Egyptian Life :: essays research papers

Egypt’s pyramids are the oldest stone buildings in the world. They were built nearly five thousand years ago. More than 80 pyramids still stand today. Most have secret passageways, hidden rooms, ramps, bridges, shaft, concealed entrances and concealed doorways. The pyramids weren’t built for exploring, but for a very serious purpose. The Egyptians believed very strongly in after-life. They wanted to preserve their bodies to continue living in the after-world, so they had pyramids built to protect the tombs. Along with the tomb would be all the goods needed to survive in the after-life. The Egpytians also thought that in order to pass into the everlasting paradise, you had to go through an under-world, which consisted of demons and monsters. Well, for safe passage through this, you needed a book of spells; therefore a copy of The Book of the Dead would be placed in each tomb as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The tombs weren’t always as nice as the pyramids. The first form of burial was in shallow pits in the desert. There, the hot sand preserved them. Around 3000 bc mastabas, large, flat-topped tombs, were first introduced by the high officials. It wasn’t until 2700 bc that the first pyramid would be built. That is known as the Step Pyramid. This had two purposes: a royal tomb and a temple for worshipping the spirit of the dead king. Around 1600 bc, robbers had raided the tombs of all the valuables. It wasn’t until after this time that kings thought their bodies would be safer in tombs cut from solid rock.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ancient Egpyt seemed like the perfect place for building pyramids. It was a long, narrow, fertile strip of land. It had natural barriers to protect the land from invaders. There were deserts to the east and west, delta marshes to the north and rapids on the Nile to the south. These all allowed workers to work in peace and security. But building them from this position was difficult. A great supply of raw materials were needed. There were plenty of limestone, sandstone and granite but it was all in quarries far away.