Hey guys\nI am doing a research paper and I need some help. I need some good sources to find the answer of this question (What was the motivation of the Egyptians for building the pyramids?) Please cite the source. I am also looking for the different construction methods or tools that the Egyptians used for building the pyramids.\nThanks
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This answer is about pyramids in Egypt. Pyramids were also constructed in ancient Greece and Mesoamerica. Flat topped pyramids were constructed in ancient China.\n\nPyramids in Egypt served as tombs, initially only for kings and close members of the royal family, but eventually came to be used (in much smaller forms) by the general populace.\n\nThe pyramid is thought to have developed out of the mastaba tomb. Mastaba is an Arabic word, meaning bench, which was applied to the flat-topped, slope sided superstructures of tombs. The pyramid is also thought to be associated with solar worship and the "ben-ben" stone which played a major role in sun worship and was vaguely pyramid shaped.\n\nIn the 3rd Dynasty, several mastabas were stacked forming the Step Pyramid of King Djoser. By the 4th Dynasty in the reign of Snefru attempts at building a true pyramid were underway. The pyramids of the 4th and 5th Dynasties, including those at Giza, essentially reflect the further refinement of the pyramid, the chambers within it, and the associated temple complexes. Eventually the standard style was an orientation of east to west (significant in Egyptian religion), with a pyramid temple, located directly on the east side of the pyramid, and a causeway leading to the "valley temple" located near the Nile at the edge of the cultivation.\nWhile it is accepted by reputable Egyptologists that pyramids served as burials for kings, the exact details of the theology behind them remains unclear. One idea, popularized I believe by Dr. Mark Lehner, one of the foremost experts on Egyptian pyramids, is that pyramids served as "resurrection machines" providing all the necessary means for eternal life with the gods for the dead king.\nIn the late 5th Dynasty in the Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara, we have the first appearance of formal texts within the pyramid itself - the appropriately-named Pyramid Texts. These texts are somewhat esoteric and are essentially a collection of spells, stories, and guides relating to the Underworld. Initially these texts were limited to royalty. In succeeding pyramids, elements of the Pyramid Texts were included in the "Coffin Texts" of the First Intermediate and Middle Kingdom and in the "Book of the Dead" of the New Kingdom - texts available to a broad spectrum of society.\n\nPyramid construction continued in the Middle Kingdom - again limited to royalty, but not on the grand scale of the Old Kingdom. The last known royal pyramids located in Egypt are that of King Ahmose, founder of the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom (ca. 1550 BCE) and the pyramid-cenotaph constructed for his grandmother, Queen Tetisheri. Both are located at Abydos.\n\nIn the New Kingdom, pyramids came to be part of tombs for reasonably wealthy private individuals - frequently added to the exterior portico area of rock-cut cliff tombs or appearing as architectural elements of brick constructed tombs in varous parts of Egypt.\n\nThe Napatan and Meroitic kingdoms in Nubia (modern Sudan) also used the pyramid for royal burials at sites such as El-Kurru and Nuri. While the Napatan kings ruled Egypt for a time during the 25th Dynasty and were buried in pyramids, those pyramids were located in Nubia proper.\n\nPyramid construction relied on highly skilled teams of workmen who were housed nearby the pyramid fields - in the Old Kingdom located in the general vicinity of the ancient capital Memphis at sites now knows as Giza, Saqqara, Meidum, and Dashur. A few pyramids in the Middle Kingdom were located near the Fayum, roughly Middle Egypt.\nIn addition to the full-time workmen, there was likely a seasonal labor requirement asked of the lower classes of Egyptian society - a sort of taxation, often referred to by the French term "corvee" labor. This is distinct from slavery. While the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (writing over a thousand years after the construction of the pyramids at Giza) reported that he
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Slavery has been around way before the Americas were found. Egyptians built their pyramids from slave labor. Ignorance is bliss and you are the most blissful person I've seen in a while.
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the stone may have been cut with a chisel.  the stones may have been placed by workers moving them up ramps and into position.  it is hard to imagine either of these possibilities, but they are the best explanations that i have read.  chiselling such large blocks(i've read as much as 200 tons) and pushing them up a ramp seems unlikely, because even if u had the stones on site(which they probably didn't), building a ramp that could support that much weight, and to that height, would be just as difficult a building the pyramid in the first place.  it's also hard to understand how they had so much time to work on pyramids, when they should have been fishing and farming.  unless you think aliens or magic was involved the best answer is "with lots of hard work" and maybe more importantly a long time.
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Wow!  There are lots of theories.  \n\nYou should find these links quite helpful.  Sorry this answer may be a bit late for you but I hope it is helpful.\n\nHere are some good links.
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1. He wrote for the Israelites.\n2. Was his first language Egyptian?  The person responsible for his upbringing was his mother (The princess was led by Moses's older tosister to higher his mother as a nurse!)\n3.  As an Egyptian prince at the time, which language would he have used?  Aramean, the language of the general region?  Egyptian?  There had been a change of dynasties around that time due to external invaders - that's why that particular pharoah was so hostile to the Israelites:  he had taken the kingdom away from the line of pharaohs that had been friendly to Joseph and the Israelites' descendents.  There may have been several languages involved.
