Why Did Ancient Egypt's Pyramids Really Stand For?
What Ancient Egypt’s Pyramids Really Stand For The harsh desert winds, the burning Egyptian sun, and a couple thousands of years has physically decreased the Great Pyramid of Giza’s height by about thirty-one feet, but has had no effect on its strength and power as a symbol of the wondrous society of ancient Egypt. All of the Egyptians’ pyramids display the hierarchy, social values, their education, and their religious beliefs. Thus, the symbolic pyramids that ancient Egypt constructed, specifically the Great Pyramid of Giza, hold intricate explanations about the society, its politics and its religion that would otherwise remain unknown. The Great Pyramid was built for King Khufu, and it remains today as a strong microcosm for the society, politics, and religion of ancient Egypt. King Khufu, who was the second king of the Fourth Dynasty of his family, reigned from around 2589 to 2566 B.C.E. The construction of
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this very powerful, often ruthless tyrant’s pyramid most likely began right after he took the throne. 1 The inner casing of the monument consists of 2.3 million low-grade limestone blocks, each weighing from two to fifteen tons. Serving as an outer casing and covering for the inner walls, fine white limestone was used. The first-rate ivory Turah limestone was difficult to quarry, as it was often rare and far away from the building sites. The large chunks of stone were moved to the pyramid site on huge wooden carts pulled by oxen. The floors were composed of basalt, alabaster, and sparse pink granite. 2 Over time, many theses have been created to explain how the towering memorial was built. Perhaps the most common included a workforce of twenty-thousand men during a twenty year period. The most reasonable explanation of how the ancient Egyptians moved the gargantuan blocks on the pyramid is by a large sloping and encircling ramp that increased in height and length as the pyramid rose. The stone blocks were then hauled up it by means of wheels and levers. 3 There are various theories of why this monument was built. The most obvious was that it served as a tomb for the Great King Khufu and was constructed by the ancient Egyptian men. Geologist George Schoch and writer James McNally, however, believe that the pyramid was not built as a tomb, since no mummy has been found inside, and instead served for different mythological purposes throughout various eras. From 1500 to 5000 B.C.E. they predict that it was used for ritual training and initiation. 4 Another theory was that it served as a reverence site for the stars, particularly those in Orion’s belt and the Gods they represented. This will be discussed to more detail later. But, whether it was built as a tomb or a ritual place, the Great Pyramid of Giza displays some political particulars of the ancient Egyptian’s society as well. Without a strong central government, the memorial wouldn’t have been able to be built. The country was largely centralized by elite estates that helped provide the resources needed for the pyramid’s construction. On both a local and central level, high organization and powerful administration was needed to manage the workforce, resources, and tools for the construction. Therefore, the ancient Egyptians had to have immense affluence to not only delve into the building the structures, but also the advanced mathematics and science that was involved in the building. Much of this prosperity came from the economy that was guided by the bureaucracy, meaning the government officials assessed the crops, reallocated the land, and collected part of the products as taxes. With this organization and just and equal system, ancient Egypt’s economy grew stronger. The society’s wealth developed from mostly agriculture, including vegetables, grain, cattle, pigs, goats, and fish were valuable entities in the market. Often run by wealthier noblemen, small factories that made linen and beer also contributed to the civilization’s wealth. Due to this wealth, the nation was able to advance in the areas of both mathematics and architecture. They used the golden ratio in the Great Pyramid. The area of half the base is 115.182 meters, and the slant height was 186.369 meters. If you divide the slant height by half the area of the base, you get 1.6180, which is the approximate value of the proportion. Also, there are some additional astonishing proportions involved with the number pi and the dimensions of the Great Pyramid. When multiplied by two pi, you get the exact perimeter of the pyramid. Perhaps a coincidence, but maybe not, the height of the pyramid’s triangular sides in relation to the area of half of the area of each of the sides is the ratio eighty-nine to fifty-five, which are the ninth and tenth terms of the Fibonacci sequence. A unique feature of the Great Pyramid’s architecture is its concave faces. Not discovered until the era of aviation, as it is not visible to the human eye from ground level, its slightly indented sides display a grand knowledge of sturdy architecture. The amazingly precise indentations of one degree that divide the sides into equal halves prevented the sides from sliding and allowed better bonding in the internal structures. 5 Additionally, the ancient Egyptians were very intelligent in the tactful way they took advantage of the limited energy sources that were available to them. Their main source, human muscle power, was often used as a tax and sometimes gave people a job. In addition, the heat of the blazing Egyptian sun was utilized to dry mud bricks, which directly aided with the pyramids. They also harnessed the wind to carry their ships up the Nile River, which was a necessary process to transport certain building materials. 6 Along with its political and social meaning, the Great Pyramid of Giza had several religious meanings, as well. One possibility is that it is a part of the ancient Egyptian religion, which was considered of as a “cult of creation.” This claims that the pyramid is a solar symbol, and its shape signifies the Sun’s rays. Instead of a tomb, it is perhaps a sign of religious devotion. 