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One of the Mayan pyramids was built as a tomb. Prior to its discovery, it was believed (from past excavations) that the pyramids were just built like nesting dolls, one on top of the other, as part of their various calendar cycles. Turns out, that view was incorrect. And it’s now known that the Mayan cities were in a continual state of war, and rulers captured in battle would be, uh, vivisected.

There is NO BASIS for claiming that the Egyptian pyramids were NOT built as tombs. The burden of proof remains on those who make such claims. Saying that, just because they were used as tombs doesn’t mean they were built as tombs makes no sense at all.

The sarcophagus is right inside the “king’s chamber” in the Great Pyramid, but it was looted in antiquity. That pyramid was open to tourists during Ptolemaic and Greek times, then resealed during the Byzantine rule, which worked out because the muzzies took over in the 7th century.

During the Middle Ages one of the muzzie rulers decided to break into the Great Pyramid, but the location of the door was lost, and he had the hole chipped out that is used as the entrance today. After moling around the henchmen found their way into the lower corridor and viewed the original entrance from the back. Also during the Middle Ages the facing limestone was stripped from the Great Pyramid and Menkaure, and most of it was stripped from Khafre. Prior to that time, the exterior of the Great Pyramid had writing on it, which may still exist, but the stone was carted off to build mosques and other useless junk in Cairo.

During the archaeological era, the remnants of the painted plaster could still be seen inside the Great Pyramid, and the fragmentary text referred to such and such a year of the Cattle Drive from the reign of Khufu. Graffiti in one of the relieving chambers above the “king’s chamber” has Khufu’s name in a cartouche, and reads, “how mighty is the Great White Crown of Khufu work gang”, one of the worker squads that built the thing.

The pyramid as a structure began as a mastaba very early in Egyptian history. The mastaba was evolved into a stepped pyramid, some nice examples of which survive, but they were still of mud brick and despite the arid climate they are not structurally all that sound.

During the 4th dynasty Sneferu, father of Khufu, started building stone pyramids, the finest example of which is the Red Pyramid, which still contained fragments of human remains in the sarcophagus.

Khufu built the Great Pyramid. His son Djedjefre succeeded him and began building his pyramid at Abu Roash. He died after construction started but well before completion and was succeeded by his son who was a child. The unfinished Abu Roash pyramid was abandoned, and during recent centuries was rediscovered just in time to be carted away to build more stuff in Cairo.

Not long after Khufu’s younger son Khafre took over and began his own pyramid back at Giza. He was succeeded by his son Menkaure, who built quite a bit smaller pyramid, I suspect because of dynastic struggles that had led to multiple pharaohs. His son is placed in the 5th dynasty, and he was buried elsewhere, in a mastaba.