Who built the pyramids, and when

The pyramids were built by Egyptian kings and Egyptian workers, over about a thousand years. This site records 40 rulers tagged as pyramid builders, from the Third Dynasty to the Kushite Twenty-fifth Dynasty, who built smaller pyramids at el-Kurru and Nuri far to the south.

Step pyramid to true pyramid

Djoser's architect, Imhotep, stacked six mastabas into the first large stone building, at Saqqara around 2670 BC. Sneferu, the first king of the Fourth Dynasty, then tried at Meidum and twice at Dahshur. One of the Dahshur pyramids bends halfway up because the builders lowered the angle when the structure began to crack. The other, the Red Pyramid, is the first successful smooth-sided one.

Giza

His son Khufu's Great Pyramid took the form to its largest, at about 146 metres. His son Khafre and his grandson Menkaure built the other two main pyramids on the same plateau. All three were built in about three generations, a speed that shows how well organised the state had become. Bikheris and Djedefre, who appear in the same family, built elsewhere, at Zawyet el-Aryan and Abu Rawash.

Smaller and later

Fifth and Sixth Dynasty kings built pyramids at Abusir and Saqqara that were smaller and less sound. The reason is not decline in skill but a change in the royal cult, which put more effort into temples. Unas carved the earliest Pyramid Texts onto the walls of his burial chamber, and later kings copied him. In the Middle Kingdom the Twelfth Dynasty built mud-brick pyramids with stone cores near Lisht, Dahshur and the Fayum.

The builders

Excavations at the workers' town below the Giza plateau show bakeries, breweries and organised gangs of labourers who were fed and housed by the state. They were not slaves in the sense popular films describe. This guide covers the kings; for the tombs of later kings, see the guide to the Valley of the Kings.

• Djoser Dynasty 3, 2667 BC to 2648 BC
• Sekhemkhet Dynasty 3, 2648 BC to 2640 BC
• Khaba Dynasty 3, 2640 BC to 2637 BC
• Huni Dynasty 3, 2637 BC to 2613 BC
• Sneferu Dynasty 4, 2613 BC to 2589 BC
• Khufu Dynasty 4, 2589 BC to 2566 BC
• Djedefre Dynasty 4, 2566 BC to 2558 BC
• Khafre Dynasty 4, 2558 BC to 2532 BC
• Bikheris Dynasty 4, 2532 BC to 2530 BC
• Menkaure Dynasty 4, 2532 BC to 2503 BC
• Userkaf Dynasty 5, 2494 BC to 2487 BC
• Sahure Dynasty 5, 2487 BC to 2475 BC
• Neferirkare Kakai Dynasty 5, 2475 BC to 2455 BC
• Neferefre Dynasty 5, 2455 BC to 2453 BC
• Shepseskare Dynasty 5, 2453 BC to 2445 BC
• Nyuserre Ini Dynasty 5, 2445 BC to 2421 BC
• Menkauhor Kaiu Dynasty 5, 2421 BC to 2414 BC
• Djedkare Isesi Dynasty 5, 2414 BC to 2375 BC
• Unas Dynasty 5, 2375 BC to 2345 BC
• Teti Dynasty 6, 2345 BC to 2323 BC
• Pepi I Dynasty 6, 2321 BC to 2287 BC
• Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Dynasty 6, 2287 BC to 2278 BC
• Pepi II Dynasty 6, 2278 BC to 2184 BC
• Qakare Ibi Dynasty 7-8, 2173 BC to 2169 BC
• Merikare Dynasty 10, 2045 BC to 2041 BC
• Amenemhat I Dynasty 12, 1991 BC to 1962 BC
• Senusret I Dynasty 12, 1971 BC to 1926 BC
• Amenemhat II Dynasty 12, 1929 BC to 1895 BC
• Senusret II Dynasty 12, 1897 BC to 1878 BC
• Senusret III Dynasty 12, 1878 BC to 1839 BC
• Amenemhat III Dynasty 12, 1860 BC to 1814 BC
• Amenemhat IV Dynasty 12, 1815 BC to 1806 BC
• Sobekneferu Dynasty 12, 1806 BC to 1802 BC
• Ameny Qemau Dynasty 13, 1793 BC to 1791 BC
• Khendjer Dynasty 13, 1764 BC to 1759 BC
• Piye Dynasty 25, 744 BC to 714 BC
• Shabaka Dynasty 25, 714 BC to 705 BC
• Shebitku Dynasty 25, 705 BC to 690 BC
• Taharqa Dynasty 25, 690 BC to 664 BC
• Tanutamun Dynasty 25, 664 BC to 656 BC