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Ancient Civilization\nApocalypto: New Film by Mel Gibson about the Maya. Watch the Trailer.\nApocalypto.Movies.Go.com \n\nWeb Results 1-10 of 3,210. Powered by Ask.com \n \n\nCivilization.ca - Mysteries of Egypt - Egyptian civilization\nThe Egyptian pyramids are the most famous of all the ancient monuments, the only remaining wonder of the seven wonders of the ancient world.\nhttp://www.civilization.ca/civil/egypt/egcivile.html \n\n \nEgyptian Anthropologist\nCMCC--Egyptian Civilzation--Daily Life...\nhttp://www.think2learn.com/egypt/pages/egyptian_anthropologist.htm \n\n \nGeography of Egypt\n...down the Nile to attack the Egyptian civilzation. This geographic isolation from invasion and other societies allowed the Egyptian way of life...\nhttp://kevin.lps.org/Egypt/QuestforEgypt/geography.htm \n\n \nFUN ZONE - Fun Guides\nEGYPT, The name inspires awe and wonder. Archaeologists have studied the remains ot Egyptian civilzation for more than a century. \nhttp://www.seaworld.org/family-resources/fun-guides/Egypt/index.htm \n\n \nEGYPT FUN GUIDE\nThe name inspires awe and wonder. Archaeologists have studied the remains ot Egyptian civilzation for more than a century.\nhttp://www.seaworld.org/fun-zone/fun-guides/egypt/index.htm \n\n \nKids Clues.com\nArchaeologists have studied the remains ot Egyptian civilzation for more than a century. For more sites, click here...\nhttp://www3.sympatico.ca/flviseu/clues.html \n\n \nAncient Egypt Review Page Chapter 4\n1370 B.C. opposed the priests and tried to set up a new . Toward the end of this period of clnflict, Egyptian civilzation began to delcine.\nhttp://www.cdeducation.org/schools/ni/6egyptre.htm \n\n \nGEOGRAPHY OF EGYPT\n...down the Nile to attack the Egyptian civilzation. This geographic isolation from invasion and other societies allowed the Egyptian way of life...\nhttp://www.mead.k12.wa.us/SHILOH/Griffith/MrGsWebPage2/Ancient%20Egypt/Quest_For_Egypt/QFE_geography_of_egypt.htm \n\n \nwww.myspace.com/tammyz\nMySpace Profile - RTM - Tammy, 25 years old, Female, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States...\nhttp://www.myspace.com/tammyz \n\n \nWIT 2003\nThey will be able to compare the ancient Egyptian civilzation with the ancient Indian Civilizations of America, use a WebQuest to...\nhttp://www.logandale.cps.k12.il.us/Loredo/Civilization/teacherpage.html \n\n \nSponsored Links  \n \n\nAncient Civilization\nApocalypto: New Film by Mel Gibson about the Maya. Watch the Trailer.\nApocalypto.Movies.Go.com \n\nResult Page:    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9      Next
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Um,let's see. The Nile River, which I believe begins at Lake Victoria in Africa, every year had a "flood" (from melting snows in the mountains around the lake) in which the river would literally overflow flooding the surrounding areas which then created a "season" or "seasons " of planting and harvesting (I do have a point, hang on). This "cycle", if you will, eventually evolved and created the civilization of the Egytians whose economy, religion, societal regulations and the royal hierarchy form of government. Because of the development of this birth/death/rebirth concept of religion (if I am incorrect here someone kindly correct me) which evolved due to the above-mentioned river flooding (birth), planting (death) and harvesting (re-birth), the Egyptian religion and philosophy was one of "you CAN take it with you" because if your heart was "judged" to be "good" indicated by the symbol of a feather (paraphrasing for space issues here) you crossed over into the "underworld" of the god "Anubis". So, many of the pharoahs (kings), their relatives, and other 'high society' types were buried with not only their physical belongings but also with their "slaves" or servants and gold and money and anything they would need to live in the afterworld.\nNow, if you're still with me, according to the Time/Life "Great Ages of Man" "Ancient Egypt" book, many of the gods of Egypt were associated with the animals who lived in the areas around the river. If you look at some of the gods of Egypt, there are many with heads of animals:i.e. Horus with the head of a bird, Anubis with the jackal head and Thoth with both an ibis and a baboon head, to name a few. This is one way in which the environment had a direct impact on the Egyptians and their lives, deaths and especially their monuments such as the pyramids and burial temples in the Valley of the Kings. Because the weather of that general area of the world is and was hot and arid(dry)the temples and monuments of the Egyptian kings and queens took advantage of the heat to build such monuments as the pyramids (again,someone correct me if I am wrong)! The Nile river and it's relationship to the burial sites of the Egyptians was one of total involvement and influence. Everything about the Egyptians revolved around the river which literally created their civilization.\nI hope this helped.\nAlso: I have just read a news report this week(source unknown) that the waters which have and do supply the Nile river's life-giving waters since the record of human existence in that area will dry up in approximately 20 years!! This is a serious concern because this will have a worldwide impact on the earth and its living inhabitants! I don't know whom to contact about dealing with this problem immediately, but if anyone does, kindly let me and everyone else know!!
