Pyramids, What are they? (Part I)

Update Image: January 10, 2009.

First Dynasty Comb showing Anhk.

Source: TourEgypt.net.

Here you can see the perspective shape of the arms, the Nile below and what looks like two strings dangling could be the reflections of the Sun Path above the horizon, based on my interpretation of this symbol.

Note how these 'dangling strings' curve in towards the center as they approach the horizon in a similar fashion to the 'Sun Path' above the horizon, that is in a reflective fashion.  While not exact, one is in the sky while the other upon the water.  The fact that these 2 separate 'dangling strings' later merged into a single form that was more geometrical brings out the changes from early forms being more representative while later forms being more abstract and 'beautiful upon themselves'.  There's also a practical matter if one was to make the Ankh to be carried the 'dangling strings' would be easier to build if merged together.

Original Post:

by Nicholas Buccalo, copyright 2008

Update Jan. 2, 2009: Ankh Diagram Revised to take into account river flow to determine orientation of Sun, and the rising and setting of the Sun itself onto the horizon, which could be the reason for the 'curvilinear' portion of this piece of jewelry.  It is such a unique shape, that one could imagine standing under it to watch the sun move overhead.  To me this seems a bit more compelling than my first argument, but perhaps they worked in tandem, that is, one represents the path of the Sun while the other represents the up and down movement of the 'lightness of the sky turning into the darkness of the sky' as represented by the flat 'cover' hieroglyph posted elsewhere.

Maybe the two have distinct significance, but only for speculation purposes... the heavenly Sun is represented by the physical 'figure' teardrop while the perhaps earthly 'ground' opening of the teardrop represents the Deity which is a Sun god here on earth.

UPDATE Jan 9, 2009: I am more convinced every day that this upside down teardrop shape represents the path of the Sun, and that the East is on the right, West is left and we are looking North down the river Nile and South is behind us.  If we were looking South, then the left would be east.  This, according the the angle (in perspective) would mean that the Sun is traveling in a Northerly direction, which is impossible given the latitude of Egypt (approximately the same distance North as Florida, hence the Sun is to the South), that is, if the path of the rising Sun is represented by the left arm of the teardrop, then if looking at this arm in perspective it would appear to be approaching the observer, and since the observer is looking South in this example that would make the Sun appear to be traveling North, which is impossible; therefore, the observer is in fact looking North and the Sunrise is on the right, which makes the Ankh teardrop arms (those which spring from the horizon) correspond correctly with the movement of the Sun, which would be approaching the observer (think of the path of the Sun as a diagram while looking North, the Sun when it appears over the horizon will appear to skirt towards the South before looking like it achieves enough height to pass overhead.  The same happens when the Sun sets.).

Image by Luca Gemell: Sun Reflection on Nile, reminiscent of the Ankh jewelry design.  Note the shape of the reflection, it is like an up-side-down V at the shore, and then more of a shallow fan shape as it approaches the foreground.  The shape of this reflection is reminiscent of an obelisk (reflection pointing to the sun above).

There they sit.  Huge, undeniable, inspiring.  But what inspired their shape?  A simple idea struck me some years ago and only now have I decided to reveal my interpretation of why Pyramids are the way they are, after finally acknowledging that, as far as I can tell, no one has come out and said why they are specifically this particular shape.  Most modern eyes focus on where the detail is, what's inside, what they said, what they did, but there was a time in civilized history when structures rose up towards the sky and took on a very particular form.  In Egyptian culture, these are not some sort of abstract mountain used to touch the sky, there is something much more fundamental and true to the life of those who lived their lives daily in the Nile valley. 

We all know that they represent their quest to 'reach the heavens' but unlike the Aztec's pyramids which allow one to literally 'stand in the space of the sky' the Egyptian pyramids were coated with smooth limestone preventing the accession to the summit.  One is therefore forced to view them from the ground.  For me, the Pyramids represent literally a 'road' as expressed by a one point perspective to infinity, a passageway to the after-life, to the heavens, which is beyond our visual ability to see from here on earth, unless you view them from the base of this pathway.  I see it as a road which is tilted upward towards the heavens, to a place beyond our life on earth.  They are like a window into the heavens that opens up with one's imagination.  If you are having trouble with this concept, just squint your eyes to blur the details and see the form, and to see the perspective.

At the Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Sphinx of Giza, the causeway is situated frontally keeping people, who stream toward the Pyramid, orientated towards only one face.  Imagine standing at it's base and looking up.  What you could imagine is a massive pathway that reaches up towards infinity, ending in the glint of sunlight from it's cap.  This is the viewpoint I believe Pyramid's were meant to be seen from.  It is here at the base where one can stop and ponder the afterlife and be swept up in the scale of this edifice.

Understanding the history of the Pyramid, one acknowledges the Mastaba (one story sloped sided masses), followed by the Stepped Pyramid developed by Egyptian Architect Imhotep.  

To the left is the stepped Pyramid of Djoser (Zoser) for the Pharaoh Djoser during the 27th century B.C.   If viewed as a one point perspective, one can easily imagine that it is a road pointing towards the sky, the wavy sides reflecting the waves of the Nile itself as they hit the shore, which was Egypt's dominate earthly highway.  My feeling is that Imhotep, while riding down the Nile with the Pharaoh drew a sketch of the river itself as a one point perspective and submitted the idea that by stacking the Mastaba's they could create a symbolic 'road to the heavens'.  

Understanding how ancient people were truly connected to the earth, it doesn't take much imagination to acknowledge that this might of been the case.  The drawing could of been a simple horizontal line (perhaps a wavy line) with 2 angled lines representing the shores of the river Nile.

