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Bent Pyramid
The Bent Pyramid is a very old pyramid in Egypt. Its sides change their slope partway up, so it looks bent!
The Bent Pyramid stands at Dahshur in Egypt. It was built for King Sneferu, who reigned about 2613 to 2589 BCE. Its builders started the sides at a steep angle of 55 degrees, then changed to 43 degrees because the pyramid was becoming unstable. That change gives it its bent shape.
The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, one of King Sneferu's pyramids (reigned c. 2613-2589 BCE), takes its name from the change of angle in its faces: Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities says construction began at 55 degrees and had to be adjusted to 43 degrees because an overload of blocks made it unstable. The ministry reads its first angle as a sign of the transition between Djoser's step pyramid and later smooth-faced pyramids.
Photo: Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Bent Pyramid
The Bent Pyramid is in Dahshur, in Egypt. Egypt is a country in North Africa.
It stands in the flat desert, not far from the Red Pyramid.
The Bent Pyramid stands in the desert at Dahshur, one of the pyramid fields of ancient Memphis that UNESCO lists from Giza to Dahshur. The Red Pyramid stands about one kilometer to its north.
Its name comes from its shape. Partway up, the sides change to a gentler slope, so its outline looks bent.
Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities explains that the pyramid is called 'bent' because of its broken lines, caused by a change of angle: an engineering issue in its design. The Red Pyramid stands about a kilometer to the north.
UNESCO's Memphis and its Necropolis World Heritage Site includes the pyramid fields of Dahshur, which UNESCO names among the site's outstanding structures; the necropolis holds more than 38 pyramids.
- Where
- Dahshur, Egypt
- Built for
- King Sneferu
- Angles
- 55° at the base, then 43°
- World Heritage Site
- 1979 (Memphis and its Necropolis)
One of King Sneferu's pyramids
The pyramid was built for a king named Sneferu.
Three pyramids were built for him. This was the second one.
King Sneferu reigned about 2613 to 2589 BCE. Three pyramids were built in his reign: one at Meidum, the Bent Pyramid, and then the Red Pyramid.
The ministry says that despite the changes to the Bent Pyramid, the king's designers went on to build a new pyramid a short distance away: the Red Pyramid.
The ministry's Old Kingdom page dates King Snefru's reign to about 2613-2589 BCE and lists three massive pyramids built in it: Meidum, begun as a step pyramid; the so-called Bent Pyramid at Dahshur; and the Red Pyramid, with which Egypt's first true pyramid was completed.
The Bent Pyramid page (spelling the name Sneferu) adds that despite the adjustments, the king's designers made a new pyramid a short distance away, the Red Pyramid.
From 55 degrees to 43 degrees
The builders started with very steep sides.
The pyramid was not steady, so they made the top part less steep!
Building began with the sides rising at a steep 55 degrees. But the weight of so many blocks made the pyramid unstable, so the builders changed the slope to 43 degrees for the upper part.
The ministry says the first, steep angle suggests a stage between the stepped pyramid of King Djoser at Saqqara and the later pyramids with smooth faces.
According to the ministry, construction began at an angle of 55 degrees but had to be adjusted to 43 degrees because an overload of blocks resulted in instability, which produced the broken outline.
The ministry says the first angle suggests a transition phase between the step-pyramid design of King Djoser at Saqqara and the later smooth-faced pyramids.
Two entrances
The Bent Pyramid has two doors.
One door is on the north side. The other is high up on the west side!
The Bent Pyramid has two entrances. One is on the north side, reached by modern wooden stairs. The other is high up on the west side.
Each entrance leads to a chamber with a corbelled roof, made of stone layers that step inward. The northern chamber is below ground level, and the western one is higher up inside the pyramid.
The ministry describes two entrances: one on the north side, with modern wooden stairs, and one high on the west side. Each leads to a chamber with a corbelled roof, which gives a gradual, stepped effect.
The chamber reached from the northern entrance lies below ground level; the one reached from the western entrance is built higher up in the body of the pyramid.
- Entrances
- 2 (north and west)
- Chambers
- corbelled roofs
- Red Pyramid
- about 1 km to the north
- UNESCO criteria
- (i)(iii)(vi)
The bend in the sides
In this photo, look at the sides of the pyramid. Partway up, they change their slope!
The desert around it is flat and sandy.
This photo was taken on 12 September 2012. It shows the pyramid from a corner, with two faces. Look for the place partway up where the steep lower sides change to a gentler slope.
Much of the surface is made of pale, smooth stones, with rougher, broken patches near the bottom.
The photograph (12 September 2012, by Jorge Láscar) shows the pyramid from a corner, with the change of angle clearly visible on both faces. The photographer's title says the pale, smooth stones are the original polished limestone outer casing that pyramids used to have.
UNESCO reports conservation initiatives at Saqqara and Dahshur from 2012 involving all the major stakeholders as well as the local community.
Amazing facts
-
The builders changed the pyramid's slope partway up!
The sides start at 55 degrees and change to 43 degrees, because the pyramid was becoming unstable.
An overload of blocks made the pyramid unstable, so the angle was adjusted from 55 to 43 degrees partway up.
-
There are wooden stairs up to one of its doors!
The north entrance is reached by modern wooden stairs.
