Pyramid of Naqada

The pyramid measures 18.39 metres on each side and is currently about 4.5 metres tall. It is not oriented to true north but 12° to the northeast, in parallel with the course of the Nile. It consists of a core measuring about 5.75 metres on each side, around which three layers of roughly hewn stone were placed. The structure may originally have consisted of three steps. Locally sourced limestone was used as the building material.

Under the southwest corner Petrie discovered a grave measuring 1.25 by 2.00 metres, which very likely does not belong to the pyramid and is much more likely a secondary burial.

The builder and purpose of the pyramid are unknown. Günter Dreyer and Werner Kaiser considered it and the other six pyramids of the group to be a cohesive building project of Pharaoh Huni, the last ruler of the Third Dynasty. Andrzej Ćwiek sees things similarly but prefers Huni's successor Snofru (c.2670-2620 BC), the first ruler of the Fourth Dynasty, as the builder. Theories about the purpose of this and the other pyramids range from a site of royal representation, to a depiction of the benben stone, a symbol of the political and religious unity of the land, or a monument for a royal wife.