Sometimes our best just isn't good enough.

I have a feeling we can all relate to that, whether it's a test in school or performance

on a new work project or a relationship that's not working out, sometimes we try and fail.

Like the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, Sneferu, he ruled over his kingdom around 2600 BCE and

like a lot of the rulers of his era, he wanted to build.

He was interested in breaking new ground, doing fresh things and setting higher benchmarks,

and for him, that meant mastering the pyramid.

His first attempt is known as the Maedom pyramid.

He had seen what Dozer had tried to build at Sakara, what archaeologists today call the

step pyramid and wanted to improve upon it, but it seems the structure was never fully

completed.

His second attempt is known as the Bent pyramid for a very obvious reason.

It's much more smooth in its construction, with the large steps replaced with continuous

sides, but you can't miss how the angle of those sides changes about halfway up.

It's almost as if Sneferu realized that he'd bitten off a bit more than he could chew

and became less ambitious.

Thus, the pyramid looks blunted as if someone had squashed it a bit.

But on his last pyramid, he seemed to have nailed it.

While it isn't as tall as the great pyramid, the red pyramid has the same classic shape.

It looks like a pyramid, which is what he'd been aiming for all those years.

It just took him a while to figure it out.

Humans are tenacious creatures.

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