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2015 March

Khay Pyramidion 1B - Laurent Bavay.png

A NEW PYRAMID DISCOVERED

Jeff Burzacott March 16, 2015

It’s not every day that a new pyramid is discovered.

But that is what happened in February 2013, when the remains of a 15-metre-high mud-brick pyramid was unearthed on the West Bank in Luxor.

A joint University of Liege and Free University of Brussels mission discovered the pyramid commanding a fine position: on the crest of a hill, overlooking the Ramesseum.

The pyramid originally stood above the tomb entrance to a man named Khay. He held the highest civil function in Egypt, that of Vizier, equivalent to that of a Prime Minister, for some fifteen years during the reign of Ramesses II.

Khay was involved in the celebrations of Ramesses II’s first six jubilees and also supervised the workers charged with building the royal tombs within the Valleys of the Kings and Queens.

The Vizier seems to have been well-rewarded for his service. Although only a few courses remain today, in 1250 B.C. Khay’s pyramid would have been a stunning fixture on the Theban landscape; originally plastered a brilliant white and capped with a carved stone pyramidion. The remains of the pyramidion (pictured) show Khay worshipping the god Ra-Horakhty (Horus in the Horizon).

Photo: Laurent Bavay, Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Université Libre de Bruxelles.

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Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.NILE Magazine June-July 2017 is out now. Inside:- The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse.- Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered.- World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery.- Art and Archaeol…

Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.
NILE Magazine June-July 2017 is out now. Inside:
- The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse.
- Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered.
- World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery.
- Art and Archaeology meet: the two worlds of Susan Osgood.
- The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt.
- Aswan's powerful governors.
- On This Day in Egyptology history.
- Plus much more.

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Because You Love Ancient Egypt