Were the Pyramids Purely Tombs, or Did They Serve Additional Ceremonial, Symbolic, or Functional Roles?
From The Observatory
Source: Dig Labs Project
In the Great Pyramids, many pharaohs’ mummies are absent. This suggests either ancient looting or that burial was not the primary function of these edifices.
“Were the Pyramids Purely Tombs, or Did They Serve Additional Ceremonial, Symbolic, or Functional Roles?” by Dig Labs Contributors is licensed by the Observatory under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
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Introduction
The tomb theory is supported by much tangible evidence: Burial chambers, stone sarcophagi, and ritual objects characteristic of funerary cults have all been discovered inside. Pyramid texts inscribed on walls describe the pharaoh’s journey to the gods, and temple complexes symbolically transport the ruler in the afterlife.
Despite the mass of evidence, the tomb hypothesis has garnered some skeptics. In the Great Pyramids, pharaohs’ mummies are absent, and chambers are often empty. This suggests either ancient looting or that burial was not the primary function of these edifices.
