Types of Egyptian pyramids

Egypt is one of the ancient civilizations that, to this day, continues to raise great mysteries for us. This is largely due to the fact that they were kept separate from the rest of the world practically until their disappearance, the only cities somewhat more open to the rest of the Mediterranean being those located in the delta of the river Nile. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will talk about the types of egyptian pyramids since, the great majority of the current population, only recognizes one of the several forms that the Egyptians gave to their monuments par excellence.

Before I start talking about the types of Egyptian pyramids, we have to stop at defining them. An Egyptian pyramid is a funeral construction used to house the bodies of the pharaohs and their families during the period known as the Old Kingdom. However, today it is known that many of these were never used as such, but served as bait for grave robbers.

Where the Egyptian pyramids were built

We will never find a single pyramid in a desert area. As we have said, the pyramids served to house the bodies of the pharaohs, therefore, each time a new monarch ascended to the throne, he had to begin to erect his own funerary building.

This entailed a series of costs for the State, in addition to requiring a large amount of labor that was given by the slaves and by the Egyptian peasants. Therefore, the place where the new building would be built would become a mini city where we will find shops, houses, palaces and an endless number of elements necessary for daily life.

But it is that, in addition, the enclosure of the pyramid consisted of:

• Pyramid: it was the main building and its access to the interior depended on the chief architect who built it, since Each one will have access to a different location to prevent grave robbers from get in.
• Walls: it was a walled enclosure that prevented the passage, being only open by an entrance.
• Secondary pyramids: in many occasions they were simply decorative, although in other cases it served to bury relatives of the pharaoh or even architects and important members of the court.
• Entrance ramp: a fundamental element in the Egyptian funeral ritual was the boat ride. The pharaoh, after being embalmed, was mounted in a boat to cross the Nile. From there you disembarked on an access ramp that led directly to the pyramid.

In this other lesson we will discover a summary of the Egyptian art in sculpture and painting.

We come to the fundamental part of the lesson, going on to mention the types of egyptian pyramids, which occurred over time:

• Staggered: they are the oldest types of buildings that are preserved from this civilization. They were built by superimposing the stone blocks in the form of steps. The first construction of this type is that of Dyeser, which was built by the famous architect Imhotep. This type of pyramids can be similar to those that we will find in Central America, which are also made in a staggered, although they only have in common the form of construction, since the heights and ornamentation,... are totally different.
• Perfect: the first constructions of this type will be found from the dynasty IV and they are the most representative of all. The first to be completed was Snofru, which would also order the construction of other pyramids, in addition to finishing his father's, Huni. The big difference that we will find with respect to the previous one, will be that the faces of this one will already be smooth, avoiding that so that the thieves of knocking down would have facilities to find the exact place to enter the interior of the grave. Within this type of pyramids, the most famous are those of Keops, Kefren and Mecerinos.
• Rhomboid: these types of buildings are somewhat more complex than the previous ones, since, up to the middle of the construction, the pyramid follows the same lines as the perfect one, but from there, it changes the inclination of it, giving a totally vision different. The only one that remains intact today is that of Snofru.