Page 69 - اثار مصر الفرعونية2

regular courses of better quality stone to create a smooth surface.
Many Egyptologists call the Meidum structure the first 'true'
pyramid and it certainly appears to be the transition point
between the early step pyramids and the great monuments such
as those we see at Giza. It would appear that the Meidum
pyramid was built in three phases of construction. Phase I
consisted of the building of a seven stepped structure, which was
then enlarged and covered in phase II and filled in with its final
casing in stage III, probably during the later years of Snefru's
reign.

Today only three steps are visible, towering out of its
mound of rubble in a huge bizarre tower. There are many theories
as to how it lost its casing – an early collapse during
construction, an earthquake in antiquity – but the most likely
explanation is that the casing blocks were easy to quarry away
and Petrie recorded that the stone was still being quarried at the
time he investigated it in the late 19th century. Some limestone
casing blocks still are visible on the western side of the pyramid.
We may never know the answer to the questions of how the
casing was lost.

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