While we often photograph the Pyramids today showing 2 sides, it is my belief that only one side was meant to be seen at a time.  This was reinforced by the causeways which approach from one side and not from the corners, slightly off-center until one reached the base.  

The smoothness of the original surface, reflecting the smoothness of water, also enhances the illusion as the eye is less likely to focus on the surface but instead travel to the pinnacle.  

Today, one would have to squint in order to experience the pyramid as a whole to avoid focusing on the massive stones themselves.  While the exterior veneer was made up of highly polishedd white limestone, the top was a special copper cast element.  As seen as part of a road, this element would represent the final stage into the heavens.  My inclination would be that there would be 3 parts to a Pyramid, base (earth), body (sky) and top (heavenly realm).  This might be considered true for one Pyramid, the son of Djoser, who used granite for the base (but this might of been purely a structural and aesthetic consideration).

Unlike Aztec temples as shown here Chichen-Itza, where stepping was fundamental as a real means of accessing the realm above the earth to literally stand 'in the sky' in order to be physically closer to the Gods above, Egyptian Pyramids were more symbolic in nature, allowing the mind and spirit to do the traveling in an undoubtably monumental and easily recognizable gesture to the masses who must of envied that the Pharaoh could make such a journey.

Lets be clear, the Egyptian Pyramids are not some sort of arrow pointing to the sky or something that is trying to 'touch the sky'.  What each one represents is a connection between humans which inhabit the earth and the heavens which are perceived to control natural events and are all powerful.  The connection, in this case, is a symbolic path which bridges earth with the heavens.  It doesn't have much to do with interior shafts as with the exterior form.  This IS the connection with all who used to visit these monuments and was easily understood, some 5000 years ago.  It is not just that the Pyramids are tall, it is that they have a particular shape, a concept further reinforced by Pyramids which utilized mountains of similar shape.  It is the understanding of what humans see with their eyes, as early civilizations emphasized, that allowed them to come to this understanding and realization.  It is a symbolic path to the after life.

In this photo, one can see how a Pyramid  was to be experienced and the effect of a pathway stretching out towards infinity, an effect further enhanced with the smoothness of the original surface. Photo: Absco.  It is this view point, albiet more centered, which I feel is how the Pyramids should be experienced as a symbol of the pathway to the heavens.  It is in this area I believe offerings are given and worship must of been performed.

The size of Pyramids can also be associated with the experience of traveling on the Nile and specifically the width of the Nile. It is a relationship of experience and not of dimension as the Nile itself is much wider than the base of a Pyramid.

In this Ankh jewelry example, which is known to symbolize life (also called the Key of the Nile and a symbol of reincarnation), one can see the one point perspective clearly.  In our modern minds, we might envision the shape of a human, but to the Egyptians, the human is less important than grasping what nature is all about.  One can imagine the Nile, the two shores, the sun above the horizon, and the reflection of light on the water.  While the Nile flows South to North, it is along this axis that travel is possible and therefore the most appropriate place for the sun, although the rising east sun has the most symbolic meaning in Egyptian culture.   At the pinnacle of the Pyramid is places a metalic Pyramid that glimmers in the sunlight and here symbolizes eternal life at the end of the pathway to the heavens.  The making of this piece of jewelry for the public makes perfect sense in this context.  It allows the taking of the symbolism of the Pyramids with you and clearly, in my mind, connects the two in both context of creation and meaning.   

The specifics of the Ankh jewelry reveal a hole, small at the bottom and larger at it's top, represent the rising of the sun.  The hole itself is the sun defined by the arch of metal around it representing the glow or halo of the sun.  Now, since it is a hole, when worn, the hole reveals the skin of the person beyond, creating a connection between the individual person and the sun.  The reason the sun isn't portrayed as a solid is that the sun itself is not an earthly element, while all the other elements of the jewelry are.  To fully understand the importance of both the Nile and the Sun, one only need to do a fly by using Google Earth.  There one will understand the life giving resource the Nile is, with slivers of green on it's banks, surrounded by desert beyond one's imagination.  And it is the sun, rising in the east, that is the second component of life for those who live in Egypt.  These two components and their impact on an Egyptians ability to sustain life are undoubtably more important factors than any other, and the creation of a symbol that embodies these components would be matter of fact.  The Ankh, a symbol of life = the River Nile + the Sun.

The Parthenon, a much later example of Greek Temples, also emphasizes the change of design based on what the human can perceive.  This also holds true for the placement of structures on various Acropoli.  Architecture was not based solely on an abstract notions, such as the grid is used today, but was also based on human experience as seen from the observer.

The Pyramid is the ultimate hieroglyph, a symbolic visual representation of a tilted pathway to the heavens.

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To Be Discovered:

There are a few things I would like to discover:

First is discovering the meaning of various hieroglyphs which echoe a one point perspective, that is, a symbol of a horizontal line, much like the Ankh jewelry example, at it's center a point with two additional lines angled away (like an upside down V) and open towards the bottom.  There is one in particular that has an additional vertical line with a 'house' type symbol over the entire hieroglyph.

The second is what is at the base of each Pyramid. I understand that priests preformed services at the base, but would like to know more of the specifics of where and what the surroundings specifically looked like, including the ground surface, i.e. was it completely flat or are there areas that slope counter to the slope of the Pyramid face.  

And the third, the date of the earliest known piece of Ankh jewelry, it's history and how it was visually scribed.  My theory is that it was presented to the Pharaoh of Djoser by the Architect Imhotep to give him a symbol of what he was creating, and to give the Pharaoh the power of the symbol itself.

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Large format photo of Pyramid at Khafre and the Great Sphinx  which shows the procession of visitors.

Photo Credits for other photos from wikipedia: Khafre and Sphinx. Djoser.

Copyright: Nicholas Buccalo, Architect