5 little known pyramids of the ancient world

Many pyramids built by ancient people on different continents still exist today but little is known.

The Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, is one of the most famous symbols of the ancient world. There are also thousands of other pyramids around the world, including in Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, according to Ancient Origins. Here are 5 little-known pyramids of ancient civilizations left to this day.

Pyramid of Cestius, Italy

Rome Italy, famous for many ancient buildings such as the Roman arena, Pantheon temple, Trajan market and Roman square. However, very few people have heard of the Cestius pyramid located right in the heart of Rome, about 2,000 years old.

Cestius Pyramid in Rome Italy.(Photo: Gordon Stephen).

The Cestius pyramid was built along Via Ostiensis, an important road in ancient Rome, between 18 and 12 BC. It has 30m sides and 35m height.

Scientists discovered inside the pyramid Cestius had a domed burial room. According to the inscriptions on the east and west slopes of the pyramid, inside the tomb contains the body of Gaius Cestius Epulo, a Roman politician. In addition, a number of other words revealed that pyramid construction was completed in 330 days.

Pyramid on Tenerife

Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, is located on the Atlantic Ocean, with pyramids located in Güímar, the southern town of the island.

The pyramids on Tenerife.(Photo: Colin Moss).

All pyramids are made from volcanic lava rocks without the use of mortar. Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian explorer, believes that these buildings were built by Guanches, aboriginals living on the Canary Islands. They migrated here about 1,000 BC. Heyerdahl said, the pyramids were meticulously designed in a ladder-like manner and that they were aligned with each other, which could serve ritual purposes.

In 1991, Juan Antonio Belmonte Avilés, Antonio Aparicio Juan, and César Esteban López at the Canary Institute of Astrophysics, demonstrated that the long edges of some steps around the pyramid in Guimar marked the winter solstice and summer solstice. .

Great pyramid of Cholula, Mexico

The Cholula pyramid in Mexico is the largest monument in the world with a foundation four times larger than the Great Giza pyramid in Egypt and nearly twice the volume, according to the BBC. It is located on a mountain near Puebla, the fourth largest city in Mexico today.

The foundation of the Great Cholula pyramid at the foot of the church on the top of the mountain.(Photo: Flickr).

The pyramid is 450m wide and 66m high. Locals call this giant project Tlachihualtepetl , meaning "artificial mountain". Because of a church built above it, this is also the oldest built building in North America.

The Great Pyramid of Cholula hid under the soil until workers built a mental hospital at the foot of the mountain discovered in 1910. When breaking the sidewalk to repair the city's sewer system in 2013, a group Other workers found at least 63 skeletons, including some deformed skulls of children beheaded for sacrifice.

Experts believe that the pyramid was built around 300 BC, but no construction workers were found. "It is possible that the works were built by many tribes," said David Carballo, an archaeologist at University University, Massachusetts, USA.

White pyramid in Xi'an, China

Scattered on the flat plain, secluded in Shaanxi Province, near the ancient capital of Xi'an is dozens of spectacular pyramid-shaped land, still a mystery to the outside world. Along with them is the legend of a 305m high pyramid with white peaks, inlaid with precious stones, which can surpass the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt.

Artwork of the white pyramid in Xi'an, China.(Photo: Ancient Origins).

Some researchers believe that the white pyramid in Xi'an, if viewed from the air, is actually the Mausoleum pyramid, the tomb of Han Wu De. But others claim that this legendary pyramid has not been discovered yet.

The first report on white pyramids in China died more than a century ago, in diary entries of American merchant named Fred Meyer Schroder. He discovered the pyramid when walking with a guide Buddhist monk in Shaanxi Province in 1912. Schroder estimated the pyramid to be at least 300 meters high, with sides of about 500 meters. Therefore, this pyramid will have a volume 10 times greater than the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Caral pyramid city, Peru

The Norte Chico civilization originated in Peru's Supe valley. This is the first civilization known in the Americas. Its capital is the 5,000-year-old Caral city, which has a diverse farming career, a rich culture and great architecture.

The remainder of the Caral Great Pyramid, Peru.(Photo: Christopher Kleihege).

Max Uhle, a German archaeologist, first discovered the ancient city of Caral in 1905. Until the 1990s, researchers identified all six pyramids at Caral. They look like natural hills, so they are hard to detect.

Today, we know about the existence of thousands of pyramids in the world, but there are still hundreds of other pyramids not yet discovered. They can be hidden in dense tropical forests in South America and Asia, or covered with vegetation or snow.