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Ancient Man - The Beginning of Civilizations by Hendrik Willem Van Loon
page 43 of 117 (36%)
could be seen for miles around. The sides of this hill he covered with a
layer of bricks that the sand might not be blown away.

People liked the novelty of the idea.

Soon they were trying to outdo each other and the graves rose twenty and
thirty and forty feet above the ground.

At last a rich nobleman ordered a burial chamber made of solid stone.

On top of the actual grave where the mummy rested, he constructed a pile
of bricks which rose several hundred feet into the air. A small
passage-way gave entrance to the vault and when this passage was closed
with a heavy slab of granite the mummy was safe from all intrusion.

The King of course could not allow one of his subjects to outdo him in
such a matter. He was the most powerful man of all Egypt who lived in
the biggest house and therefore he was entitled to the best grave.

What others had done in brick he could do with the help of more costly
materials.

Pharaoh sent his officers far and wide to gather workmen. He constructed
roads. He built barracks in which the workmen could live and sleep (you
may see those barracks this very day). Then he set to work and made
himself a grave which was to endure for all time.

We call this great pile of masonry a "pyramid."

The origin of the word is a curious one.
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