Bent Pyramid opens in Egypt

Cairo: Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities opened the 4,600-year-old Bent Pyramid at the Dahshur royal necropolis in Giza to visitors for the first time after its restoration and reparation works were completed.

The pyramid was built by the Old Kingdom Pharaoh Sneferu and was dubbed the "Bent Pyramid" and "the Pyramid with Two Angles" for having two different angles of inclination.

"This pyramid doesn't have only two angles of inclination but also two entrances. The first one is in the northern side and it will be officially opened for the first time to the public today, and the second is the western one," Egypt's Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anany, told reporters during the inauguration ceremony in the desert near the pyramid.

The Bent Pyramid is about 101 meters high with a base of nearly 188 meters. The northern side entrance opened to visitors leads to a narrow 80-meter long passage with a stairway leading finally to a burial chamber.

"This pyramid marks a very important step in the construction of pyramids in Egypt, because it's a turning point and a transition between step-sided and smooth-sided pyramids," said the Egyptian minister, noting that Dahshur necropolis is included in the UNESCO's world heritage list.

The Bent Pyramid was the first built by Sneferu; the second is located about two kilometres away and referred to as the Red Pyramid due to the reddish colour of its sides.

Sneferu, the founder of the Fourth Dynasty, was the father of King Khufu (Cheops), builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

After the inauguration ceremony, the Egyptian ministry announced the discovery of the remains of a 60-meter Middle Kingdom winding wall about 300 meters south of King Amenemhat II's pyramid in the Dahshur necropolis.

A collection of wooden funerary masks was also unearthed during excavation works, along with small tools used for cutting stones, all belonging to the Late Period some 2,600 years ago.

The ceremony was attended by the governor of Giza as well as ambassadors and diplomats from around 40 Western, Asian, Arab and African states.