Temples of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Mexico.
The pyramids that have made Egypt so famous are truly one of the world's greatest architectural achievements. The ancient Greeks considered the pyramids of Egypt one of the seven greatest wonders of the world, and today they are the only one that are still standing. The Pyramids of Egypt are large structures with four triangular sides that meet in a point at the top, directly over the center of the pyramid's square base. Ancient peoples in several parts of the world built pyramids, but the Egyptians constructed the biggest and most famous ones. The first tombs of the pharaohs were large, unimpressive, bunker affairs called mastabas. They were made from sun dried mud brick and most have long since crumbled to dust. This all changed around 2630 BC with the erection of the step pyramid. It was made for the pharaoh, Djoser and began as a normal mastaba, but was subsequently enlarged by adding one mastaba on top of another until it consisted of six terraces some 200ft (60 meters) high. The surface was originally encased in smooth white limestone which must have caught the sun light and reflected its rays. From there they evolved into the pointed triangular temples we hear the most of today. . These pyramids are known as the Pyramids of Giza. Egyptian pyramids served as tombs for kings and queens, but they were also places of ongoing religious activity. There has been found the remains of approximately 80 pyramids in Egypt. It is the three pyramids of Giza that are the most famous. Pyramids were constructed by large work gangs over this 20 year period. This labor was not done by slaves, but in fact was performed by hired labor during the season when agricultural work was not being done.
Another form of the pyramid is the ziggurat of Mesopotamia. There structure consisted of mostly clay bricks, and although still beautiful, they did not preserve themselves as well as the pyramids of the Egyptians.
