Few monuments evoke as much of a sense of power and awe as pyramids. While these structures can be found in locations as far-flung as China, Mesopotamia, and Central America, it is the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt that have commanded the most attention. Usually dated to the third millenium B.C., they are the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to remain standing. Of these the largest is the Great Pyramid of Khufu (or Cheops), which has fed countless speculations claiming that its structure conceals such knowledge as the ratio of pi and the diameter of the earth.
Whatever secrets pyramids may or may not contain, their principal symbolic function is to represent the sacred mountain, the place where heaven and earth meet. Egyptian pyramids are connected with solar symbolism; the triangular form of the pyramid was thought to resemble rays streaming forth from the sun god Ra. Since the pyramids were built as tombs, it was hoped that the pharaoh’s soul would be able to ascend to the celestial realms through this means. The pyramids of Mesoamerica are slightly different. They usually culminate, not in a point, but in a flat platform containing a temple and have staircases whereby it can by reached. Here sacrifices were made to the gods as a means of linking the earthly realm and the divine.
The numinosity of pyramids have given rise to much lore about their powers – and even to some curious scientific results. Researchers have observed that animals that strayed into the Great Pyramid and died did not rot in the customary manner, but seemed to have been spontaneously mummified. In Italy and Yugoslavia, milk packaged in pyramidal containers was found to keep indefinitely without refridgeration. Whether such findings will stand up under closer investigation may be open to question, but they serve to illuminate one of the most powerful ideas embodied in pyramids – that contact with the divine levels preserves and sustains us. It is even possible that America’s Founding Fathers placed a pyramid on the Great Seal of the United States with just such an idea in mind.