Season 2 Episode 6: Pyramids: Mighty to Shiny

In this episode, we will discuss how Egyptian pyramids have changed as a symbol of power, from mythological and foundational elements in ancient Egypt to a source of commercialization and attraction in modern Egypt. We will also discuss how this change occurred, under the context of Orientalism and cultural appropriation of elements of the pyramids in written sources, as well as in modern replications that alter what they pyramids were meant to represent.

Featuring: Matei Tichindelean, Cotsen
Institute of Archaeology

Transcript

[Sec. 1: Introduction]

DANIEL LEE: Thank you for tuning in. I’m Daniel Lee and you’re listening to Now as Then, where we discuss the ways in which ancient Egypt has shaped many aspects of our history and culture, as well as the world we live in today. In this episode, we examine how the pyramid was not only a symbol of the afterlife and royalty, but actually a highly complex structure that has affected aspects of politics, economy, astronomy, and architecture throughout history.

Pyramids. It’s probably safe to say they’re the archaeological symbol of Egypt. In fact, pyramids have become so representative of Egypt that millions of people still visit the Giza pyramids every year today. It’s certainly quite odd to see the pyramids, which symbolized such political and religious power in the past, now being used as tourist attractions.

Just how have pyramids, which originally served as monumentary tombs, become such symbols of commercialization? To understand the history of the pyramid, and how its value as an icon has changed, we’ll first have to talk about its origins.

[Sec. 2: History and Design]

We start from the long, long past of Egypt, and we’re talking way back, like before the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom even began. Back then, Egypt wasn’t really an organized society, but people still lived in smaller social groups in separated settlements. These early societies carried on their first funerary services near “natural pyramids,” or basically mounds or hills that these people settled near to.¹ The traditional notion of pyramids as linked to reaching the sun and thus divinity apparently started from this point, but we’ll talk about that later.

The important thing to take away from this tradition, however, is that the geometric shape of a pyramid eventually became associated with exclusivity to the higher classes of society, as larger natural pyramids were reserved to people of power, such as generals or officials. It’s pretty similar to how we ascribe greater value to things at the top of the pyramid, which is the highest and most exclusive point. Think of whenever you draw a social or a food pyramid. It’s not that strange at all!

Still, man-made pyramids would be constructed several centuries later. J. Donald Fernie’s article “Marginalia: Astronomy And The Great Pyramid” provides great insight into the history of the development of pyramidal design.² In the article, Fernie states that the first pharaohs of the Old Kingdom weren’t even buried in artificial pyramids, and instead in underground burial chambers called “mastabas,” which were called so because of their resemblance to brick benches in villages of the same name. The transition from rectangular mud mastabas to the more stone-cut and limestone-built pyramids happened rather suddenly, with the first recorded pyramid being the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, also known as the Pyramid of Djoser, the first king of the third dynasty, from the 27th century BCE. In comparison, the Great Pyramid of Giza was only built about a century later! Sadly, a lot of the pyramid building ended by the 6th dynasty of Egypt, though there was a small revival later when the Kingdom of Kush was in power.

What’s fascinating about these early pyramids is that they weren’t actually simple in their design, but rather used very specific measurements in their construction, which involved components of astronomy. For instance, the Descending Passage in the Great Pyramid of Giza lines up with the celestial north pole. Other theories exist, such as that the 10:9 ratio of the pyramid and its height multiplied is close to the actual speed of light, or that its base lengths divided by its height is close to the mathematical component pi. While these relations are indeed fascinating, it’s important for us to be wary of how much of these relations were truly intended given the scientific limitations, such as the measurement of light, at that time. The opposite is still true, but we’ll talk more about that when we discuss European pyramidology, so stay tuned!

While specific measurements of the pyramid leave some room for argument, pyramids certainly did contain components of architectural complexity. While the initial theories of pyramid construction involved the use of an external ramp in tandem with things like cranes or corkscrew design, modern archaeological evidence actually leads to the conclusion that the pyramids were built using internal ramps constructed within them³ External ramps would still be used, but they would later be stripped to form the inner parts of the pyramids as the build progressed, so that no resources would be wasted. Talk about cannibalism!