The northern entrance has modern wooden stairs; the western entrance is set high in the face.
-
King Sneferu had three pyramids built!
Three massive pyramids were built during King Sneferu's reign: at Meidum, the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid.
Three massive pyramids were built in Snefru's reign alone: Meidum (begun as a step pyramid), the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid.
Words to know
- pyramid
- a building with a square base and four sloping sides that meet in a point
- angle
- the amount of turn between two lines, measured in degrees
- step pyramid
- a pyramid built as a stack of steps, one on top of another
- unstable
- likely to move, slip or fall down
- corbelled roof
- a roof made of stone layers that each stick out a little further inward, like upside-down steps
- World Heritage Site
- a place UNESCO lists as important for all people
Discovery challenge
-
In which country is the Bent Pyramid?
The Bent Pyramid stands at Dahshur, in which country?
In which country's pyramid fields of Memphis does the Bent Pyramid stand?
- Egypt
- Peru
- China
Show the answer
Egypt
Egypt!
Egypt.
Egypt.
-
Why does the Bent Pyramid look bent?
What gives the Bent Pyramid its bent outline?
What change during construction produced the pyramid's broken lines?
- Its slope changes partway up
- An earthquake bent it
- It was built on a hill
Show the answer
Its slope changes partway up
The slope changes partway up!
The builders changed the slope partway up.
The angle was adjusted from 55 to 43 degrees.
-
At what angle did the builders start the sides?
At what angle did construction of the Bent Pyramid begin?
What was the pyramid's initial angle, before the adjustment to 43 degrees?
- 55 degrees
- 90 degrees
- 10 degrees
Show the answer
55 degrees
55 degrees!
55 degrees.
55 degrees.
-
How many doors does the Bent Pyramid have?
How many entrances does the Bent Pyramid have?
How many entrances, on the north and west sides, does the ministry describe?
- 2
- 1
- 12
Show the answer
2
2 doors!
Two.
Two.
-
Which pyramid did King Sneferu's builders make next, nearby?
Which new pyramid did Sneferu's designers build a short distance away?
Which pyramid, about a kilometer to the north, completed Egypt's first true pyramid?
- The Red Pyramid
- The Great Pyramid
- The Step Pyramid
Show the answer
The Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid!
The Red Pyramid.
The Red Pyramid.
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Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid stands at Dahshur in Egypt. It was built for King Sneferu, who reigned about 2613 to 2589 BCE. Egypt's antiquities ministry says it was Egypt's first true pyramid to be completed, and it is the highest pyramid at Dahshur. Its name comes from the reddish color of its stones.
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Memphis
Memphis was the capital of Egypt in the time of the first great pyramids, more than 4,000 years ago. It stood on the west side of the Nile, about 24 kilometers south of modern Cairo. Kings, priests, craftworkers and traders lived there, and its rulers were buried in pyramids and tombs along the desert edge, from Giza to Dahshur.
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Egyptian pyramids
Egypt's pyramids were giant stone tombs for kings. They did not start out pointed: the first, King Djoser's Step Pyramid, was a stack of six giant steps. King Snefru's builders tried again and again, making the Bent Pyramid and then the Red Pyramid, the first planned true pyramid. Soon after came the great pyramids of Giza.
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Giza pyramid complex
The Giza pyramid complex is a group of ancient tombs on a rocky plateau beside the Nile River in Egypt. Three kings from one family, Khufu, his son Khafre and his grandson Menkaure, built huge pyramids there about 4,500 years ago. Around them are temples, small pyramids for queens, rows of tombs for nobles, the Great Sphinx and even the town where the builders lived.
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Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid stands at Dahshur in Egypt. It was built for King Sneferu, who reigned about 2613 to 2589 BCE. Egypt's antiquities ministry says it was Egypt's first true pyramid to be completed, and it is the highest pyramid at Dahshur. Its name comes from the reddish color of its stones.
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Watch
Landmark
Egyptian pyramids
Egypt's pyramids were giant stone tombs for kings. They did not start out pointed: the first, King Djoser's Step Pyramid, was a stack of six giant steps. King Snefru's builders tried again and again, making the Bent Pyramid and then the Red Pyramid, the first planned true pyramid. Soon after came the great pyramids of Giza.
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Giza pyramid complex
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain how the angle of a slope affects how stable a pile is.
- Describe how builders learn from problems and change their designs.
- Explain the difference between a step pyramid and a smooth-sided pyramid.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might a very steep pile of heavy blocks become unstable?
- What would you do if a building started to have problems halfway through?
- Why do you think the king's builders started a new pyramid nearby?
Try at home or in class
- Pour dry sand into piles and see how steep you can make them before they slide; compare with a gentler pile.
- Draw two triangles, one with 55-degree sides and one with 43-degree sides, and compare their heights on the same base.
Key vocabulary: pyramid, angle, step pyramid, unstable, corbelled roof, World Heritage Site
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- The Bent Pyramid , Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Discover Egypt's Monuments)
- The Red Pyramid , Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Discover Egypt's Monuments)
- Old Kingdom , Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Discover Egypt's Monuments)
- Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- File:Bent Pyramid featuring the original polished limestone outer casing that the pyramids used to have (14616487960).jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.