Ancient Egypt: Difference between revisions
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===Obelisks=== | ===Obelisks=== | ||
=== Pyramids === | === Pyramids === | ||
+=== early tombs & monumental structures ===+ | |||
=== early tombs & monumental structures === | |||
[[File:Mastaba-faraoun-3.jpg|thumb|Example of a mastaba, a built-up structure over underground tomb]] | [[File:Mastaba-faraoun-3.jpg|thumb|Example of a mastaba, a built-up structure over underground tomb]] | ||
* early Egyptians built elaborate underground burial tombs for kings & elites | * early Egyptians built elaborate underground burial tombs for kings & elites | ||
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** increasingly complex over time | ** increasingly complex over time | ||
** some structures began to take shape of pyramids, which were adopted for kings | ** some structures began to take shape of pyramids, which were adopted for kings | ||
==== Benben stone ==== | |||
[[File:Benben-stone Pyramidion of the Pyramid of Amenemhet III at Dahshur wiki 350.jpg|frame|right|Benben stone from Wikipedia]] | |||
* in the Egyptian creation myth (see below) a pyramid-shaped land rises from otherwise empty waters, a "primeval mound" called "Benben" | |||
** thus the Benben represents creation and the origin of the sun | |||
** early Egyptians built large earth mounds to represent the the rising land of creation, which was subsequently represented in a pyramid shape of a single block of stone, thus the Benben | |||
==== Old Kingdom early pyramid building ==== | ==== Old Kingdom early pyramid building ==== | ||