Because of their complexity, pyramids also often experienced architectural failures that caused distortions in the overall shape of the pyramids, as seen from Kurt Mendelssohn’s instances of failures in pyramidal architectural designs from his 1971 article.⁴ Given their size, the majority of the pyramid not forming the inner walls or the exterior can contribute to pressurization, which can lead to the crumbling of the pyramid. The Meidum Pyramid was abandoned mid-construction for this reason, resulting in a step pyramid-like structure, while the Bent Pyramid was altered to form a more stable structure after an initial crumbling. In fact, this is exactly why the pyramid is called bent! When ancient Egyptians rebuilt the pyramid, they made the upper part have a smaller slope, giving it an oddly curvy look.

So why are the history and the design of the pyramids important? Well, it’s important to take note that larger pyramids built during the Old Kingdom, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, didn’t just take their symbol of power from nothing. Though they differed in complexity, pyramids in Egypt incorporated architectural design as a way of amplifying the various ritual symbols ascribed to their earlier forms of burial mounds, such as elements of the sun and the stars, or even the afterlife. In the next section, we’ll discuss more on how these ritual elements are represented within pyramids, and how they can form an image of “mysticism.”

[Sec. 3: Ritual Functions]

In ancient Egypt, religion was more than just one solid belief. Instead, it was more like a larger belief system that touched on many cult values from various cultures, and attempted to group them together through the use of large ideas represented by major deities. It’s no wonder that each deity has such radically opposing characteristics in each myth. Sometimes, deities could even represent completely opposite ideas. A great example of this is the deity Seth, who is at times regarded as the destroyer of the world, while at times its protector!

One factor that played into unifying cult beliefs was actually through building pyramids. Linked with the representation of wealth and power, pyramids were ritual tombs constructed to commemorate the passing of a figure of authority. It makes sense, then, that the greatest pyramids would be built by those of royalty. Within pyramids, ritual texts combined ideas from different cults as a form of establishing political stability.

The strongest case for this can be seen from pyramid texts on divine conflict. Divine conflict is a recurring theme in ancient Egyptian texts, often representing the real conflicts that took place between nations or religious cults.⁵ This also meant that they would record stories of royal succession, a hot topic when it comes to conflict in Egypt, through divine representations. One of the most prominent divine conflicts is that between Horus and Seth, the two successors of Osiris following his death. In various written forms, such as the famous Contendings of Horus and Seth, the conflict of royal authority that leads to justification of succession of power becomes the center of the narrative. That might make the story sound like a serious war epic, but it really wasn’t. The Contendings of Horus and Seth was actually more of a comedic twist on the famous conflict, and even involved vulgar actions such as taking Set’s testicles! If you want to hear more about the myths about Horus and Seth, you can check out Season 1 Episode 4: Falcons and Pharaohs, or more specifically about Seth in Season 2 Episode 1: Seth Apart.

In particular, the physical components of each deity, as in Horus’ eye and Seth’s testicles, serve as symbols of the political struggle through their mutilation throughout the narrative. Hence, the eye of Horus, the victor of the struggle, became the symbol of royal strength and political power in Egypt. In other cases, the identification of Horus with Osiris, the neutral, observing entity, hints to the importance of the concept of order and unification within the narrative of pyramid texts. The trinity of Horus, Osiris, and Isis would also later be used in the Coptic tradition in its emulation of the holy trinity of the Bible, and similarly the three angles of the pyramid as well as the three pyramids at Giza, ascribing greater ritual relevance of the pyramid. If you want to learn more about Isis’ representations in other cultures, or the Cult of Isis, or Coptic depictions of Isis’ motherhood of Horus, you can check our Season 2 Episode 4: The Purpose of Isis or Season 1 Episode 5: Like a Virgin, Madonna and Child, respectively.

Of course, the pyramid also has its more well-known ritual significance in its importance as a passage to the afterlife. As we talked about before, pyramids have long been associated with the divinity, and thus more astral concepts, such as the sun and the sky, which is why pyramids were built with such astronomical calculations in the first place.

