The fourth dynasty, which is to last…

Huni, who is, by tradition, the last Pharaoh of Egypt of the Third dynasty, has established a fortress on the island of Elephantine, securing the southern border of Egypt at the First Cataract.

Huni was probably the father of Hetepheres, queen of the next king, Sneferu.

A certain Huni is mentioned among the names of high officials from the court of Djoser, and if this was indeed the same man as this pharaoh, it is possible that Huni came to the throne at a very venerable age.

He is credited with a twenty-four-year reign in the Turin King List.

A small ceremonial pyramid, the ruins of which have been found at Elephantine island, was very likely built by Huni, but this pyramid was not a tomb, nor did it have a surrounding necropolis or temple complex: its real function and religious significance remain unknown.

However, many of such small, ceremonial, pyramids have been found, built by Old Kingdom pharaohs throughout the kingdom of Egypt.

Internal organs of the dead begin to be placed in Canopic jars.

The spirits of dead kings are thought to inhabit their statues.

Totemism forms the foundation of Egyptian religion; Horus and Seth are among the principal deities of the fourth dynasty, with the solar god Ra as the chief deity.

Sneferu follows his construction projects at Meidum with the famous Bent Pyramid, located at the royal necropolis of Dahshur, approximately forty kilometers south of Cairo, a unique example of early pyramid development in Egypt.

The lower part of the pyramid rises from the desert at a fifty-five degree inclination, but the top section is built at the shallower angle of forty-three degrees, lending the pyramid its very obvious "bent" appearance.

Archaeologists now believe that the Bent Pyramid represents a transitional form between step-sided and smooth-sided pyramids.

It has been suggested that due to the steepness of the original angle of inclination the structure may have begun to show signs of instability during construction, forcing the builders to adopt a shallower angle to avert the structure's collapse.

This theory appears to be borne out by the fact that the adjacent Red Pyramid, built immediately afterwards by the same Pharaoh, was constructed at an angle of forty-three degrees from its base (giving it a noticeably squat appearance compared to other Egyptian pyramids of comparable scale).

The Bent Pyramid has a small satellite pyramid of unknown purpose immediately to its south, and an early form of offering temple on its eastern side.

It is also unique among the approximately ninety pyramids to be found in Egypt, in that its original polished limestone outer casing remains largely intact.

Fourth dynasty founder, Sneferu, also spelled as Snefru or Snofru (in Greek known as Soris), reigns from around 2613 BCE to 2589 BCE.

Married to Hetepheres I, who is thought to have been the daughter of his father Huni, his father-in-law may also have been his father.

According to this theory, Huni fathered Hetepheres from a wife and Sneferu from a concubine.

This marriage thus allowed Sneferu to inherit the throne.

Sneferu and Hetepheres are the parents of Egypt's most famous pyramid builder, Khufu.

Sneferu will be more prolific than his heir, being responsible for constructing three pyramids and using a greater mass of stones than any other pharaoh before or since.

Sneferu first completes the pyramid of Huni at Meidum, transforming it from a step pyramid to a true pyramid, the first of its kind. (Sometime in antiquity the outer layers of the casing collapsed, leaving the exposed core showing, because of its appearance it is called el-haram el-kaddab, False Pyramid, in Arabic.)

A small pyramid at Seila, near Meidum, is also believed to have been built at his command.

Khaba, generally considered to have reigned near the end of the Third Dynasty, and thought to be the successor to Sekhemkhet, is believed to have reigned a relatively brief four years, dying anywhere from 2637 to 2599 BCE, although these dates are highly conjectural.

He is commonly associated with the Layer Pyramid, located at Zawiyet el'Aryan, about four kilometers south of Giza.

It is an unfinished pyramid whose construction is typical of Third Dynasty masonry and would have originally risen about forty-two to forty-five meters in height (it is now about twenty meters).

While there are no inscriptions directly relating the pyramid to this king, a number of alabaster vessels inscribed with this king’s name were discovered nearby in Mastaba Z-500 located just north of the pyramid.

This king is mentioned in the Turin King List as "erased", which may imply that there were dynastic problems during his reign, or that the scribe working on this list was unable to fully decipher the name from the more ancient records being copied from.

It has also been suggested that Khaba may be the Horus name of the last king of the Third Dynasty, Huni, and that the two kings are the same person.

Sneferu, founder of Egypt’s Fourth Dynasty, raids Nubia and Libya, and conquers Sinai in a time of prosperity.

