The pyramids are almost 5000 years old and still there, and we're still fascinated with ancient Egypt, so maybe the rulers got their wish of immortality in a way.

Ok dude I genuinely didn't think we had as much info on pyramid construction. That is interesting to think that the smoothing was an artistic and religious thing rather than a structural integrity thing.

I've always believed that ancient civilizations which had no contact with one another chose the pyramid shape because, when building with stone (and without the knowledge of complex engineering, architecture, and math required to erect large, tall structures with alot of internal empty volume), if they wanted to go big and high with their structures, they had to start at a wide base, and work toward an apex point. That's one of the limitations of stone.

Still blows my mind that Pyramids can be found in almost every continent on Earth. In North America, we have Cahokia mounds, the Mayan and Aztec pyramids. In Africa, the pyramids of ancient Egypt. In Asia, the ziggurat from Mesopotamia, and pyramids in China for deceased emperors and don't forget Angor Wat in Cambodia. In Europe there is only one pyramid and that is located in Bosnia called they Pyramid of the Sun. I find that surprising that the same shape of a pyramid can be seen in multiple culture with different beliefs and yet not one of them thought to build a cube or a rhombus.

Possible future topics: Why were the Twin Towers twins? Why does the Bermuda Triangle matter? Why is the Mona Lisa so important? Why does Capitol Hill look Roman?

Fun fact: The time between now and the time when Cleopatra lived in is less years than the time from the building of the pyramids to the time of Cleopatra

loved all the details in the pyramid conspiracy gag. Chris Rock? Sandy Loam? It's all connected, Phil. The Truth is out there!

Yes when I found out how brief the "pyramid boom" was I was shocked as well, I'm sure it must be a common reaction. My source seemed to suggest that they just ran out of suitable locations to place them (had to have super stable ground and a large quarry nearby). The Sudanese took up the pyramid game though and carried it on much longer, but theirs were of a more sustainable size and thus less remarked upon (there might be a lesson there).

Jan 2022: Why the Pentagon is a Pentagon Apr 2022: Why the Pyramids are Pyramids Jul 2022: Why Town Squares are Square(ish) Oct 2022: Why the UFC Octagon is an Octagon Jan 2023: Why Hearts are Hearts I'm available for hire, Phil!

Finally, No Glasses Phil is added to the CMU

My money says stability. But I'm here to hear moustache man. Edit: wait it's shaved off!!?

I enjoy your historical figure portraits. Please do this for all featured figures on the channel.

Super happy to find your own channel, very cool new topics!

Boy, another great video Phil! Your work on YT is always top notch and captivates me every time 😁. AND you’ve acknowledged or engaged with every single comment I have put on your videos. I get excited just to get a thumbs up or a heart just ONCE. You’re truly great at what you do Phil and are one of a kind. Have a great day buddy! 😁😁😁 P.S. that “graphic” was top notch! I see a bright future for you in video title cards 🤣

Phil, this is maybe one of my fav video of yours yet! the mix of humor with info was perfect.

I love your Neistat-esque graphic ya did there. Very Casey, very cool.

Love almost all your videos. So the reason there's disagreement over how to spell things like Ra/Re is because the writing systems the Egyptians used DID NOT contain vowels. So when words are transliterated into English you basically just guess. Well its more than just guessing and different groups of Egyptologists have come up with different frameworks for transliterating words into English. A great short introduction to Egyptian hieroglyphs is "How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs" by Mark Collier and Bill Manley.

nice really neat; more history maps videos i love them

This was funny, clever and full of genuinely interesting information. Well done!! I’m going to stick around for awhile. 😁

When your last vox video came out I realized I haven't watched a vox video in a while but I wasn't missing you because you make such great content here. Though your vox videos are top tier so never stop doing that.

What is amazing is how distant in time pyramids were: when I read that there's less between Cleopatra and us than between her and the pyramids I was shocked

Been following for a while, love your style but this video was extra excellent. Mastabana?! What’s not to love?!

* Man emerges from goo * Some ethereal, disembodied voice: how'd you get so funky?! "I was born in the funk, shaped by it."

Ancient history is seriously amazing to research. History of society stuff and great projects are super cool.

I like Terry Pratchett's take on the pyramids in the Discworld series, even if the historical accuracy isn't entirely there.

the riddler -> paul dano -> little miss sunshine -> sun god…. i get it

We don't get to Inverted Pyramids until TaleSpin Episode 49 "In Search of Ancient Blunders" =)

Those illustrations of the pharaohs are beautiful

Great video as always, you should make a video about the shape triangle, the strongest shape and I think the most interesting in our history with it being associated with a lot of social, economy and geographical phenomenon from the pyramids to the Illuminati and the Bermuda triangle. I'm writing a story, in it I wanted to make a royal family that had a triangle as their unofficial symbol since the old times that define their family's true role in their world and that's when I started learning about triangles. I just found tons of very interesting things after that, like how triangle as delta in physics represent change, the Christian equilateral, the combinations of triangles that makes other iconic shapes like hexagram and valknut and more. Btw those portraits are modern art museum material and we need more Conspiracy Phil! XD

Thanks for the cool content as always!

