Pyramid of Djedefre at Abu Rawash: History, Ruins and How to Visit

The Pyramid of Djedefre is the pyramid of Khufu's son and successor, King Djedefre, built around 2560 BC at Abu Rawash, about 8 kilometres north of the Giza pyramids. It is the northernmost pyramid in Egypt. It was planned at about 67 metres high, close to the size of Menkaure's pyramid at Giza, but after more than 3,000 years of stone robbing only the rock core and the lower courses survive, about 11 metres high.

Few travellers go there, which is part of its appeal: from the ridge you look south over the desert to the Giza pyramids with no crowds at all. This guide covers the king, the pyramid, why it is ruined, what archaeologists found, and how to fit a visit into a Giza day.

Djedefre was a son of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid, and came to the throne after his father's death. He is generally credited as the first king to include the title "Son of Ra" in the royal titulary, a sign of the growing importance of the sun god in royal religion. His name means "enduring like Ra".

The ancient king list known as the Turin Canon gives him 8 years; a cattle-count date found at Giza may point to 11. He married Hetepheres II, and his known children include the princes Setka, Baka and Hernet. His successor was his brother Khafre, builder of the second pyramid at Giza. For another royal tomb at Giza, read about the Pyramid of Khentkaus I.

In the 20th century some scholars imagined a family feud: Djedefre murdering an elder brother and Khafre's supporters destroying his monuments. Recent excavations have found no evidence for this. The damage to his statues and pyramid is better explained by later stone robbing, and Djedefre's cult was still maintained after his death.

Abu Rawash is a limestone ridge on the desert edge north-west of Cairo, between the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road and the Ring Road. The pyramid stands on the highest point of the ridge, which made it look taller than it was. On a clear day you can see Giza to the south and the Nile valley to the east, towards ancient Heliopolis, the city of the sun god Ra.

• From the Giza pyramids: about 8 km, a short drive.
• From downtown Cairo: about an hour or less, depending on traffic.
• From the Grand Egyptian Museum: about 10 km.

Nobody knows for sure. The reasons scholars put forward are practical as well as religious:

• Space: his father's huge complex filled the best part of the Giza plateau.
• The rock hill: a natural mound saved a large share of the stone work, which suited a king who might not reign long.
• Visibility: the ridge is higher than Giza.
• The sun cult: the site faces Heliopolis, centre of the cult of Ra.

Abu Rawash was also not new: there are tombs there from the First Dynasty, so it was already a sacred burial ground.

Size and shape

With a base of about 106 metres and a slope of 51 to 52 degrees, the finished pyramid would have been about 67 metres tall, a little higher than Menkaure's. Its volume is estimated at about 131,000 cubic metres, around one twentieth of Khufu's pyramid.

Materials

The builders used the natural rock hill as the core and built it up with local limestone blocks. The lower courses of the casing were red granite brought from Aswan, and the upper casing was fine limestone. Some older texts say the core was mudbrick; that is wrong for this pyramid, though mudbrick was used for parts of the surrounding complex.

The open pit and the burial chambers

Unlike the Giza pyramids, whose chambers are built inside the masonry, Djedefre's builders first cut a huge open pit, about 21 by 9 metres and 20 metres deep, into the hill, with a ramp sloping down to it from the north. The chambers were built inside the pit and then covered with the pyramid. Today the pit is open to the sky, so you can look straight down into the heart of the pyramid, something you cannot do anywhere at Giza.

The pyramid complex

• A mortuary temple against the east face.
• A small satellite pyramid south-west of the main one.
• A boat pit cut into the rock beside the temple.
• A rectangular enclosure wall running north-south.
• A long causeway running down towards the valley.

For a long time scholars thought the pyramid had never been finished. The excavations of the French-Swiss mission led by Michel Valloggia from 1995 showed that construction was well advanced, more than half finished, and that most of the damage came later:

• Ancient stone robbing: it began by the end of the New Kingdom at the latest.
• Roman and early Christian periods: the heaviest quarrying, when the granite and fine limestone were especially valued.
• The 19th century: visitors recorded about 300 camel loads of stone being carried away every day.
• The 20th century: the area was used as a military camp, and the growth of Cairo brought new pressure.

