Pistol Wrote:
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> I have read both articles, essentially Hawass puts
> forward the idea that G1-d was a changing room for
> the king during the sed festival, but uses
> Djoser's southern mastaba as parallel, skips over
> all that came before Khufu, like his father and
> validates it by stating Khufu's pyramid complex
> was experimental.
The concept of G1-d as a changing room for the sed festival is indeed odd. For the record, I agree that this appears to be unsupported speculation. However, to place the comment in context, Hawass does acknowledge there is debate about the function of the subsidiary pyramid and presents his preferred option as a belief:

Hawass, Zahi. "The Satellite Pyramid of Khufu." In Hawass, Zahi, ed. The Treasures of the Pyramids. Italy: White Star, 2003, p151:

"The standard pyramid complex of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties includes a satellite pyramid, usually located at the southeastern corner of the complex (like Khufu's). There is still a great deal of discussion among scholars about the function of these structures. Some believe that they were for the royal ka, one aspect of the king's soul, or to store his canopic equipment (the viscera, which were removed and packaged separately) or placenta. Others suggest that they were built to house the royal crowns, as provisional tombs to store the king's body while he was being embalmed, or as solar symbols for the storage of offerings. I believe that the satellite pyramids were used during the sed festival, perhaps as a changing room where the king removed his jubilee cloak and put on the kilt and bull's tail in which he would perform his ritual dance."

> G1-d is not symmetrical in
> shape or placement relative to all other pyramids
> at Giza, contradicting Hawass' own statement that
> Old Kingdom builders preferred symmetry.
>

Regarding placement, Hawass states:
"The standard pyramid complex of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties includes a satellite pyramid, usually located at the southeastern corner of the complex (like Khufu's)." (Hawass, 2003 p151)

Regarding symmetry, could you explain why you believe g1-d is asymmetrical? Hawass presents it as a pyramid with base length of approximately 21.75m (Hawass, 1996 p385 & figure 4 on p383).


Regarding location and alignment:
"It is located about 25.5 m southeast of the southeast corner of the Khufu Pyramid and about 7 m west of the subsidiary pyramids GI–b and GI–c. The satellite pyramid shares the same orientation to the cardinal directions and is found at nearly the same level as the Khufu Pyramid." (Hawass 1996, p381)


> Just like the so-called Trial-Passage found
> outside Khufu's pyramid there is no way to
> determine if G1-d... 1. belonged to an earlier
> pyramid (doubtful) 2. was an after thought of
> Khufu's builder 3. was a tomb 4. or as Hawass
> claims that it was a changing room. Again my
> personal thoughts are that G1-d was built as a
> non-royal tomb or a chapel for offerings long
> after Khufu's reign. The craftsmanship of the
> construct, the materials used indicate that G1-d
> was not built during the Old Kingdom.
>

When discussing materials, Hawass tells us the casing of G1-d is of fine, Tura quality limestone (Hawass,1996 p381). In discussing the substructure, the passage and chamber have the same t-shape normal for Satellite Pyramids subsequent to this one (Hawass, 1996 p386). Again, here, I am unclear why you are rejecting G1-d as from the OK?