Do you believe in life after death? Do you think that is possible to bring your favorite possessions from this life to your afterlife? If you lived in ancient Egypt, you believed that sprits of the dead made their way to the afterlife in heavenly boats. If you were lucky enough to be a pharaoh you could have a pyramid built especially for you. The ancient art of building pyramids no longer exists, but we have much to learn from the high level of design skills that the Egyptians used to build their pyramids.

    There are many pyramids that were built from 2700 BC to about 1000 BC. Only the Great Pyramid survives to this day and is the only one left of the " Seven Wonders of the Ancient World." The Egyptians pyramids have four triangular sides that meet at a point at the top. Some believe that this shape acted as a stairway to heaven for the pharaohs.

    The most important factor in building a pyramid was choosing the right site. An important factor was that the location be close to a quarry. Once the site was chosen, the ground had to be level. Stone blocks were then cut into the desired shape. The workers then had to lift the heavy stones to the required height. This was very dangerous work and many men lost their lives. It would take twenty to thirty years to build a pyramid.

    Inside the pyramids, there were a great number of chambers and rooms. Some of these rooms included King and Queen's  chambers, underground false burial chambers, a number of corridors and grand galleries. The queen's chamber was not actually for the queen, but for the funerary objects of Khufu. Khufu was a spirit that the Egyptians believed would help take them to their afterlife. Under ground false burial chambers were built to fool tomb robbers and lead them away from the real gold and treasures. Boat pits, located just outside the pyramids, were used to transport the pharaoh to the afterlife.

    The Egyptians felt very strongly that there was life after death. For this reason, the bodies of the dead had to be preserved for the next life. This process was called mummifying. Which meant that the bodies were wrapped in linen strips and placed in a coffin. The mummy was then placed in a tomb. Some Egyptians mummies have survived to this day.

    Egyptians brought many items into the tombs of the pharaohs that they thought might be needed in the afterlife. Jewelry, treasures, food, cosmetics and even wigs were among these things. Scenes would be painted of daily life on the walls inside and prayers would be said in hopes that the scenes and the death would be brought back to life. There was much preparation involved in sending a pharaoh into the afterlife.

    Why the Egyptians chose the shape of the pyramids has never been clear. We know that they used the pyramids primarily as tombs for their pharaohs, however, new theories concerning the purpose of the pyramids are that they might have been used for astronomy observations and perhaps even extraterrestrial contacts. The pyramids of Egypt fascinated travelers and conquerors in ancient times and continue to inspire and amaze tourists, mathematicians, and archeologists today.

References

David McCauley,  Pyramids

Prentice Hall, The Ancient World Book,  Chapter 5 Egyptian Religion

www.ancientegypt.co.uk

http://ehostvgw12.epnet.com/fulltext.asp?resultSetId=R00000002&hitNum=7&booleanTerm+...

http://orchard.sbschools.net/images/webimages/backgrounds.htm

http://egyptiancastle.com/music/Halim/halim01.htm

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