The Greek Pyramids - Robert Temple

An exciting new perspective on the origins of Greek civilisation. The pyramids of Greece pose one of the greatest mysteries of Greek archaeology. The region of the Peloponnese which once constituted the prehistoric Kingdom of Argos, nearly a thousand years before the Trojan War, contained several modest-sized limestone pyramids. The earliest surviving mention of one of these is in an ancient text by Pausanius in the 2nd century AD. In the 19th century five were standing. Today the ruins of two still remain. Now using modern dating methods we know that they were constructed between 2500 and 2400 BC and that they are related to the prehistoric site of Lerna near Argos, where Hercules in mythology slew the Lernaean Hydra monster. Images dating from the late 18th century up until the present day are shown, with a summary of the many books and articles about them since the early 19th century. The unravelling of ancient Greek historical and mythological texts reveals that these monuments were built by immigrants from the city of Chemmis near the coast of the Egyptian Delta led by the mythological figure known as ‘Danaus’. Their mini-pyramids acted as symbolic statements of ‘who we are and where we came from’ by the new arrivals.Â