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I have yet to meet a scientist who is actually baffled by any aspect of Ancient Egypt, except maybe by the people who dream up these weird theories about it. Doesn't matter how heavy that stone is, you get enough slaves and enough rope and it's going to go wherever you want it to. And Egypt seems to have had both in abundance.\n\nAs for Egypt not having slaves...Egypt likes to say that now, but looking at some of the other things Egypt likes to say about itself, I'm less than convinced. Hell, I'll just say it. Many Egyptian archaeologists are motivated by a very strong sense of nationalism, which tends to cloud their wrk and show Egypt in a positive light no matter what. Those that aren't motivated in such a way don't get to dig in Egypt.
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I taught History and this is still one of my favorite sites on King Tutankhamen.\n\nhttp://www.nationalgeographic.com/egypt/\n\nThis is another good site:\n\nhttp://www.kingtutone.com/tutankhamun/enter/\n\nAnd finally this one:\n\nhttp://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/tut.htm\n\nEnjoy!
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I see a whole lot of people parroting what they've read and seen on TV, but here's an new and original thought for you...What if the blocks weren't pushed, pulled, levitated or moved into position at all?  What if they were "poured" into place as a sort of cement?  Think about it...They would've easily done it level by level, filling any smaller gaps with smaller blocks....\nAnyway, that's the only thing that really makes any sense to me.\nPulleys and levers, ramps..All that stuff has basically been disprove...If they were constructed in either one of those manners, then why can't we reproduce the great Pyramid using the same technology?....We should have pyramids all over the place!!!\nI like my cement theory!
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They would have been able to use an abacus, they were invented then. They would have used ropes and pulleys and would have laid down logs to move the stones from the quarries. They invented bread as we know it, and were a surprisingly sophisticated people. Google the word ancient Egypt and pyramids and you should find all you need to know!
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The Faith our Lord Agon. In our great temples we build pyramids made of pure gold. Then we sacrifice the unbelievers there blood flows on the steps of gold and sparkles. We rejoice as our holy warriors priests cut the throats of the pigs who do not worship Lord Agon. \n\nI might have made this up. Once up on a time there were these silly little people called the Aztecs.
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-------The Great Pyramid of Giza\n\nA gigantic stone structure near the ancient city of Memphis, serving as a tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu.\n\n\n\n-------The Hanging Gardens of Babylon\n\nA palace with legendary gardens built on the banks of the Euphrates river by King Nebuchadnezzar II.\n\n\n\n-------The Statue of Zeus at Olympia \n\nAn enormous statue of the Greek father of gods, carved by the great sculptor Pheidias.\n\n\n\n-------The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus\n\nA beautiful temple in Asia Minor erected in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature.\n\n\n\n-------The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus\n\nA fascinating tomb constructed for King Maussollos, Persian satrap of Caria.\n\n\n\n-------The Colossus of Rhodes \n\nA colossus of Helios the sun-god, erected by the Greeks near the harbor of a Mediterranean Island.\n\n\n\n-------The Lighthouse of Alexandria\n\nA lighthouse built by the Ptolemies on the island of Pharos off the coast of their capital city.
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WEB SITES ON ANCIENT EGYPT FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS\n\nA comprehensive list of links for you to explore.\n\nhttp://www.cumbavac.org/Ancient_Egypt.htm\n\nGood luck.\n\nKevin, Liverpool, England.
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Try Googling "Ancient Egyptian Astronomy". If you're looking for stuff that old, it may be hard to find. That's prehistory, so it's either unrecorded or still in translation - if they've uncovered anything on the subject.\n\nYou might also try National Geographic's website, and perhaps your local science museum may have something as well.
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http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/ancient-egyptian-pharaohs.html
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Science? Don't you know about Aviccena, Averroes or Al-Kwarizmi? Al-Gabr? The Muslim civilisation was way more advanced than Europeans during the Islamic golden age. Where do you think Algebra(Al-Gabr) or Algorithm(Al-Khwarizmi) started? Where did you think chemistry(Al-Kamiyya) evolved? You are ignorant for not knowing most pious Muslims accept the Big Bang theory, other than other religions. Abnu Sina's book Al-Qanun fi Tibb was translated by Christians as "Aviccena's Canon of Medicine". Muslims even provided diagrams of circulatory and digestive systems way before the crusades.We were the ones who used anesthesia first. We discovered boric acid. We layed down the foundations of Chemistry. Our past architects evolved dome usage in acoustics in architechture. Muslims built the Taj Mahal. Now you're saying Islam restricts science. We were, and will be, more advanced in science and Mathematics. Without past Muslims, there will be no "New Knowledge". The (currently)second tallest towers are in a Muslim country(Malaysia), much taller the Empire State Building. Another Muslim country(UAE) is planning to build the tallest, engulfing your buildings.