Page 158 - اثار مصر الفرعونية2

‫يردا علرى مرا كرام يتمترل سري السنرااوم مرم حريرة ري حردود مرا كانر تفرضري العقابرد‬
.‫والتقاليد‬

The Pyramid of Menkaure

Menkaure apparently intended for his
pyramid on the Giza Plateau to be the last of that specific area of
the Memphite necropolises which it is, as well as being the
smallest. The valley temple lies at the mouth of the main wadi,
closing what had been the principal conduit for construction
materials brought to Giza for three generations. Named
"Menkaure is Divine", the pyramid was thought by some Greeks,
according to Herodotus, to belong to the Greek hertaera
Rhodopis. Manetho thought that it belonged to Pasmtik's
beautiful daughter, Nitokris.

Diodorus Siculus first described the inscription that bears the
name of Mykerinos on this pyramid, but it was not until Vyse in
1837 that anyone actually entered Menkaure's pyramid. He began
by investigating its substructure by following a tunnel dug earlier
by Caviglia out of a breach in the north wall. The original
entrance was not discovered until later. Surprisingly, Lepsius
paid almost no attention to this pyramid, and even Petrie worked
on it for only a short period in the 1880s. Luckily, George
Resiner who was one of the most advanced archaeologists of his
time, won the concession for Menkaure's pyramid when
archaeologists drew lots for excavating Giza on the balcony of

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