Read more in our articles on the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Menkaure and our facts about the ancient pyramids.

The 1900-1901 excavations

The French archaeologist Émile Chassinat cleared the mortuary temple and the boat pit. In the pit he found fragments of more than 20 statues of the king and his family, smashed in antiquity. The most famous is a quartzite head of Djedefre wearing the royal nemes headdress, one of the finest royal portraits of the Old Kingdom, now in the Louvre in Paris. Another find is a small sphinx with a female head, sometimes linked to Djedefre's queen.

Modern excavations

From 1995 the mission of the University of Geneva and the French Institute in Cairo (IFAO), led by Michel Valloggia, re-examined the pyramid, the pit and the complex, and published its final report in 2011. Later work by Michel Baud of the Louvre continued around the complex. These excavations established the pyramid's real dimensions and showed how far work had progressed.

Abu Rawash is a working archaeological area, not a developed tourist site. There is no visitor centre, café or shade, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities does not publish a separate ticket price for it on its official site. Access depends on the guards and the antiquities inspectorate, and it can be closed during excavation work. In our experience it is best visited with a licensed guide and driver who arrange access on the day.

What you see

• The open burial pit, the most impressive part, with the descending ramp.
• Granite casing blocks still lying around the base.
• The outline of the mortuary temple and the boat pit.
• The view south to the Giza pyramids.

Allow about one hour on site.

Tips

• Time: go early in the morning or late in the afternoon; the ridge is fully exposed to the sun and wind.
• Shoes: closed shoes with grip; the ground is rough limestone and loose stone.
• Bring: water, a hat, your passport and cash for tips.
• Safety: stay away from the edge of the pit; there are few barriers.
• Combine: the easiest plan is Abu Rawash first thing, then the Giza plateau and the Grand Egyptian Museum.

• Early Dynastic tombs: cemeteries of the First Dynasty, about 3000 BC, show that the ridge was a burial ground five centuries before Djedefre.
• The Lepsius I pyramid: a large ruined structure on a rock core about 2 km north, recorded by the Prussian expedition of Karl Richard Lepsius in the 1840s. Its date and owner are debated; some scholars place it at the start of the Fourth Dynasty or earlier.
• Old Kingdom mastabas of officials near the pyramid.
• A Coptic monastery site: later Christians settled in the area and reused stone from the complex.

Clear days after wind or rain give the best views to Giza; on hazy days the pyramids on the horizon can disappear.

We recommend a guide. Abu Rawash has no signs, no ticket office in the usual sense and no information panels, so without an Egyptologist the ruins are hard to read, and the guards may not let individual visitors in. A guide also knows the safe paths around the open pit. If you go independently, hire a driver who knows the site, carry your passport and be prepared to be turned back if the area is closed.

For first-time visitors with one day in Cairo, no: spend it at Giza and the museum. For anyone who has already seen Giza, loves the pyramid age or wants a quiet, raw archaeological site, yes. The open pit shows how a pyramid was built from the inside out in a way no finished pyramid can. See also our guide on how far the pyramids are from Cairo to plan the day.

Our private day trip of Giza is the natural base: ask us about starting with Abu Rawash and we will check access for your date. The Giza pyramids and Sakkara tour adds the oldest pyramids to the south. More options are in our Cairo day tours.

Where is the Pyramid of Djedefre?

At Abu Rawash, about 8 km north of the Giza pyramids, on the desert edge north-west of Cairo. It is the northernmost pyramid in Egypt.

Why is the Pyramid of Djedefre in ruins?

Its stone was quarried for thousands of years, most heavily in Roman and early Christian times and still in the 19th century.

How tall was the Pyramid of Djedefre?

About 67 metres as planned, with a base of about 106 metres. It is about 11 metres high today.

Can you visit the Pyramid of Djedefre?

Yes, but it is an undeveloped archaeological site with no published ticket price. Go with a licensed guide who arranges access.