The pyramid of Khui is an ancient Egyptian funerary structure datable to the early First Intermediate Period (2181 BC – 2055 BC) and located in the royal necropolis of Dara, near Manfalut in Middle Egypt and close to the entrance of the Dakhla Oasis. It is generally attributed to Khui, a kinglet belonging either to the 8th Dynasty or a provincial nomarch proclaiming himself king in a time when central authority had broken down, c. 2150 BC. The pyramid complex of Khui included a mortuary temple and a mud brick enclosure wall which, like the main pyramid, are now completely ruined. Excavations History of research The ruined pyramid was first mentioned in a 1912 article of the Annales du service des antiquités de l'Égypte by the Egyptian Egyptologist Ahmed Kamal. Later, between 1946 and 1948, the complex was explored by Raymond Weill. Due both to the ruined state of the structure and to the building's atypical architecture, Kamal believed it to be a huge mastaba while Weill thought it was a pyramid. Even today, in spite of the fact that the building is commonly considered to be a pyramid—and possibly a step pyramid—it is not possible to determine with certainty which type of tomb it was, and one cannot exclude that it was indeed a mastaba. Attribution No name of the owner was found on the pyramid site; however excavations of a tomb located immediately south of the pyramid yielded a stone block with a relief bearing the cartouche ḫwj , that is Khui, the nomen of an hitherto unknown pharaoh. The block could come from the mortuary temple of the pyramid complex, traces of which may have been discovered North of the pyramid. However, the identification of Khui as the owner of the complex, although commonly accepted, is still unproven. Main structure The remains of the structure today looks similar to the first step of a step pyramid however, as pointed out above, it remains impossible to ascert that the structure was a pyramid. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the structure was completed or not. The ground plan of the main structure is rectangular and measures x . The mudbrick walls of the pyramid are slanted inwards and are up to thick. This large shell, whose corners are rounded with a radius of curvature of , surrounds an empty inner space which was probably filled by sand and gravel.