Egyptian pyramids

The pyramids of Egypt, some of which are among the largest man-made constructions ever conceived {{an|pyramids_large_structures}}, constitute one of the most potent and enduring symbols of Ancient Egyptian civilization. Although no ancient Egyptian rulers have been found buried in an Egyptian pyramid, it is generally accepted by most archaeologists that they were constructed as burial monuments associated with royal solar and stellar cults, and most were built during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods{{an|when_pyramids_built}}. Egyptian homes were built on the east bank of the river, the land where the Sun rises. Egyptians built the pyramids on the west bank of the River Nile. They believed this was the land of the dead, because the Sun sets there.{{an|west_bank_hell}}

Construction techniques

The techniques used to construct Egypt's pyramids may have initially been developed by trial and error{{an|trial_and_error}}, and then further evolved based on local economics, resources, and other considerations, over the thousand year pyramid-building phase of Egyptian civilisation.

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Contrary to popular belief, scholars do not believe that the pyramids of Egypt were built by Hebrew slaves or that they were built by slaves at all. The Hebrews came probably during the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom and by then pyramid building was a thing of the far past. Recently-found worker tombs have shown how pyramids were made and how important workers were: the pyramid workers were paid craftsmen, not slaves, and they had their own city at Giza.

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During the earliest period, in the Third and Fourth Dynasties, pyramids were constructed wholly of stone. Granite (quarried in Aswan and transported downstream by barge) was usually the material of choice for the main body of these pyramids, while limestone was used as the outer casing. In early pyramids, the courses of stone forming the pyramid body were laid sloping inwards; however, this configuration was found to be less stable than simply stacking horizontal courses on top of each other. The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur represents the transition between these two building techniques; its lower section is built of sloping courses, while in its upper section the stones are laid horizontally.

Related Topics:
Aswan - Bent Pyramid - Dahshur

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During the Fifth Dynasty the physical scale of pyramids was much reduced, and poor quality limestone replaced granite as the chief building material. In-filling with loose rubble was also used for the first time. This enabled pyramids to be built with fewer resources over much shorter periods.

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During the Middle Kingdom pyramid construction techniques changed again. Most pyramids built at this time were little more than mountains of mud brick encased in a veneer of polished limestone. In several cases, later pyramids were built on top of natural hills to further reduce the volume of material needed in their construction.

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Paradoxically, the materials and methods of construction used in the earliest pyramids have ensured their survival in a generally much better state of preservation than is the case with the pyramid monuments of later pharaohs.

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