The pyramid of Khentkaus I or step tomb of Khentkaus I is a Fourth Dynasty two-stepped tomb built for the Queen Mother Khentkaus I in Giza. The tomb, built in two phases coinciding with its two steps, was originally known as the fourth pyramid of Giza. In the first phase, a nearly square block of bedrock, around which the stone had been quarried for the Giza pyramids, was utilised to construct her tomb and encased with fine white Tura limestone. In the second phase, most likely in the Fifth Dynasty, her tomb was enlarged with a large limestone structure built on top of the bedrock block. The Egyptologist Miroslav Verner suggests that this may have been intended to convert her tomb into a pyramid, but was abandoned as a result of stability concerns. South-west of the tomb was a long boat pit, which housed the Night boat of Re. A companion day boat has not been found. A chapel was built into the tomb superstructure, with a large granite entrance bearing the queen's name and titles. One of her titles was of particular interest because it had not been known of prior to its discovery at her tomb.
The chapel connected to a three-niched statuary room to its west, and a long hall to its north. The hall to the north housed two pink granite false doors, below one of which was a sloped passage into the tomb substructure comprising an antechamber and a bisected burial chamber. In the east half of the burial chamber were entrances to six storage magazines, and two more pink granite false doors in its west wall. The west half of the chamber was once occupied by a large alabaster sarcophagus, fragments of which constituted the only significant finds by Selim Hassan. Carved into the north wall was a shelf which once stored the canopic jars of the burial. A small square niche had been cut into the south wall.
A settlement was built around Khentkaus' tomb, and probably occupied by priests of her mortuary cult until the end of the Sixth Dynasty. The settlement was bounded to the north and south by long perimeter walls running east then south. Along a causeway leading from the chapel through the town, ten carefully planned homes were built, suggesting that the town was designed and not the result of natural urban development. The town was further outfitted with granaries and a large water tank. To the south-west were Menkaure's valley temple, and an annex described by Hassan as Khentkaus' valley temple.
Location and excavation
The tomb, located on the Giza Plateau, was originally believed by some Egyptologists to be a "fourth pyramid of Giza". It was identified as a pyramid by John Shae Perring and Colonel Howard Vyse who visited the site in 1837–1838. The site was visited the following year by Karl Richard Lepsius, on sponsorship from King Frederick William IV of Prussia. He believed the tomb was a private one, and designated it 100 on his map. In 1912, Uvo Hölscher identified the structure as "the unfinished pyramid of Shepseskaf". George Andrew Reisner identified it as a king's pyramid, believing it to be an incomplete construction of Shepseskaf, in Mycerinus, the temples of the third pyramid at Giza (1931). In 1932, Selim Hassan was able to demonstrate that the tomb belonged to Khentkaus I. The name and titles of the queen were found inscribed on blocks of red granite from the doorjambs of the chapel. Hers was the last royal monument built on the plateau.
Mortuary complex Superstructure
The tomb has a two-stepped superstructure, which can not properly be classified either as a mastaba or as a pyramid. Selim Hassan compared it to Djoser's step pyramid, which had a square base in its early development, to favour a pyramid designation.
The lower step is nearly square in shape and has dimensions with a height of . This step had a north-south orientation, and was cut into bedrock – reserved for the tomb whilst the stone around it was quarried for the Giza Pyramids – and encased in fine white Tura limestone with a given slope of about 74°. The casing was well preserved on the west and north faces, but near totally destroyed on the south face. At this time, it had the appearance of a truncated pyramid, and was adorned on all four sides with niches resembling false doors, in the motif of the palace façade.
Most likely in the first half of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, Khentkaus' tomb was significantly altered and a second step, constructed entirely of limestone, built over the west half of the superstructure. The structure was composed of seven courses of locally quarried limestone, with blocks larger than those used in the construction of Khufu's pyramid, but becoming gradually smaller towards the top. The displacement was intentional, as the structure's weight might have collapsed the tomb altogether had it been centred. The step is mastaba-like having dimensions of with a height of , and was slightly vaulted, in a fashion similar to Shepseskaf's mastaba. Overall, the structure was tall, and was fully encased in white Tura limestone. The Egyptologist Miroslav Verner believes this expansion was intended to convert the tomb into a full pyramid, possibly up to three steps high, but that concern over the tomb's stability prevented its construction.
The tomb was enclosed on three sides – north, west, and south – by a thick, whitewashed mudbrick perimeter wall. The south wall starts with a bend at the edge of the solar boat pit, runs for along the entire east wall, and then along the north wall for terminating at the southern jamb of the courtyard entrance. The east side had a high wall cut into the rock, which formed a chamber with the pyramid where the queen was embalmed.
