The Egyptian Pyramids as a Form of Art

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The Egyptian Pyramids as a Form of Art

Imagine living in ancient Egypt. You are an experienced pyramid builder. A highly respected king just died and you are asked to build a pyramid in his name. You know very well what a big job it is to construct a pyramid. First you would help select the type of pyramid to be built. It would help to look at previous pyramids built, including two of the most interesting: the first pyramid and the biggest pyramid. You would design the pyramid and plan for where the chambers would be. Once this was done, the long building process would begin. If you really were this builder, you would have been working hard for many months, and you probably would have had no idea of how important that pyramid would be many years later. The pyramids of ancient Egypt are a very important part of Art History. There are two main types of pyramids: step pyramids and true pyramids. Step pyramids were built in the third dynasty. They were the first monumental stone structure ever built. They got their name from the stepped sides which were created by building one mastaba (layer of pyramid) on top of another. Step pyramids were not as pleasing to the eye as True Pyramids. Sometimes they had different chambers than True

Pyramids. There was usually a descending passage from the North Burial Chamber and underground galleries surrounded all sides but the south side.True pyramids were a natural development to step pyramids, but the structure and construction were very similar. Packing blocks were stacked until the dimension was correct, and then limestone blocks were the

finishing touch. The first true pyramid was built after the beginning of the fourth dynasty. One of the first ones was King Sereferu's. His was also the first one to reach great height in True Pyramid form.King Zoser's pyramid was the first pyramid ever built. It was built by Imhotep during the third dynasty. It was a very strong step pyramid. It stayed just as it was built for hundreds of years. During this time, people had the right to take stones away from anything that was built. This started out on a small scale. As centuries went on, anyone in need of stones could

take some. Soon the stones were almost gone. Imhotep was sure his pyramid was safe forever, but it wasn't.

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