Layout , cult pyramid, and part of the causeway
Old Kingdom mortuary complexes typically consist of five main components: (1) a valley temple; (2) a causeway; (3) a mortuary temple; (4) a cult pyramid; and (5) the main pyramid. Nyuserre's monument has all of these elements. Its main pyramid is constructed from seven steps of limestone, with a cult pyramid located near its south-east corner and an unusual L-shaped mortuary temple adjacent to its eastern face. The valley temple and causeway were originally intended for Neferirkare's monument, but were co-opted by Nyuserre.
Main pyramid Though Nyuserre reigned for around thirty years, his pyramid is smaller than Neferirkare's and more comparable in size to Sahure's. Mindful of the cost to his family, he commissioned his pyramid to lie in the only available free space not in the desert. It is, therefore, positioned against the north wall of Neferirkare's mortuary temple and with the ground to the north falling steeply towards Sahure's monument. It was further hemmed in by a group of
mastabas to the east that had been built during Sahure's reign. This combination of factors may have constricted the size of Nyuserre's pyramid. The pyramid comprises seven ascending steps, anchored on cornerstones. This was encased with fine white
Tura limestone which most likely came from limestone quarries west of the village of Abusir, giving it a smooth-sided finish. On completion, it had a base length of sloping inwards at approximately 52° resulting in a summit height of around and a total volume of approximately . Nyuserre's pyramid, as with each of Abusir pyramids, was constructed in a drastically different manner to those of preceding dynasties. Its outer faces were framed using large – at Neferefre's unfinished pyramid the single step contained blocks up to by by large – roughly dressed grey limestone blocks well-joined with mortar. The inner chambers were similarly framed, but using significantly smaller blocks. The core of the pyramid, between the two frames, was then packed with a rubble fill of limestone chips, pottery shards, and sand, with clay mortaring. This method, while less time and resource consuming, was careless and unstable, and meant that only the outer casing was constructed using high quality limestone. The chambers and mortuary temples of the Abusir pyramids were ransacked during the unrest of the
First Intermediate Period, while the dismantling of the pyramids themselves took place during the New Kingdom. Once the limestone casing of the pyramid was removed – for reuse in lime production – the core was exposed to further human destruction and natural erosion which has left it as a ruinous, formless mound. Nyuserre's monument underwent significant stone looting during the New Kingdom, during the Late Period between the Twenty-Sixth and Twenty-Seventh Dynasties, and again during the Roman era. The pyramid is surrounded by open courtyards paved with limestone blocks thick, while the bricks layers can be up to thick. Unusually, the south wing of the courtyard is significantly narrower than the north wing. The enclosure wall of the pyramid courtyard was about high.
Substructure es; (4) Passageway; (5)
Antechamber; (6)
Burial chamber. Granite presented in red, limestone presented in orange.|alt=Annotated map of Nyuserre's substructure. Described in detail in upcoming section. The substructure of the pyramid mimic the basic design adopted by earlier Fifth Dynasty kings. It is accessed by a north–south downwards-sloping corridor whose entrance is located on the north face of the pyramid. The corridor was lined with fine white limestone, reinforced with pink granite at both ends and follows an irregular path. It is inclined up to the vestibule, where two or three large granite blocks acted as a
portcullis blocking the passage when lowered. Immediately behind, the corridor deflects to the east and is declined by about 5°. It then terminates at the
antechamber – connected to the
burial chamber – almost directly underneath the pyramid's summit. Damage to the interior structure caused by stone thieves makes accurate reconstruction of its architecture nigh on impossible. The burial- and ante- chambers and access corridor were dug out of the ground and then covered, rather than being constructed through a tunnel. The ceiling of the chambers were formed by three
gabled layers of limestone beams, which disperse the weight from the superstructure onto either side of the passageway preventing collapse. Each stone in this structure was about in size – averaging at long, thick, and wide – and weighed . Between each layer of blocks, limestone fragments had been used to create a filling which helped shift the weight of the structure on top of it, particularly in the event of earthquakes. This was considered to be the optimal method of roof construction at the time. Stone thieves have plundered the underground chambers of much of its high-quality limestone considerably weakening the structure and making it dangerous to enter. Borchardt was unable to find any fragments of interior decoration, the sarcophagus or other burial equipment in the debris-filled chambers of the substructure, much of which was rendered inaccessible by the rubble. The Abusir pyramids were entered for the last time at the end of the 1960s by
