Egypt pyramids: The ancient miracle

The pyramids of Egypt fascinated travellers and conquerors in ancient times and continue to inspire wonder in the tourists, mathematicians, and archeologists who visit, explore, measure, and describe them.

Tombs of early Egyptian kings were bench-shaped mounds called mastabas. Around 2780 B.C., King Djoser's architect, Imhotep, built the first pyramid by placing six mastabas, each smaller than the one beneath, in a stack to form a pyramid rising in steps. This Step Pyramid stands on the west bank of the Nile River at Sakkara near Memphis. Like later pyramids, it contains various rooms and passages, including the burial chamber of the king.

The Giza pyramids were built during a time when Egypt was one of the richest and most powerful civilizations in the world, the pyramids—especially the Great Pyramids of Giza—are some of the most magnificent man-made structures in history. Their massive scale reflects the unique role that the pharaoh, or king, played in ancient Egyptian society. Though pyramids were built from the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the close of the Ptolemaic period in the fourth century A.D., the peak of pyramid building began with the late third dynasty and continued until roughly the sixth (c. 2325 B.C.). More than 4,000 years later, the Egyptian pyramids still retain much of their majesty, providing a glimpse into the country’s rich and glorious past.

Egypt's pharaohs expected to become gods in the afterlife. To prepare for the next world they erected temples to the gods and massive pyramid tombs for themselves—filled with all the things each ruler would need to guide and sustain himself in the next world.

Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C. His Great Pyramid is the largest in Giza and towers some 481 feet (147 meters) above the plateau. Its estimated 2.3 million stone blocks each weigh an average of 2.5 to 15 tons.

Pyramid-building techniques

The techniques used to build the Giza pyramids were developed over a period of centuries, with all of the problems and setbacks that any modern-day scientist or engineer would face.

Pyramids originated from simple rectangular "mastaba" tombs that were being constructed in Egypt over 5,000 years ago. During the reign of the pharaoh Djoser, his mastaba tomb at Saqqara started off as a simple rectangular tomb before being developed into a six-layered step pyramid with underground tunnels and chambers.

Then during the reign of the pharaoh Snefru, he built at least three pyramids, rather than constructing step pyramids, Snefru's architects developed methods to design smooth-faced pyramids. However, one of the pyramids he constructed at the site of Dahshur is known today as the "bent pyramid" because the angle of the pyramid changes partway up.

Snefru's son, Khufu, would use the lessons from his father and earlier predecessors to construct the "Great Pyramid," the largest pyramid in the world.

Surprising facts about the Egyptian Pyramids

They weren’t all pointed

All pyramids aren’t created equal. In fact, just as with many building types, there are distinct phases to pyramid construction. The earliest pyramids aren’t the pointed structures we most commonly think of but were actually flat.

Most pyramids were built west of the Nile

Ancient Egyptian culture is full of symbolism and superstitions that guided decision making. So it should come as no surprise that even the location of the ancient pyramids were guided by mythology.

Most were built on the west bank of the Nile, as the pyramids were the final resting places of pharaohs, it only makes sense they should reside where their souls can begin their journey into the afterlife. For ancient Egyptians, the afterlife and the sun were closely intertwined.

We are still figuring out how they were built

One of the biggest mysteries about the Egyptian pyramids is the construction techniques used to erect them. The incredible feat of the Egyptians is all the more impressive when taking into consideration that over 2 million limestone and granite blocks were used to build the Great Pyramid of Giza. Each piece of masonry weighed about 2.5 tons (2.3 metric tons). So how were these giant blocks moved? Unfortunately, the Egyptians didn’t leave behind written records, and many theories have been proposed over the years.

The Egyptians used astronomy to guide constructions

According to a British Egyptologist, the stars were a guiding force in how the pyramids were aligned. Kate Spence of Cambridge University published research in 2000 that demonstrates how the Big Dipper and Little Dipper were used to align the pyramids in a north-south direction.

So accurate were their measurements that they only have a margin of error of up to 0.05 degrees. Interestingly, with this information in hand, it’s possible to date the pyramids using astronomical records.

They weren’t built by slaves

The Greek historian Herodotus helped spread the idea that slaves built the pyramids through his writing. This concept was then propagated by Hollywood, but might not be true. In the 1990s, the graves of the pyramid builders were discovered. Egyptologists are quite sure they were not slaves, but rather builders who came from lower income families.

Their burial in a tomb shows that their role in building the pyramids was an honor, and certainly was not a treatment that would have been given to slaves.

The Pyramids Today

Tomb robbers and other vandals in both ancient and modern times removed most of the bodies and funeral goods from Egypt’s pyramids and plundered their exteriors as well. Stripped of most of their smooth white limestone coverings, the Great Pyramids no longer reach their original heights; Khufu’s, for example, measures only 451 feet high. Nonetheless, millions of people continue to visit the pyramids each year, drawn by their towering grandeur and the enduring allure of Egypt’s rich and glorious past.