Better Pyramids

I enjoyed these sites much more than Giza. They contain mastabas (plateau-shaped tombs) and pyramids that pre-date Giza and provide an excellent story for the development of the pyramid as a funerary monument. The mastabas and Step Pyramid (actually a step mastaba) at Saqqara show how the Egyptians went from the relative simple mastaba that replicates a house for the deceased toward a taller structure with successively smaller stories. Then the Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum shows their experimentation with stone and at least one failed attempt to build a pyramid-shaped monument. The Bent Pyramid at Dahshour was probably in progress when Meidum collapsed and they adjusted the angle to prevent a similar fate. Finally, the Red Pyramid at Dahshour shows the first time they got it right. Although not nearly as big as the Great Pyramid, it is the first complete pyramid and it hasn't suffered from the frequent scavaging of stone that has beset the Giza pyramids so its form is more intact. Finally, at Fayyum are the remains of a later pyramid constructed of mud brick, represented the decline of the Old Kingdom and the end of the pyramid-building phase.

For Best Pyramid, I vote for the Red Pyramid.

Photo Album: Pyramids

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=c931oof.9wt7xztj&x=0&y=phfefs