Editing Red Pyramid (section)

==History==
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The Red Pyramid was the third pyramid of four built by [[Old Kingdom]] [[Pharaoh]] [[Sneferu]], and was built 2575–2563 BCE. The Red Pyramid is located approximately {{convert|1|km|spell=in}} to the north of the [[Bent Pyramid]]. It is built at the same shallow 43-degree angle as the upper section of the Bent Pyramid, which gives it a noticeably squat appearance compared to other Egyptian pyramids of comparable scale. Construction is believed to have begun during the thirtieth year of Sneferu's reign (c. 2590 BCE). Egyptologists disagree on the length of time it took to construct. Based on quarry marks found at various phases of construction, [[Rainer Stadelmann]] estimates the time of completion to be approximately 17 years<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fathom.com/feature/190171/index.html|title=Fathom |date=2012-04-01|access-date=2018-02-24|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401131510/http://www.fathom.com/feature/190171/index.html|archive-date=2012-04-01}}</ref> while Rolf Krauss, based on this same graffiti, suggests a period of construction of 10–11 years,<ref>{{cite journal|first=Rolf|last=Krauss|year=1996|title=The Length of Sneferu's Reign and How Long It Took to Build the 'Red Pyramid'|journal=[[Journal of Egyptian Archaeology]]|pages=43–50|volume=82|doi=10.1177/030751339608200110|jstor=3822113|s2cid= 160349659}}</ref> an estimate later supported by [[John Romer (Egyptologist)|John Romer]].<ref>Romer (2007) p.71</ref>

Archaeologists speculate its design may be an outcome of engineering crises experienced during the construction of [[Sneferu]]'s two earlier pyramids. The first of these being, the [[Meidum#Pyramid|Pyramid at Meidum]], collapsed in antiquity, while the second, the [[Bent Pyramid]], had the angle of its inclination dramatically altered from 54 to 43 degrees part-way through the construction due to complications that accrued during the three construction phases.

Some archaeologists now believe that the Meidum pyramid was the first attempt at building a smooth-sided pyramid, and that it may have collapsed when construction of the Bent Pyramid was already well under way – and that the pyramid may by then have already begun to show alarming signs of instability itself, as evident by the presence of large timber beams supporting its inner chambers. The outcome of this was the change in inclination of the Bent Pyramid, and the commencement of the later Red Pyramid at an inclination known to be less susceptible to instability and therefore less susceptible to catastrophic collapse.<ref>Kurt Mendelssohn (1974), ''The Riddle of the Pyramids'', Praeger</ref>