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A pyramid is a structure, usually of stone, built in the shape of a pyramid. From ancient to modern times people in many different parts of the world have built such structures.

The word "pyramid" comes from the Greek word pyramis which meant "wheat cake." The ancient Egyptian word for them was something like "Mer". The Great Pyramid of Giza was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

The first pyramids were built in 2630 B.C. The oldest known pyramid was made for king Djoser of the third Dynasty.

Egyptian pyramids

In Egypt, kings and queens, called Pharaohs, were buried in huge square-bottomed pyramids built of stone. They were usually built to be used as tombs for Pharaohs. The ancient Egyptian pyramids are very well built. Some of the pyramids still stand today.

The oldest man-made pyramid found is called the Step pyramid. It is in the Giza Necropolis in Saqqara, near Cairo, Egypt. It was built for King Djoser thousands of years ago. Later pyramids were built much larger. The largest one was the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is near Cairo. It was the tallest building in the world until the Eiffel Tower was built in Paris, in 1889. The Great Pyramid was built by the pharaoh Khufu (= Cheops) from the Ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom. Herodotus was told by his Egyptian guides that it took twenty years for a force of 100,000 slaves to build the pyramid (with another ten years to build a stone causeway that connected to a temple in the valley below).

People once thought pyramids were built by slaves. More recent evidence suggests that the workers who built the pyramids were paid and well-cared for. They were loyal to the Pharaoh. Inside the Great Pyramid, famous man-made objects have been found from ancient times. Many valuable items were buried with the dead Pharaohs, in the hope that they would take them to the afterlife. Pyramids usually had traps to stop thieves from escaping easily. Tomb thieves were punished by death if they were caught. However, by 1000 BC, many of the pyramids had been robbed of their precious treasures.

A large statue of a Sphinx stands near the pyramids at Giza. It has the body of a Lion and the head of a Pharaoh.

The ancient Greeks called the Great Pyramid one of the seven wonders of the world. There are over 100 pyramids in Egypt. Most of them are on the western side of the River Nile. Some Egyptologists have different opinions on why the ancient Egyptian Kings built pyramids as their tombs. Pyramids have been excavated for about the last 200 years.

The ancient Egyptians believed that the Egyptian pharaohs went to the stars to join their gods in the afterlife.

Pyramids in the Americas

The Aztecs and Mayans also built many massive pyramids. None are as old or big as the oldest or biggest Egyptian pyramids. Most of them are step pyramids.

Unlike Egyptian pyramids, which were used as tombs for rulers and wealthy people, Aztec and Mayan pyramids are believed to have been used for public displays of human sacrifice.

Modern pyramids

The Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France, in the court of the Louvre Museum. It is a 20.6 meter (about 70 foot) glass structure which acts as an entrance to the museum. It was designed by the American architect I. M. Pei and completed in 1989.

The Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, United States, is a 30-story true pyramid. It has light beaming from the top.

The 32-story Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee (a city named after the ancient Egyptian capital whose name itself was derived from the name of one of its pyramids). Built in 1991, it was the home court for the University of Memphis men's basketball program and the National Basketball Association's Memphis Grizzlies until 2004.

The Walter Pyramid is home to the basketball and volleyball teams of the California State University, Long Beach, campus in California, United States. It is an 18-story-tall blue true pyramid.

The 48-story Transamerica Pyramid is in San Francisco, California It was designed by William Pereira. The pyramid is one of the city's symbols.

The 105-story Ryugyong Hotel is in Pyongyang, Northern Korea.

"Pyramid of Tirana" is a former museum and monument in Tirana, Albania.

The Slovak Radio Building is in Bratislava, Slovakia. This building is shaped like an inverted pyramid.

The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation is in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

The Pyramids at Osho Commune are in Pune, India. They are used for meditation purposes.

The Trylonis a triangular pyramid erected for the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing, Queens. It was demolished after the Fair closed.

The Karlsruhe Pyramid is in the centre of the market square of Karlsruhe, Germany. It is made of red sandstone. It is in the centre of the market square of Karlsruhe, Germany. It was erected in the years 1823-1825.

The GoJa Music Hall is in Prague.

Small pyramids similar to those of the Louvre can be found outside the lobby of the Citicorp Building in Long Island City, Queens NY.

The Pyramids of the City Stars Complex is in Cairo, Egypt.

Pyramid building belonging to The Digital Group (TDG), at Hinjwadi, Pune, India.

The Steelcase Corporate Development Center near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Sunway Pyramid shopping mall in Selangor, Malaysia.

Hanoi Museum with an overall design of a reversed Pyramid.

The Pyramide des Ha! Ha! by artist Jean-Jules Soucy fr:Jean-Jules Soucy in La Baie, Quebec is made out of 3 000 give way signs.

The "Pyramid" culture-entertainment complex and Monument of Kazan siege (Church of Image of Edessa) are in Kazan, Russia.

The "Phorum" of Expocentre business-exhibition complex is in Moscow, Russia.

