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What makes Snofru's final resting place different from all the other pyramids is its change of angle towards the top: it rises more steeply (54.3°) than the Red Pyramid or Giza pyramids for three-quarters of its height, before abruptly tapering at a gentler slope - hence its sobriquet, the Bent Pyramid . The explanation for its shape, and why Snofru should have built two pyramids only a kilometre apart, is a longstanding conundrum of Egyptology. Mindful of the truism that a pharaoh required but one sanctuary for his ka, many reasoned that the Bent Pyramid resulted from a change of plan prompted by fears for its stability, and when these persisted, a second, safer pyramid was built to guarantee Snofru's afterlife. But for this theory to hold water, it's necessary to dismiss Snofru's claim to have built a third pyramid at Maidum as mere usurpation of an earlier structure; and the possibility that its sudden collapse might have caused the modification of the Bent Pyramid must likewise be rejected on the grounds that he needed only one secure monument. In 1977, a professor of physics at Oxford University reopened the whole debate. Arguing that Snofru did, indeed, build the "Collapsed Pyramid" at Maidum, whose fall resulted in changes to Dahshur's Bent Pyramid, Kurt Mendelssohn overcame the "one pharaoh-one ka -one pyramid" objection by postulating a pyramid production line. As one pyramid neared completion, surplus resources were deployed to start another, despite the satisfaction of the reigning king's requirements. The reason for continuous production was that building a single pyramid required gigantic efforts over ten to thirty years; inevitably, some pharaohs lacked the time and resources. A stockpile of half-constructed, perhaps even finished, pyramids was an insurance policy on the afterlife. Egyptologists greeted Mendelssohn's theory with delight or derision, but unlike the Great Pyramids, or the lives of Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Akhenaten, the enigma of Snofru's pyramids has never excited much public interest. Nevertheless, of all the pyramids, the Bent Pyramid probably scores the most highly on the "ooohs" and "aaahs". The reason it seems so impressive lies in the fact that, although its corners have fallen away at the base, the pyramid's limestone casing is still largely intact, giving a clear impression of what it once looked like - smooth and white, it was visually stunning. All the Old Kingdom pyramids were originally clad in limestone, their surfaces smooth like this one, but they have almost all been stripped, the stone burned for lime. The Bent Pyramid escaped that fate because its narrower angle made it harder to remove the facing, though this has disappeared from much of the base. In fact, the removal of the lowest courses of limestone cladding enables you to see not only how closely the blocks were slotted together, but something else too. On the ground at the northwest corner of the pyramid, pits and grooves have been carved into the bedrock. These were used to dress the pyramid, and presumably were carved before the pyramid was begun, indicating that construction began with the marking out of a base on the cleared bedrock. The Bent Pyramid is unusual in one final respect: it has two entrances, one on its west side as well as the more conventional one in its north face. The reason for this is unknown. To its south is a subsidiary queen's pyramid, possibly belonging to Snofru's wife Hetepheres (though some say Snofru himself was buried here). If it did belong to her, she didn't stay there too long: after robbers had entered both of Snofru's pyramids at Dahshur, Hetepheres's sarcophagus was moved to Giza for safekeeping, and hidden down a shaft next to the Great Pyramid of her son Cheops
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