We are told of pyramids all over the world. We are told of pyramids in Australia and Greece, the United States and Spain. We are told of pyramids under the oceans and even in space. Besides the pyramids of Egypt, we certainly know of the pyramids of South Mexico down into South America.
It also seems likely that pyramids exist in China, though their investigation has been limited, and we know of no formal archaeological investigation. It is very probable that the small Greek pyramids exist, but many of the remaining structures claimed to be pyramids are questionable. One pyramid in China, called the White Pyramid, is even rumored to be larger then the Great Pyramid of Khufu, though this has only been reported by one person that we know of, and the China pyramid is made of earth, while the Great Pyramid is made of massive stones.
We can not really positively identify any true pyramids outside of Egypt. These are pyramids originally built with smooth sides that come to a point at the top. Most of the pyramids in Mexico, and most probably those in China were step pyramids, built up with successive „steps“ of stone or other substances. Also, pyramids outside of Egypt appear to have been build for a different purpose then those in Egypt.
While Egyptian pyramids most always have a man made substructure and are funerary in nature, we know of no pyramids outside of Egypt with such structures. Instead, other pyramids most often seem to have a temple, altar or chapel on the top step, and their purpose seems more oriented to that of a temple. It can also most likely be said that Egyptian pyramid complexes were more structured then those found outside of Egypt. Over very long periods of time, they often retained the same components and even a basic design.
Many questions remain about pyramid’s including persistent speculation, some of which is very wild. Some people seen to continue to believe that the pyramids of Egypt were built by aliens or an ancient, advanced race. Among other arguments, they provide the worldwide construction of pyramids, and the obvious difficulties involved with building these massive structures as evidence.
However, there are a number of facts that support more traditional views that Egypt’s pyramids were, in fact, built by none other then the ancient Egyptians without outside assistance. These include:
Evolution: Monolithic, smooth sided pyramids did not just suddenly appear in Egypt. There was an evolutionary period, leading to the great pyramids of Giza that began with simple mastaba tombs, expanded into step pyramids, which led to experimentation, some of which failed miserably, and culminating with the perfected structure. In addition, the decorative themes associated with pyramids also evolved over time.
Context: Pyramids fit within both a physical and theological context. Physically, they do not exist alone. They are almost always a part of a religious compound, and sometimes these compounds even fit within the larger context of the pyramid field, all of it related to the very specific religion of the ancient Egyptians. They do not honor a superior or ancient race, but rather their own well documented sun god.
Construction Methods: We not only find the Egyptian’s ancient stone cutting and other tools within the ruins of pyramids, we also find some of the ramps that they used, and evidence of other construction methods. These are contemporary tools, and construction methods that would have fit the times.
Regardless, it would appear that pyramids built both inside and outside of Egypt most often are in some way related to sun worship, or at least some form of astronomical religious activity. In Egypt, pyramids were mostly built in the north, where the worship of the sun god, Re was most dominant. In fact all of the major pyramids were built not far away from Memphis and nearby modern Cairo. Most are located at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, at Saqqara or nearby Abusir or Dahshur, or somewhat farther away, close to the Fayoum region. At least as regards pyramids, the north was at its zenith during the late old Kingdom (5th Dynasty), when kings not only built their pyramid complexes, but also built sun temples.