• Title: Pyramid
• Author: David Macaulay
• Genre/Subject: Ancient Egypt
• Publisher: Harper Collins
• Publication Date: 1975
• Start date: 7/26/24
• Finish date: 7/27/24

Review:

O Time! Thy Pyramids! Bonus points if you know what that refers to. This book is about exactly what the title suggests, building a pyramid. First published in 1975 this book was originally written for younger readers but has informed and delighted kids and adults for nearly 50 years.

Macaulay’s incredible draftsmanship and clear text made this both a pleasure and an informative and easy learning experience. If you’re like me and constantly asking “how?” then you’ll love this. How did they get the pyramid site level? How did old kingdom people figure out how to orient the pyramid with the cardinal directions? How did the priests get the sarcophagus into the burial chamber?

If you read this book you’ll know, and like me you’ll find yourself going, “Ohhh, so THAT’S how they did that, it’s so simple but I never thought of that.” And once you know how you won’t need to believe that ancient Israelites built them, or that YouTube video that said aliens did it with Arthur Dent as foreman.

This was just great, super easy to understand with amazing illustrations that showed every step in creating a man-made mountain nearly 5000 years ago. I always say that if you want to learn something, start with a children’s book and you’ll gain more than in a pile of college level textbooks an books like this prove that point.