Vito Maragioglio and
Celeste Rinaldi, who refrained from speaking while working for fear that even the slightest vibration could cause a cave-in. File:Borchardt (Abb. 83 on p. 104).png|alt=Photograph of limestone blocks|Massive limestone blocks of the ceiling, compared to a worker File:Borchardt (Abb. 84 on p. 105).png|alt=Photograph of the substructure|Rubble filled interior of the pyramid substructure
Valley temple Nyuserre co-opted the valley temple and causeway that had been under construction for Neferirkare's monument. As at Sahure's valley temple, there were two column adorned entrances, though Nyuserre's columns contrast with Sahure's in that they represent
papyrus stalks instead of palm trees. The main entrance was on a
portico which had two
colonnades of four pink granite columns. The second entrance, found in the west, could be accessed via a staircase landing on a limestone paved portico adorned with four granite columns. The columns were shaped to resemble a six-stemmed papyrus and bore the names and titles of the king as well as images of
Wadjet and
Nekhbet. ; (4) causeway with (5) limestone figures of captive enemies.|alt=Annotated map of Nyuserre's valley temple. Described in detail in upcoming section. The temple was paved with
black basalt, and had walls made from Tura limestone with relief decorated red granite
dado. Its central chamber – containing three red granite encased
niches, one large and two small, in its west wall, that may have held statues of the king – held significant religious importance. Two side rooms had black basalt dado, and the southernmost room contained a staircase leading to a roof terrace. Few remnants of the wall reliefs, such as one depicting massacres of Egypt's enemies, have been preserved. A number of statues were placed in the temple, such as one of Queen
Reputnub and one of a pink granite lion. The chambers preceding the causeway were angled to meet it, and limestone figures of enemy captives appear to have stood at the exit of the temple at the base of the causeway. In 2009, the Czech Archaeological Mission revisited Nyuserre's valley temple and causeway to conduct trial digs at the two sites. south of the valley temple, a north–south-oriented wall was excavated. The wall had been made from white limestone and mortared together with pink mortar. The east face of the wall was found to be inclined at about 81°. Indications of stone robber activity were found at the south section of the unearthed wall. A combination of factors, including shape, workmanship and elevation, suggest that the excavated wall is a part of the valley temple harbour's
embankment. Based on Borchardt's expeditions in combination with their 2009 findings, the Egyptologist Jaromír Krejčí estimates that the harbour was at a minimum long, with a potential length of around , and a width of at least .
Causeway The causeway's foundation had been laid about two-thirds of the way from the valley temple to the mortuary temple when Neferirkare died. When Nyuserre took over the site, he had it diverted from its original destination to its new one. As a result, the long causeway travels in one direction for more than half its length then bends away to its destination for the remainder. Construction of the building was complicated because over its length it had to surmount a difference in elevation of and negotiate uneven terrain. This elevation difference gave the structure a slope of 4°30′, and required that its latter part be built with a high base. Sections of this base were reused in the
Twelfth Dynasty to build tombs for priests who had served Nyuserre's
funerary cult. Borchardt was able to examine the causeway at its termini and at a point just east of its bend, but due to the expected costs, he elected not to have it completely excavated. The 2009 Czech Archaeological Mission's trial dig was conducted at a point west of the valley temple, and from where Borchardt had conducted his excavations. The causeway was determined to be wide, with walls thick made of yellow core masonry encased by white limestone with mud mortaring. Borchardt had found that its inner walls were vertically parallel, while the outer walls were declined at an angle of 75.5°. The causeway had an embankment with a core made from horizontally layered yellow and grey limestone blocks that were joined primarily with grey mortar but also in parts pink mortar. The embankment core was encased with fine white limestone blocks inclined at 55° and joined together using lime mortar. Although the embankment was excavated to a depth of below the crown of the causeway, uncovering 12 layers of casing in total, Krejčí believes that the building's base is ~ deeper still. Based on the results of the excavation, Krejčí concludes that the building must have had a base at least wide. The key finding of the dig was that causeways "represented huge, voluminous constructions". Despite the efforts, the team failed to uncover any relief fragments. The causeway's interior walls were lined at the base with black basalt, above which they were lined with Tura limestone and decorated with reliefs. It had a ceiling that was painted blue with a myriad of golden stars evoking the night sky. One notable large figure relief from the causeway has been preserved. It depicts seven royal sphinxes pinning the king's enemies under their paws. File:Borchardt (Abb. 27 on p. 44).png|alt=Photograph of Nyuserre's causeway embankment|
