The pyramid of Unas is a smooth-sided pyramid built in the 24th century BC for the Egyptian pharaoh Unas, the ninth and final king of the Fifth Dynasty. It is the smallest Old Kingdom pyramid, but significant due to the discovery of Pyramid Texts, spells for the king's afterlife incised into the walls of its subterranean chambers. Inscribed for the first time in Unas's pyramid, the tradition of funerary texts carried on in the pyramids of subsequent rulers, through to the end of the Old Kingdom, and into the Middle Kingdom through the Coffin Texts that form the basis of the Book of the Dead.
Pyramid of Unas
Remains of the outer casing on Unas's pyramid
Modern entrance to the pyramid substructures (bottom left)
The burial chamber with protective spells filling the west gable, protecting the sarcophagus and its contents below.
Unas or Wenis, also spelled Unis, was a pharaoh, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Unas reigned for 15 to 30 years in the mid-24th century BC, succeeding Djedkare Isesi, who might have been his father.
Black greywacke sarcophagus in the funerary chamber of Unas' pyramid
Alabaster globular vase of Unas, Louvre
Relief showing starving nomads from Unas' causeway at Saqqara
The pyramid of Unas at Saqqara