This article is about pyramid-shaped structures. For the geometric shape, see Pyramid (geometry). For other uses, see Pyramid (disambiguation).
A pyramid (from Ancient Greek πυραμίς (puramís) 'pyramid')[1][2] is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular and converge to a point at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trilateral or quadrilateral (a 2-dimensional shape is a triangle.)
A pyramid has the majority of its mass closer to the ground[3] with less mass towards the pyramidion at the apex. This is due to the gradual decrease in the cross-sectional area along the vertical axis with increasing elevation. This offers a weight distribution that allowed early civilizations to create monumental structures.
Civilizations in many parts of the world have built pyramids. The largest pyramid by volume is the Mesoamerican Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla. For millennia, the largest structures on Earth were pyramids—first the Red Pyramid in the Dashur Necropolis and then the Great Pyramid of Khufu, both in Egypt—the latter is the only extant example of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
^πυραμίς Archived 2021-07-09 at the Wayback Machine, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
^The word meant "a kind of cake of roasted wheat-grains preserved in honey"; the Egyptian pyramids were named after its form (R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 1261).
^Centre of volume is one quarter of the way up—see Centre of mass.
A pyramid (from Ancient Greek πυραμίς (puramís) 'pyramid') is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular and converge to a point at the top, making...
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid and served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom...
Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Sources cite at least 118 identified "Egyptian" pyramids. Approximately 80 pyramids were...
A pyramid scheme is a business model which earns primarily by enrolling others into the scheme, however rather than earning income (or providing returns-on-investments)...
The Giza pyramid complex (also called the Giza necropolis) in Egypt is home to the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure,...
Memphis Pyramid, formerly known as the Great American Pyramid and the Pyramid Arena, and colloquially known as the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, is a pyramid-shaped...
A pyramidion (plural: pyramidia) is the capstone of an Egyptian pyramid or the upper section of an obelisk. Speakers of the Ancient Egyptian language...
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in...
An ecological pyramid (also trophic pyramid, Eltonian pyramid, energy pyramid, or sometimes food pyramid) is a graphical representation designed to show...
Mesoamerican pyramids form a prominent part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. Although similar in some ways to Egyptian pyramids, these New World...
pyramids in the world, both ancient and modern. In order to qualify for inclusion, each entry must be referred to as a pyramid (not just "pyramidal"...
The Transamerica Pyramid is a pyramid-shaped 48-story modernist skyscraper in San Francisco, California, United States, and the second tallest building...
The Bosnian pyramid claims are pseudoarchaeological theories put forward to explain the formation of a cluster of natural hills in the area of Visoko...
Louvre Pyramid (French: Pyramide du Louvre) is a large glass-and-metal structure designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei. The pyramid is in...
The Pyramid Texts are the oldest ancient Egyptian funerary texts, dating to the late Old Kingdom. They are the earliest known corpus of ancient Egyptian...
Inverted pyramid may refer to: Inverted pyramid (journalism), a metaphor in journalism for how information should be prioritized and structured in a text...
Food pyramid may refer to: Food pyramid (nutrition), one of many pyramid-shaped nutrition guides used around the world Food pyramid (food chain), a graphic...
The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building in Teotihuacan, and one of the largest in Mesoamerica. It is believed to have been constructed about 200...
A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a...
Russian pyramid, also known as Russian billiards (Russian: ру́сский билья́рд, russky bilyard), is a form of billiards played on a large billiard table...
In geometry, a square pyramid is a pyramid with a square base, having a total of five faces. If the apex of the pyramid is directly above the center of...
Pyramid Head, also known as "Red Pyramid", "Red Pyramid Thing" (赤い三角頭, Akai Sankakutō), or "Triangle Head" (三角頭, Sankaku Atama) is a character from the...
site of a pyramid (temple) in the world, as well as the largest pyramid by volume known to exist in the world today. The adobe brick pyramid stands 25...
The Pyramids may refer to: Egyptian pyramids, especially the Pyramids at Giza The Pyramids (band), a surf rock group from Long Beach, California The Pyramids...
The pyramid of Khafre or of Chephren (Arabic: هرم خفرع, romanized: haram ḵafraʿ, IPA: [haram xafraʕ]) is the middle of the three Ancient Egyptian Pyramids...