The mortuary temple was a voluminous, rectangular building oriented along the east-west axis, and situated on a level surface built from two layers of limestone blocks in front of the main pyramid's east face.
In its layout, Sahure's mortuary temple represented the "conceptual beginning" of all subsequent such temples of the Old Kingdom.
It contained five basic elements, exemplified in the temple of Khafre: an entrance hall, an open courtyard, a five niche statue chapel, an offering hall, and storerooms.
The dominant building material used in its construction, here as elsewhere, was limestone, but substantial valuable materials such as red and black granite, alabaster and basalt were also incorporated.
The temple's outer façade was measured to be inclined at 82° up to a cavetto cornice with torus mould.
The mortuary temple was a voluminous, rectangular building oriented along the east-west axis, and situated on a level surface built from two layers of limestone blocks in front of the main pyramid's east face. In its layout, Sahure's mortuary temple represented the "conceptual beginning" of all subsequent such temples of the Old Kingdom. It contained five basic elements, exemplified in the temple of Khafre: an entrance hall, an open courtyard, a five niche statue chapel, an offering hall, and storerooms. The dominant building material used in its construction, here as elsewhere, was limestone, but substantial valuable materials such as red and black granite, alabaster and basalt were also incorporated. The temple's outer façade was measured to be inclined at 82° up to a cavetto cornice with torus mould.
Pyramid of Sahure