From all pyramids around Cairo, Dashur is by far the least famous place. Gizeh obviously is known by all inside as well as outside Egypt, Sakkarah by some targeted tourists, but Dashur is only visited by people who are crazy like me. Even if you are 10 kilometers away from them, nobody can tell you were they are. In the most favorable case, they will point you towards Sakarrah. Even the local villagers, who must have seen those pyramids thousands of times, shook their head sadly upon our request and told us there were no other pyramids than the ones in Gizeh and Sakkarah. However, if you look at the top picture and compare the almost invisible jeep in the middle to the two pyramids on the side, you would agree that for anybody who does not see those pyramids, it is time to visit the eye doctor.
As I was accompanied by an Egyptian it was not a language problem. At a certain moment, I could see the Bent Pyramid from my car window, while the man outside was firmly assuring us that there was no such pyramid around. Finally we lost one and a half hour and arrived 5 minutes past four while the entrance had closed at four. This appeared a blessing in disguise. There appeared to be a way around the village in the back, from which you could approach all four the pyramids without any fence, guard or tourist hampering your view. And it saved me 30 Egyptian pound (6 dollar).

The two most perfectly shaped pyramids in Dahshur, the red pyramid (above left) and the bent pyramid (above right) are built by Snefru (Snofru) in the 4th Dynasty (2613-2494 BC), the man who also had the Maidoum pyramid built. Of the other two, one was built by Amenemhat III, the builder of the Hawara pyramid, and one by Sesostris III. Snefru belonged to the 4th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, Amenemhat III and Senostris III to the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (1991-1790 BC). In the New Kingdom, the necropolis here was still used for burials. Dahshur lies in between Sakarrah (to the North) and Fayoum (to the South).