Layer Pyramid

The Khaba pyramid at Zawyet el-Aryan, between Giza and Abu Sir, is an unfinished Old Kingdom step pyramid of the Third Dynasty, probably built for pharaoh Khaba around 2620 BCE. Locals call it il-haram il-midawwar, the round pyramid, because only the bottom two to four steps rise above the sand. In the 19th century it was one of Egypt's most enigmatic monuments; excavations by the Swiss Egyptologist Edouard Naville in 1910 turned up an underground corridor system, but no inscribed burial chamber, so the attribution remains disputed. The pyramid is badly eroded today and lies inside a restricted military zone; there is no official tourist access.