The LAST PYRAMID of Egypt was NOT a Tomb!

Hello everybody and welcome to Ancient Architects. Please subscribe to the channel for regular content on ancient architecture as well as all of the latest news from the world of archaeology. Almost the first was the first king of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, the man who defeated the Hyksos ruling elite of the Second Intermediate Period, but although he is one of the most important and influential kings in Egyptian history, many of you may never have heard of him. But this man was responsible for reunifying Ancient Egypt. He then led further conquests into the Near East and Nubia, expanding the kingdom's territory. But what many don't know is that he even built a pyramid, more than 1,000 years after the Giza complex was complete. The Pyramid of Almos is the last royal pyramid to be built in Egypt, and it was built right at the beginning of a brand new era of history. The pyramid is located in Abydos, one of Egypt's oldest cities. It was the home of the kings of early dynastic history, the place where the original unifiers of Egypt came from, including the famous King Narmer, and also where they were buried. Therefore, it is symbolically a very important place, and so it's not surprising that Almos I decided to build here, a man who also unified Egypt more than 1,500 years later. The pyramid complex is found at the southeastern extremity of Abydos, a location that before the new kingdom had not been occupied since the pre-dynastic. The complex is arranged along a single axis, and it runs in a southwest to northeasterly direction, and includes a stone pyramid and temple, a small mud-brick pyramid dedicated to his grandmother, an unmarked subterranean rock-cut structure in the low desert, and the foundations of a terraced temple. There is also an associated cemetery and town. Today, the main pyramid does not look impressive. It's just a sandy, 10-metre-high mound of rubble, and that's because the fine limestone casing has been removed. The casing was the only thing that gave the pyramid its shape, being infilled with sand and rubble. Remove the casing, and well, what you see is what you get. The internal rubble structure has collapsed, but when it was completed, it would have had a base length of around 172 feet or 52.5 metres. It stood at 130 feet or 40 metres in height, and to put that into perspective, it was 20 metres shorter than the Menkaure Pyramid at Giza, and 100 metres shorter than the Great Pyramid. Its height was similar to the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara, the place where we find the Old Kingdom pyramid texts on the walls of the substructure. But interestingly, the inclination of the sides of the pyramid was 60 degrees, so it was even steeper than the lower half of the Bent Pyramid, which has a 54 degree angle of inclination, changing to 43 degrees for the upper half. But as well as the form and shape of this pyramid, the biggest difference compared to its Old Kingdom counterparts is that there is no substructure. This pyramid was certainly not a tomb, but more like a cenotaph. Although smaller than Egypt's most famous ancient pyramids, this one was still impressive, and could be seen from the Nile floodplain to the north, and also from the limestone cliffs a kilometre away in the south. The pyramid is the focal point of the site, but it is still part of a complex of structures, carefully designed to link ancient traditions to newer concepts, all with reference to local alignments and processional routes at Abydos. The pyramid and its associated complex were discovered in 1899 by British archaeologist Arthur C. Mace, and his work was continued a few years later by Charles T. Currelly. The second pyramid we find in the complex, the one built to honour Armos' grandmother, Queen Tethysheri of the 17th dynasty, is located 500 metres away to the southwest. This is the last royal pyramid that was built for an Egyptian queen. This pyramid was not built of stone, but of mud brick, and also, unlike her grandson's pyramid, this one did have an internal structure, and a 2 metre high stele was found inside. It gives details of how Armos and his wife chose to establish the pyramid in memory of their grandmother. But the stele also said a lot more, and is somewhat reminiscent of a legal contract, with the text laying out the establishment of an economic foundation to be staffed with people, endowed with animals, and supported by the produce of the fields and groves. In more recent years, this pyramid has been fully excavated, stabilised and protected. When completed, it was steeper than the pyramid of Armos, with the slope of the sides being 63 degrees. Charles Currelly would uncover the full extent of the Armos pyramid complex, as well as the associated town and cemetery. But sadly, only brief reports were written, and excavations were not greatly extensive. And so, decades later, Stephen P. Harvey investigated further. He excavated the pyramid's associated structures, and at the site of the main pyramid temple, he found thousands of fragments of limestone blocks, some of which were found to be ornately carved and some of them were painted. In its heyday, the temple would have been beautiful, with large octagonal pillars, elaborate doorways and painted ceilings with stars. The walls were painted to show the gods, including Osiris and Raharakti, but we also find some amazing battle scenes, showing how Armos defeated the Hyksos. The text on the walls also mentioned Avaris, the Hyksos capital in the Delta, as well as the name Apophis, one of the last Hyksos kings of the north. Harvey believed the construction of the pyramid complex likely began late on in the king's reign, and years after the struggles with the Hyksos. The pyramid had a number of associated buildings, and possibly more pyramids as well, now long gone without a trace. There was another temple, and