This linkage of the pyramidal shape, which points towards the sun, is also found in Mesoamerican pyramids. For instance, Aztecan pyramids, such as the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan, were used as altars for human sacrifice to gods. Interestingly, early Mesoamerican pyramids also served as burial mounds, similar to Egyptian natural pyramids. Here’s a little sneak peek to an upcoming interview with Matei Tichindelean, a first-year archeology student at Cotsen Institute, where he explains why such parallels exist, even when these civilizations existed in completely different time and space, and thus without contact:

MATEI TICHINDELEAN: So pyramids, now I guess if we’re talking about Mesoamerica and Egypt, we first need to make sure that these are two different types of “pyramids.” Mesoamerica is really mounds of Earth that are built up, and then they are usually the outer shell, sometimes of stone. Whereas in Egypt, I guess it depends on what pyramid you’re looking at, but let’s say for example the Great Pyramid—those are the Great Pyramids of Giza—those are all made out of limestone, blocks of limestone. Now, they are also thousands of years apart. The Giza pyramids, the big pyramids of Khufu, the biggest one, the tallest one, that was completed around 2500 BCE, whereas the pyramids in let’s say Tenochtitlan, those were done about 800 AD, if I remember correctly. Don’t quote me directly on that date. But, in the 80s, so at least 2000 years apart. And I think when it comes to pyramids, which you do find different types of pyramids all over the world, there are—it’s one of the easiest ways to stock up dirt, piles of dirt, and form a tall structure and not have it collapse. That’s the key. To not having it collapse. And humans, found out everywhere, well a lot of places, that that is a structure that could support a lot of weight, and it can be built to a pretty significant height. So I think that’s where you find parallels. If you’re talking about the structures of the pyramid, the form of it.

LEE: Egyptian rulers were often held as members of divinity that descended to rule Egypt, so their deaths were taken as their “return” to the celestial kingdom in Egyptian religion, or, in simpler words, ascension to the heavens. Because of their importance to royal authority, pyramids often contained texts that described the process of ascension for royal figures in greater detail.⁶ Generally, the pharaoh would go through the process of the purification of the soul, which occurs through prayers and spells, and eventually leads to the “ejection of essence,” almost like an astral projection, except it’s permanent. The ejected essence then goes through the general processes of transmission and identification of the soul. In this step, the pharaoh’s soul may be guided by other deities that recognize the pharaoh in the process. Lastly, the soul must pass through the celestial gate and the river behind it, and be recognized by Atum-Re, the first being, in order to be accepted into the heavens. Sounds like an awfully complex way to die!

These texts might sound like disconnected tales that represent different ideas, but they actually paint the same picture! Whether based on unification or ascension, their use of deities gives insight to the religious authority of the ruler of Egypt, tied to their political authority. And because they were also a place to store such knowledge and stories for an exclusive group of priests and nobles, pyramids thus took on the image as a site of religious practice central to Egyptian culture. The image of “mysticism” created by this religious association would later become the source for its cultural representations in other societies.

But before we get to that, let’s quickly go over some of the different functions pyramids had in ancient Egyptian society. The pyramid has multiple sides, after all!

[Sec. 4: Other Social Functions in Ancient Egypt]

While pyramids had great influence in the religion of ancient Egypt, they most certainly had other uses in politics, economics, and society.

As we discussed previously, pyramids had great political significance in bringing order to a fractured nation. Even if religious texts were reserved for people such as priests, nobles, and pharaohs, they still carried the important themes relating to unification within the kingdom. This is especially important since Egypt was a kingdom initially separated into Upper and Lower kingdoms! Pyramids thus allowed these ideas to be carried through multiple generations, becoming a component of Egyptian centralization through the use of identification with diverse ritual images.

Furthermore, pyramids had an important economical function regarding the employment of citizens, as discussed in Mendelssohn’s article. Contrary to popular belief, Egyptian pyramids were not constructed with the use of slaves, but instead mostly through the mass employment of paid and willing workers. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Why waste so many resources on a seemingly pointless and enormous project? Well, the entire process was actually beneficial to ancient Egypt because it prevented unemployment and coincided with the crop cycle of Egypt.

