Pyramid development through the ages

Bill Newman

TimeLine of Ancient egyptianPyramids

Pit burials

Step Pyramid

Mastabas

Bent + Tower

Great PyramidS

Brick pyramids

New Kingdom Pyramids

Before 3000 BC

2700-2600 BC

2600-2500 BC

Before 3000 to 2700 BC

TYPE

2500-2300 BC

1500-1100 BC

When

Earliest tombs

Pit graves

May have had piles of rubble on top of them

Important people might have had pyramid-like mounds

Buried with grave goods

Pre-dynastic, before c. 3300 BC

Mastabas

Flat stone or brick structures

Some had steeper walls like the bottom of a pyramid

Early 1st dynasty, from 3300 to c. 2770

The first pyramids

Built in Saqqara

Became more complicated

An advancement on Mastabas

Stepped pyramid

King Djosar’s Step pyramid at Saqqara

3rd dynasty - c. 2650

Looks like mastabas built on top of each other

The almost great pyramids

The bent pyramid and the tower pyramid at Meidum were both built by Pharaoh Sneferu

The Red Pyramid

Sneferu also built the first true pyramid at Giza also called the North Pyramid

SneferuWas the great pyramid

developer He was the father of Khufu

who built the biggest pyramid

The great pyramids at Giza

Brick pyramids of the middle Kingdom

Pyramid building returned to Saqqara

They were often badly built

Made of mud brick

Pepi’s Pyramid

Later pyramids had stone on the outside , but were made of brick or rubble on the inside, so they often crumbled.

Relative heights of pyramids over time

Met

ers

0

37.5

75

112.5

150

Djoser Step Tower Bent Red Khufu Pepi

Time

New Kingdom Pyramids

Built over 1000 years after the great pyramids, small pyramids were in fashion

again for tombs

Conclusions

Pyramid building developed over time

Great pyramid building only took place over a short period of time - only about 200 years

Too expensive to build great pyramids