The graphic shows the process for constructing a typical pyramid
chamber of the later Old Kingdom taken from separate frames in an
animation
The top left picture shows the starting point, which - in this
type of chamber - occurs before the pyramid proper is constructed.
Two interconnected chambers are dug out of the rock, one for
the sarcophagus, the other as an annex.
A passageway into the annex is also dug, and fitted with
runners for (usually) 3 portcullis doors, which would be recessed
into the yet-to-be-built masonry until the King's mummy had been
interred.
The main chamber would then be filled with sand, while the
annex was blocked off.
The sarcophagus would then be slid over the sand above the
chamber (bottom left) and the sand removed via the annex and
passage until the sarcophagus rested on the ground
The chambers would then be refilled and the sand would be
piled into a ridge so that limestone slabs could be dragged into
place to form a pitched roof. for later Old Kingdom pyramids
double slabs were used as shown.
These slabs would be set in place by laying more masonry
against their base, bottom right, to prevent them sliding sideway
The sand would be removed for a second and final time through
the passage, and the building of the pyramid over the top of the
roofed chamber could proceed
The walls would then be carved with spells and incantations
from the Pyramid Texts to guarantee safe passage for the King to
his afterlife
The ceiling would also be carved with stars, to represent the
view through the ceiling and the pyramid, looking upwards
Chambers within the masonry were dealt with differently, usually
by employing a corbelled roof. The King's Chamber in Khufu's Pyramid
is unusual in having a flat roof of
beams, while the Queen's chamber is pitched. The Grand Gallery,
however, is a truly .magnificent example of a corbelled roof, rising
at 26.5 degrees to the horizontal
