Researchers have excavated a new 4,600 year-old pyramid in southern Egypt.
The step pyramid is believed to have once towered 43 feet in the air and is believed to belong to the "provincial" pyramids built by either the pharaoh Huni or Snefru, Discovery News reported. Nobody knows why the pyramids were built.
Pillaging and weathering wore down the structure; today it stands only 16 feet tall and is 60 by 61 feet wide (almost identical to the other provincial pyramids).
"The similarities from one pyramid to the other are really amazing, and there is definitely a common plan," Gregory Marouard, a research associate at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute told Discovery News.
The team found an area for food items as well as "hieroglyphic graffiti" at the site. The inscriptions are mostly found near the remains of children and babies, but researchers believed they were buried long before the pyramid was built.
Before the start of the excavation the pyramid was covered in blanket of sand and "modern waste." People in the nearby town thought the structure may be the tomb of a local Muslim saint. The structure has an interesting layout.
"A core of blocks rises up vertically, with two layers of blocks beside it, on top of each other. This made the pyramid look like it had three steps," Discovery News reported.
The structure is similar to another pyramid built by the pharaoh Djoser.
"The construction itself reflects a certain care and a real expertise in the mastery of stone construction, especially for the adjustment of the most important blocks," Marouard said.
The ancient pyramid could be in danger. A modern cemetery and village has been imposing on the structure's space. Conservationists put a fence around the object in an effort to prevent looting and other unauthorized activities that could harm the object.
