PYRAMIDS. For more than a millennium—from tlte twenty-seventh century bce to the early sixteentli century
BCE—pyramids served as monumental funerary structures (tombs) for the kings of Egypt and sometimes also their principal queens. Pyramids have a square base and four sloping, triangular sides (most have an angle of incline of between 50 and 54 degrees) that meet at the top and are oriented toward the cardinal points. There were two major periods of pyramid construction: tlie Old Kingdom (third-sixtlt dynasties, c. 2700-2190 bce) and the Middle Kingdom-early Second Intermediate period (mid-eleventh-thirteentli dynasties, c. 2033-1633 bce). From the fourth dynasty onward, each pyramid had its own name.
The Egyptian word for pyramid, mr, is of uncertain origin. The hieroglyphic determinative (meaning sign) in the word shows a pyramid witlt one side of an enclosure wall around tire base. The English word pyramid comes not from the Egyptian term, but from a Greek word, pyramis, meaning “wheaten cake.”
Most Old Kingdom pyramids were built in the Memphite necropolis, which stretches about 80 Itm (50 mi.) north-south from Abu Roash to Meidum, along the edge of the desert plateau west of the Nile River. Pyramid complexes were built close enough to the river to facilitate the hauling of heavy stone blocks on sledges from river barges to the construction site, where they were dragged up ramps and set into position with tlie aid of levers. The core of an Old Kingdom pyramid generally was of local limestone, with the smoothed casing blocks made of fine limestone from the quarries at Tura on the east bank of the Nile, south of Cairo; the lower levels of some pyramids were faced with granite blocks.
From tlie fourtlt dynasty onward, the standard pyramid complex contained several basic elements: a valley temple where tire Idng’s body underwent purification and mummification, a mortuary temple for rite daily cult of the deceased king, and a long connecting causeway, all on tlie east side of the pyramid; one or two enclosure walls around the pyramid itself; and a small pyramid south or soutlteast of the main pyramid, perhaps for tlte spirit (Egyp., ka) of the dead ruler. The passage leading to tlte burial chamber normally began on tlie north side of tlie pyramid in the Old ICingdom, but was switched to one of the other sides in the twelftli dynasty. A pyramid-shaped stone (pyrarnidion) served as the capstone for tlie pyramid. Finally, tliere might be one or more subsidiary pyramids or shaft tombs for important queens.
The history of Egyptian pyramids begins in tlie early dynastic period (first-second dynasties, c. 3100-2700 bce). At that time, botli royalty and important officials were interred in funerary structures now known as mastabas (Ar., “benches”). These tombs, which first appeared just prior to the first dynasty, were so named because they looked like the benches outside tlie homes of modern Egyptians. Early mastabas had a rectangular mud-brick superstructure with internal cells and a flat top, and a subterranean burial pit (often divided by walls into a series of chambers). Some first-dynasty mastabas at Saqqara had a brick-enclosed mound of rubble and sand immediately above tire burial pit. The outer support for these internal mounds developed into a series of brick-encased “steps,” or terraces (as in the case of tomb 3038 at Saqqara, attributed to King Anedjib or his reign). Already in the early first dynasty, a long pit was sometimes dug outside tlte mastaba’s enclosure wall to contain a boat, perhaps intended for use by tlie deceased in the afterworld. (Boats occur in conjunction with both royal and private mastabas during the early dynastic period; in the Old Kingdom these ships have been found only with royal burials.) In addition, small models of buildings of uncertain function were occasionally constructed outside the tomb (e. g., at tomb 3357 at Saqqara, attributed to King Aha or his reign). An innovation of the second dynasty was the conversion of the mastaba superstructure into a mass of rubble enclosed in brick, with an increase in the number of rooms in the substructure. Another change was the use (at Helwan, on the east bank of the Nile) of stone for some architectural elements in private tombs.
