Pyramid Complex of Menkaure'
(Mycerinus)
The Pyramid of Menkaure' (Mycerinus) is the smallest of the three pyramids of Giza and shows the beginning of the decline in workmanship in the Egyptian pyramid building. The attention to detail is not as it is on the earlier pyramid. Menkaure' was the successor to Chephren. The pyramid was not complete when Menkaure' died. Shepseskaf, who was Menkaure's son, finished the pyramid. The granite encasement was never finished. The pyramid stands 66.5m high, which is much smaller than the other two pyramids at Giza. Another difference between Menkaure's and Chephren's and Khufu's pyramid is that Menkaure's burial chamber was the lower chamber. The walls were lined with granite and below the pyramid's foundation. The sarcophagus was found, but was lost at sea while it was being shipped to England. A wooden coffin was found, supposedly that of Menkaure's. It was actually put in the pyramid about 1800 years later. It is thought to have been an act of restoration. In 1968 an inscription was found near the entrance in the casing which referred to this action.
To the east of the pyramid is the Mortuary Temple. This temple is fairly well preserved, even though the walls were not encased with granite or marble. It was actually made of red mud bricks and then lined with a thin layer of limestone. A 660m mud-brick causeway connected the Valley Temple to the temple. The causeway is now beneath the sand.