Because of the nature of the annual Nile floods, during Akhet, or the inundation season following the harvest and before the growing of the new crops, many farmers would be left unemployed for several months. Building pyramids provided temporary work for farmers, which consisted of the majority of Egypt’s population, and thus an economic source. In fact, for a considerable period of Egypt this interchanging between occupations became a core of the Egyptian economy, to the point where it became dependent on the activity of pyramid-building, which is why pyramids would often be constructed while the pharaoh was alive, and also why multiple pyramids were built during a pharaoh’s life. For more information on how the Nile flood affected Egyptian society, you can check out Season 2 Episode 2: Journey Down the Nile.

Pyramids also contributed to various social and religious organizations. Archaeological records reveal that in some instances there existed certain “pyramid towns” in between pyramid complexes, which were inhabited by cult members and nobles.⁷ In particular, written documents such as stelae and excavations of walls around the vicinity of the Nefirirkare’s pyramid strongly suggest the existence of settlements near the pyramid. While the cult was an exclusive group intended for ritual service following the construction of the complex, pyramid towns nevertheless suggest that pyramids encouraged social organization in the form of cult hegemony.

So there you have it. Even if they were initially meant to serve as monumental tombs, pyramids were actually central to many elements of ancient Egypt, defining aspects of its social, economical, and religious organizations. It’s no wonder, then, that pyramids became the symbol of ancient Egypt, not only for their monumental value, but given its impact on ancient Egpytian culture as a whole!

Still, the value of the pyramids lies beyond Egypt, given its inspirations to other civilizations such as ancient Greek, Arabic, and modern European societies, which would inevitably change what it was meant to represent.

[Sec. 5: In Other Cultures]

Pyramids have been a representative icon of Egypt as far back as the early classical era. The earliest written source that accounts the pyramids dates back to about 430 BCE, from Book 2 in Herodotus’ “The History of Herodotus.”⁸ In it, Herodotus accounts the ongoing construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza at the time, claiming that the entire build took twenty years of labor by about a hundred thousand people, with the construction of the causeway taking ten years. While controversial for his accounts of being in Egypt, the general accuracy of the description of the pyramids does suggest that Herodotus at least took accounts from other Greek travelers, and that Greeks had had, though unwritten, knowledge of pyramids far before the source was written. Greek sources further suggest that monumental structures such as pyramids was one factor that encouraged travel to Egypt by many well-known Greek scholars, such as Solon, Thales, and Plutarch, similar to their value in tourism today.⁹

Given their place in the Middle East, pyramids also became inspirations for legends in Arabic culture. Take the example of A. Fodor’s article, which introduces three Arabic legends that have their own claims to who built the pyramids: Hermes, Surid, and Shaddad ibn Ad.¹⁰ In the tales, Hermes builds the pyramids in order to store the knowledge he gains from God, while Surid and Shaddad ibn Ad build the pyramids in preparation for a catastrophe. In particular, these three legends have clear biblical connections, with Hermes corresponding to Moses’ acceptance of the testaments, and Surid and Shaddad ibn Ad corresponding to Noah’s building of the ark in preparation for the flood. These legends are instances of the harmonization of beliefs in the Coptic tradition, with tales from the Jewish Bible becoming the basis for Egyptian culture, as well as the acceptance of the religious value of the pyramids by Arabic societies.

Another instance of the development of the Coptic tradition in Egypt can be seen from Masoudi’s “Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems,” written some time before his death in 956 CE.¹¹ Masoudi provides a Coptic account that Surid built the pyramids to store elements of knowledge, as in the Hermes tales, while the priests explain that the Coptic language, in which the Coptic tradition is built, originated from the syncretism of ancient Egyptian inscriptions in pyramids with the Greek alphabet. Thus, Arabic accounts provide a strong case that Coptic traditions originated from the interaction of foreign culture with the pyramid texts.

