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In a period of great prosperity during his reign, Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhat III (circa 1800 BCE) had a pyramid with a massive substructure built at Hawara. The underground complex was largely dismantled in antiquity, but accounts of its splendor remain, including one from Greek historian Herodotus, who claimed to have seen it. In his Histories (circa 425 BCE), Herodotus writes of 3,000 chambers adorned with carved figures, a dozen courts flanked by white stone pillars, and many winding passages in the complex, characterizing it as a great labyrinth and "an unending marvel."