The Lost Labyrinth of Egypt - Secrets Beneath the Pyramid of Amenemhat III in Hawara

Arriving from the north over the Nile floodplain, the green fields give way to the desert edge of the Fayum depression. At Hawara, just south of the Bahr Yussef canal, the ruined pyramid of Amenemhat III rises above the plain.

Beneath this ground lies one of Egypt’s greatest wonders, the lost labyrinth. Built during the reign of Amenemhat III around 1800 BC and later adorned by his daughter Sobekneferu, it was a vast temple and ceremonial center, described by ancient writers as surpassing even the pyramids.

Herodotus spoke of twelve great courts and three thousand chambers. Strabo and Pliny the Elder repeated the marvels, placing it beside the pyramid itself. For centuries it seemed to have vanished, thought dismantled and lost.

Yet modern technology tells a different story. Ground surveys and LIDAR imaging reveal buried patterns south of the pyramid—an immense grid of chambers and halls preserved deep below the surface, suggesting the labyrinth was not destroyed, but hidden beneath the sands of Hawara.

Whether remnants of the labyrinth survive intact remains unproven, but its location is clear: Hawara, Fayum Oasis, at 29.2466°N, 30.9081°E.