I think one of the most fascinating things/misconceptions about the pyramids (specifically the ones at Giza) that a lot of people still don't tend to know is the fact that when they were built they looked even more impressive than they do now. (As with a lot or what remains of the ancient world) They would've had an white outer layer making the 4 sides smooth and the great pyramid especially had a golden cap covering it's tip. Sadly the only visible remains of the outer layer now can be seen round the top of the great pyramid and on the bent pyramid. (There's a great recreation of how they would've looked in Assassin's Creed Origins)

Sometimes the universe crystallizes and things just sort of line up. I’ll tell you Phil I have been on an Ancient Egypt and Pyramid kick for the past month or so… like really into them, and I’m not so sure why.

Modern culture seems to put so much emphasis on the pyramids, you don't realise just how short lived they actually were

lol love the montage at the beginning lol.

Hey Phil, Could you please do a video on the architecture of iconic Hindu temples in India?!

Phil what are your thoughts on Brutalist Architecture? I am an architect and find that I am often arguing the case for the style though most people find it alienating and oppressive. I’d love to hear your take on it.

I've found that stargate is a remarkably good source on Egyptian mythology considering it's set in a universe where all the craziest theory's are true.

The pyramids are so fascinating but there is a lot of noise you have to watch out for when reading about them. You will probably get some of the nonsense in the comments of this video. I love that it has its own scientific discipline, Egyptology. There aren't any Romanologists or Greekologists. My favorite thing to try and imagine is what the pyramids would have looked like just after completion. They had a covering over the stones which made them flat and smooth. It's an endlessly fascinating topic and I never thought to ask why they are pyramid shaped instead of just big cubes or rectangles like we build today. Excellent video. It's such a shame the Decepticons destroyed the biggest pyramid. Optimus Prime could have stopped it.

Every one of your videos continues to be stellar.

Excelente contenido Phil!!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for not being a conspiracy/alien nut.

What a fantastic video. I really love your work.

For the record; sane Phil has glasses and wears a polo shirt, crazy Phil has no glasses and wears a hoodie.

Geez…this took me back to my History of Architecture course subject. Hated that thin-paged thick book of Bannister Fletcher!

This brings back memories of your vox illuminati video... One of my favorites. I think one of the reasons pyramids fell out of fashion was grave robbing... (to big of a target) I think I heard it from the history channel it was either that or aliens... Keep it up Phil!

Loved this one! Thank ya!!

You're right about them always being there - they were ancient history when Julius Caesar visited!

Why was the Round Table... round?

Love those graphics!

I came because of the interesting history stuff and stayed because of the awesome graphics (like in 1:12 ) ;) :D

In Sudan, we have an ancient city that has lots of bent pyramids as shown on 6:11 Many foreign archeologists say that Meroe was the capital but we Sudanese know that Meroe the city of gold was never the capital of Kush, the capital was Old Dongola where the pyramids have a more 'Cone' shape

Interesting! didn't realize the Pyramid trend was so short lived (though given the resources and man-power required...). great balance of info, production value and humor in this one btw =)

Your conspiracy persona somehow reminded me of those small wire pyramids you had in the mid nineties (when ‘new-age’ was all the rage). You were supposed to place them over your fruit bowl and ‘through the power of pyramids’ they would supposedly keep your fruit fresh for longer. Because, you know, that’s something pyramids totally do.😅

Not sure if this is going to be read but, I will say it anyways because it's interesting I believe. The pyramids (and graves at the time) were built with the express intent of preserving the person buried within, and things that they may need in the afterlife. This is because ancient Egyptians not only believed in an eternal afterlife, they also believed that it would be not easy to survive in. They thought that whatever they preserved was going to help them later -- in the afterlife. This is why near the pyramids, the Khufu ship was found (also known as the sun barge). It was meant to carry the king in the after life to be carried across the heavens. Probably not relevant enough to be mentioned in the video (shape of the pyramid and all), but still interesting nonetheless imo.

