I’d wanted to visit the so-called "Layer Pyramid" for a long time. It was one of the only Old Kingdom Pyramids I’d not visited and photographed. Most references to it will say that it's at Zawiyet el-Aryan and will add that it's near a military area.

Unfortunately the name Zawiyet el-Aryan had long since gone out of use in Egypt and my attempts to locate it elicited only blank confused stares. One year I had a map with me and a Bedouin at one of the riding stables at Mena Village reckoned he knew the way. We set off on horse back and after three hours in the desert it was obvious he'd no idea where it was.



I was confident though that I could see it on the horizon on the other side of what was evidently the Army Camp. I gave up as it was still too far away and inaccessible from that side. You can just make it out on the photograph, nearly in the centre before the horizon changes to "the blue distance".



The next year I travelled with a print out from Google Earth and the co-ordinates programmed into a hand held GPS unit. I was sure I could reach it on foot from the habitation that forms the Western side of Cairo as many small villages now blend together from Giza to Abu Sir and onto Saqqara and Dahshur.

My regular taxi driver "Sayed" agreed to try. My GPS unit delivered me with remarkable accuracy to the end of a small sand track that ran between rough brick built houses. It ended at the desert and easily visible at the top of a rising bank of sand was the bulk of the pyramid. No one, not even the locals, seemed very aware of it even though once I found the correct approach it was only a short walk into the desert.

Only part of the base is uncovered with the North East and South East corners reasonably clear (the pyramid is not aligned exactly on the cardinal directions as it's about 8° off). The entrance was on the North but most of the centre of the pyramid has been robbed away so the centre is now a pit. The wall of the Army Camp cuts close to the Western edge. I wandered around and took some photos and then climbed to the top of the mound and took some more of the views to Giza, Saqqara and Abu Sir. The watch towers of the Army Base were clearly evident in the foreground.

When I finished I began to walk back to the village but was soon stopped by five soldiers who had emerged from the Army Camp. They stopped me and said that photography in the area was forbidden and demanded that I hand over my film. I explained that my camera was digital and the soldier who spoke the best English said I would have to go with them to see the Captain. I didn't like the idea of being taken inside the camp so I offered to show the soldier the photographs I'd taken on the camera preview and delete any he didn't like.

So we went through the photographs and I had to delete most of them. Eventually he seemed happy and said that I didn't need to see his Captain.

I walked back to Sayed and the car. He'd also been challenged and had told them I was a French Inspector from UNESCO! I don't think that was at all wise as it wouldn’t have looked very good if they'd pursued matters and found our stories didn't match.

Here are the photographs that I was allowed to keep.

The first shows the pyramid as I approached from the East. This is the only photo with any evidence of the Army Camp as you can see a small section of wall on the right hand side.



General views of the pyramid.







A close up of part of the Eastern face showing that the blocks were laid sloping down towards the centre rather than horizontally.



The Northern side where the entrance was originally. It's now been largely excavated away leaving the centre open as a pit.



The pyramid was probably never finished and is thought to date to the 3rd Dynasty and is usually attributed to a mysterious Pharaoh called Khaba. His name was found inscribed on stone bowls in a nearby mastaba. It was probably planned as a Step Pyramid closely resembling that of Sekhemkhet. As far as I could see the mastabas described by Dows Dunham in 1978 are now within the Army Camp.

An interesting trip but getting stopped by armed soldiers wasn't pleasant.

Jon Bodsworth