Thursday 11th December at 8:00pm
The historical documentary series continues. This episode explores the development of the pyramids, from underground burial chambers to soaring structures that revolutionised architecture. The film reveals the name of the man who designed the very first pyramid and shows how his ideas were refined and perfected, until pyramids eventually fell out of fashion altogether.
The pyramids of Egypt are the most enduring monuments of the ancient world. Around 80 of them still exist, but most of these were built in a short 100-year period, and they remain one of the world’s greatest mysteries. In a time before iron tools, with very little engineering knowledge, how and why did the Egyptians embark on such massive projects?
The pharaohs adopted the pyramid shape because they believed it would transport them to the afterlife. Indeed, the ancient Egyptian word for ‘pyramid’ shares its root with the verb ‘to ascend’. “So there’s a direct relationship between the form of the pyramid and the ascension of the king into the celestial realm,” says Dr Melinda Hartwig.
The physical origins of the pyramid lie in the earliest Egyptian tombs, which were simple underground chambers. These tombs were covered with a mound of stones, which in turn became a building, called a mastaba. When one king built a wall around his tomb, his architect decided to build a two-storey mastaba so that it could be seen over the wall. This two-storey structure evolved into the first pyramid, the six- tiered Step Pyramid at Saqqara.
This development marked a great leap forward in design – dubbed “a miracle of architecture” by Zahi
Hawass, Egypt’s foremost archaeologist. The oldest stone building in the world, the Step Pyramid contains three miles of tunnels and a burial chamber, where the pharaoh Djoser stored his worldly goods for the journey to the afterlife.
This leap forward was the brainchild of the royal architect, Imhotep – a man whose significance to the development of architecture is hard to over-state. “He is the first man to change architecture in the world,” says Hawass. Archaeologists are now seeking Imhotep’s tomb – a finding that could eclipse the discovery of Tutankhamen’s resting place in importance.
However, it was Djoser’s successor, Sneferu, who refined the pyramid design. Dr Jonathan Foyle visits his three markedly different efforts, beginning with the eight-step pyramid at Meidum. This was ollowed by the ‘Bent’ Pyramid, so-called because the angle of its sides changes gradient halfway up. “Did Sneferu’s builders think, ‘right, let’s get this finished and move on, shall we, because this is a failed experiment’?” muses Foyle.
Sneferu then perfected the design with the Red Pyramid at Dahshur, the blueprint for all those that followed. The largest pyramid of all – the Great Pyramid at Giza – was built a few years later by Sneferu’s son, Khufu. “When Khufu became king, he had to either live in the shadow of his dad or do something even more special,” explains Dr Robert Steven Bianchi. Dr Hawass ventures inside the Great Pyramid to throw light on its unique structure and reveal some surprising new facts about the workers that built it.
Ultimately, the vast cost and manpower involved in building the pyramids quickened the end of their era. The pharaohs also struggled to protect them from grave robbers, and it became fashionable to build hidden tombs – such as those in the Valley of the Kings, where Tutankhamen was found. Yet the pyramids have had a lasting impact on the world, and every modern structure owes them a debt.
