The pyramidion of Amenemhat III is the capstone that once crowned the Black Pyramid at Dashur, Egypt.
Crafted around 1850 BC, towards the end of the 12th Dynasty during the Middle Kingdom, it remained mostly intact and is now located in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
In 1900, the then-director of the Department of Antiquities Gaston Maspero had Dashur inspected, after the guards at the Saqqara necropolis were attacked by robbers. On the east side of the pyramid of Amenemhat, a grey block was found sticking out of the sand, which, upon closer inspection, was decorated with beautiful inscriptions. After excavation, the pyramidion was transported to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The pyramidion, carved out of single piece of basalt (often called black granite), is mostly intact apart from a broken corner. With a height of 1.40 metres (4.6 ft) and base length 1.85 metres (6.1 ft), it weighs around 4.5 tonnes (9,900 lb). The bottom edges are undercut to keep the block in position atop the pyramid.
The four upper faces were polished and inscribed.[2] The side which pointed to the east is adorned with a winged sun disk flanked by two uraei. Below, two wedjat represent the eyes of the king himself. Further down, three nefer signs stand for beauty or perfection. Finally, a sun disk represents the god Ra, from which the throne name of Amenemhat “Ni-maat-re” extends to the right and his personal name “Imen-em-hat” to the left. As a whole, the composition reads: “Amenemhat beholds the perfection of Ra”.