Pyramid of Mérenrê

The pyramid of Mérenrê 1st is a pyramid of the type with smooth faces located at Saqqarah in Egypt. The Pharaon Mérenrê {{Ier}} chose, to make build his burial, a site with little distance to the western south of the pyramid of his predecessor Pépi 1st. The pyramid was explored for the first time in 1880 then well later of 1971 with 1980. It has the characteristic to be a Pyramide with texts located within a funerary complex which was not, at the sights of the most recent excavations, undoubtedly not completed.

The exploration of the monument

The funerary complex yet was not explored and was studied in its entirety. The pyramid was open in 1880 at the request of Auguste Mariette. Exploration was carried out the following year by the brothers Emile and Heinrich Brugsch. This one brought to Auguste Mariette, before it died out, the confirmation of the existence of the Textes of the pyramids. The Brugsch brothers also discovered, lying close to the sarcophagus, the remainders of a mummy. Those was transported not without encumbers since that an accident broke it in two pieces. Stored with the Museum of Berlin, it disappeared during the Second world war. Gaston Maspero drew up plans of the funerary apartments. New excavations were undertaken by Jean-Philippe Lauer and Audran Labrousse of 1971 with 1980.

The pyramid

The superstructure

Although the English explorer John Shae Perring said to have observed blocks of stones of the facing, none remains today. The pyramid had in the beginning a base of 78,60 meters (150 bent) and a 52,40 meters height (100 bent) corresponding to dimensions of the majority of the pyramids to texts.

The infrastructure

The plan and the design of the funerary apartments follow very exactly those established under the reign of the Pharaon Ounas and are typical pyramids of. The access passage to the apartments sees its entry flanked with the foot of the northern face of the pyramid, under the threshold of the vault joined against this one. This descending shaft, a 14,40 meters length, still comprises a granite stopper in place behind which the lower part of the corridor was undoubtedly blocked over all her length by large blocks of limestone. These blocks having disappeared and the stopper from granite circumvented by a passage of robber, it is from now on easy to arrive to the hall preceding the room at the harrows. This room is perfect of design since, for the first time in this type of pyramid, it was entirely carried out out of granite. With an overall length of 7,50 meters, the room is covered with only one block of limestone of more than 46 tons. The harrows, blocking the passage hitherto, were raised in 1972.

This crossed passage, the visitor must skirt a corridor on more than ten meters. This corridor contains in its southern end a granite belt. This passage is covered by an enormous block of granite weighing more than 55 tons (largest for this type of couvrement). The finality of this system, discussed a long time, could be explained " grâce" with the very bad condition of certain pyramid. This passage was conceived out of granite in order to support the enormous loads poured by the vaults out of rafters of the anteroom threatening to crush this part of the access passage. The funerary apartments adopt a consistent traditional plan in a serdab, an anteroom and the funerary room, directed along the East-West axis. The anteroom whose plan has a rectangular base of 3,70 meters and 3,10 meters on sides comprise only one tiny error of 1 cm. It is covered by a painted vault out of rafters of a starry sky, the stars all directed towards the west. The study revealed that this vault was originally to be carved in light hollow, following the example that of the funerary room, but which it was finally painted undoubtedly because of completion in haste of the funerary complex, caused by the untimely death of the sovereign. The serdab, located at the east of the anteroom and traditional plan, is not less exceptional from its design in megaliths of an extraordinary size. Indeed, one of the blocks ensuring the cover is a nine meters length and weighs more than 100 tons. The funerary room is located at the west of the anteroom. It always contains a sarcophagus with its lid, both in Grauwacke. The tank with canopes, embedded in the ground of the room, is out of granite and its lid (most probably impromptu in a fall of lid of sarcophagus) in Grauwacke. The sarcophagus is of a great quality of execution and was engraved in light hollow on its four faces by a line of royal legends. This inscription was, according to the traces raised on the sarcophagus, glaze of a fine gold film.

The funerary room, following the example anteroom was decorated on its walls, of the Textes of the pyramids. The access passage also comprised texts but only on its horizontal part. The descending shaft and the serdab are anépigraphes contrary to the principle of its predecessor Pépi {{Ier}} who made decorate all the walls with his funerary apartments.

The vault

The vault, coupled against the northern face of the pyramid, delivered very many engraved fragments.

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