Is there any connection between egyptian pyramids and mesoamerica pyramids, any books on history of pyramids , they are all around the world.

by rythems310
PippinIRL

Il apologise in advance as this won’t really be a long answer and I am not an expert on pyramids so hopefully someone with that specific expertise can explain this better than I will - but the answer is no: there are no connections between the Egyptian and Mesoamerican pyramids other than the fact that both civilisations built pyramids. This is a coincidental rather than deliberate connection and there are vast symbolic and architectural variations between the construction and use of pyramids across the world.

Since you asked about the Egyptian and mesoamerican pyramids in particular I’ll focus on these to show there is no connection. The first point to consider is that the building of pyramids in Egypt and America are separated by vast distances of time (for example the Pyramids of Giza were constructed c. 2500 BC and the first pyramids of the Americas were built by the Olmecs, approximately 1,000-500 BC) and of course spatial distance (they are on two separate continents separated by the Atlantic Ocean). In fact by the time the Olmecs were building pyramids in Egypt pyramids had become less common and rock-cut tombs underground became the preferred method of burial such as at the Valley of Kings.

It is easy to assume there is some sort of shared religious or symbolic significance to the structure of a pyramid that is shared by all civilisations and therefore it is significant that many civilisations all built pyramids, especially since modern civilisations very rarely build structures in pyramid form anymore. In reality it’s more likely due to simple practicality that the pyramid became a popular form of construction across civilisations - they are the easiest and most pragmatic way of building a monumental structure to any significant height without the building falling down.

Compare a pyramid to a modern day skyscraper - a skyscraper needs incredibly sophisticated engineering to design a structure that can sustain the gravitational pressure from the weight of the structure past a certain height. For a pyramid the engineering is far simpler - put more material at the bottom and slowly reduce the amount of material on each story until you get to the top. It’s of course easier said than done and large pyramids are still incredibly difficult to construct, but they are the easiest way to build something tall and large hence why so many civilisations adopted this approach.

Pyramids also serve different functions across civilisations which shows the purpose of pyramid building had different symbolic significance - in Egypt they housed the bodies of the Pharaoh - in Mesoamerica they were more often religious structures comparable more to temples.

You could also compare the architectural styles of pyramids across civilisations to see there is not a uniform approach to pyramid building - for example you might compare the Brihadisvara temple in India which has a steep cone to the Temple of the Moon at Teotihuacan which is far more shallow and staggered.

Hope this makes sense - I know there’s not a tonne of detail here but it’s mainly because the answer is rather simple once you take into consideration factors such as the 1500 year difference between Egyptian and mesoamerican pyramid building. For that reason you aren’t really going to find books that cover pyramids in a comparative way as there’s not really much to compare between them.

As to books if you wanted one on the Egyptian pyramids I would recommend Miroslav Verner’s “The Pyramids: the Mystery, Culture and Science of Egypt’s Great Monuments”