Pharaoh Menkaure built the smallest of the three main pyramids at Giza.
Menkaure was the last of the three principal Giza pyramid builders, following Khufu and Khafre during Egypt’s Fourth Dynasty. His pyramid formed the centre of a funerary complex with a mortuary temple, valley temple, causeway, and three smaller subsidiary pyramids traditionally associated with queens or royal funerary purposes.
The monument originally measured about 65.5 metres high, making it dramatically smaller than Khufu’s and Khafre’s pyramids. Its builders used local limestone for much of the structure, Aswan granite for lower courses and parts of the casing, and Tura limestone higher up. Some granite casing was left unfinished, probably because the project was incomplete when Menkaure died.
Menkaure is sometimes confused with Khafre because both pyramids belong to the same royal complex. Khufu built the largest pyramid, Khafre the second-largest, and Djoser built the much earlier Step Pyramid at Saqqara rather than any Giza pyramid.