Pyramid of Khentkaus I

Step tomb of Khentkaus I
Khentkaus I
Coordinates	29°58′23.9″N 31°8′7.3″E / 29.973306°N 31.135361°E / 29.973306; 31.135361
Ancient name	Ḫnt-kꜣw.s Khent-kaus[1]
Constructed	Fourth Dynasty of Egypt
Type	Step tomb
Material	Bedrock, Limestone
Height	10 m (33 ft; 19 cu) (1st step) 7 m (23 ft; 13 cu) (2nd step)[2] 17.5 m (57 ft; 33.4 cu) (total)[3]
Base	45.8 m (150 ft; 87.4 cu) by 45.5 m (149 ft; 86.8 cu) (1st step) 28.5 m (94 ft; 54.4 cu) by 21 m (69 ft; 40 cu) (2nd step)[2]
Volume	6,372 m3 (8,334 cu yd) (2nd step)[4]
Slope	74°[2]
Location within Egypt

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.