it was made from mud brick stamped with the name Armos Nefertari, the wife and sister of Armos, and there looks to have been a shrine or possibly even a subsidiary pyramid dedicated to the queen as well. Other buildings inside the complex look to be administrative and production centres for the king's court. The court of Armos survived for at least 300 years after his death, and we've even found a dedicated stele from the reign of So, if a local court was based here in Abydos, next to a large royal pyramid and associated temple, surely this should be the final resting place of the history-making king? Well, after extensive investigation, there is certainly no substructure directly beneath the pyramid, no sign of any royal tomb. But at the other end of the complex in the southwest, there is a subterranean structure, and some believe that this was planned to be the final resting place of the king. The opening was dug between two naturally occurring mounds of gravel, both of which were around 15 feet in height. As you can see, the entrance just looks like a pit, and it opens up into a roughly cut chamber with a low ceiling. To get through this space, you have to crawl through on your hands and knees, and this seems to be a security feature. And then you enter the snaking passageway labelled C, and there are flanking chambers D and E on each side. On inspection, these look to be unfinished. The beginning of the snaking S-shaped corridor looks carefully cut, but after just a few metres it looks more rushed. Niches had been cut into the walls to hold lamps, and smoke marks are still seen above them. These were clearly there to allow the workers to see what they were doing, and I'm sure if the work was finished, the walls would have been cut further back to remove the niches and the staining. Before reaching the pillared hall, the corridor gets narrower. Entering the hall labelled F on this diagram, and there are 18 columns running floor to ceiling. They're arranged as three rows of six pillars, and each row is split by a central aisle. When discovered and excavated, it was noted how the pillars on the northern side had collapsed, and this caused the ceiling to crumble. On leaving the hall, you enter corridor G, and again, the first few metres were carefully cut, but then it gets progressively worse, as the corridor descends and turns to the right, where you end up in a roughly cut final room. When the work at this site came to a halt, the room was still in the process of being widened. It's possible that during construction, the pillared hall collapsed, and that's why work in the subterranean structure was abandoned. But was this meant to be the tomb of Armos I? Some think it was symbolic, a representation of the Assyrian underworld, and that Armos was never meant to be buried inside, but others disagree. Experts are split on the function of the structure, but both options do seem to have some merit. Whatever the intentions of the builders, the work was never completed, and it's a fair assumption it's all because of the damage, damage that was maybe inflicted by an earthquake. Continuing to the southwest on the Armos complex axis, and you next encounter a set of terraces built against the high cliffs. The bottom terrace is made of brick, and it measures 300 feet in length. The second terrace is built from fieldstone. This terrace structure may have had a passing resemblance to the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bari, although far less elaborate. Although the tomb of Armos was never discovered, it's very likely he ended up in the family royal necropolis at Dra Abu el-Naga in Thebes, alongside his father, mother, brother and wife. According to the Abbot Papyrus, the tombs of Armos and his brother Karmos were inspected in the 20th dynasty, and because we know that Karmos was laid to rest at Dra Abu el-Naga, it's safe to assume that Armos I was here as well. But even if that is the case, his Abydos pyramid complex was not neglected, and despite its appearance today, the site was not abandoned. It was not left to rot and ruin with the failure of the subterranean structure. Quite the contrary, because we find the cartouche of Armos' successor, Armenhotep I, showing that he continued work at this site after his father's death. We even find offerings from Ramesses the Great of the 19th dynasty. It seems the cult of Armos thrived here for more than 300 years. There was an active settlement, it was the home of dedicated priests, and there were ceremonies and also royal visits. Although by all accounts this was not his final resting place, the complex was a place to honour the important and powerful king, the man who banished the Hyksos and unified the country. But why do we find it in Abydos? Well, this was the final resting place of the earliest pharaohs, the original unifiers of Egypt. These powerful kings started dynastic history, bringing the country together under one rule. Armos was following in their footsteps. He did what they had done centuries before, and so maybe that's why he chose to build a pyramid complex at Abydos. And why build a pyramid? Well, they're symbolic of the glory years of ancient Egypt. What better way to stamp your authority and show your power? A new pyramid kind of says, Egypt is back. The new kingdom has begun. Today, it is a shame that this pyramid has lost all of its splendour, but at least something still remains. And I'm very thankful for the archaeologists who have uncovered its secrets. The monument dedicated to the great Armos I survives, a monument that honours the man who reunified ancient Egypt, who banished the Hyksos, and who began the most influential dynasty in ancient Egyptian history. Thank you very much for watching this episode of Ancient Architects. If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe to the channel, please like the video, and please leave a comment below. Thank you very much!