Editing Pyramid (section)

{{short description|Structure shaped as a geometric pyramid}}
{{About|pyramid-shaped structures|the geometric shape|Pyramid (geometry)|other uses}}
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[[File:01 khafre north.jpg|thumb|[[Pyramid of Khafre]], Egypt, built {{Circa|2600 BC}}]]

A '''pyramid''' ({{etymology|grc|''{{Wikt-lang|grc|πυραμίς}}'' ({{grc-transl|πυραμίς}})|pyramid}})<ref>[https://perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpurami%2Fs πυραμίς] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709191759/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry%3Dpurami/s |date=2021-07-09 }}, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref><ref>The word meant "a kind of cake of roasted wheat-grains preserved in [[honey]]"; the Egyptian pyramids were named after its form ([[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]], ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 1261).</ref> is a [[Nonbuilding structure|structure]] whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a [[Pyramid (geometry)|pyramid in the geometric sense]]. The base of a pyramid can be of any [[polygon]] shape, such as [[triangular]] or [[quadrilateral]], and its surface-lines either filled or stepped.

A pyramid has the majority of its mass closer to the ground<ref>Centre of volume is one quarter of the way up—see ''[[Centre of mass]]''.</ref> with less mass towards the [[pyramidion]] at the [[Apex (geometry)|apex]]. This is due to the gradual decrease in the cross-sectional area along the vertical axis with increasing elevation. This offers a weight distribution that allowed early civilizations to create monumental structures.[[File:Koh Ker temple(2007).jpg|thumb|right|Prasat Thom temple at [[Koh Ker]], Cambodia]]Ancient [[Civilization|civilizations]] in many parts of the world pioneered the building of  pyramids. The largest pyramid by volume is the Mesoamerican [[Great Pyramid of Cholula]], in the Mexican state of [[Puebla]]. For millennia, the [[List of largest buildings in the world|largest structures]] on Earth were pyramids—first the [[Red Pyramid]] in the [[Dashur Necropolis]] and then the [[Great Pyramid of Giza|Great Pyramid]] of [[Khufu]], both in [[Egypt]]—the latter is the only extant example of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]].