7 As the Sun was a valued part of the ancient Egyptian’s culture, it is not surprising that the pyramid is perfectly aligned with all the directions of the sun: north, south, east, and west. Another parallel with the Sun is that as it was thought of as the chief god, the Great Pyramid is located extremely close to the center of all the continents in the world. In fact, many pyramidologists believe that the meridian line running north and south through the globe actually passes through the pyramid. 8 Not only just the Great Pyramid of Giza, but all the pyramids of ancient Egypt display principal facets of the society’s hierarchy, as well as the society’s remarkable intellectual abilities and morals. Foremost, the prestigious pyramids were built only for viziers, nobles, high priests, and of course the pharaohs. Below them, normal burials occurred for the scribes, craftsmen, soldiers, farmers, and the tomb builders themselves. To add, the pyramids often exhibited the fact that women were indeed subordinate to men. A perfect example is found at the Great Pyramids at Giza. While the Great King Cheops’ pyramid is the largest, his son, King Khafre’s is the second largest. The southernmost of the pyramids was the Pyramid of Menkaure, the son of Khafre. In addition to these three monuments, much smaller pyramids were built for three of Khufu’s wives. A couple of flat-topped pyramids reside for his favorite children. This not only displays that both women could have a fairly prominent position, but still were subordinate to men, but also that elders were highly valued. 9 This reverence of women in particular shows how ancient Egypt was steps ahead of other civilizations that would follow thousands of years after it. As mentioned earlier, the pyramids also displayed how the society had wealth, organization, and resources to build them. Aspects of education were also depicted in the magnificent memorials of ancient Egypt. The hieroglyphics, an advanced writing system, was developed to communicate highly regarded messages of worship to either revered pharaohs or to the gods themselves. Much of the knowledge and understanding of the ancient Egyptian scripts comes from the characters written on the insides of pyramids. They often show the ancient Egyptians’ advanced abilities to write and use their language to appease their gods and respect their honored leaders. Furthermore, it is easy to tell that the ancient Egyptians flourished in the mathematics areas, especially geometry. Often the pyramids had immensely intricate angles and measurements. As an example, the measure of the sloping angles that meet in the point at the pinnacle of the Great Pyramid are all precisely fifty-one degrees. 10 The society obviously had knowledge, too, about equilateral triangles, congruent segments, and the balance of a three-dimensional figure. Besides math, science was also a key part in the construction of the pyramids. The ancient Egyptians knew quite a bit about weather patterns, particularly the wind, as the Great Pyramid of Giza’s location was a difficult one to determine since its builders had to find a place that would hold the massive weight of the structure, but also be in the least amount of destructive wind as possible. They also had a strong understanding of astronomy. For instance, one theory about why the Great Pyramids were built was to serve as a “gateway to the stars.” In the early 1990s, Robert Bauval, a Belgian engineer, discovered that the pyramids’ possibly random arrangement was very close to that of the stars of Orion’s belt, a constellation that was sacred to the ancient Egyptians. It served as their god, Osiris’s home. Furthermore, the four airshafts in the north and south faces of the King’s Chamber and the two in the lower Queen’s chamber would have pointed directly at Orion and the star Sirius, which was sacred to Osiris’s companion, Isis, in roughly 2500 B.C.E. which is around when the pyramid’s construction took place. 11 Moreover, the ancient Egyptian pyramids also showed key ethics in the society. Stability and durability were important values in the society and can be seen by the heavy, hard limestone used to build the sturdy Great Pyramid, which is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World that still stands today. According to Frances W. Chapman, a praised author of various novels about Egypt’s fascinating past, it has a “quality of external existence.” 12 Obviously, its architects and builders designed it to stand forever to show how solid their civilization was. In addition, the pyramids also proved how the people truly valued divine piety. As stated earlier, the thousands of workers spent many years quarrying and hauling 2.3 million blocks that weighed well over a ton each to build the monument that was most likely created to worship Pharaoh Khufu, who at the time was the closest person to their Gods. That would not have been done if the Ancient Egyptians hadn’t sincerely and hugely respected their deities. Lastly, the pyramids illustrated the vital characteristic of balance, or Ma’at, in ancient Egyptian society. They thought of King Cheops as the Perfect Man: a figure “of Peace, Steadfastness, Consubstantiality, Fixity, and Adoration.” 13 Therefore, an ideal structure to worship him would be one of true balance, a mix between natural, mystic, and spiritual attributes. On the physical side, what was a more balanced figure than four equilateral triangles leaned against each other perfectly in the center of their square base? Furthermore, the Ancient Egyptians used the equilateral triangle to demonstrate their sense of balance, “tri-compound unity,” through their precision of measurement, as each lateral edge was exactly the same, as well as the angles. Some archeologists believe that the four sides could have represented their four equal elements: earth, fire, water, and air. 14 In addition, Ancient Egypt’s exceptional pyramids hold parts of their religion, including references to their idols and how they chose specific hieroglyphics to display their reverence to their gods.