The “step pyramids” of the third dynasty mark the transition from mastaba to pyramid. The most famous of these structures is the Step Pyramid of Netjerilchet (later Imown as Djoser) at Saqqara. The architect of this extraordinary complex was Imhotep. The Step Pyramid began as a square mastaba built entirely of limestone blocks (the oldest preserved building in Egypt made entirely of stone). Subsequently, the mastaba was enlarged on all four sides to form a rectangular structure, and a series of progressively smaller “mastabas” was placed on top of it. The resulting tomb had six levels and was about 62 m (204 ft.) high. A deep shaft beneath the original mastaba led to the burial chamber and a network of rooms and corridors.
A conglomeration of buildings set within a rectangular limestone enclosure wall nearly 10 m (33 ft.) high surrounded the Step Pyramid. A courtyard southeast of the pyramid was flanked on its east and west by a series of small dummy structures; this complex was designed to allow Ne-tjerikhet to perform his periodic jubilee ceremony (Egyp., heb-sed) in the afterworld. A mastaba with subterranean chambers at the southern end of the Step Pyramid complex may have served as the king’s cenotaph. The engaged columns in the Step Pyramid complex are the oldest known columns in Egypt; the builder’s failure to let the pillars stand alone may reflect his lack of confidence in the structural integrity of stone columns.
The fourth dynasty saw the construction of the earliest as well as the largest of the true pyramids. The first Idng of the dynasty, Snefru, built two pyramids at Dahshur. The southern pyramid is often called the Bent Pyramid because it has a change in angle about halfway up tlte sides. The later, northern pyramid was designed from the start as a true pyramid. Snefru also completed as a true pyramid a step pyramid possibly started by his third-dynasty predecessor, Pluni, at Meidum. Because of a structural failure, the outer casing of that pyramid later collapsed, leaving the structure looking like a pyramid having three steps.
The pyramids erected at Giza by several pharaohs of the fourth dynasty—Khufu (Gk., Cheops), Khafre (Gk., Che-phren), and Menltaure (Gk., Mycerinus)—are the best-luiown monuments of ancient Egypt. The largest of the three great pyramids, that of Khufu, originally contained an estimated 2,300,00 blocks weighing an average of 2.5 tons, stood about 145 m (481 ft.) high, and was 229 m (756 ft.) long at the base of each side. The structure has tliree burial chambers: an unfinished one below ground level, a second chamber (popularly known as the Queen’s Chamber) just above the base of the pyramid, and the magnificent King’s Chamber near the center of the structure. The King’s Chamber was lined and roofed with huge granite blocks and was reached through a 46-meter-long (153 ft.) ascending corridor known as the Grand Gallery. Herodotus reports tliat one hundred thousand men labored twenty years to build Khufu’s pyramid, and another ten years to construct its causeway. Regardless of whether these figures have a factual basis, large numbers of workmen would have been available during the annual flood season, when work in the fields came to a halt.
On the eastern and southern sides of Khufu’s pyramid was a series of pits for the royal funerary barges. One of these boats was uncovered in 1954 in a pit immediately south of the pyramid. When reconstructed, tlte ship, built mostly of Lebanese cedar, was found to be approximately 43 m (143 ft.) long.
Close to the Giza pyramids is a series of small pyramids for some of tlie queens, while nearby tliere are extensive fields of mastaba tombs for major officials, important mortuary priests, and members of the royal family. On the north side of the valley temple of Kliafre’s pyramid is the Sphinx, an enormous rock sculpture (about 72 nt [240 ft.] long and 20 m [66 ft.] high) in the form of a recumbent lion with a head that is a representation of the king himself
The last ruler of the fourth dynasty, Shepseskaf, constructed a tomb at Saqqara Imown as the Mastabat Fara'un. Built in the form of a huge stone sarcophagus with a vaulted roof, this structure lies outside tlte evolutionary patlt of tlte Old Kingdom pyramid.
Change and innovation highlight pyramid construction in the fifth-sixth dynasties. A gradual weakening in the authority of the central administration resulted in a decline in the size of the mastaba fields, many officials choosing to be buried in provincial cemeteries rather than near their king. The pyramids tltemselves were smaller than their fourth-dynasty predecessors and often had cores of small limestone blocks. The pyramids of the fifth dynasty were built at Saqqara (for Userkaf, Djedkare Isesi, and Wenis) and Abu Sir (for Sahure, Neferirkare, Neuserre, and an unidentified
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