The King of course could not allow one of his subjects to outdo him in
such a matter. He was the most powerful man of all Egypt who lived in
the biggest house and therefore he was entitled to the best grave.
What others had done in brick he could do with the help of more costly
materials.
Pharaoh sent his officers far and wide to gather workmen. He constructed
roads. He built barracks in which the workmen could live and sleep (you
may see those barracks this very day). Then he set to work and made
himself a grave which was to endure for all time.
We call this great pile of masonry a "pyramid."
The origin of the word is a curious one.
When the Greeks visited Egypt the Pyramids were already several thousand
years old.
[Illustration: THE MUMMY]
Of course the Egyptians took their guests into the desert to see these
wondrous sights just as we take foreigners to gaze at the Wool-worth
Tower and Brooklyn Bridge.
The Greek guest, lost in admiration, waved his hands and asked what the
strange mountains might be.
His guide thought that he referred to the extraordinary height and said
"Yes, they are very high indeed."
The Egyptian word for height was "pir-em-us."
The Greek must have thought that this was the name of the whole
structure and giving it a Greek ending he called it a "pyramis.
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