when the pharaoh died it was finished by his son shepzeskaf the core blocks were laid but rather than being encased in granite they were lined with mud brick which shows some traces of being plastered and painted even some blocks have a rough surface and the tool marks are clearly visible despite its unfinished state the structure of mankorus mortuary temple is fairly clear as was already traditional the entrance is located in the east it is followed by a large open court with pillars lining the walls [Music] [Music] along the offering hall towards the west of this temple there is a courtyard with a pillared portico the storerooms of this mortuary temple housed several statues of the pharaoh most of which are now in broken condition a large pan granite statue of acetamino has been found in pieces it was probably meant to be the centerpiece of this entire complex [Music] [Music] the three subsidiary pyramids of which the largest is flat-sided while the other two are stepped rise to the south of the main pyramid of mancoyra [Music] we can now catch a glimpse of these little cute puppies and the manchoris pyramid red granite casing on the west side which is simply astonishing the three pyramids are commonly known as the queen's pyramids but they are officially labeled g3a east subsidiary pyramid g3b middle subsidiary pyramid and g3c west subsidiary pyramid [Music] the westernmost of the three pyramids g3c is 21.2 meters high
the pyramid's base is 31.24 meters square the surface of the pyramid is stepped consisting of four platforms that decrease toward the top it was never completed with its casing it was probably built for one of the minor wives of mancoyra but it's only a guess the burial chamber was also not finished and no burial was found within this pyramid however there was clear evidence of a cult following in the small mortuary temple that stood in front of the east side of this pyramid the middle pyramid g3b is similar to g3c the pyramid's base is also 31.24 meters square and has four platforms decreasing towards the top inside the boiler chamber a pink granite sarcophagus with the bones of a young woman was discovered according to the american archaeologist george andrew reisner who conducted the excavation works in the first half of the 20th century it might have been shepset cow the daughter of caffrey and mancoya's half-sister the easternmost pyramid g3a was originally 28.4 meters high its base is 44 meters square this is the largest and the only true pyramid in manchorus queen's pyramid complex however we still don't know who was entered in the pyramid g3a even archaeologists have different theories for example reisner stated that it might have been the tomb of cameron nettie ii kafri's daughter according to the american archaeologist mark lena it must be a satellite or car pyramid [Music] today we perceive giza pyramid complex as a marvel and mystery of the ancient world however we cannot forget that it's actually a necropoli including plenty of cemeteries arranged along streets and avenues with mustabas burial shafts and rock cut tombs of kings families and nobility [Music] [Music] [Music] almost 5 000 years ago the giza plateau became the royal necropolis of memphis the capital of the pharaohs of the fourth dynasty in this particular period the sun was of the highest religious importance to ancient egyptians that's why their pyramids are located in relation to four cardinal points on a diagonal axis from northeast to southwest so that none of the pyramids ever blocks the sun of the [Music] others sadly we can't explore the inside of mancoya's pyramid it's closed for visitors as always when i visit giza however it's worth mentioning that vice found not one but two burials inside the pyramid the first one was discovered in the burial chamber it was a beautifully detailed basal sarcophagus year later in 1838 it was decided to transport the sarcophagus to england for further examination nowadays we would surely have pondered on this beauty in the british museum if the ship called beatrice hadn't sunk in the mediterranean sea and the sarcophagus was never recovered the second burial was an anthropoid wooden coffin found in the upper antechamber it was inscribed with the chorus name and contained a partial skeleton wrapped in a coarse cloth however the radiocarbon dating of the bone fragments determined them to be less than 2000 years old it was probably made for a later restoration of mankoya's burial [Music] [Music] so who would like to recover the sarcophagus from the mediterranean sea let me know in the comments thank you for watching please subscribe to my channel and see you on another ancient site [Music] you
2021-04-19 09:56
