Abu Rawash
3246030
219537714
2008-06-15T18:36:08Z
24.215.171.14
{{coor title dms|30|01|55|N|31|04|30|E|type:landmark}}
{{Expand|date=August 2007}}
[[Image:Abu Rawash Pyramid.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The ruined [[Pyramid of Djedefre]] sits atop the plateau of Abu Rawash]]
[[Image:Abu Rawash Burial Pit.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The guard at Abu Rawash rests in the shade of the burial pit of the [[Pyramid of Djedefre]]]]
'''Abu Rawash''' (also known as ''Abu Roach''), 8 km to the North of [[Giza]] (coordinates {{coor dms|30|01|55|N|31|04|30|E|type:landmark}}), is the site of [[Egypt]]'s most northerly [[pyramid]] — the mostly ruined [[Pyramid of Djedefre]], the son and successor of [[Khufu]]. Originally it was thought that this pyramid had never been completed, but the current archaelogicical consensus is that not only was it completed, but that it was originally about the same size as the [[Pyramid of Menkaure]] – the third largest of the [[Giza pyramids]].{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
Its location adjacent to a major crossroads made it an easy source of stone. Quarrying — which began in Roman times — has left little apart from a few courses of stone superimposed upon the natural hillock that formed part of the pyramid's core. A small adjacent satellite pyramid is in a better state of preservation.{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
'''Geology of Abu Rawash''': The sedimentary succession in Abu Rawash area ranges in age from Late Cretaceous to Quaternary but is punctuated by several unconformity surfaces. [[Turonian]] to [[Coniacian]] representing the sedimentary succession of Abu Rawash [[Formation]] that differentiated into six informal units (members) from younger to older as follows:
1. Basal clastic member
2. Rudist-bearing limestone-marl member
3. Limestone member
4. Actaeonella-bearing limestone-marl member
5. Flint-bearing chalky limestone member
6. Plicatula-bearing marl-limestone member.
[[Sedimentary depositional environment]] of Abu Rawash Formation are characterized by variable conditions and settings ranging from lower mixed to upper [[intertidal]] flat and [[subtidal]] channel for the clastic facies and calm to agitated open marine inner to middle platform for the carbonate [[facies]].
Vertical sequence or facies hierarchy display that the facies sequence of the basal clastic member indicates a progradational preitidal sequence. While those of the rudist-bearing member and limestone member represent a cyclic progradtion of high energetic/storm facies above an open marine low energetic fore shoal subtidal facies. The facies sequence of the Acteonella-bearing member reflects two facies associations comprising open marine subtidal assemblage and shoal or bank facies. The latter facies represents the bank that the robust thick shelled Durania arnaudi with the coralline sponge heads accreted local mounds in restricted areas (El-Hassana dome). The vertical facies hierarchy of the flint-bearing chalky limestone member suggests a renewed shoaling of the depositional accommodation, shifting to inner-platform setting and a progradation of mobile bioclastic [[shoals]] or banks. The stacking of the sedimentary facies in the Plicatula-bearing member indicates an accumulation in an open shallow sea (inner platform) with intermittent supply of fine terrigenous clastics and clays. (Hanan.S.M. Badawy, Geology Dept., Faculty of Science, [[Beni Suef]], [[Egypt]])
==External Links==
*[http://www.newsweek.com/id/141635 Newsweek's Interactive Graphic on Djedefre's pyramid with Interactive Timeline of the major pyramids of ancient Egypt]
== See also ==
*[[Egyptian pyramids]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian pyramids]]
[[Category:Memphis Necropolis]]
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