Djedefre was the pharaoh who ruled Egypt in the XXVI century BC, and during his reign, almost five thousand years ago, he built the tallest and most incredible pyramid, even larger than those that were built on the banks of the Nile. An international team of archaeologists found that the ruins that can be seen today in Abu Rawash, a few kilometers from Cairo, correspond to the so-called lost pyramid, whose megalithic stones have revealed many of the legends that surrounded the kingdom of Cheops.
Djedefr was the son and immediate heir to the throne of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza. His mother remains a mystery to archaeologists and historians.
Lost Pyramid
The Lost Pyramid was the tallest of all the Giza complexes [Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure], and its stone was of much better quality. For many years, it was believed that these remains are just unfinished buildings. According to Zaha Hawass: We found that this was not the case, as his stones were used for numerous structures in Cairo, that is, the pyramid was actually dismantled for the construction of other buildings!
The remains of the Djedefre pyramid, today rise just over 10 meters above the ground. The pyramid is located at the top of a hill in Abu Rawash, a paramilitary and restricted area located around the arid desert. Archaeologists believe that although this ancient Pyramid was relatively close to the other three pyramids, they were never connected. Hawass believes that the son of Cheops chose this place at some distance from Giza because he wanted to be independent.
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Pyramid building
According to recent studies, archaeologists believe that the Djedefras pyramid was 7.62 meters higher than that of Cheops, which is 138 meters high, and each of the pyramid's faces at its base was 122 meters at an angle of inclination of 64 degrees. The pyramid was built from limestone and red granite brought from Aswan, 800 miles from the Nile. The stone blocks were precisely shaped using a saw made of copper and quartz. Each block used to build the majestic pyramid could weigh up to 25 tons, and archaeologists estimate that it took 370 people to move it. What remains of the once majestic pyramid is just a few rows of stones.