text: how old r the pyramids of egypt? what time period were they created?   pyramid construction in egypt began around 2600 bc, the last known royal pyramid was built in egypt around 1550 bc. general history of pyramids in egypt and nubia:  the pyramid is thought to have developed out of the mastaba tomb. mastaba is an arabic word, meaning bench, which was applied to the flat-topped, slope sided superstructures of tombs. the pyramid is also thought to be associated with solar worship and the "ben-ben" stone which played a major role in sun worship and was vaguely pyramid shaped.  in the 3rd dynasty, several mastabas were stacked forming the step pyramid of king djoser. by the 4th dynasty in the reign of snefru attempts at building a true pyramid were underway. the pyramids of the 4th and 5th dynasties, including those at giza, essentially reflect the further refinement of the pyramid, the chambers within it, and the associated temple complexes. eventually the standard style was an orientation of east to west (significant in egyptian religion), with a pyramid temple, located directly on the east side of the pyramid, and a causeway leading to the "valley temple" located near the nile at the edge of the cultivation. while it is accepted by reputable egyptologists that pyramids served as burials for kings, the exact details of the theology behind them remains unclear. one idea, popularized i believe by dr. mark lehner, one of the foremost experts on egyptian pyramids, is that pyramids served as "resurrection machines" providing all the necessary means for eternal life with the gods for the dead king. in the late 5th dynasty in the pyramid of unas at saqqara, we have the first appearance of formal texts within the pyramid itself - the appropriately-named pyramid texts. these texts are somewhat esoteric and are essentially a collection of spells, stories, and guides relating to the underworld. initially these texts were limited to royalty. in succeeding pyramids, elements of the pyramid texts were included in the "coffin texts" of the first intermediate and middle kingdom and in the "book of the dead" of the new kingdom - texts available to a broad spectrum of society.  pyramid construction continued in the middle kingdom - again limited to royalty, but not on the grand scale of the old kingdom. the last known royal pyramids located in egypt are that of king ahmose, founder of the 18th dynasty of the new kingdom (ca. 1550 bce) and the pyramid-cenotaph constructed for his grandmother, queen tetisheri. both are located at abydos.  in the new kingdom, pyramids came to be part of tombs for reasonably wealthy private individuals - frequently added to the exterior portico area of rock-cut cliff tombs or appearing as architectural elements of brick constructed tombs in varous parts of egypt.  the napatan and meroitic kingdoms in nubia (modern sudan) also used the pyramid for royal burials at sites such as el-kurru and nuri. while the napatan kings ruled egypt for a time during the 25th dynasty and were buried in pyramids, those pyramids were located in nubia proper. pyramid construction:  pyramid construction relied on highly skilled teams of workmen who were housed nearby the pyramid fields - in the old kingdom located in the general vicinity of the ancient capital memphis at sites now knows as giza, saqqara, meidum, and dashur. a few pyramids in the middle kingdom were located near the fayum, roughly middle egypt. in addition to the full-time workmen, there was likely a seasonal labor requirement asked of the lower classes of egyptian society - a sort of taxation, often referred to by the french term "corvee" labor. this is distinct from slavery. while the ancient greek historian herodotus (writing over a thousand years after the construction of the pyramids at giza) reported that he was told the pyramids at giza were constructed by slaves, herodotus was wrong about any number of things in his reports and may not even have visited egypt