The pyramid builders had learnt a lot from their previous construction attempts at Meidum and Dashur. This time the king’s pyramid would be built at a gentler slope than that of the Bent Pyramid or the pyramid at Meidum; this would make it less likely to collapse. Having made their plans, Sneferu’s engineers began construction of the new pyramid in around the 30^th year of the king’s reign. By this time work had been abandoned on the Bent Pyramid, although Sneferu’s workmen would return there later to finish the job. Sneferu also had a small mortuary temple built on the east side of the pyramid, as well as a Valley temple, but this has not yet been excavated. His causeway, which normally links the mortuary and valley temples, appears never to have been built. These elements would become standard in pyramid complexes as time progressed.

The entrance to the Red Pyramid can be found twenty-eight meters up its northern wall; from here a narrow shaft descends for 62m through the body of the pyramid until ground level is reached. Here a horizontal shaft leads into a large chamber with a corbelled roof, just over twelve meters high. A further horizontal tunnel leads into a similar chamber, again with a corbelled roof. The major difference between these two chambers is that in the second chamber the tunnel leading to the next room is not at ground level, but eight meters above the floor. Today visitors can climb a wooden staircase to this short passage; crouching down and passing through they reach the king’s burial chamber. This room also has a corbelled roof, but the floor has been ripped apart by people in antiquity looking for treasure. Although some scholars believe that this was Sneferu’s final resting place, I believe that he was actually buried in the nearby Bent Pyramid, as it was here that his funerary cult continued after his death.

When I became the Head of Antiquities at Giza, I hoped that we could open the site of Dashur. We had to try very hard to make this wish come true because the site was closed for security reasons, however, after some time we were given permission to open the area to the public. After the area had been demilitarised, the first monument that I decided to open was the Red Pyramid. I was fascinated with this pyramid because of Rainer Stadelmann’s excavations there, so I began to have its entrance and interior cleaned. It was very important work. When the project was complete we held a grand opening. It was a good day, all the press were really amazed at what they saw, and I remember that a famous TV presenter, who was a very tall man, could not even walk when he came out of the pyramid because of all the bending down and crouching that he had to do in the narrow shafts. Entering the Red Pyramid is an adventure; pain with pleasure.