During a trip to Egypt in 2007 I visited one of my favourite sites which is Dahshur.



As I always do, I looked across the desert to the so-called "Black Pyramid".

It's a familiar view to anyone who's been to Dahshur. Even with a telephoto the Pyramid tends to remains a bit lost in the "Blue distance".



It's much later than the two stone built pyramids of Snefru but still an imposing structure. It was built by Amenemhat III in the Middle Kingdom. I’d always wanted to visit it but was told that the site was closed and that it wasn't possible.

However there didn't seem to be anyone around and I couldn't see why I shouldn't walk as it didn't look too far. So I set off across the desert. It was also an opportunity to have a look at the remains of the temple excavated by Fakhry that's on the line of the Bent Pyramid's causeway. In 2003 surveys had shown that the causeway actually continued for another 140m further from the temple and this material led Dieter Arnold to suggest in the book "Ancient Egyptian Architecture" (Published in an updated English edition in 2003) that: "A valley temple could have existed further to the East." So he renamed this temple the "Temple of the Statues". However by a few years later it became clear that the extended causeway in fact ended in a large harbour and the consensus seems to be that the one I visited is indeed the Valley Temple.





It's the place where in 1952 Fakhry found the statue of Snefru that's now in Cairo Museum.



I continued and was about half way to the Black Pyramid when I heard a shout and turning around I saw a guard on a camel approaching at speed. He told me that I couldn't continue and despite my pleas I had to turn back.

I returned to the Bent Pyramid and my taxi. But I knew that in Egypt most things are possible if you find the person in charge and "negotiate". So I found a senior looking individual and asked about getting to the Black Pyramid. He said it was too far to walk and anyway it was closed. I said I was perfectly happy to walk if he would let me. After a while and some inevitable baksheesh he agreed to let me go and told the guards not to stop me.

So I set off again and this time reached the Pyramid after about 20 minutes. The dark mud-bricks which give it its name are very evident and make an impressive site. There are examples all over the place and it's obvious that the pyramid is slowly eroding.









It would have been nice to identify the place where Jaques de Mordan found the famous statue of Hor-Awibra now in the Cairo Museum. But despite fairly clear outlines visible on satellite photos I could not make out anything on the ground (except sand).



The Ka statue of Hor-Awibra dates from the 13th Dynasty and was found in one of twelve shafts on the North side of the pyramid.

A few years later the pyramidion of the pyramid was discovered. Made of basalt it's finely carved with hieroglyphs and a winged sun disk flanked by uraeus serpents.



The entrance to the pyramid which was unusually on the Southeast Corner is also now hidden beneath the sand.

Although Amenemhat's pyramid seems to have been finished he wasn't buried there as he had another pyramid built at Hawara.



The walk back from the Black Pyramid was also interesting with the Bent Pyramid in front of me and Red over to my right. A perfect afternoon stroll.



Sadly following the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 the route I walked became a “no-go” area for even SCA Inspectors as armed gangs looted tombs in a major way using heavy excavation equipment to dig hundreds of pits. The village on the edge of the desert also encroached onto the site with illegal buildings.

The SCA (Supreme Council of Antiquities) later became the MSA (Ministry of State for Antiquities) I’ve lost track if it’s altered again.