Embankment of the causeway, after Ludwig Borchardt's excavations File:Borchardt (Abb. 28 on p. 45).png|alt=Photograph of a drain and basin|Water drainage basin found at the upper end of the causeway File:Borchardt (Abb. 29 on p. 46).png|alt=Photograph of a relief fragment|
Relief fragment, from the causeway, depicting an enemy's head pinned under a lion's paw
Mortuary temple prototypes; and (17a and b) main pyramid courtyard.|alt=Annotated map of Nyuserre's mortuary temple. Described in detail in upcoming section. The basic design of Nyuserre's mortuary temple differs from others built in the Fifth and
Sixth Dynasty. Verner describes the layout of a typical mortuary temple for the period as resembling the letter "T" and contrasts this with the L-shaped layout of Nyuserre's. This alteration was a result of the presence of mastabas built during Sahure's reign to the east. Despite this aesthetic difference, the temple retained all of the fundamental elements established by Sahure's mortuary temple and incorporated new features concurrently. The initial entry point to the temple is angled towards the south-east. This is followed by a long entrance hall which is flanked on both the north and the south by groups of five storage rooms that made up the bulk of the storage space in the temple. The entrance hall was originally vaulted, had black basalt paving, and limestone walls covered in reliefs with red granite dado on the side walls. Fragments of the wall reliefs from the temple are often exhibited in German museums. For example, an intricate wall relief from the temple relating a scene from the throne room has been displayed at the
Egyptian Museum of Berlin. In the
Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, the ruler
Taharqa had reliefs from various Old Kingdom mortuary temples, particularly those of Nyuserre, Sahure and
Pepi II, reproduced for use in the restoration of the temple of
Kawa in
Nubia. The hall terminates in a courtyard paved with black basalt and with a roofed
ambulatory that was supported by sixteen six-stemmed papyrus pink granite columns. The courtyard was designed to communicate the image of a marshy papyrus grove; a place which, for ancient Egyptians, signified renewal. To evoke this image the bases of the columns, for example, were decorated with wavy bas-reliefs which produced the illusion of papyrus growing in water. The middle portions of the columns were decorated with various inscriptions detailing material such as the king's name and titles and of the courtyard's protection by the gods Wadjet and Nekhbet. These columns supported the ambulatory of the courtyard. The ambulatory ceiling was decorated with stars representing the night sky of the
underworld. In the centre of the courtyard was a small sandstone basin for collecting rainwater, and a highly decorated alabaster altar was once located in the north-west corner of the courtyard. The west exit of the courtyard leads into the transverse (north-south) corridor. File:Borchardt (Abb. 7 on p. 17).png|alt=Photograph of an animal statue head|Head of the pink granite lion, guardian of the inner temple File:Borchardt (Blatt 4).png|alt=Painting of a temple (foreground) and pyramid (background)|Painting of the mortuary temple and pyramid, by W. Büring and Th. Schinkel, as it appeared in the 3rd millennium BC File:Abousir Niouserre 02.jpg|alt=A photograph of a paved courtyard.|The open
colonnaded courtyard of Nyuserre's mortuary temple File:Berlin 122009 016.jpg|alt=Relief depicting the king with Egyptian gods present|Relief from the mortuary temple, depicting
Anubis offering a bundle of
ankhs to a throne-seated Nyuserre, whilst
Hathor, holding her own
ankh, stands behind him From the transverse corridor the temple takes a northerly direction: a result of the L-shape. In the north-west corner of the transverse corridor separating the public, outer, and intimate, inner, parts of the temple is a deep niche occupied by a large pink granite statue of a lion which served to symbolically guard the pharaoh's privacy. Beyond the transverse corridor lies the chapel, which had been displaced southwards, another result of the temple shape. It is damaged to the point that an accurate reconstruction cannot be made, but it is known that the chapel contained five statue niches. Connected to the chapel was another group of storage rooms. North of the chapel is the
antichambre carrée so named by the architect
Jean-Philippe Lauer in reference to its square shape decorated with various reliefs, an elevated floor, and a central column. This chamber is one of two new features introduced into temple design, with this particular feature becoming a permanent element of the layout of future mortuary temples until the reign of
Senusret I. Antecedents to the
antichambre carrée have been traced to the mortuary temples of Sahure, Neferirkare, and Neferefre. It is entered through the north wall of the five niche chapel which, with the exception of the pyramid belonging to
