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TheEgyptianPyramids:HousesofEternityTomanypeoplethroughouttheworld,someofthemostremarkableandpuzzlingmonumentsofancienttimesarethepyramidsofancientEgypt.Youknow,almostnothingatallremainsofthegreatcitiesofthekingsofEgypt,thepharaohs.TimeandweatherhavebeenreallyhardonancientEgypt'scitiesandtowns,butseveralofthetemples,statues,and,mostimportantofall,thepyramidshavesurvived.Eventhoughmanyofthepyramidsareinruins,theystillgiveussomeideaofthemagnificenceofancientEgypt'scivilization-acivilizationthat,afterall,lastedformorethan3,000years.Remember,whenwe'retalkingaboutancientEgypt,we'retalkingaboutatleastthirtyconsecutivedynasties.Adynastyisaseriesofkingsorqueensofthesameroyalfamily--somethingliketheRomanovsofEurope,theMingdynastyofChina,ortheAl-SaudsofSaudiArabia.Asmanyofyouprobablyalreadyknow,thepyramidswereconstructedastombsorburialplacesfortheEgyptiankingsandtheirfamilymembers.Yousee,theancientEgyptianspassionatelybelievedinlifeafterdeath.Infact,theirentireculturerevolvedaroundthatbelief.Thekings,queens,andstateofficialsoftenspentanentirelifetimepreparingfortheirlifeafterdeath.Theydidthisbycollectingpossessionsorgravegoodsbybuildingtombs,andsoforth.TheEgyptiansbelievedthattheycouldbeassuredofanafterlifeonlyiftheirbodiescouldbepreservedfromdecayordestruction.Sowhenapersondied,andespeciallywhenapharaohdied,inordertoensurehiseternallife,hehadhisbodyembalmedormummified.Inotherwords,hehadhiscorpsedriedoutandwrappedinlinentopreserveitfromdecay.Thenhehadhismummyhidden.Thiswholeideamayseemquitestrangetoday,buttheancientEgyptiansreallybelievedthatifone'smummywasdestroyed,thenhisorhersoulwouldbedestroyed,andif,ontheotherhand,themummy-thedeadbody-waspreserved,thesoulwouldbeimmortal.Letmerepeatthat.Ifone'smummywaspreserved,thesoulwouldgoonliving.Foranotherthing,theancientEgyptiansbelievedthatthedeadpersoncouldtakehisorherearthlypossessionsalongtothenextworld--thisisjusttheoppositeoftheWesternideathatyoucan'ttakeitwithyouwhenyougo.Anyway,thedeadpersonwasprovidedwithfood,clothing,furniture,weapons,andevenservants.Itwasnotatallunusualforthepharaoh'sslavestobeputtodeathsothattheycouldservehiminhisafterlife.Soyoucanseewhythepharaohswantedtohavetheirbodiesandtheirpossessionshiddentoprotectthemfromgraverobbers.Beforetheydied,theyhadspecialtombsbuiltforthispurpose-tohidetheirbodiesandtheirtreasures.IntheearlyyearsofancientEgypt,thesetombswerethepyramids-thevastburialchambersthatwerebuilttofoolthegraverobbers.Unfortunately,thegraverobbersalmostalwaysoutsmartedeventhemostpowerfulandthemostcarefulofpharaohs.Theybrokeintomostofthepyramidsortombsandstolethefoodandothertreasurestheyfound.Theyevendesecratedanddestroyedthemummiesofthedead.Needlesstosay,theywouldnotbotherapoorperson'sgrave.Thesegraverobbersevenbandedtogetherintoorganizationsorbrotherhoods.Justimagine,agraverobbers'union!Now,asfortheactualconstructionofthemightypyramids,itwasduringtheFirstandSecondDynastiesthatthekingsandnoblesofEgyptbegantoconstructthetypeoftombcalledthemastaba.TheFirstandSecondDynastieslastedfromabout3100until2665B.C.E.Mastaba,bytheway,comesfromanArabicwordmeaningbenchorlongseat.Amastabalookedlikealow,flat-toppedrectangle--somethinglikealowbenchorashoebox.Essentially,thepointedpyramidwasnomorethananextensionupwardoftheflat-toppedmastaba.Thefirsttypicalpyramid,or,atleastwhatmostpeoplegenerallythinkapyramidlookslike,wasbuiltduringtheThirdDynasty,whichlastedroughlyfromabout2664until2615B.C.E.ThispyramidwasforKingZoser(that'sspelledZ-o-s-e-r)inabout2650B.C.E.ItwasbuiltbyanarchitectnamedImhotep[I-m-h-o-t-e-p].Thispyramidwasconstructedasaseriesofgiantstepsorstairs.It,alongwithothersofitstype,iscalledtheStepPyramid.Itwasreallysimplyapileofmastabas,eachstepsmallerandhigherthantheonebefore.TheStepPyramidofKingZoserwasdifferentfromthelaterpyramidsbecauseitwasnevercoveredwithstonetogiveitasmoothsurface.Actually,itwasnotuntiltheFourthDynastythatthemostfamouspyramidswerebuilt.ThethreegreatpyramidsofGizabelongtotheFourthDynastypyramids.TheFourthDynastycoveredtheperiodfrom2614to2502B.C.E.TheyarelocatednearthetownofGiza,onthewestbankoftheNileRiver,justoutsidethecapitalcityofEgypt--Cairo.TheGreatPyramidsarereallytheverybestpreservedofalltheEgyptianpyramids.ThelargestofthesepyramidsisknownastheGreatPyramid.Andgreatitis!ItwasbuiltforKingKhufu(that'sK-h-u-f-u),KhufuwascalledCheops[C-h-e-o-p-s]bytheGreeks,andsothepyramidissometimescalledthepyramidofCheops.Ithasbeenestimatedthat2.3millionblocksoflimestonewereusedtobuildtheGreatPyramid.Theblocksaveraged2,500kilogramseach.Thelargeststoneblockweighsabout15,000kilos.Thebaseofthepyramidcovers5.3hectares--anarealargeenoughtoholdtenfootballfields.There'sastorythattheconquerorNapoleononcesatintheshadowoftheGreatPyramidandcalculatedthatthemassofstoneinthepyramidcouldbeusedtobuildawallthreemetershighby0.3metersthickaroundtheentirecountryofFrance.Intermsofheight,thepyramidwasoriginally147metershigh,buttodaythetop10metersaremissing,andtheentireouterlimestonecoveringhasbeenstrippedaway.Itseemsthatlocalbuildersandconquerorsfounditconvenientto