Pyramid development through the ages Bill Newman
Aug 06, 2015
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
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
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