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The construction of step pyramids has been an ancient part of several cultures throughout history. These pyramids typically are large and made of several layers, or steps, of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged separately from one another, as there was no connection between the different civilizations that built them.
Mesopotamia and Persia
- See Ziggurat.
Ancient Egypt
The earliest Egyptian pyramids were also step pyramids. During the Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (27th century BC), the architect Imhotep built Egypt's first step pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser, by building a series of six successively smaller mastabas (an earlier form of tomb structure), one atop of another. Later pharaohs, including Sekhemkhet and Khaba, built similar structures.
However, by the time of the Fourth Dynasty, less than a century later, construction techniques had evolved to allow the emergence of the "true pyramid": with smooth, rather than stepped sides. The earliest smooth-sided pyramid, located at Meidum, started out as a step pyramid under Huni, but was converted into a true pyramid by Sneferu by the expedient of adding a layer of smooth casing stones over the stepped structure. Sneferu's own later monuments, the Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid at Dahshur, were the first true pyramids to be built as such from scratch, and it was with this innovation that the age of Egyptian stepped pyramids came to an end.
Pre-Columbian America
The most prolific builders of step pyramids were the Pre-Columbian civilizations. The remains of step pyramids can be found throughout the Mayan cities of the Yucatán, as well as in Aztec, Toltec, and Inca architecture. In many of these cases, successive layers of pyramids were built on top of the pre-existing structures, with which the pyramids expanded in size on a cyclical basis. This is true of the Great Pyramid of Cholula and of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan.
See also
"Step pyramid"