The Pyramids of the Ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom: Why Were They Built?

By John Thomas Didymus

The ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom produced massive structures that rank high in the list of wonders of the Ancient world. The Pyramid of Khufu("Cheops") and the Step Pyramid of Saqqara were the largest of these Old Kingdom monuments. But it is not enough for us to only know that the Ancient Egyptians built pyramids, we are curious to understand why they did. Scholars of Ancient History are rather reticent about explaining what the pyramids meant to the Ancient Egyptians thus allowing pseudo-scientific mystical speculations to flourish on the subject.

We need to understand the belief systems and ideas which motivated the erection of these massive structures for us to gain a piercing insight into the core, not only of Ancient Egyptian thought, but of the entire Ancient Word for pyramids were built by virtually all major civilizations of the Ancient World: the Sumero-Babylonian culture, the pre-Columbian Americans, the Chinese, the Indians all built pyramids. The body of mystical-philosophical thought motivating the erection of pyramidal architectural structures was therefore universal. Yet it remains largely uninvestigated. But these ideas must have meant a lot to the Ancients for great resources were invested their erection. We would gain a significant purchase of understanding in to the mind of the Ancients by explaining why they built pyramids.

It is generally acknowledged that Pyramids expressed the mystical-religious beliefs of the Ancients. Scholars would usually explain, vaguely, that the pyramids were a symbol of the "ascent of the soul." This is a trite explanation being self-evident at a cursory glance at the structure of the pyramid. The Babylonian ziggurat, for instance, was a spiral step structure with the obvious suggestion of spiritual ascent in mystical states of Shamanic trance or, maybe otherwise, the ascension of the soul at death. Similarly the Egyptian and American pyramids are suggestive of "ascent." Moses had to climb to the top of a mountain to be in the presence of YHWH. The gods of the Greeks lived on the summit of Olympus. The priests of ancient Sumer climbed to the top of the ziggurat for special retreats with the gods. The Aztec priests offered the beating hearts of their victims to the gods at the top of pyramidal temples. Evidently the Ancients associated heights with presence or nearness of the gods.

The gods in pristine Hebrew tradition were the "High Ones"("Elyon"). But why did the Ancients associate the gods with physical "heights?" The vague expression "ascent of the soul" leaves much unexplained. What is the soul in the understanding of the Ancients? What exactly was understood by "spiritual ascent?" Ascent to what? Why and how?

The writer JohnThomas Didymus is the author of "Confessions of God: The Gospel According to St. JohnThomas Didymus." (http://www.resurrectionconspiracy.com/). If you have found this article interesting please read the sequel THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS AND THE SHAMANIC DOUBLE SPIRAL PHALLIC SYMBOL on his blog: http://johnthomasdidymus.blogspot.com/2010/08/ancient-egyptian-pyramids-and-shamanic.html

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