logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2013
34m 53s

05b: Sneferu's Beauties

DOMINIC PERRY
About this episode

Magical mystery cruise. King Sneferu was a legendary ruler. His three pyramids at Meidum and Dahshur mark the transition from Step Pyramids to True Pyramids. But his legacy is more than stone. The King left other records and hints of his personality. We go in search of the ruler who loved beauty...

Episode details:


Select Bibliography:

  • N. Alexanian and F. Arnold, ‘The Complex of the Bent Pyramid as a Landscape Design Project’, in M. Ullmann (ed.), 10. Ägyptologische Tempeltagung (2016), 1—16. Online.
  • N. Alexanian et al., ‘Untersuchungen am unteren Aufweg der Knickpyramide in Dahschur’, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 68 (2012), 1—30.
  • F. Arnold, ‘A Ceremonial Building of King Snofru at Dahshur’, in M. Bietak and S. Prell (eds.), Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Palaces (2018), 113—124. Online.
  • G. Dormion and J.-Y. Verd’hurt, La chambre de Meidoum : analyse architecturale. 1, Texte (2013).
  • F. Monnier, ‘New Light on the Architecture of the Bent Pyramid’, Nile Magazine 20 (2019), 44—50. Online.
  • F. Monnier, ‘A New Survey of the Upper Chambers of Snefru’s Pyramids at Dahshur’, Journal of Ancient Egyptian Architecture 4 (2020), 1—17. Online.
  • M-J. Nederhof, “The Westcar Papyrus,” translation online.
  • L. Parys, Le récit du Papyrus Westcar : texte, traduction, interprétation (2017).
  • C. Reader, ‘The Meidum Pyramid’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (2015), 203—224. Online.
  • D. Rosenow, ‘Dahschur, Ägypten. Die Arbeiten der Herbstkampagne 2019 und Frühjahrskampagne 2020’, Elektronische Publikationen Desdeutschen Archäologischen Instituts 2 (2020), 8—15. Online.
  • M. Verner, The Pyramids: The Archaeology and History of Egypt’s Iconic Monuments (2020).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up next
Today
218: Daily Life in Ramessid Egypt
Part 1? Starting around 1300 BCE, the (surviving) corpus of written documents from Egypt begins to increase dramatically. It's not clear why, but papyrus and ostraca are far more abundant for this era than anything before. Thanks to these records, we get many glimpses of daily li ... Show More
29m 45s
Oct 3
217: The Art of Kadesh (Livestream)
Our final part of the Kadesh story is Ramesses' art. Wall carvings, on major temples, present the pharaohs' summary of Kadesh and the conflict. They include many fun details, including enemy combatants, and comparing some scenes with artefacts allows us to imagine aspects of the ... Show More
1h 14m
Sep 26
Ancient Historical Fiction with Dr. Colleen Darnell
My guest today is Dr. Colleen Darnell, who will speak to us about New Kingdom literature (featuring rulers like Ramesses, Thutmose III, Seqenenra, and more). It’s a fun discussion, ranging from the calamitous death of Seqenenra Tao, to the triumphs of Thutmose III and Ramesses II ... Show More
1h 1m
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2019
Episode #97- Who Built the Pyramids? (Part I)
The Egyptian pyramids are easily the most mythologized pieces of architecture on the planet. They have inspired historical myths and misconceptions essentially as long as "history" has been a literary genre. The so-called "father of history" Herodotus was one of the first writers ... Show More
56m 1s
Nov 2021
Pyramids
Sakkara, Egypt, 2,630BC. A man stands atop a structure of dizzying height as the final block grinds into place. For Imhotep, it is the culmination of his life’s work: a mountain made by man. He checks the joint while his workers wait in silence. Then, he gives a barely perceptibl ... Show More
57m 28s
Sep 2021
Old Kingdom Egypt
When we think of Ancient Egypt, we think of the pyramids: vast, eternal monuments to the glory of long-dead pharaohs. But we shouldn’t take them for granted: They belong to a specific place and time, and the people who built them had their reasons for doing so. The world that pro ... Show More
45m 49s
Feb 2024
18. Egypt - Fall of the Pharaohs
Far in the distance, three colossal shapes tower over the desert horizon… In this episode, we travel to the Nile Valley, and tell the story of one of the most iconic cultures ever produced by humankind – the civilizations of ancient Egypt. I want to show how this series of relate ... Show More
3h 58m
Nov 2023
Ancient Egyptian pyramids: everything you wanted to know
For millennia, Egypt’s mighty pyramids have acted as emblems of the vibrant ancient civilisation that once straddled the Nile Valley. From mysteries surrounding their design and construction and the discovery of new passageways, to the enigma of the Great Sphinx, the pyramids con ... Show More
56m 48s
Mar 2021
Egypt and the Rise of the Pharaohs
Kings are practically synonymous with ancient Egypt, and it's not just because their monuments - like the pyramids - still tower above the desert and the Nile. Egyptian society was organized around the pharaohs in many different ways, but how did they come into being? What turned ... Show More
47m 30s
Feb 2024
The Great Pyramid of Giza
Built by Pharaoh Khufu some 4,500 years ago, the Great Pyramid was the first ancient wonder to be built and is the only one still standing. Towering above the Giza Plateau, this stone behemoth was to be Khufu's tomb, the place from which he would travel to the afterlife. For this ... Show More
28m 8s
Feb 2024
Gaza : un défi économique et humanitaire pour l’Egypte
L’Egypte s’enfonce dans la crise alors que les attaques des Houthis perturbent le trafic du canal de Suez. Le tourisme est aussi touché. Dans « La Story », le podcast d’actualité des « Echos », Pierrick Fay et Justine Babin reviennent sur la situation économique et humanitaire en ... Show More
21m 8s
May 2022
Merphie - Growing up on the ruins of Deir Yassin
Merphie grew up in a religious, Zionist home in Jerusalem. When she was a teenager, she discovered what the system doesn't want Israelis to know - that she and her family live on the ruins of Deir Yassin, a pre-1948 Palestinian village that had been massacred during the Nakba. Th ... Show More
59m 13s
Feb 2024
Persia Reborn: Rise of the Sasanians
The Sasanians are renowned as one of Rome's most feared enemies. Founded in third century Persia by an Iranian noble called Ardashir, their dynasty oversaw the growth of a mighty empire that brought down the Parthians and survived into the early Middle Ages. But how did one famil ... Show More
50m 37s