First off, the continuous sides of the pyramids pointing to the sky show their idea of perfection of the heavens and their idolization of Helios, the Sun god. 15 Furthermore, thousands of laborers worked on the pyramids to make ideal perfection. As an example, all the chambers of The Great Pyramid were exactly 68℉. 16 They wouldn’t have put in such interest, time, and care, if it wasn’t for their religious enthusiasm. So the pyramids represented the strong reverence to their religion. Lastly, the divine circle inscribed in light gold and blue on each face of the Great Pyramid symbolizes the breath of God. The circle represents the air and sea with its colors, and together they represent purity. The divine circle delineates the nature aspect of the Ancient Egyptian’s divinity, which shows that below the Sun god, they highly valued nature gods.
17 On the whole, the pyramids along with all of ancient Egypt’s phenomenal monuments stand today to display key aspects of the society, the politics, and the religion of the civilization. They showed Egypt’s wealth of resources, education and intelligence in the areas of mathematics and architecture, and important values of stability, religious piety, and balance. Ergo, it was appropriate for Walter Cronkite to claim, “When Moses was alive, these pyramids were a thousand years old. Here began the history of architecture. Here people learned to measure time by a calendar, to plot the stars by astronomy and chart the earth by geometry. And here they developed that most awesome of all ideas- the idea of eternity.” 18 Ancient Egypt was truly a highly advanced society, and the pyramids are just one of the many examples of its prestige. To conclude, the ancient Egyptian pyramids have been standing for thousands of years and hopefully for thousands more to help further uncover pieces of valuable history that display intriguing parts of an amazing civilization’s past.
this very powerful, often ruthless tyrant’s pyramid most likely began right after he took the throne. 1 The inner casing of the monument consists of 2.3 million low-grade limestone blocks, each weighing from two to fifteen tons. Serving as an outer casing and covering for the inner walls, fine white limestone was used. The first-rate ivory Turah limestone was difficult to quarry, as it was often rare and far away from the building sites. The large chunks of stone were moved to the pyramid site on huge wooden carts pulled by oxen. The floors were composed of basalt, alabaster, and sparse pink granite. 2 Over time, many theses have been created to explain how the towering memorial was built. Perhaps the most common included a workforce of twenty-thousand men during a twenty year period. The most reasonable explanation of how the ancient Egyptians moved the gargantuan blocks on the pyramid is by a large sloping and encircling ramp that increased in height and length as the pyramid rose. The stone blocks were then hauled up it by means of wheels and levers. 3 There are various theories of why this monument was built. The most obvious was that it served as a tomb for the Great King Khufu and was constructed by the ancient Egyptian men. Geologist George Schoch and writer James McNally, however, believe that the pyramid was not built as a tomb, since no mummy has been found inside, and instead served for different mythological purposes throughout various eras. From 1500 to 5000 B.C.E. they predict that it was used for ritual training and initiation. 4 Another theory was that it served as a reverence site for the stars, particularly those in Orion’s belt and the Gods they represented. This will be discussed to more detail later. But, whether it was built as a tomb or a ritual place, the Great Pyramid of Giza displays some political particulars of the ancient Egyptian’s society as well. Without a strong central government, the memorial wouldn’t have been able to be built. The country was largely centralized by elite estates that helped provide the resources needed for the pyramid’s construction. On both a local and central level, high organization and powerful administration was needed to manage the workforce, resources, and tools for the construction. Therefore, the ancient Egyptians had to have immense affluence to not only delve into the building the structures, but also the advanced mathematics and science that was involved in the building. Much of this prosperity came from the economy that was guided by the bureaucracy, meaning the government officials assessed the crops, reallocated the land, and collected part of the products as taxes. With this organization and just and equal system, ancient Egypt’s economy grew stronger. The society’s wealth developed from mostly agriculture, including vegetables, grain, cattle, pigs, goats, and fish were valuable entities in the market. Often run by wealthier noblemen, small factories that made linen and beer also contributed to the civilization’s wealth. Due to this wealth, the nation was able to advance in the areas of both