Egypt's Bent Pyramid opens to visitors Published duration 13 July 2019

Egypt has opened to visitors the Bent Pyramid near Cairo, in a move that is part of a wider push to boost tourism.

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The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur was built for pharaoh Snefru about 2,600BC, and was originally designed as a "true" pyramid with the steep 54-degree angle.

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But the pyramid was being built on soft, silty clay - and there was a problem with stability and subsidence. This was solved by adjusting the angle to a flatter 43 degrees, 147ft (45m) up the face.

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The angular shape contrasts with the straight sides of the Red Pyramid just to the north.

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Visitors can now clamber down a 79m narrow tunnel from a raised entrance on the Bent Pyramid's northern side to reach two chambers deep inside the structure.

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Archaeologists also presented mummies, masks and tools discovered during continuing excavation works that began near the Dahshur pyramids last year.

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Tourism is an important source of revenue for the country.

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