Sneferu’s Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum
The Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum is one of the first known attempts at moving from mastaba to a smooth-sided pyramid. It was constructed for Pharaoh Sneferu around the 4th century BCE, during the transition from the Early Dynastic Period to the Old Kingdom. The pyramid was a stepped pyramid at its core. Sneferu ordered the sides smoothed by filling in the ‘steps.’ It did not work. Today, the stepped pyramid is visible, with debris around its base. Nobody really knows why it collapsed. It might have collapsed suddenly from the infill weight. Debris perhaps slowly collapsed over thousands of years. Perhaps thieves stole its stone and materials. Archaeological evidence doesn’t show anything left behind, as would be expected during a catastrophic event. Archaeologists believe Sneferu abandoned the pyramid to start a different tomb at Dashur, about 25 miles (40 km) north of the Meidum site.