During the Fifth Dynasty—in the heart of the pyramid age—King Sahure built a great pyramid complex for himself at Abusir, a few miles south of Giza, which is part of present day Cairo. The king was buried below the pyramid, but the rituals that guaranteed his eternal life took place in the pyramid temple that was attached to it. This massive column is one of sixteen that surrounded an open courtyard in that temple. It is a single block of granite and was originally over twenty feet high. It was quarried at Aswan and ferried downstream to Abusir—a sizable distance of over five hundred miles.

Look up at the upper end of this massive column. This type of Egyptian column probably imitates a wooden pole to whose top fronds of the date palm tree have been lashed with a rope. Between the column shaft and the palm-branch capital, five rings of rope have been carved. The loop that has been carved in shallow relief below these rings is the end of the rope, which has been tucked under to fasten it in place.

Many elements in pharaonic architecture are stylized representations of very early wood and reed structures. Transferred into stone, these representations became standardized artistic forms. They were used throughout the history of Egyptian art.