Soon after the bend in the Bent Pyramid began to take shape, Snefru ordered another pyramid to be built nearby, the Red, or North, Pyramid. It would be Snefru's third attempt at a classic, smooth-sided pyramid, and it was a charm—an elegant precursor to the Great Pyramids at Giza.

The Red Pyramid boasted a single burial chamber that was accessed through two smaller chambers. Snefru may have been buried here, and it seems likely that his son, Pharaoh Khufu, hurriedly finished construction after his father's death.

It is also possible that Snefru was buried in Mastaba 17, a tomb near the Maidum Pyramid. There archaeologists discovered a red granite sarcophagus, which still contained human remains. The sarcophagus was shipped to the British Museum in 1910, but before it could be studied more closely, the remains were lost.

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North Pyramid photograph by Stephen St. John.