Few pyramids of the Marco-city shopping-entertainment complex are in Vitebsk, Belarus.

The Time pyramid is in Wemding, Germany. The pyramid begun in 1993. It is scheduled for completion in the year 3183.

Triangle is a proposed skyscraper in Paris.

The Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid, a proposed project for construction of a massive pyramid over Tokyo Bay in Japan.

The tomb of Quintino Sella, outside the monumental cemetery of Oropa.

The unbuilt Museum of Modern Art of Caracas was designed as an upside down pyramid. Playing on a variation of the famous configuration Oscar Niemeyer inverted the geometry of the pyramid.

Other pyramids

There are also ancient pyramids in other parts of Africa, Central America, Europe, North America, and Asia. There is a famous modern glass pyramid in front of the Louvre Museum in Paris. The Luxor Hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada is also a glass pyramid.

Related pages

Images for kids

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A pyramid is a structure, usually of stone, built in the shape of a pyramid. From ancient to modern times people in many different parts of the world have built such structures. The word "pyramid" comes from the Greek word pyramis which meant "wheat cake." The ancient Egyptian word for them was something like "Mer".

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Egyptian Pyramids

The pyramids that we see in Egypt today continue to be 'Wonders of the World'. They were built thousands of years ago and yet still stand. The ancient Egyptians created the pyramids as burial tombs to honor their pharaohs and since they believe them to be both man and god, they made the pyramids in a grand style.

It's believed that the original burial tombs for pharaohs and high ranking officials were flat monuments called 'mastabas'. Over the years, each new burial tomb would have another smaller layer added to the top until they began to look like steps. The building of pyramids reached its height in the Old Kingdom time, between the Fourth and Sixth Dynasties; 2575 BC to 2150 BC. There are over 70 pyramids near the Nile River. It is thought that the first smooth sided pyramid was built between the years of 2680 to 2560 BC for the pharaoh King Snefru.

Archeological excavations have found that unlike what most people might think, the pyramids were not built by slaves, but were Egyptians that lived in the area. They have found living areas that appear to be for the laborers and their families in an almost community style. The villages seem to be set up with shops, houses, butcher shops and even bakeries for the thousands of loaves of bread that was needed to feed the workers.

There was a lot of planning that went into building a pyramid. Because of the weight, the location had to be on firm rock because building on sand would cause it to collapse. Specific measurements had to be made on the base size width and length. This was one of the most important decisions because it they were off, the pyramid would fall. Rock was cut out from quarries that were often quite a distance and carried on boats on the River Nile to the pyramid location. There were millions of pieces of rock that had to be just the right size to fit in place.

Egyptologists are not really sure how the ancient Egyptians managed to get the heavy rock, often weighing many tons up to build the pyramids. Some think that they used ramps, while others think that they may have used sand to release and balance. There are many people throughout the world today that have tried to build smaller pyramids to figure out exactly how it was done.

One of the things that everyone notices about the pyramids of Egypt is that they are incredibly large. The smallest of the Giza pyramids is over 200 ft high. The pyramid built by the pharaoh Khufu (pronounced Koo-foo) was originally 480 ft high and is made up of over 2.3 million stone blocks. Each of the blocks weighs about 5,000 lbs and had to be cut to the right size, brought to the pyramid and put in place by hand. The engineers of ancient Egypt were familiar with the difficult mathematics that were involved in creating a structure of such size.

If building the pyramids isn't enough of a challenge, the ancient Egyptian engineers planned the blocks so that there were inner chambers and tunnels. It was thought that the pyramid chambers were for the burial of the pharaohs. Some of the huge stone burial sarcophagus have been found inside the pyramids but never any of the mummies or anything that would have been buried with the pharaoh.

Once a pyramid was completed, it had armed guards to try to protect it from tomb raiders. The tombs were raided on such a regular basis that it is thought that the secrets were told to others by the builders. If anyone was caught raiding a pharaoh's tomb, it was an instance death sentence.

The pyramids that we see today have crumbled quite a bit and don't look at all like they would have upon completion. Once all of the stones were in place, the entire pyramid was covered in white limestone and the top or cap of the pyramid would have been tipped in gold. In the bright Egyptian sunshine, the white and the gold would have gleamed brightly.

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Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Facts - History for Kids

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The pyramids that we see in Egypt today continue to be 'Wonders of the World'. They were built thousands of years ago and yet still stand. The ancient Egyptians created the pyramids as burial tombs to honor their pharaohs and since they believe them to be both man and god, they made the pyramids in ...

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The Ancient Egyptian Pyramids are one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world. These structures are so impressive for the time that they were built in! The Pyramids were built as the burial places for the Pharaohs. This would be their final resting place before they went into the afterlife which was part of the Egyptian religion.

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Egypt: Overview of Egypt Pyramid Construction

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Ancient Egyptian History for Kids: Pyramids

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Kids learn about Ancient Egyptian Pyramids. The great structures of this world civilization.