Ancient
Egyptians believed that when the pharaoh died, he became Osiris, king of the
dead. The new pharaoh became Horus, god of the heavens and protector of the sun
god. This cycle was symbolized by the rising and setting of the sun.
Some part of
a dead pharaoh's spirit, called his ka, was believed to remain with his
body. And it was thought that if the corpse did not have proper care, the
former pharaoh would not be able to carry out his new duties as king of the
dead. If this happened, the cycle would be broken and disaster would befall
Egypt.
To prevent
such a catastrophe, each dead pharaoh was mummified, which preserved his body.
Everything the king would need in his afterlife was provided in his
grave—vessels made of clay, stone, and gold, furniture, food, even doll-like
representations of servants, known as ushabti. His body would continue
to receive food offerings long after his death.
To shelter
and safeguard the part of a pharaoh's soul that remained with his corpse,
Egyptians built massive tombs—but not always pyramids.
Before the
pyramids, tombs were carved into bedrock and topped by flat-roofed structures
called mastabas. Mounds of dirt, in turn, sometimes topped the structures.
The pyramid
shape of later tombs could have come from these mounds. More likely, Egyptian
pyramids were modeled on a sacred, pointed stone called the benben. The
benben symbolized the rays of the sun; ancient texts claimed that pharaohs
reached the heavens via sunbeams.
(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/pyramids.html)
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