Great Pyramid Secret: Khufu’s Pyramid in Giza Was Not the First!
For all of the Great Pyramid’s fame, the Great Pyramid was not the first Pyramid. Sneferu, Khufu’s father, tried to build several. One of his earliest attempts was the Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum (c. 2600 BCE). Engineers tried to smooth the sides by filling in the ‘steps’ of a stepped pyramid with stone. It didn’t work. The fill sits in a rubble heap at the base of the pyramid. He tried again with the Bent Pyramid (c. 2600 BCE). The pyramid changes its angle about halfway up. The base of the pyramid has a slope of 55 degrees, but the upper part is 43 degrees, making the pyramid look mashed down from the top. Sneferu’s final pyramid, the Red Pyramid (2575-2551 BCE) was much closer to what he wanted. It was wider than the Collapsed or Bent pyramids, with a shallower pitch to the sides, but it was stable.