mathematics and architecture. They used the golden ratio in the Great Pyramid. The area of half the base is 115.182 meters, and the slant height was 186.369 meters. If you divide the slant height by half the area of the base, you get 1.6180, which is the approximate value of the proportion. Also, there are some additional astonishing proportions involved with the number pi and the dimensions of the Great Pyramid. When multiplied by two pi, you get the exact perimeter of the pyramid. Perhaps a coincidence, but maybe not, the height of the pyramid’s triangular sides in relation to the area of half of the area of each of the sides is the ratio eighty-nine to fifty-five, which are the ninth and tenth terms of the Fibonacci sequence. A unique feature of the Great Pyramid’s architecture is its concave faces. Not discovered until the era of aviation, as it is not visible to the human eye from ground level, its slightly indented sides display a grand knowledge of sturdy architecture. The amazingly precise indentations of one degree that divide the sides into equal halves prevented the sides from sliding and allowed better bonding in the internal structures. 5 Additionally, the ancient Egyptians were very intelligent in the tactful way they took advantage of the limited energy sources that were available to them. Their main source, human muscle power, was often used as a tax and sometimes gave people a job. In addition, the heat of the blazing Egyptian sun was utilized to dry mud bricks, which directly aided with the pyramids. They also harnessed the wind to carry their ships up the Nile River, which was a necessary process to transport certain building materials. 6 Along with its political and social meaning, the Great Pyramid of Giza had several religious meanings, as well. One possibility is that it is a part of the ancient Egyptian religion, which was considered of as a “cult of creation.” This claims that the pyramid is a solar symbol, and its shape signifies the Sun’s rays. Instead of a tomb, it is perhaps a sign of religious devotion. 7 As the Sun was a valued part of the ancient Egyptian’s culture, it is not surprising that the pyramid is perfectly aligned with all the directions of the sun: north, south, east, and west. Another parallel with the Sun is that as it was thought of as the chief god, the Great Pyramid is located extremely close to the center of all the continents in the world. In fact, many pyramidologists believe that the meridian line running north and south through the globe actually passes through the pyramid. 8 Not only just the Great Pyramid of Giza, but all the pyramids of ancient Egypt display principal facets of the society’s hierarchy, as well as the society’s remarkable intellectual abilities and morals. Foremost, the prestigious pyramids were built only for viziers, nobles, high priests, and of course the pharaohs. Below them, normal burials occurred for the scribes, craftsmen, soldiers, farmers, and the tomb builders themselves. To add, the pyramids often exhibited the fact that women were indeed subordinate to men. A perfect example is found at the Great Pyramids at Giza. While the Great King Cheops’ pyramid is the largest, his son, King Khafre’s is the second largest. The southernmost of the pyramids was the Pyramid of Menkaure, the son of Khafre. In addition to these three monuments, much smaller pyramids were built for three of Khufu’s wives. A couple of flat-topped pyramids reside for his favorite children. This not only displays that both women could have a fairly prominent position, but still were subordinate to men, but also that elders were highly valued. 9 This reverence of women in particular shows how ancient Egypt was steps ahead of other civilizations that would follow thousands of years after it. As mentioned earlier, the pyramids also displayed how the society had wealth, organization, and resources to build them. Aspects of education were also depicted in the magnificent memorials of ancient Egypt. The hieroglyphics, an advanced writing system, was developed to communicate highly regarded messages of worship to either revered pharaohs or to the gods themselves. Much of the knowledge and understanding of the ancient Egyptian scripts comes from the characters written on the insides of pyramids. They often show the ancient Egyptians’ advanced abilities to write and use their language to appease their gods and respect their honored leaders. Furthermore, it is easy to tell that the ancient Egyptians flourished in the mathematics areas, especially geometry. Often the pyramids had immensely intricate angles and measurements. As an example, the measure of the sloping angles that meet in the point at the pinnacle of the Great Pyramid are all precisely fifty-one degrees. 