The Pyramid Problem: How the Pyramids Got Their Shape || Ancient Egypt Art History & Architecture

[Music] welcome back to the accessible art history YouTube channel today's video is inspired by my current class in my master's program I'm enrolled in ancient art history and I love visiting some of my favorite topics this week we're learning about the Old Kingdom and pyramids and I've Loved ancient Egypt since I was a little girl but it's great to get some new information on how the Egyptian pyramids were conceived and built it was quite a process and I can't wait to explore it with you so to learn more keep on watching we dive into the story of the pyramids I think it's important to understand why the Egyptian pharaohs wanted to build them in the first place the shape is incredibly important to the ancient Egyptian religion according to its creation myth the Ben Ben was a triangular-shaped mound that arose from the primordial Waters of creation also called noon from this mound the Creator God amoon arose and settled he would go on to create two deities Shu and tnet who would produce the pantheon of ancient Egyptian gods in essence the Ben represents the beginning of creation besides being represented by the pyramid itself the Capstone at the top of the structure was also called the Ben Ben Stone there are several that still survived to day giving us insight into their importance all right now that we have that background information established let's dive into one of the Pharaohs that started it all saru it's important to note that he didn't build the first pyramid that honor belongs to joser and his famous architect imotep but saru was credited with working out how to build the freestanding structure we're familiar with today Pharaoh snefru reigned from approximately 2613 to 2589 b.c. and was the founding ruler of Egypt's fourth Dynasty appeared often referred to as the Golden Age of the Old Kingdom he ascended to the throne following the death death of his predecessor his father or maybe stepfather phoh hunai Beyond his architectural Endeavors which we'll discuss in a moment Snuffer was also known for his military campaigns particularly in Nubia and Libya which helps secure Egypt's borders and expand its influence his Reign is characterized by relative peace and prosperity facilitating advancements and projects that divined his legacy snre was also a master at PR for the Egyptian Throne welcomed people from all social stations to talk with him something that was quite rare at the time in fact we have records of him referring to Farmers as my friends or my brothers this endeared him to the common folk and allowed him to raise the money needed for his military campaigns and building projects snafu was succeeded by his son kuu who would go on to build the Great Pyramid of Giza sn's Reign set a high standard for his successors and left an indul mark on ancient Egyptian history through his pyramids and Military campaigns as I mentioned a moment ago snfu was consumed by the idea of creating the perfect pyramid however it took a couple of tries to figure out how to create such a large structure without collapsing his first pyramid the medium pyramid was initially a step pyramid that was modified into a true pyramid and experienced a lot of structural issues and it partially collapsed it's notable for its transitional design between the step pyramid and a true pyramid it was originally constructed as a step pyramid with seven tiers and an eighth tier was added later its height was about 91 M and when it was and when it was filled in to look like a true pyramid by filling in the steps with packing stones and adding its outer casing its final height was about 93 m however this was not entirely successful over time the outer casing and some of the core material collapse which left the structure in its current state which you can see on the screen today it looks more like a three-step tower rising from Rubble not exactly what nef was going for probably due to structural weakness and the poor quality of materials but this median pyramid remains an important site with the understanding of the evolution of how snu and his and his Architects wanted to build a pyramid archaeological digs at the site have also uncovered the remains of a mortuary Temple and a Causeway suggesting that it was going to be a large complex just like we see at the later pyramids of undeterred by this failure snre commissioned the construction of a new pyramid the bent pyramid at dasor located about 40 km south of Cairo it's distinctive feature is its unusual shape it kind of looks like it's buling at the waist the pyramid Rises up at an angle of 54° but then halfway up the pyramid the angle changes to 43° which is how it got its name the Steep original angle may have led to structural instability prompting the builders to alter it to prevent the pumier from claping evidence supporting this includes the presence of large cracks indicating the stress on the stones and the failure of the design the bent pyramid also has some of its original polished Limestone casing something we don't really see in the more famous Giza Pyramids this gives us Insight on how the pyramids would have originally appeared leing bright and white in the sunlight which must have been pretty spectacular finally snfu completed the Red Pyramid also located in dashore this is considered the first successful attempt at constructing a true smooth-sided pyramid and it served as inspiration for the later Great Pyramids of Giza built by his successor it names come from the reddish Hue of the L lestone that was used in its construction one of the most important features of The Red Pyramid is its consistent 43° angle which provides it with a more stable structure the angle believ to be chosen based on the lessons learned from the structural issues encountered with the other pyramids we discussed in this video it's gently sloping sides allow the stones to push against each other and using gravity to hold them in place it's simple and efficient there's an entrance on the North Face of the pyramid located about 28 m above ground level which leads to a descending passageway that opens into three chambers the first two Chambers are cobal vaed aligned with pyramid's Central axis the third chamber was served as the burial chamber is larger and features a coral ceilings this distributes the weights of the stone blocks above and prevents collapse the construction of The Red Pyramid marked a significant achievement in ancient Egyptian engineering and architecture success established the design principles that would become famous with the later Great Pyramids of Giza as you can see from the progression of the pyramids it took Decades of dedication and hard work to realize the dream of saru however it is a shame that he doesn't get the same recognition as the successors for their pyramids [Music] n [Music]