Pyramids

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Pyramids

Pyramids are fascinating things. They have amazed people by how they were built. Famous pyramids fascinated people because they are famous for there size or signifacance, and just because what they are. In this essay I will tell you all about those things.

**Pyramids are tombs for pharaohs. //The pyramids had many false entrances to//** **//keep robbers out.//** Inside the tomb there were scripts written to guide the pharaoh through the afterlife. At first pyramids weren’t the tombs for pharaohs. It was first a mastaba. They were large flat elevated tomb. Then after a pharaoh decided he wanted to have a pyramid so he had people build him a step pyramid. It had a square base and the next block got smaller and smaller until it could not get any smaller. Next a pharaoh came along and wanted to make it a pyramid shape. But the sides were slightly curved and were straight on the top there for it was called a bent pyramid. Finally another pharaoh wanted to make it straight sided and made it that way making it a true pyramid. That is what a pyramid is.

**No one knows __exactly__ how pyramids were built.** People know that they are made of limestone blocks but not how. One theory was that they used ramps made of mud bricks and rubble. **//That theory was supported because people found ramps near the build site. People also thin that they used wooden sleds to help them drag the limestone blocks.//** Also, people found that some pyramids were not built alone but in a complex of temples so priests could pray for the soul. That is how pyramids were built. There are many famous pyramids some are famous for their size or their significance. The first pyramid was the step pyramid at Saqqara. The Red Pyramid is famous because it was the first true pyramid built. The Great Pyramid of Giza is famous because it is the biggest pyramid of all time. It also is one of the seven wonders of the world.**The Great Pyramid of Giza** was made up of over two million limestone blocks, and it weighes over ten billion pounds. Those are some famous pyramids.

Pyramids are amazing structures for their time period. The pyramid were the tombs for a pharaoh and evolved over time. They were built out of limestone blocks and used crued tools to help them build it. There are also many famous ones because of their magnifacinces or significants. That is what a pyramid is, how they were built, and what some famous ones are. Bibliography

Computer: Ancient Egypt Pyramids in Giza, Egypt Gift Shop, http://www.egyptgiftshop.com/pharaonic_egypt/egyptian_pyramids.html, 1-10-12 Book: Ancient Egypt: Eyewitness, George Hart, New York City: Dorling Kinderly Publishing, 2000, p. 20-21 The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Gill Harvey, Tulsa, OK EDC Publishing, 2001 p.18,19,66,67