The Snefru Projects and the Topography of Funerary Landscapes during the Twelfth Egyptian Dynasty

Abstract

The topography of the pyramids of the twelfth dynasty is explored here in its full historical and chronological context, with the aim of highlighting connections between the architectural choices, religious ideas, and traditions inspiring the reigns of the Pharaohs of that period. There emerges a clear and close connection between the conceptual landscapes devised by the architects of these rulers, and the two “'double” building projects carried out more than six centuries before by Snefru at Dahshur and at Meidum-Seila. This connection encompasses geometry, perspective, and astronomical alignments in the progressive planning of the pyramidal complexes, and it is confirmed by an important text of the period, the tale entitled Prophecy of Neferti. In such a context, an attempt can be made to interpret several architectural and topographical choices that have remained so far unexplained. In particular, the funerary project of the last great king of the dynasty, Amenemhet III—who built two pyramids, one at Dahshur and the other at Hawara—appears to stem largely from symbolic, as opposed to practical, reasons.