While pyramids were certainly influenced under the rule of Greco-Roman and Arabic empires, they underwent another large wave of change following the age of European colonialism. One of the famous stories, though the accuracy of its details is up for debate, is that Napoleon Bonaparte entered the Great Pyramid of Giza. One account, written when Napoleon was still alive, gives a descriptive quote on his exploration of the pyramid, providing insight into the majestic value ascribed by Europeans to the Great Pyramid, much like in the Old Kingdom.¹²

“He afterwards penetrated into the interior, where he found a passage a hundred feet long and three feet broad, which conducted him by a rapid descent towards the apartments that served as a tomb for Pharaoh, who erected this monument. A second passage, much injured, and leading towards the summit of the pyramid, carried him successively over two platforms and thence to a vaulted gallery, in one of the walls of which the place of a mummy was seen, which was believed to have been the spouse of one of the Pharaohs” (Robertson 73-74).

Along with newfound exploration and settlement into Egypt, modern history introduced the period of Enlightenment, in which European scholars became fascinated in the study of the values held by the pyramid. Primarily, this “pyramidology” founded by western scholars, while rediscovering the mathematical and astronomical factors included in the construction of the pyramids, also contained erroneous assumptions, such as the theory that pyramids were built with slave labor.

These “scientific” elements of the pyramids were thus also manipulated for other purposes, one of which was used to support nationalism.¹³ John Taylor, a British scholar that continued research from other pyramidologists like Edme-François Jomard and even Sir Isaac Newton, associated the British inch with the Egyptian standard of measurement that was incorporated in the construction of the pyramids. Taylor’s discovery of this “perfect unit” allowed him to be acclaimed by renowned scholars, such as the astronomer Piazzi Smyth and the mathematician Sir John Herschel. The association of the British inch with the pyramids allowed the measurement to be regarded as a divine figure, revealing the extent to which the pyramids were heralded as as a symbol of mysticism by European scholars, as well as the ways in which pyramidology was used to build a divine image of the expanding European empires.

When learning about ancient Egypt, it’s important for us to take into account how we’re influenced by these assumptions, which are more often based on coincidence than archaeological evidence! Such “theories” undermine the technology of ancient Egypt, denying the possibility of carrying such knowledge, and often lead to conclusions that radically differ from what is found from ancient records. One such theory even goes as far as to suggest that Egyptian pyramids were built by aliens! Clearly, we need to take on how our views of the ancient world, and the colonialist views towards Egyptian civilizations shape our beliefs. Take it away, Matei!

TICHINDELEAN: So I guess I’ll introduce myself. My name is Matei Tichindelean, I’m a first-year archaeology student here in the Cotsen Institute, but I study Egyptology. I’ve dug in Egypt a few times, in a tomb in a temple site. I’ve dug in the American Southwest, and Roman sites in Romania as well.

LEE: So pyramids have also been—have been assigned a lot of religious value. So were pyramids ever used for religious reasons outside of their original construction? Like how the famous Hagia Sophia was remodeled to fit the Islamic empire that conquered it?

TICHINDELEAN: That’s a good question. And are we just talking here about the Egyptian pyramids, or are we talking about pyramids in general?

LEE: I’m talking mostly about how Egyptian pyramids might have been, like, religiously appropriated by—culturally appropriated by a different civilization.

TICHINDELEAN: So yeah, they definitely have religious connotations when it comes to ancient Egypt. And those for the most part remain the same but it changed slightly, for example after the completion of the 4th dynasty pyramids, the big ones in Giza, people continued to build pyramids, but they also built smaller ones, and temples to the sun that had a component that was a pyramid. I guess you could also look at, later on, private tombs, so elites in ancient Egypts could also build a smaller pyramid over the entrance to their tomb, which again has a religious connotation. But in terms of them being appropriated for other religious purposes, I mean, I can speak to the Islamic history in Egypt, because I’m not an expert in that, for a little bit, but look at nowadays, there are different spiritual traditions that are more modern, like Kemeticism, for example, that have close connections to ancient Egypt. Kemet being the ancient Egyptian name for the land of Egypt. So there’s this whole Egyptomania that started up mid-1800s, with Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt, where it spread throughout Europe especially. And pyramid-building in itself got incorporated with a lot of Christian—I don’t want to say Christian traditions—but in Christian cemeteries you see pyramids as a symbol of eternity, of enduring, of life. So it’s something that has been, because it’s so imposing, it has been incorporated in many different types of outlooks. But, yeah, I guess then it depends on what you mean by religion, because they all have some kind of symbolic meaning to it, that you could interpret as a religion. Kemeticism, people who have practiced that believe it’s—I mean, they could describe it as a form of religion.

