Black Pyramid, Dashur

The Black Pyramid is one of Egypt's most mysterious monuments, and a reminder not all pharaohs were as great as they thought. King Amenemhat was the sixth pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty. He wanted to stamp his authority on his people by building a towering pyramid next to the great Bent and Red Pyramids of King Sneferu, commissioned some 800 years previously. This new building would be some achievement, with a height of 75m and a 105m base.

Building began around 1860. Middle Kingdom pyramids were much more complex arrangements than their Old Kingdom counterparts, but Amenemhat's was far too ambitious. A myriad walkways, corridors and chamber lined its innards, and it was the first pyramid built both for a king and his queens - two in Amenemhat's case. Around 15 years into its construction, disaster struck. Beams began to crush and doorways crumbled, as the pyramid caved in under its own weight. Builders did their best to avert destruction, but the damage was done: the pyramid was abandoned, and the king instead turned his sights on Hawara, where he would build a successful temple many years later.

Today the pyramid is still abandoned, closed to the public because of its still-structural frailties. A French team first excavated the pyramid in 1892, with later projects undertaken up until 1983.