Queens Pyramid of Senusret III (3)

29.8176°N, 31.2271°E.

Queens' pyramid 3 of Senusret III at Dahshur, third of seven small queens' pyramids around the main pyramid of pharaoh Senusret III. Construction date approximately 1850 BCE. Original base approximately 17 metres per side; original height around 14 metres at a steep slope. Excavated by Jacques de Morgan in 1894 and re-examined by Dieter Arnold from 1990. The substructure preserved a small vaulted burial chamber, an emptied sandstone sarcophagus, and broken canopic jars naming queen Sit-hathor — daughter of Senusret III. Her pyramid is part of the same group as Mereret's that produced the largest surviving Middle Kingdom royal jewellery cache. The mortuary chapel on the east face produced relief fragments showing the princess offering before the gods.

A daughter's pyramid in a royal cemetery whose women are documented by name where most contemporary queens' cemeteries have their occupants' identities lost — the Senusret III complex at Dahshur is the major exception to the Middle Kingdom pattern of anonymous queens.