The pyramid owner is not known for certain and most Egyptologists, such as Miroslav Verner, think it should be a king known under his hellenized name, Bikheris, perhaps from the Egyptian Baka.

[4] Gaston Maspero, then director-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, visited Barsanti's excavations and was struck by the monumental size of the construction.

At first, the immensity of the task undertaken by the Egyptians will not appear to them, it is only at the bottom of the stairway, when they will walk upon the granite pavement that it will become obvious.

The size and richness of the materials, the perfection of the cuts and joints, the peerless finish of the granite tank, the boldness of structure and the sheer height of the walls, everything comes together to compose this so far unique ensemble.

It is an awe inspiring shock and nowhere is the power and mastery of the old Egyptian architects so suddenly and strongly obvious as here.Barsanti undertook further work on the site in 1911–1912 but the First World War brought all excavations to a halt and Barsanti died in 1917.

Consequently, no excavations are allowed, the necropolis surrounding the pyramid is overbuilt with military bungalows and the shaft is misused as a local dump.

[1][5][6] The pyramid of Baka is located in the Northern sector of Zawyet El Aryan, around 8 km (5.0 mi) south-west of Giza, in the North-Eastern corner of the military restricted area.

[11] Jürgen von Beckerath and George Reisner instead think that the pyramid was planned as the tomb for a well attested prince of the 4th Dynasty named Baka, a son of king Djedefre.

Beckerath assumes that Baka changed his name into Bakarê ("Soul and Ka of Râ") when he ascended the throne but then died unexpectedly, leaving nothing more than an unfinished tomb shaft.

[12][13] Aidan Dodson instead sees a sitting Seth-animal and therefore reads the name found in the pyramid as Seth-Ka ("Seth is my Ka").

Dodson doubts the reading "Baka" and wonders why the cartouche name at Zawyet El Aryan contains no sun-hieroglyph when it was meant to be addressed to the sun god.

Supporting this datation, von Beckerath, Reisner and Dodson point to the architectural features of the burial shaft, in particular the use of hewn granite blocks for bases in such sizes occurs no earlier than the reign of Khufu.

Furthermore, von Beckerath, Reisner and Dodson point to the dedication tablet of Djedefre allegedly found by Barsanti near the stairway of the pyramid of Baka as a proof of its 4th Dynasty date.

[1][5][6] Kurt Sethe, Nabil Swelim and Wolfgang Helck contradict the former arguments and date the shaft to the late 3rd Dynasty.

They point out that, in general, the use of hewn granite as a floor covering in royal tombs was a tradition since the reign of king Khasekhemwy, the last pharaoh of 2nd Dynasty.