Chapter18
A Tour of Dashur
On the eastern side of the pyramid
“Well, this one seems rather well preserved,” Barbara remarked as Will led her away from the hantours to where their dragoman stood.Meanwhile one of the drivers hurried over with two collapsible chairs and set them up on the hard ground while another spread out a large woven blanket.He held his hand out to indicate she should take a seat.“I’m not infirm, but I think I shall take him up on his offer,” she said to Will.
“As will I,” Will murmured, pulling out his pocket watch to discover it was already past two o’clock.Despite the breakfast they had been served on the ship, his stomach grumbled.
“If you are hungry, now would be a good time to eat your picnic luncheon,” Omar said.Another driver appeared with their basket of food and yet another brought more chairs and another blanket.“We are protected from the breeze on this side of the pyramid, one the local people refer to as the Bat Pyramid.”
“And that one?”Will asked, his gaze directed toward a dark pyramid that looked as if its sides were angled in halfway up the structure.
“Ah, I will talk about the Bent Pyramid in a moment,” Omar replied.
“It seems to be appropriately named,” Stella commented, before she turned her attention to the one that rose in front of them.At the apex, the sun was barely hidden by its triangular top.Rays of light splayed out as if from the pyramid itself.
Within a few minutes, their luncheon was spread out on the blanket in the small bit of shade provided by the pyramid, the ladies and older gentlemen seated in the wooden chairs while the younger men lounged about on the blankets.Bradley climbed onto Helen’s lap, his grin widening once she had him seated so he faced the dragoman.
“They call it the Bat Pyramid because...?”David prompted, his face screwed into a grimace.
“There are bats inside,” Omar acknowledged, his white teeth gleaming when David made a sound of dismay.
“This looks as large as those we saw at Giza,” Harry remarked, before he helped himself to a hunk of cheese and some flat bread.
“Almost,” Omar agreed.“Khufu and Khafre are larger, though, and were only made possible because this one was successful.”
“Successful?”Tom repeated.
“Thisis Egypt’s first successful attempt at building a true smooth-sided pyramid,” Omar stated proudly.
“Old Kingdom, is it not?”David guessed.
“Indeed.The Pharaoh Sneferu—he was the father of Khufu and Khafre—oversaw the construction of four pyramids during his reign.This was the third, built we believe starting in 2575 BC, and is estimated to have taken between ten and seventeen years to complete.”
“What were his first two pyramids?”David asked, helping himself to akofta, a sort of meatball flavored with seasonings.
“Ah.A complete failure and an almost failure.”
A series of gasps of surprise sounded at the guide’s words.“Failure?”Will repeated, helping himself to akoftafrom the small basket containing a number of foods that could be eaten without utensils.The cook on their ship had obviously understood they would be eating in the desert.
“There was once a Pyramid at Meidum, but it collapsed sometime in our antiquity,” Omar explained, pointing off in the distance to indicate where it might have been located.
“And the ‘almost failure’?”David prompted, his gaze directed at what was left of the Black Pyramid, thinking the dragoman was referring to it.
“You will see that one next,” he replied, pointing toward the south.Given where they were located on the eastern side of the Red Pyramid, they couldn’t see it.
“This one looks rather squat,” Randy remarked, holding his hands together so his middle fingers touched while his hands matched the angle of the sides of the pyramid.
“At a perfect forty-three degree angle,” Omar stated.“You see, Sneferu discovered with the Bent Pyramid...”He once again pointed to the south.“The original fifty-four degree angle was far too sharp—too steep—which was probably the angle used to build the Pyramid at Meidum,” he said, obviously pleased to have such an interested audience.“When it displayed signs of instability—it may have even partially collapsed while it was under construction—the angle was abruptly changed to forty-three degrees.”He waved an arm to indicate the pyramid behind him.“So forty-three degrees was chosen for this one, and as you can see, it has survived almost forty-three hundred years because of it.”
A murmur of appreciation passed through the group.
“Third time was the charm,” Randy commented.He glanced around, and when he didn’t see Diana, he excused himself from the group and went off in search of her.
“Has it always been this reddish color?”Stella asked.
Omar held up a finger.“This is a good question.”