The expansion project appears to coincide with an elevation in the status of Khentkaus I. She had a title that had not previously been found anywhere else in ancient Egypt, which has been interpreted as either "Mother of two kings of Upper and Lower Egypt" or "King of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt". An inscription bearing that title was uncovered at the pyramid of Khentkaus I along with an image that depicts Khentkaus I wearing the Vulture crown, ritual beard, and wielding a scepter, indicators of possible kingship. However, her name does not appear in cartouche, nor in any king list, indicating against a reign. It appears that her monument was constructed by her sons, speculatively proposed to be Shepseskaf and Userkaf.
-M23*L2:X1*X1-M23*L2:X1*X1-G14-R8-G39:X1-I10:D46:X1-Aa1*X1:V30-F35-D21:X1-D4:X1:N35-S29-W17:X1-D28*D28:D28-S29-nswt-bỉty mwt nswt-bỉty sꜣ.t-nṯr ḏd.t ḫt nb.t nfr.t ỉr.t n.s. Ḫnt-kꜣw.s'The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, every good thing which she orders is done for her, Khent-kawes' —as translated by Selim Hassan
Causeway A covered causeway, composed of three parallel walls, led from the valley to a chapel, situated on the south-east side of the tomb. Originally, the north causeway wall and the south perimeter wall left a passage wide. This was later split into two with the construction of a southern causeway wall which left a causeway passage around wide and a southern street passage around wide. The southern perimeter wall was dismantled, either naturally or from human interference, and later rebuilt. The original construction was made of large mudbrick brick of dark silt, the rebuild was made of small mudbricks of sandy silt, cased with limestone chips.
Chapel The chapel has a paved courtyard in front of it, and is entered through a large pink granite gate – its southern jamb measured wide by tall – which bear Khentkaus I's name and titles. Although both jambs were severely damaged by stone thieves, their inscription and the image of the queen have been preserved. The entrance, recessed deep into the superstructure bedrock, led into the chapel, by , paved and lined with fine white Tura limestone. To the west was a three-niched statuary room, lined with fine white limestone and decorated with bas-relief scenes and inscriptions. To the north was a second chamber, by , entered through a black granite doorway. It housed two pink granite false doors in its west wall, below one was a shaft which led into the substructure.
Substructure The substructure of the tomb bears semblance to both a private and a royal tomb. It was accessed though a long, wide, granite paved and lined, down-sloped passage terminating at an antechamber. The burial chamber was split into two halves. The eastern chamber was long, wide, and high. In its east and south walls were six storage rooms, with entrance passages generally by , and cells between and deep, wide, and high. On the west wall of the chamber are two more false doors, tall and wide, that had been cut into the wall, and probably cased in high quality stone. The western chamber, by , contained the sarcophagus of the queen, along with a square niche to the south and a rock-carved shelf, which probably stored canopic jars, to the north. Most of the western chamber was occupied by a by depression cut into the ground. The only significant remains of the burial that Selim Hassan discovered were fragments of an alabaster sarcophagus, along with a brown limestone scarab from the Twelfth Dynasty.
Solar barque Situated at the south-west corner of the tomb, is an east-west oriented, long and deep boat pit. The walls of this pit were built of mortared rubble. It contained a vessel with an upraised prow and stern. Based on findings of white limestone and black granite blocks, Hassan concluded that the ship was roofed, and therefore the night boat of Re for passage through the Duat. A corresponding day barque was not found, but may be located on the west side of the tomb.
Pyramid town An L-shaped settlement of mudbrick houses was built in a linear fashion east and south of the tomb, and enclosed by a perimeter wall. The south perimeter wall runs east for from the courtyard doorjamb, turns south for , before bending back to the east after which the wall is lost under a cemetery. The north wall starts from the other courtyard doorjamb, runs east for , turns south for , continues east for a further , before a final turn south where it too is lost under the cemetery. The two walls form the boundary of the pyramid town of Khentkaus' complex.
The pyramid town was carefully planned by architects for Khentkaus I's complex, rather than resulting from natural urban development, and was built entirely from mudbrick. Ten houses were lined eastwards against the causeway, and split into two groups. The first six homes each had two entrances – north leading to a street, and south leading to the causeway – a porter's lobby, a reception, a living room, two bedrooms, an open court, a kitchen, a water reservoir and a domestic office. Minor deviations existed between homes, such as a granary occupying the kitchen of one house and the reception area of another, but they otherwise conformed to this standard plan. The remaining four have a similar plan, but omit the porter's lobby and reception room, and the last of these homes is separated from the preceding three by an intersecting, north-south oriented street. In Hassan's opinion, the priests of the queen's mortuary cult occupied the lodgings, tending to the cult until the end of the Sixth Dynasty. Lehner et al. (2011) suggest that, although concrete evidence is lacking, the occupants of the southern homes of the town may have served either or both Khentkaus' and Menkaure's mortuary cults. Despite this, the layout and orientation of Menkaure's and Khentkaus' structures suggest a separation between their monuments and estates.