He is apparently the builder of the earliest surviving examples of true pyramids, responsible for the construction of two such structures at Dahshur.

One of these shows faults that indicate this attempt may be the first at building such a structure.

Both the Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid from around the time of Sneferu use corbel vaults in some of their chambers.

The Red Pyramid, named for the light crimson hue of its exposed granite surface, is the largest of the three major pyramids located at the Dahshur necropolis, and the third largest Egyptian pyramid, after those of Khufu and Khafre at Giza.

At the time of its completion, it is the tallest man-made structure in the world. (Like the Bent Pyramid, it is surfaced originally with blocks of polished white Tura limestone, much of which will be taken during the Medieval period for buildings in Cairo; only a few of the blocks now remain at the pyramid's base.)

The pyramids built under Sneferu are individually smaller than the Great Pyramid of Khufu, but the total volume of stone used in Sneferu's monuments is the largest of all pharaohs.

It is evident from an inscription on the Palermo stone that the Egyptians had already begun to import high-quality woods from abroad, as the inscription states that King Sneferu sent forty ships to acquire cedar from Lebanon.

It is also known that he built boats used to transport goods and for military purposes to such places as the Sinai, Nubia, and Libya.

Some of the court life from that time is evoked in the Westcar Papyrus, written sometime during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.

Tradition ascribes that Sneferu was a wise and just ruler.

Indeed, his reign will be regarded in later years as something of a golden age.

Sneferu is succeeded by his son, Khufu (2589 - 2556 BCE) who builds the Great Pyramid (although it should be noted that the date, even the millennium, of its construction remains hotly debated).

He starts building his pyramid at Giza, the first to be built in this place.

Based on inscriptional evidence, it is also likely that he led military expeditions into the Sinai, Nubia and Libya.

Khufu (in Greek known as Cheops), the second pharaoh of Egypt's Fourth Dynasty, reigned from around 2589 BCE to 2566 BCE and is generally accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.

The son of King Sneferu and Queen Hetepheres, Khufu, unlike his father, will be remembered in later folklore as a cruel and ruthless pharaoh.

Khufu has several sons, one of which, Djedefra, would be his immediate successor, and a daughter named Queen Hetepheres II. (It is generally thought that Khufu came to the throne in his twenties, and reigned for about twenty-three years, which is the number ascribed to him by the Turin Papyrus. Other sources from much later periods suggest a significantly longer reign: Manetho gives him a reign of sixty-five years, and Herodotus states that he reigned fifty years.)

Khufu starts building his pyramid at Giza, the first to be built in this area.

Based on inscriptional evidence, it is also likely that he led military expeditions into the Sinai, Nubia and Libya.

While pyramid construction had been solely for the reigning pharaoh prior to Khufu, his reign sees the construction of several minor pyramid structures that are believed to have been intended for other members of his royal household, amounting to a royal cemetery.

Three small pyramids to the east of Khufu's pyramid are tentatively thought to belong to two of his wives, and the third has been ascribed to Khufu's mother Hetepheres I, whose funerary equipment was found relatively intact in a shaft tomb nearby.

A series of mastabas were created adjacent to the small pyramids, and tombs have been found in this "cemetery."

Khufu has nine sons, one of whom, Djedefra, is to be his immediate successor.

He also has fifteen daughters, one of whom will later become Queen Hetepheres II.

Khufu comes to the throne in his twenties, and is to reign for about twenty-three years, which is the number ascribed to him by the Turin King List.

Other sources from much later periods suggest a significantly longer reign: Manetho gives him a reign of sixty-five years, and Herodotus states that he reigned fifty years.

Khufu’s one hundred and forty-two-foot- (forty-three meter-) long funerary ship is interred near the Great Pyramid, as is a second, larger boat.

Djedefra marries his (half-) sister Hetepheres II, which may have been necessary to legitimize his claims to the throne if his mother was one of Khufu’s lesser wives.

He also had another wife, Khentet-en-ka with whom he had (at least) three sons, Setka, Baka and Hernet and one daughter, Neferhetepes.

The Turin King List credits him with a rule of eight years.

He is the first king to use the title Son of Ra as part of his royal titulary, which is seen as an indication of the growing popularity of the cult of the solar god Ra.

Djedefra continues the move north by building his (now ruined) pyramid at Abu Rawash, some eight kilometers to the North of Giza.

It is the northernmost part of the Memphite necropolis.

In 2004, French Egyptologist Vassil Dobrev reported evidence that Djedefra may have been responsible for the building of the Sphinx in the image of his father.