# Why Did Ancient Civilizations Build Pyramids Around the World

- Original post: https://www.twitter.com/i/status/2119792726392639587
- Source account: [@vegastarr](https://x.com/vegastarr)
- Source language: English
- Duration: 2:13
- Published: 2026-11-09
- Canonical URL: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world

## Transcript

[0:00](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world) Why did ancient civilizations all over the world build pyramids even when they supposedly had no contact with each other?

[0:07](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=7) Egypt built the Great Pyramids of Giza. Thousands of miles away, the Maya constructed enormous pyramid temples throughout Central America.

[0:16](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=16) The Aztecs built massive stepped pyramids in Mexico.

[0:20](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=20) Ancient civilizations in Peru constructed monumental pyramid-like complexes.

[0:25](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=25) And across the Pacific, enormous burial mounds and pyramid-shaped structures appeared throughout parts of Asia.

[0:32](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=32) Different cultures, different languages, separated by oceans and thousands of miles, yet somehow they kept building toward the sky using the same basic shape.

[0:42](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=42) So why? The usual explanation is simple: a pyramid is an efficient way to build an enormous structure from stone because its wide base distributes the weight.

[0:52](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=52) But that doesn't explain the entire mystery.

[0:55](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=55) Many of these civilizations connected their monuments to the heavens.

[0:58](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=58) They carefully observed the sun, stars, and movements of the sky.

[1:02](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=62) Some oriented monumental structures toward important astronomical events, and many treated these places as connections between the human world and something beyond it.

[1:11](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=71) So what if the similarities aren't completely accidental?

[1:14](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=74) What if ancient civilizations were exchanging knowledge across oceans much earlier than we've been told?

[1:20](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=80) Or even stranger, what if they inherited the same knowledge from an even older civilization?

[1:25](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=85) Because the pyramids we've discovered may only be part of the story.

[1:28](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=88) Dense jungles in Central and South America have concealed enormous ancient settlements for centuries.

[1:34](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=94) Modern LiDAR surveys can reveal structures underneath forest canopies that are almost invisible from the ground, and there are still regions of the Earth that haven't been completely surveyed archaeologically.

[1:45](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=105) So how many monumental structures are still buried beneath forests, deserts, sediment, or modern cities?

[1:52](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=112) And what happens if we discover another pyramid somewhere history says one shouldn't exist?

[1:57](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=117) Maybe ancient civilizations independently discovered the same perfect shape for monumental architecture.

[2:03](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=123) But if these cultures really were connected, then the pyramids scattered across the Earth might not be separate mysteries.

[2:09](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/VTQOFOvEQAwe/en/why-did-ancient-civilizations-build-pyramids-around-the-world?t=129) They could be fragments of the same forgotten story.