LEE: So, in that case, in what ways could Egyptian pyramids have been affected by its portrayal in western media, or in cultural representations in general that may have altered its meaning?

TICHINDELEAN: I mean, I think when people think of Egypt, one of the first things they think about is the pyramids. That and maybe mummies, right. But as we have seen from the 2016 presidential election, I think that was one of the things that was brought up by a presidential candidate—I can’t remember his name now—Carson?

LEE: Ben Carson?

TICHINDELEAN: Yes, yes. Ben Carson suggested that the pyramids had a different function, that they had, if you remember, he said that they’re more like granaries. We don’t really have any evidence to show any of that. I mean, there are different chambers inside of it, and a typical thing that you would have in an Egyptian funeral, which is what a pyramid is, it’s a tomb, it’s actually a, more correctly, it’s a regeneration machine. Some Egyptologists describe it as a regeneration machine. Yeah, I’m going off on a tangent here. But yeah, in terms of western culture I think they have been associated again, starting in the mid-1800s, with this spiritualistic kind of Orientalist, almost, idea of people being connected to the ancestors, or at least people in that area, or people in the past being closer to nature. But I think one of the most damaging ways that western media specifically has been, interacting with pyramids, it would be probably the History show Ancient Aliens, which for many different reasons, well, I’m sure you probably know, one of the claims says that they were built by aliens, which is very problematic, in my opinion, it implies that it actually has a long history of these kinds of claims that started off when the Europeans first started visiting Egypt, about how their culture could not be “advanced enough” to build something like this, so therefore it must be something else. It must be something that is out of this world. Because only white people build beautiful things, like Norte Dame or, I don’t know, Eiffel Tower, or any cathedrals in Europe. People in this era could not have built it. So shows like that, I think, do a great disservice, never mind about history, but to the portrayal of people from that region, ancient and modern.

LEE: Well, given its regard for its symbol of mysticity, what are some other ways that pyramids have become cultural icons outside of Egypt?

TICHINDELEAN: I brought up the fact that they started to become incorporated as a symbol of eternity, especially in Christian burials, and I think you see that a lot in England especially, where it first started. I mean, if you see public buildings, for example I did my masters at the University of Liverpool, and all buildings there have little sphinxes and pyramids on top of them, because that was the architectural style, this Orientalist style that was popular in the early 1900s. And then we got it, again, incorporated into Christian burials, kind of the headstones in the shape of the pyramids or obelisks, to signify this enduring, I guess, memory, in cases of cemeteries. Or you have it on the dollar bill, right. It’s a symbol of—well actually I’m not exactly a hundred percent sure what it is—but I think it has to do with the masons, the Freemasons, so these secret societies again incorporated these ancient symbols to perhaps give themselves a more credible heritage, them being ancient societies that had knowledge passed down from thousands of years ago. That’s some of the ways that I could think about right now.

LEE: Alright, could you tell us other instances of pyramid-building outside of Egypt that people may not have heard about?

TICHINDELEAN: Yeah, I mean, the amazing structures, and I guess pyramids or mounds, however you may want to call it here in America, at Cahokia, next to St. Louis, for example. I mean I think the base of that is way bigger than the Great Pyramid, the base of it, not in terms of the height, but the base of it. And in terms of manpower and work that went into it, it was probably equivalent. I mean again, as I said, these are the most stable structures to build, so there are, for example, even in the South Pacific, there is some evidence of pyramid building, that means stones being kind of stacked. They’re not as big as the ones in Egypt or Mesoamerica, but again, if we’re talking about pyramids, it depends how you would define a pyramid. If you’re talking about the shape, then you have many instances throughout history where you can see that.

LEE: That’s all the questions I’ve got. Do you have anything else you might want to say to whoever’s listening to the podcast?

