Why did the Egyptians make Pyramids?
The Pyramids of Egypt are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and the only one that still survives. They are one of the largest structures ever built. They have been a great tourist attraction for many centuries. Scientists are still puzzled over how the millions of stone slabs, each weighing several tonnes, were transported over long distances, and then hauled up hundreds of feet, with the limited technology existing several thousand years ago. What also merits some enquiry is why the Egyptians went to such lengths and spent so much effort to make these massive structures.
The Egyptians engaged in agriculture in the Nile valley, whose fertility was renewed every year by floods in the river. Thus, it was easy to grow abundant crops, and the Egyptians found themselves having the leisure to think about things other than gathering enough food. One of the things they wondered about was life after death.
The Egyptian priests theorised that after death, a person’s soul, called ka, goes beyond the mountains to the west; to the land of Osiris, the ruler of the living and the dead. Osiris would judge people according to the acts they performed in their life. A person’s soul could not reach the realm of Osiris without their body. So, the Egyptians went to great lengths to preserve dead bodies, through a complex process of mummification.
Mummified bodies were placed in graves that were designed like real homes that contained furniture and musical instruments to be used by the dead person while they waited to go to Osiris’s realm. People often wanted to take their most prized possessions to the afterlife, so gold, silver and bronze artefacts were stored with the dead bodies. Fine linens and artworks were also kept.
Even little statues of cooks, bakers and barbers were put in the graves so that the dead could avail of their services. Great precautions were taken to avoid someone disturbing the graves. It was believed that a defiler would be cursed for eternity. The entrance to the inner chamber was carefully hidden. Even so, sometimes, robbers would rob these graves to steal valuables kept inside them.
To prevent robbers from disturbing the mummies, small mounds of stones were made on top of the graves. The rich people made bigger mounds than the poor, and soon it became a matter of social prestige to see how big a mound one could make. Predictably, the Egyptian kings, called Pharaohs, made the biggest pyramids. The three great pyramids found at Giza belonging to King Khufu, his son Khafre, and a successor Menkaure, are among the highest pyramids. King Khufu’s pyramid was, in fact, the tallest man-made structure for 4,000 years.