this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2026

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This is what the pyramids used to look like. They were covered with polished white limestone and had a peak made of pure gold. (lemmy.today)

submitted 3 weeks ago by sanitation@lemmy.today to c/interestingasfuck@lemmy.world

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[–] nexguy@lemmy.world 82 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

These stones were mostly removed from the great pyramid just 700 years ago. After an earthquake people began removing them for a few centuries to build other things until they were all gone. The great pyramid had its casing stones for 85% of its life.

Edit: I highly recommend "history for granite" on youtube.

https://youtube.com/@historyforgranite

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

its amazing how we look at historical constructions and assume thats always how it looked.

You are right, The Pyramids used to be shining white beacons of marble, but the stone was.. "repurposed" for building after the end of the pharos.

Medieval castles too, all anyone sees today are grey, bare rock, dingy, cold, drafty castles.. But when they were new? before photographs and film? They were plastered white, and filled with rugs and tapestries that made them beautiful, stunning, and warm.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

A big thing missing from basically any old stone construction is all the wood.
If you see holes in the walls that's probably where wood beams were inserted to form floors, and the walls would probably be lined with wood on the inside as well. And, like.. Wooden furniture lol.
Like how the fuck do you put up paintings on stone walls? If you line it with wood you can just hammer in nails like normal.

I think churches are a great way to get an idea of what castles would look like in the past: Lots of decorations and colour, whole wood structures that are just missing now, and all the stone would probably be covered in whitewash or somesuch.

[–] M137@lemmy.today 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Never been in the "we" category here, it's just so obvious that ruins of any kind and even just old-ish (like within 200 years) buildings rarely look like they were supposed to. It's disturbing and sad that most people can't seem to realise that by themselves.

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[–] joulethief@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks for the additional insight!

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[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 50 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

They should refurbish them.

Why not? Just because they haven't been yet? Historical significance? Blah, blah blah. I'm sure the people who made them would want it. And I bet it would increase tourism. We take this shit way too seriously.

[–] sunbeam60@feddit.uk 19 points 3 weeks ago

I weirdly agree.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 15 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Similarly, I would like to see the Coliseum rebuilt and used as a football stadium.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

It would have to be remodeled as well, the floor isn't quite big enough for a U.S. football field, let alone a European football field.

Think I saw it was 83 meters long

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Perhaps not a football stadium then, but... do you like gladiators?

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I think a politician already meantioned bringing them back to force immigrants to fight to the death. So uh, think I'm going to play it safe and say no until the details are more flushed out

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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[–] tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 5 points 3 weeks ago

That’s interesting bc I was going to reply to a different comment that we should put corrupt officials and billionaires in there.

[–] showmeyourkizinti@startrek.website 4 points 3 weeks ago

I like movies about gladiators.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

its big enough for a naval battle, its big enough for a football game.

[–] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

Lions vs referees until then

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[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

I'm for it, but I think it would be very expensive to get it up to code.

The Pyramids are just piles of rocks, with no modern purpose.

Really, we should use these things for their intended purpose, if possible. And, keep them in good condition. We do it with other historic buildings.

[–] Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk 8 points 3 weeks ago

It would certainly shift focus from all the plastic bags blowing around it in the wind

[–] asmoranomar@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I would object because of the bureaucracy. It would cost less to make a new one. Then you could do both. And in 5000 years we might get new alien conspiracies about why we have two sets of pyramids in two different times periods.

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[–] Robomekk@lemmy.ca 35 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

From what I understand the polished limestone is accurate for many pyramids, but the gold pyramidion seems to be more of an edge case on some smaller pyramids.

A gold top wouldn’t even be visible from the ground on a large polished white pyramid.

[–] Maiq@piefed.zip 9 points 3 weeks ago

If it was capped in gold, dusk and dawn could have been very pretty.

[–] Mistiygirl@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago

I remember the signs there and museum did tell that the great pyramids also had golden Pyramidions.

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[–] lividweasel@lemmy.world 25 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I believe it’s generally accepted that they were usually capped with electrum, not gold. Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of mostly gold and silver, with some copper or platinum and other metals.

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[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 22 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

It's crazy that even on the centuries old photo on the top, Cairo was already that developed!

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

The pizza hut across the street was probably fire back then

[–] save_the_humans@leminal.space 4 points 3 weeks ago

I didn't know they had such nice cameras either. Really ahead of their time those caironians.

[–] Kiwi_fella@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

This gave me a much needed giggle. Thanks!

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 22 points 3 weeks ago (12 children)

Bright white casing stones, yes. 50 foot tall gold capstone, no.

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[–] khepri@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago

Imagine being the first person to realize that the Empire is dead and you can just fucking climb up there with your buddies and take that gold cap lol.

[–] Dookieman12@piefed.social 7 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I think one of the purposes of the pyramids was to be a sort of ancient beacon. The stone reflected the sun and moonlight, making it pretty tough to get lost. In the days of no GPS or electricity, I'm sure this was of great importance.

Have you ever been playing Minecraft and wandered too far from base before building a bed and just had to abandon that base until you find it by accident later? Imagine that IRL and you can't just build a new base real quick

[–] webp@mander.xyz 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think they just wanted to build a giant titty.

[–] itsjustachairmary@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

The original original Tomb Raider

[–] oce@jlai.lu 4 points 3 weeks ago

Feels quite secondary to the "I have the biggest" contest that we saw later with cathedrals and now skyscrapers.

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[–] username_1@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Don't they have some maintenance company? Fix that!

[–] jumperalex@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

pls fix thx

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[–] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

yeah but did they have shitty gray flooring to match the white walls?

[–] solidheron@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago

I think the gold top would have been smaller

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Though given that the white columns and statues of ancient Greece were originally painted in bright colours, can we be sure that wasn’t also the case for the pyramids, at least while the civilisation that built them was maintaining them?

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 weeks ago

Menkaure's pyramid may have been painted red.

It's the newest and smallest of the three pyramids of the Giza necropolis. Where Khufu and Khafre's pyramids were cased top to bottom in polished white limestone, Menkaure's pyramid is cased several courses up in red granite, then the top 2/3 of the pyramid's height in limestone. I've seen a theory put forward that the upper limestone was painted red to stand out among the larger megaliths.

Kind of reminds me of Pete Conrad, commander of Apollo 12. The Johnson Space Center in Houston has a grove of trees grown from seeds flown in space, each is planted for an astronaut who passed away. During the Christmas season they're lit with white lights...except for the tree planted in Conrad's honor, which is lit with red lights to honor his motto "If you can't be good, be colorful."

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[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 weeks ago

Yup, learned this from Assassin's Creed.

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