The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the oldest of the Giza pyramids, but also the largest and tallest one. Why did later Pharaohs chose to build noticeably smaller pyramids next to it, and didn't try to surpass it? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the oldest of the Giza pyramids, but also the largest and tallest one. Why did later Pharaohs chose to build noticeably smaller pyramids next to it, and didn't try to surpass it?

by fan_of_the_pikachu

It seems to me that the logical thing to do as a Pharaoh would be to try and build the larger pyramid ever, but they didn't. I can't understand why, especially since one of them comes really close, so it looks like a conscious decision: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Giza-pyramids.JPG

Was surpassing the older one a taboo?

seqenre_taa

Mortuary temples did not necessarily get smaller, but rather changed. They went from mastaba-like structures and shifted during the architectural reign of Djoser to step pyramids. During the Ramassid period, Ramses II built a massive mortuary complex. The temple of Karnak and Hatshepsut’s mortuary structure are also massive complexes that definitely rival Khufu’s Old Kingdom period complex.

For sources I would check out Marc Van De Meiroop’s covering of Egypt in “A history of Ancient Egypt.” (But I’m pretty biased towards Van De Meiroop’s work)