Setibhor, is the only such chamber designed to be entered from this side. The floor and column base were made from limestone, and the floor was elevated by , but the central column has not been preserved. The room measured square, with this size becoming the standard for most
antichambre carrées of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties. In the north-west corner of the room, Borchardt found a fragment of a limestone statue that had been fixed to the floor using mortar. Borchardt also found several fragments of relief decorations nearby which may have originated in the room. These fragments depicted anthropomorphised deities with animal heads including
Sobek,
Horus, and three deities (one with a human head) which possessed
was-sceptres and
ankh symbols. in the courtyard bearing four columns of
hieroglyphic text. Read from left to right: (1) Beloved of
Nekhbet, given life, health (2) Give enduring life to Nyuserre, king of
Upper and Lower Egypt (3) Life, stability, and prosperity for the favourite of the Two Lands of Egypt (4) The favourite of the
Two Ladies, Nekhbet and
Wadjet, the Divine Golden Falcon, may he live forever|alt=A depiction of a column taken based on renderings of the column from Borchardt (1907), pp. 68; Blatt 5; and Verner (2001d) p. 317. The
antichambre carrée leads into the sacrificial, or offering, hall via a vestibule which was left out in later renditions. The offering hall was set along the east–west axis for religious reasons, and located in its traditional place in the centre of the east face of, and adjoining, the main pyramid. The offering hall an altar for performing ritual sacrifices and had a false granite door. As with the entrance hall, the walls of the offering hall were decorated with reliefs; these depicted scenes related to the ritual sacrifices performed there. Similarly to the ambulatory of the courtyard, the vaulted ceiling of the hall was decorated with bas-relief stars evoking the night sky of the underworld. Under the east wall was a canal connected to a drainage system east of the temple. North of the offering hall were a final group of storage rooms. Lastly, there is an alternate entrance point that sits near the intersection between the outer and inner sanctuaries that can be accessed from the outside. The mortuary temple displays two other significant innovations. One architectural modification can be found incorporated into the design of the temple and has had a marked influence on ancient Egyptian architecture. Tall tower-shaped buildings with slight slopes were erected on the north- and south-east corners of the temple. The tops of these towers formed a flat terrace, topped with a concave cornice, which could be accessed via staircase. Verner refers to these towers as the "prototype of
pylons" which became staple features of later ancient Egyptian temples and palaces. The second addition is more complex and, as yet, unexplained. In the north-east corner of the temple, adjoining the wall, Borchardt discovered a square platform with sides approximately in length. Excavations by a Czech team at the mastaba of
Ptahshepses', the vizier to the pharaoh and head of all royal works, discovered a large pink granite
pyramidion, taken from an obelisk, resting next to a similar square platform in the south-western corner. Verner proposes several hypotheses for the purpose of the square platform in Nyuserre's mortuary temple: (1) The square platform may once have been occupied by a similar pyramidion; evidence supporting this conjecture are a large granite obelisk found in the pyramid complex – obelisks were the architectonic midpoints of sun temples, but not found in mortuary temples, making this discovery unique – and stone blocks containing the inscription "Sahure's sacrifice field". (2) The blocks could either be remnants of the building material used for Sahure's sun temple, or, be taken from the sun temple itself. This led to conjecture (3) that the sun temple may be located near Nyuserre's complex and/or (4) that Nyuserre may have either dismantled or usurped the sun temple for himself.
Cult pyramid Borchardt erroneously ascribed the structure found in the south-east corner of the complex to Nyuserre's consort; it was, in fact, the cult pyramid. The pyramid has its own enclosure and bears the standard T-shaped substructure of passage and chambers. It had a base length of approximately and a peak approximately high. The pyramid's single chamber was built by digging a pit into the ground. The walls of the chamber were made from yellow limestone and joined with mortar. The entrance leading to the chamber was cut at an oblique angle, partly recessed into the masonry and partly sunk into the ground. Very little of the interior structure has been preserved, and near none of the chamber's white limestone casing retained, save for a single block found in the south-west corner of the chamber. The purpose of the cult pyramid remains unclear. It had a burial chamber but was not used for burials, and instead appears to have been a purely symbolic structure. It may have hosted the pharaoh's
ka (spirit), or a miniature statue of the king. It may have been used for ritual performances centering around the burial and resurrection of the
ka spirit during the
Sed festival. == Other significant structures ==