Ancient Egypt

Currently Playing: The Final Evolution of the Pyramids: From Man-Made Marvels to Natural Wonders

The symbolism in Ancient Egyptian culture was complicated, but the pyramid shape certainly has a deep and important meaning, related to the Primordial Mound, the Heliopolis Benben Stone, the Bennu bird, the creator god, the sun god and the god of rebirth and regeneration. It’s therefore no surprise that it was a custom in the Old Kingdom for a king to build his own pyramid, royal construction projects that continued in the Middle Kingdom. But why did pyramid-building come to an end? Well, the pyramid evolved. It went from a constructed stone monument, to a mudbrick monument and ended up as a monument built by nature. Natural pyramids were the final evolution of the Egyptian pyramid, with the most famous example being El-Qurn, the huge natural pyramid that sits above the famous Valley of the Kings necropolis. Watch this video to learn more about Natural Pyramids, an aspect of Egyptology that is very under-studied but could be the key to some fantastic new discoveries. Content: 0:00 Introduction 0:27 Locating the Lost Pyramid of Thutmose I 2:40 The Importance and Meaning of the Pyramid 5:35 The Evolution of the Pyramid 6:25 Natural Pyramids 8:32 The Moalla Pyramid 11:04 The Pyramids of Gebelein 12:35 The Abydos Pyramid 16:01 The El-Qurn Pyramid 18:34 Further Research on Natural Pyramids 21:25 Concluding Remarks All images are taken from Google Images, Google Earth, the below sources or are my own. Please subscribe to Ancient Architects, Like the video, and please leave a comment below. Thank you. Recommended Further Reading: W. Ejsmond, Natural Pyramids of Ancient Egypt: From Emulations of Monarchs to Royal Burials: https://www.academia.edu/38693052/Wojciech_Ejsmond_Natural_Pyramids_of_Ancient_Egypt_From_Emulations_of_Monarchs_to_Royal_Burials_%C3%84gypten_und_Levante_Egypt_and_the_Levant_28_2018_pp_169_180 Keith Hamilton, The Subterranean Complex of Senwosret III, at Abydos: A layman's guide: https://www.academia.edu/43727596/The_Subterranean_Complex_of_Senwosret_III_at_Abydos_A_laymans_guide Josef Wegner, Beneath the Mountain of Anubis: https://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/48-2/Tomb.pdf Wojciech Ejsmonf, Gebelein: An Overview: https://gebelein.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ejsmond-gebelein-2016.pdf W. Ejsmond, Natural Pyramids. Ancient Egypt 120 (2020): https://www.academia.edu/43637698/W_Ejsmond_Natural_Pyramids_Ancient_Egypt_120_2020_pp_22_27 Sources, all the above including: https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/en/2019/03/20/gebelein-2/ https://archiviofotografico.museoegizio.it/en/archive/gebelein/northern-hill/painted-tomb-of-iti-and-neferu/?photo=C00662 https://gebelein.wordpress.com/ https://egyptsites.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/el-moalla/ https://thebanmappingproject.com/tombs/kv-20-thutmes-i-and-hatshepsut https://www.academia.edu/43338101/The_Origins_of_Sacredness_at_Abydos https://www.egypt.swan.ac.uk/cy/the-collection-2/the-collection/w1982-mound/ https://www.facebook.com/gebelein #ancientarchitects #pyramidsofegypt #pyramids