Abū Ruwaysh, also spelled Abu Roash, ancient Egyptian site of a 4th-dynasty (c. 2575–c. 2465 bce) pyramid built by Redjedef, usually considered the third of the seven kings of that dynasty. The site is about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of the Pyramids of Giza (Al-Jīzah) on the west bank of the Nile River. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site—along with Dahshūr, Ṣaqqārah, Abū Ṣīr, Memphis, and the Pyramids of Giza—that was designated in 1979. Of the pyramid superstructure very little remains, and it was probably never finished—a theory reinforced by evidence that the walls of the mortuary temple next to the pyramid were hastily made of mud brick instead of the usual cut stone. The mortuary cult of the king was certainly celebrated at Abū Ruwaysh, as indicated by the presence of large-scale statue fragments of Redjedef. Nothing remains of the pyramid’s valley temple, but the causeway from it to the mortuary temple can still be traced.
An Early Dynastic (c. 2925–c. 2575 bce) private cemetery has also been found at Abū Ruwaysh.
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