Egyptian pyramids

The Egyptian pyramids are ancient stone structures in Egypt. Most were built as tombs for the pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods. At least 138 identified pyramids have been discovered in Egypt. About 80 pyramids were built within the Kingdom of Kush, in what is now the country of Sudan.

The earliest known Egyptian pyramids are at Saqqara, west of Memphis. Step-pyramid-like structures, such as Mastaba 3808, which is linked to the pharaoh Anedjib, may be even older. The Pyramid of Djoser, built around 2630–2610 BC during the Third Dynasty, and its surrounding complex are generally considered the world's oldest large structures made of dressed masonry.

The most famous Egyptian pyramids are at Giza, on the edge of Cairo. For more about this group, see the Giza pyramid complex. Several of the Giza pyramids are counted among the largest structures ever built. The Pyramid of Khufu is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It is also the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing, even though it is the oldest of them by about 2,000 years.

Recent archeological research at Giza suggests that building the pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty depended heavily on transport along the Nile River. Sediment cores show signs of a harbor connected to the Nile that worked along the Giza plateau during Khufu's reign. Researchers say this port system helped move large amounts of limestone blocks and other materials, which shows how important waterways were to building in the Old Kingdom.

Name

The Egyptian word for a pyramid is mr, written with the symbol 𓉴 (O24 in Gardiner's sign list). Three other signs come before mr, and they are used to show sounds. The meaning of mr is unclear, because the word only refers to the pyramid itself. Some similar building words are different. For example, the word for "temple" (ḥwt-nṯr) is made of the words for "house" and "god."

Based on how it is written, mr uses the same sign, O24, as benben. The benben is the mound of existence that rose out of the abyss, called nun in the Egyptian creation myth. The top piece of pyramids and obelisks was named benbenet, which is the feminine form of benben, so the words are linked.

Historical development

Before the Egyptian pyramids, people in the Eastern Sahara built tumuli with large stone monuments as early as 4700 BC, in the Saharan region of Niger. Fekri Hassan (2002) suggests these monuments may have been early models for the mastabas and pyramids of ancient Egypt. Tumuli were also found in Predynastic Egypt at places such as Naqada and Helwan. From the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150–2686 BC), Egyptians who could afford it were buried in bench-like structures called mastabas. The first historically documented Egyptian pyramid is credited to the pharaoh Djoser of the 3rd Dynasty. Egyptologists often credit his vizier Imhotep as its architect. The Pyramid of Djoser was first built as a square, mastaba-like structure and was expanded several times into a stepped pyramid. Egyptologists believe this design acted as a giant stairway for the pharaoh's soul to climb to the heavens.

Other pyramids were tried in the 3rd Dynasty, but it was the 4th Dynasty, moving from the step pyramid to a true pyramid shape, that produced the great pyramids of Meidum and Dahshur. The last pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty, Shepseskaf, did not build a pyramid. Later pyramids were smaller and less well built. By the end of the 6th Dynasty, pyramid building had largely stopped, and large pyramids were not built again until the Middle Kingdom, when mudbrick became the main building material instead of stone. Much later, a burst of pyramid building took place in what is now Sudan, after much of Egypt came under the rule of the Kingdom of Kush, which was based at Napata. Napatan rule, known as the 25th Dynasty, lasted from 750 BC to 664 BC. During the Meroitic period, when the kingdom was centered on Meroë, about 180 royal pyramid-tombs were built near the capital cities in a pyramid-building revival. Long after this, Al-Aziz Uthman, the second Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, tried to destroy the Giza pyramid complex. He gave up after only damaging the Pyramid of Menkaure, because the task was too large.

Pyramid symbolism

The shape of Egyptian pyramids is thought to represent the primordial mound from which the Egyptians believed the earth was created. It may also stand for the rays of the sun coming down to the ground. Most pyramids were covered in polished, shiny white limestone so they would look brilliant from far away. Some pyramids were named after this shining. The formal name of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur was The Southern Shining Pyramid, and the name of Senusret II's pyramid at El Lahun was Senusret Shines.

Most experts agree that pyramids were burial monuments, but people still disagree about the beliefs that led to them. One idea is that they were designed as a kind of "resurrection machine." The Egyptians believed that the dark area of the night sky, around which the stars appear to revolve, was a gateway into the heavens. One of the narrow shafts in the Great Pyramid points straight toward the center of this part of the sky. This suggests the pyramid may have been meant to send the pharaoh's soul into the home of the gods. All Egyptian pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile, which was linked to the setting sun and to the realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology.

Number and location of pyramids

In 1842, Karl Richard Lepsius made the first modern list of pyramids, now called the Lepsius list of pyramids. He counted 67 pyramids, and many more have been found since then. At least 118 Egyptian pyramids have been identified. Pyramid 29, which Lepsius called the "Headless Pyramid," was lost twice, first when desert sand covered it after his survey and again later, until it was found during a dig in 2008. Many pyramids are in poor condition or buried by sand, so they may look like little more than piles of rubble. Archaeologists keep finding and studying pyramids that were unknown before. The most recent discovery was the pyramid of Neith, a wife of Teti. For a fuller list, see the List of Egyptian pyramids.

All of Egypt's pyramids are on the west bank of the Nile, except the small Third Dynasty pyramid at Zawyet el-Maiyitin. Most are grouped into pyramid fields. From north to south, the main fields include Abu Rawash, where the Pyramid of Djedefre stands; the Giza Plateau, home to the Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Menkaure and the Great Sphinx of Giza; Zawyet el-Aryan, between Giza and Abusir; Saqqara, with the Pyramid of Djoser; Dahshur, with the Bent Pyramid, the Red Pyramid and the Black Pyramid; Mazghuna; Lisht; Meidum; Hawara; El Lahun; El-Kurru; and Nuri.

Construction techniques

Main article: Egyptian pyramid construction techniques

Further information: Diary of Merer

Building the pyramids meant moving huge amounts of stone. Most blocks came from nearby quarries, but special stones were carried on great barges from far away, such as white limestone from Tura and granite from Aswan.

In 2013, papyrus records called the Diary of Merer were found at an ancient Egyptian harbor on the Red Sea coast. These logbooks, written over 4,500 years ago, track the transport of white limestone from Tura to the Great Pyramid of Giza, the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu. Blocks may have been moved on wooden sleds, with wet sand in front to reduce friction. Workers cut the stones close to the building site, and the finished blocks were placed on prepared foundations.