The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt

The pyramids of ancient Egypt are probably the best known landmarks on earth. The Great Pyramids of Giza are undoubtedly the most famous and most visited but there are a number of other pyramids dotted around Egypt.

The first pyramid structure was built by King Djoser, a pharaoh of the third dynasty at a place called Saqqara. It is not classed as a true pyramid because the sides are stepped rather than true slopes as in the Great Pyramids. The stepped pyramid of King Djoser was, in a way, the prototype for the real thing. It had an enormous complex that surrounded it that included ceremonial rooms, courtyards, a temple with an altar, and what experts think was a dummy tomb. The complex represented ancient Egypt’s capital city of Memphis so that even in death King Djoser had his beloved city to govern.

The pyramid itself was, and still is, a solid structure that had distinctive stepped sides. These are thought to represent a symbolic ladder to the heavens so that the dead king could join the famous gods of ancient Egypt. The coffin was lowered into its resting place through a shaft under the actual pyramid although when the complex was excavated no coffin or body was found.

The fourth dynasty saw the progression to the more common pyramid form with straight sides. The three major pyramids of ancient Egypt stand on the plateau of Giza and were commissioned by the fourth dynasty pharaohs Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu

This is the largest of all the pyramids within Egypt. When it was in its prime it stood an astonishing 140m (460ft) high with the length of each side at the base also being 140m. These dimensions were probably very significant to the kings of ancient Egypt although their exact meaning has now been lost. Today the pyramid is slightly smaller because the wonderful limestone casing that once enshrouded the pyramid has been stripped away over time.

Khufu’s pyramid differs from those built before it and those that came after it in that his burial chamber was actually in the body of the pyramid as apposed to underneath it. This may have been because Khufu realised that tomb robbers had managed to plunder the burial sites of the pharaohs before him and so wanted to encase himself in an impenetrable fortress. Unfortunately he underestimated the ingeniousness of the tomb robbers!

The Pyramid of Khafre

This is the second largest of ancient Egypt’s pyramids and is built on the same lines as the earlier Great Pyramid although the burial chamber is located just below ground level and not in the actual pyramid. The builder of this pyramid, Khafre, is thought to be the king responsible for the other famous landmark from ancient Egypt, the Sphinx, as it is seen to be a part of his burial complex.

The Pyramid of Menkaure

Although still large compared to the pyramids in other complexes around Egypt, Menkaure’s pyramid is only half the size of the other two. The reason for this is still unclear although it has been suggested that the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre used up much of the available building material and much of the royal wealth. Menkaure still managed to make his pyramid unique though by adding elaborate decoration to the walls of the burial chamber and the corridors leading to it.

There are many other pyramids from ancient Egypt still standing today but the Giza Pyramids show the building process at its pinnacle. Shortly after the end of the fourth dynasty the pharaohs changed from pyramids to rock-cut tombs, many of which have been discovered in the Valley of the Kings.

It has often been said that the pharaohs of ancient Egypt used thousands upon thousands of slaves to build the pyramids. However it is now generally accepted that the ‘slaves’ were in fact willing volunteers that worked at the pyramid complex for around 6 months to a year before returning to their families and former professions. When they left and returned home a new set of volunteers took over their roles. However, you may well ask why anybody would volunteer for such demanding work!

One of the most important things to an ancient Egyptian was being granted access to the Afterlife where everything was perfect and you never had to struggle. However in the Old Kingdom, which was the pyramid building age, only the pharaoh was able to converse with the gods and so being in favour with the pharaoh meant being in favour with the gods. Thus by volunteering to help build the pharaohs burial complex they were hopefully guaranteeing their own entry into the Afterlife.

For more information concerning the pyramid texts of Ancient Egypt check out Shamanic Wisdom in the Pyramid Texts: