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Famous failure. Only the core of the pyramid at Meidum still stands, surrounded by the rubble of its collapsed facing. Built either by Pharaoh Sneferu (2575–2551 B.C.E.) or his father Pharaoh Hu—or perhaps begun by Hu and finished by Sneferu—the Meidum pyramid began as a step pyramid, to which was added an outer sloping layer of limestone to form the first pyramid with planar sides. This facing began to slide down, however, because the 75° angle-of-incline was too great, for the facing to adhere. Probably as the result of this failure, the ancient Egyptians immediately modified a pyramid then under construction, the so-called Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (see photograph).