Missed a few videos (burried by Google algorithm I'm sure)and was disappointed the stache was gone. It looked good on you

Don't mind me founding my new start-up: Mastabarvana

Catch me and the boys living out our best lives makin symmetrical shapes in the desert

Hey Phil great video, great edit, great content and great topic as always thanks man for this one btw what is the name of the background song at 1:04, greetings from Dominican Republic! ✌

Great vid!

ooooof that ending was deep! loved thé video

I don't recall if it was from a reputable source or not, but I read somewhere once that Imhotep was a very common Egyptian name, something like John is today. Or maybe I just kept seeing the name pop up for clearly unrelated figures lmao

I really like your style, Phil

I love the "why the thing is a thing?" graphics design

Living in California and in the fifth grade, we mostly focused on the missions that spain built along the west coast, I’d love to know what everyone else focused on

Hold up, is that a stack the layers joke at 3:52? Phil, did you dabble around in FL Studio?

I just think the absolutely massive size and the precision of alignment leaves questions. I mean the sarcophagus at the bottom chamber couldn't of fit through the tunnels later so it would have needed to be placed first so just the amount of planning everything must of taken is enormous. Not to mention the "entrance" is like 1/4 of the way up one face of the pyramid and immediately slopes downward. It's just very curious that someone must of spend at least 30 years with the planning and construction and material gathering prior to dying wouldn't at least want an entrance that has a level floor or some sort of salon room to be recieved into. Expecially since the entrance would be covered up in the end anyway.To me it just feels a bit off and awkward.

Ooooh, shape based videos? Obviously that means you're going to do a whole video on panhandles soon! Seriously though, great video as always.

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber is a great pick for you based on what fascinates you about the pyramids

seriously love thus channel

Dude, you’re so much fun to watch! I don’t care what you make your subject to be about lol

Fun fact: the builder of a Mastabas (2:33) was called back then a mastabator.

Oh man, the moment I have received the youtube notification I came here

You have a got art style ain't gonna lie :)

I didn’t realize Egypt had so many Bass Pro Shops.

How did you find/get access to the paper in the description?

I like the style! Stay creative

How do we tie this in to the Great pyramid of Cholula?

God I love this series

This video reminded me of something. Bear in kind, the following complaint makes me feel old, but here goes: I watch a lot of history-centered KZfaq channels. There are some great creators out there. This is one of them. When watching those videos, I notice a trend of where frequently laudatory comment threads run along the lines of, “This is better than historical documentaries and shows on TV!” “Yes, far more intelligent!” “And well researched!” “TV history programs are crap made for idiots”. Which I always found confusing because I grew up without cable television and the only television programs and documentaries I know from television are on PBS. And PBS is free. How does something you pay for and hate take precedence in your mind over something that’s good and free? Cancel the cable network and force your kids to watch PBS is what I’m saying.

No your saying "That is the hook" is the hook cause I just appreciate even a sprinkling of realness

To last the test of time…it’s a large pile of rock’s built to last the test of time. It could have very well been a cone, like you said also, a pile of sand…withering away at the angle of repose.

It's like new vsauce

I was ready that you’d started looking for Pepe Silvia 😹

Because it's a cool shape.

that step pyramid got stuck in the nile once, that why they did that special ceremony...

Conspiracy Phil needs his own channel. 10/10 would Sub 😂

If Casey Neistat had a mini documentary channel. Keep up the great work.

It feels in my gut like financing a pyramid in those times would be like financing a nuclear power plant. Sure, both structures have unique utility for their time, and obviously a nuke plant is far more valuable. But the cost to construct them, to do upkeep, to make sure that grave robbers or saboteurs don't show up, is a lot of time and energy. Plus, finding a place that is near enough your habitation, suitable and all, is hard enough. It's no wonder they stopped after the first few.

I guess Imhotep sounds like a cool architect, but I can't forgive him for trying to kill Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.

I wonder how similar the process of development of prehispanic South American pyramids might be, if at all.

That's all good and well, Phil, but you've glossed over the most important bit. Was the pyramid archaeology kit fun, and should I, an adult male, buy one for myself?

Why are the pyramids standing in Egypt? Because they were too heavy to carry them to the British Museum

What other shape buildings will Phil investigate?

This is how I made my graphics when I was 10 and shooting movies on the family Hi-8 camcorder lol. Come to find out, this is basically how they did inter-titles and credits crawls back in the day, literally just a scroll they wound up in front of a camera 😂 I felt vindicated haha

Normal linguists : “ah yes Djoser, the D must be silent” Americans : DOZER!

fun fact because the pyramids where built roughly 4500 years ago and the earth moves at 67,000 miles per hour the pyramids where also built almost 3.5 light years away and it's very likely no human nor Remnant of humanity will ever return to that location its crazy to think about how you can go somewhere on earth a million times but you will never return to the same place that you visited the last time and no one ever will

Pssst. Do another why is the pentagon a pentagon video, but for another shape

pretty sure that Djozer was in Ghostbusters

Egyptian Queen was marked on the box all along.

I liked the new graphics, but missed the old mustache graphic. Feels a little strange without it