Were the pyramids at Giza built as fortresses?

Answer 1

Yes the pyramids, all the pyramids were built as fortresses but that was only

1 of it's primary functions. They were also built as cypts or gigantic tombs but

each one was built for a specific pharoah as his place of rest, where when they

died was deposited all the great wealth of that pharoah & so they also served

as early banks. Now as such these places were consecrated in sacred rites & threrefore before the pharoah's death also became temples of worship, as a dedication site a type of altar to the Gods & primarly to Ra, of which the Giza pyramids were dedicated to most. Many pharoah's were Ra worshipers & they were rich in Egypt & they're labor & soldier forces were well provisioned under the pharoah so naturally they had to defend themselves from raiders & uprisings from other cultural groups or rival Egyptian Gods (or their worshipers).

The Egyptians not only had many enemy cultures, they also had many

internal rivals or civil wars. competing Gods were competing ideoloies

& with 1 dominant over the other, uprisings were sure to follow.

The brilliance of the pyramids was that while they were being built,

the large steps actually served as walls. When the first step was

laid down they had a wall. If attacked, they could all get behind it &

defend it easily, the step served as a wall; once the second step was built

they not only had a wall but an advantage point in which to defend from.

If an invader climbed the first step the defenders could jump down from

the 2nd step & make it hard for the attackers to advance. The attackers

would have to fight the defenders from both above & the side & not

just from above. So it was a double whamy for the attackers, very

difficult to succeed against the defenders. The higher the pyramid

got, the more difficult it would be for the attackers.

So when it was completed, the temple inside was fully protected,

the consecration rites, never disturbed & when the pharoah was

to be mummified & the pyramid to become his crypt it was then

the ultimate protected crypt, an impregnable fortress that protected

a most sacred crypt to the Egyptians & all the wealth that was

deposited, which only the most loyal priests would have access

to the Temple, since the doors were guarded & had pass codes.

You couldn't open the door unless you knew the pass code.

The pyramids were - A fortress, a temple, a cyprt(tomb), a bank

in that order.

It's hard to view them as such now because there is no army

there to protect it & no wealth left to raid since it's original

builders who valued it are long dead & they have been raided

without opposition by tomb raiders & archeologists so many times

over their post dynasty history. But their magnificence remains.

Pyramids are relly ziggurats, with four sides not 3, & zggurats

in history were always intended to be Temples or crypts designed

to be a protected place of worship to it's principle builders, hence the

4 sides, but Egyptian pyramids did not have the usual walking steps.

The pyramid steps were more like walls which you had to clim with a

ladder to get to the next one thus, making them more like fortress

& not just temples = a multi-purpose Ziggurat.