The Egyptian Pyramids
Symbol Of Ancient Egypt

Since the weight is greatest at the bottom and least at the top, the center of gravity of pyramids is very low - which makes for very stable buildings. That's why many of the ancient pyramids have survived till today.

Other than the Egyptian pyramids (which number over 110) there were other ancient pyramids built in Mesopotamia, Greece, Mexico, Rome and other places. And these days there are many modern structures built to resemble these old ones, such as the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas.

The oldest pyramids were those of Mesopotamia, not Egypt. But they were built with mud-brick and not much of them survived. The oldest Egyptian pyramid is the Step Pyramid of King Djoser. The largest number of pyramids built was that of the Nubian civilization, over 200 of them. They were inspired by the Egyptian pyramids and were used as royal tombs also.

The functions of pyramids differed from civilization to civilization. Those in Mexico were used for human sacrifice.

But still, the most famous are the Egyptian - used as tombs for royalty. Many of them were built into complexes containing mortuary temples and some even included pits with buried ancient Egyptian boats used for the king's journey in the afterlife.

Function of the Egyptian Pyramids

The shape of the pyramids (serving as tombs) has a lot to do with religious symbolism.

First of all, they reflect the shape of the primordial mound of creation "benben". According to the Egyptian creation myth, which describes how the world was born, benben was an earthly mound that appeared out of the water and produced the first God.

They derived this shape after originally covering pit graves with mounds of dirt, later refining the technique and style until reaching the final pyramid shape. How the pyramids were built is still a very popular topic today. Click here to learn about the Construction of Ancient Egyptian Pyramids

Some Note-Worthy Egyptian Pyramids

Other than the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Step Pyramid, there are a few others worth mentioning.

The Bent Pyramid

This is one of King Snefru's pyramids - there were 3 built during his reign.
While the workers were building it they had to change its design due to some problems with the foundation. The weight of the stones started sinking it into the ground.

To counteract this, they changed the angle of the slope from 60 degrees to 44 degrees, resulting in a bend halfway up.

After it was finished, the king abandoned it as his last resting place and decided to build another tomb: the Red Pyramid.

The Red Pyramid

The reason it's called the Red Pyramid is due to the color of the granite used in its making.

You can see both of Senefru's pyramids in Dahshur, which is about 25 miles (40 km) south of Cairo.

The Meidum Pyramid

This pyramid was first built as a step pyramid, but then was converted into a true pyramid by filling in the steps and adding an outer casing.

It was begun by King Huni and then completed after his death by his son King Snefru.

At first it was to have 7 steps, but was then enlarged to have 8 steps.

But after collapsing, only 3 steps are visible from the ground.

You can still visit it today in Meidum, which is about 62 miles (100 km) south of Cairo.

Most Egyptian pyramids, including those mentioned so far, were built during the Old Kingdom of Egypt. This kingdom was also called "The Age of the Pyramids".

There were a few other spurts of pyramid building during the course of the 3,000 years of Egyptian history, but none rivaled those of the Old Kingdom.

The building of the royal pyramids finally ceased at the beginning of the New Kingdom, with Pharaohs preferring hidden tombs in the hills instead.



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