TICHINDELEAN: In terms of, I guess, pyramid-building, there is a huge history spanning almost 2000 years within Egypt itself, of pyramid-building, and that continues not only in Egypt, actually. The country with the most pyramids is Sudan. They’re smaller than the ones in Egypt, but the most surviving pyramids will be in Sudan. And they have been incorporated from an early on tradition in Egyptian history as a symbol of power and of regeneration that in order to really understand, even within these periods in Egyptian history what they mean, you have to look at them in specific contexts. So, you know, perhaps a pyramid that was built in, let’s say, 400 AD in Nubia, did not have exactly the same meaning to that person that built it, as the Great Pyramid, whether we’re talking about religious or really maybe—I mean they were both in a way tombs, but, yeah.

LEE: Okay, I think that pretty much wraps up the interview, then. Thank you for your time, Matei.

TICHINDELEAN: Yeah, no problem.

LEE: As long as Egypt has been a subject of foreign written history, it has also clearly been a subject of cultural appropriation. In this section, we saw how identification, assumption, and manipulation of elements of the pyramid each altered the image of ancient Egypt as it became represented in other cultures. Certain aspects would be emphasized, while others would be underrepresented. As we transition into the modern world, pyramids certainly change in what they represent in society, and we can attribute that change to these cases of appropriation!

[Sec. 6: Modern Identity and Conclusion]

The pyramid in modern society continues to be taken as a symbol of mysticism, often in an exaggerated form from that of the early classical period. In one such case, Semir Osmanagic, a Bosnian museum director, claims certain natural hills to be the “largest man-made pyramids” in history! The media attention taken on by the site reveals the existing fervor over the mystical identity of the pyramid, as well as the extent of the harm that pseudoarchaeology can do to official archaeology. A more well-known instance of false information contributing to the legacy of the pyramids is in the case of the Illuminati, which is associated with conspiracy theories of secret societies such as the Freemasons. You can even see the famous icon of the Eye of Providence contained within the pyramid on the back of your one-dollar bill!

Pyramids today have also been associated with power or authority, and continue to be built for reasons similar to that of its original construction. In modern context, the pyramidal design is also linked with commercialization, given the iconic value of the symbol. Many famous examples of modern pyramids can be found in major cities in the U.S., such as Luxor Las Vegas, which serves as both a hotel and casino, and the Memphis Pyramid, which was originally an arena but now serves as a location for Bass Pro Shops. Though smaller in size, the art museum of Louvre in Paris is another well known example that incorporates the pyramid into a design.

From simple burial mounds to the Great Pyramid of Giza, pyramids throughout history may have varied in design, but all of them have nonetheless spawned continuous discussions about their religious and social importances, as well as their influences to other societies in Europe and the Middle East. Even today, pyramids continue to make their legacy in the modern world, as an embodiment of cultism and power.

So to answer the question, how have we changed in our interpretation of the pyramid, throughout the four and a half plus millennia that they’ve existed in? Well, we’ve seen how in both the ancient and the modern worlds, pyramids have acted as icons of power. In ancient Egypt, pyramids were built in order to guide those in power to the afterlife, often ascribing them to divinity. Pyramids were also important to ancient Egyptian society as a whole, carrying many economic and social functions. However, we’ve also seen how over time representations of pyramids in other cultures have caused the cultural importance of the pyramids to be diluted, and rather emphasize its religious functions to the point of exaggeration. Modern representations rather use the pyramidal structure as a point of attraction, and a source of commercialization, due to its distorted representation from Egypt’s history of cultural appropriation.

Still, another way to look at this is that the pyramid has still survived as an icon of authority and fascination over ancient history that humans have tried to emulate ever since, no matter how much it may have changed as a symbol. The original builders of the pyramid may be gone now, but the pyramid still exists!

This episode concludes Season 2 of Now as Then! If you’re interested in more content like this, make sure to check out other episodes of Now as Then, and you can read in greater detail from this episode’s bibliography. Shout-out to Deidre Whitmore of Digital Archaeology Lab Cotsen Institute, Simon Lee, Katherine Kapsidelis, Jet Jacobs of Library Special Collections, and Martin Brennan of Scholarly Communication Education for making this podcast possible, and special thanks to Matei Tichindelean for this episode’s interview.

Otherwise, thank you for listening, and stay safe!

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Broke For Free. “Something Elated.” MP3 file, created 8 July 2011. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Something_EP/Broke_For_Free_omething_EP_-_05_Something_Elated

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