10 The society obviously had knowledge, too, about equilateral triangles, congruent segments, and the balance of a three-dimensional figure. Besides math, science was also a key part in the construction of the pyramids. The ancient Egyptians knew quite a bit about weather patterns, particularly the wind, as the Great Pyramid of Giza’s location was a difficult one to determine since its builders had to find a place that would hold the massive weight of the structure, but also be in the least amount of destructive wind as possible. They also had a strong understanding of astronomy. For instance, one theory about why the Great Pyramids were built was to serve as a “gateway to the stars.” In the early 1990s, Robert Bauval, a Belgian engineer, discovered that the pyramids’ possibly random arrangement was very close to that of the stars of Orion’s belt, a constellation that was sacred to the ancient Egyptians. It served as their god, Osiris’s home. Furthermore, the four airshafts in the north and south faces of the King’s Chamber and the two in the lower Queen’s chamber would have pointed directly at Orion and the star Sirius, which was sacred to Osiris’s companion, Isis, in roughly 2500 B.C.E. which is around when the pyramid’s construction took place. 11 Moreover, the ancient Egyptian pyramids also showed key ethics in the society. Stability and durability were important values in the society and can be seen by the heavy, hard limestone used to build the sturdy Great Pyramid, which is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World that still stands today. According to Frances W. Chapman, a praised author of various novels about Egypt’s fascinating past, it has a “quality of external existence.” 12 Obviously, its architects and builders designed it to stand forever to show how solid their civilization was. In addition, the pyramids also proved how the people truly valued divine piety. As stated earlier, the thousands of workers spent many years quarrying and hauling 2.3 million blocks that weighed well over a ton each to build the monument that was most likely created to worship Pharaoh Khufu, who at the time was the closest person to their Gods. That would not have been done if the Ancient Egyptians hadn’t sincerely and hugely respected their deities. Lastly, the pyramids illustrated the vital characteristic of balance, or Ma’at, in ancient Egyptian society. They thought of King Cheops as the Perfect Man: a figure “of Peace, Steadfastness, Consubstantiality, Fixity, and Adoration.” 13 Therefore, an ideal structure to worship him would be one of true balance, a mix between natural, mystic, and spiritual attributes. On the physical side, what was a more balanced figure than four equilateral triangles leaned against each other perfectly in the center of their square base? Furthermore, the Ancient Egyptians used the equilateral triangle to demonstrate their sense of balance, “tri-compound unity,” through their precision of measurement, as each lateral edge was exactly the same, as well as the angles. Some archeologists believe that the four sides could have represented their four equal elements: earth, fire, water, and air. 14 In addition, Ancient Egypt’s exceptional pyramids hold parts of their religion, including references to their idols and how they chose specific hieroglyphics to display their reverence to their gods.
First off, the continuous sides of the pyramids pointing to the sky show their idea of perfection of the heavens and their idolization of Helios, the Sun god. 15 Furthermore, thousands of laborers worked on the pyramids to make ideal perfection. As an example, all the chambers of The Great Pyramid were exactly 68℉. 16 They wouldn’t have put in such interest, time, and care, if it wasn’t for their religious enthusiasm. So the pyramids represented the strong reverence to their religion. Lastly, the divine circle inscribed in light gold and blue on each face of the Great Pyramid symbolizes the breath of God. The circle represents the air and sea with its colors, and together they represent purity. The divine circle delineates the nature aspect of the Ancient Egyptian’s divinity, which shows that below the Sun god, they highly valued nature gods.
17 On the whole, the pyramids along with all of ancient Egypt’s phenomenal monuments stand today to display key aspects of the society, the politics, and the religion of the civilization. They showed Egypt’s wealth of resources, education and intelligence in the areas of mathematics and architecture, and important values of stability, religious piety, and balance. Ergo, it was appropriate for Walter Cronkite to claim, “When Moses was alive, these pyramids were a thousand years old. Here began the history of architecture. Here people learned to measure time by a calendar, to plot the stars by astronomy and chart the earth by geometry. And here they developed that most awesome of all ideas- the idea of eternity.” 18 Ancient Egypt was truly a highly advanced society, and the pyramids are just one of the many examples of its prestige. To conclude, the ancient Egyptian pyramids have been standing for thousands of years and hopefully for thousands more to help further uncover pieces of valuable history that display intriguing parts of an amazing civilization’s past.