🚀 Inventions and machines 🏗️ Buildings and structures

Pyramids

📖 In short

A pyramid is a solid shape with a flat base and triangular sides that all meet at one point at the top, called the apex. The most famous pyramids in the world are those at Giza in Egypt, built more than 4500 years ago.

🤩 Did you know?

The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world still left.
The Pyramid of Khufu contains more than two million stones.
The glass pyramid in front of the Louvre in Paris is a famous modern pyramid.
You can make a paper pyramid by cutting out four triangles and a square.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 Kinds of pyramids

A pyramid is named after the shape of its base: if the base is square it's a square pyramid with four triangular faces, and if it's a triangle it's a triangular pyramid. The number of side faces equals the number of sides of the base.

🔍 The pyramids of Giza

The ancient Egyptians built huge stone pyramids as tombs for their kings, the pharaohs. The biggest is the Pyramid of Khufu, which was the tallest building made by people for thousands of years.

💡 How did they build them?

Scientists don't know all the secrets of how the pyramids were built, but they think thousands of skilled workers moved the huge stones on wooden sledges and ramps, and cut them with amazing precision.