Apyramidion (plural:pyramidia) is thecapstone of anEgyptian pyramid or the upper section of anobelisk.[1] Speakers of theAncient Egyptian language referred to pyramidia asbenbenet[2] and associated the pyramid as a whole with the sacredbenben stone.[3]
Pyramidia were usually made oflimestone,sandstone,basalt orgranite,[4][5] and were sometimes covered with plates of copper,[6]gold orelectrum.[3][7] From theMiddle Kingdom onward, they were often "inscribed with royal titles and religious symbols".[3]
Four pyramidia are housed in the main hall of theEgyptian Museum inCairo:
A badly damaged whiteTura limestone pyramidion, thought to have been made for theRed Pyramid ofSneferu at Dahshur, has been reconstructed and is on open-air display beside that pyramid; it presents a minor mystery, however, as its angle of inclination is steeper than that of the edifice it was apparently built to surmount.
Erected in 1876 in Washington D.C., theWashington Monument holds an inscribed pyramidion of aluminum.
During theNew Kingdom, some private underground tombs were marked on the surface by small brick pyramids that terminated in pyramidia. The four lateral sides included texts and scenes related to the cult of the Sun God (as the representation ofPharaoh).
The scenes typically depict the course of the sun, rising on one lateral face, setting on the opposite face, and traveling, through the night, through the underworld, ruled byOsiris.
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| Scribe Moses//Mes, S inhieroglyphs | ||||
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| Era:New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC) | ||||
The pyramidion ofMose (mes, New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty,c. 1250 BC, limestone, 53 cm tall) depicts himself making an offering, with his name on two opposite faces. The adjacent opposite faces feature a baboon: "Screeching upon the rising of the Sun, and the Day". (The baboon is also the god-scribe representation of theScribe, for the godThoth.)[10]
The pyramidion ofPtahemwia (19th Dynasty, Ramesside Period,c. 1200 BC,limestone, 28 cm wide, 42 cm tall) likewise displays sun-related scenes.[8]: 252 The Sun God,Re-Horakhti, and the god of the Underworld,Osiris, are shown on one lateral face.
Facing the two gods, on the adjacent lateral face, is the deceased Ptahemwia, standing in an offering pose, facing three columns of hieroglyphs.[8]: 252
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Media related toPyramidia at Wikimedia Commons
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| Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC) |
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| 1st Intermediate Period (2181–2040 BC) |
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| Middle Kingdom (2040–1650 BC) |
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| Second Intermediate (1650–1570 BC) |
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| New Kingdom (1570–1070 BC) |
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