Size Comparison of the Pyramids of Giza with Other Structures

The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the tallest pyramid in the world. It is not the largest. This distinction carries the entire page, and it surprises most people.

Height and size are two very different things when it comes to pyramids. A pyramid can be flat and still be massive if its base area is correspondingly large. That is exactly what happened several times in Central America: structures with enormous base areas and low heights were built there, exceeding the Egyptian ones in volume.

So if you ask which is the largest, you must first say what you mean. In terms of height, Giza wins by a clear margin and has held the record for four and a half thousand years. In terms of construction volume, Giza ranks third.

There is also a category that appears remarkably often in search queries: modern replicas. There are office buildings, hotels, and shopping centers in pyramid shape, and for several of them, people wonder if they are larger than the original. This page also answers that.

A note on comparability. The Central American structures are not tombs but temple platforms: they support a sanctuary on top, have stairs on the flanks, and were expanded over centuries in several layers, each over the previous structure. The Egyptian structures are tombs, built in one go, and sealed after completion. So we are comparing structures that only share the geometric form.

All figures come with the same caveat as everywhere on this topic: volume figures are calculated, not measured.

The Largest Pyramid in the World Is in Mexico

The largest pyramid in the world is in Mexico, and it does not look like a pyramid.

Cholula compared to Giza is the most striking case. The structure near Puebla is the largest pyramid in the world by volume, with about 4.45 million cubic meters compared to just under 2.6 million in Giza. So it is almost twice as large.

At the same time, it is only 66 meters high, less than half. This is made possible by the base area: it covers about sixteen hectares, compared to just over five in Giza. A flat, very wide mountain contains more material than a tall, slender one.

And then comes the part that makes the whole thing look even more lopsided: the structure is now covered with earth and vegetation and looks like a natural hill. On its summit stands a church from the 16th century. If you go there, you do not see a pyramid, but a hill with a house of worship on it.

It is remarkable how long this went unnoticed. The complex was only recognized as a structure in the 20th century; before that, it was simply considered a hill. A structure containing almost twice as much material as the largest Egyptian pyramid was thus simply landscape for centuries. That says a lot about how much visibility and size can diverge.

The comparison is still flawed in one respect, and that is part of it: Cholula was built over centuries in several construction phases, each over the previous structure. The Egyptian structures were built in one go.

El Mirador, Teotihuacán, Chichén Itzá

Three other structures regularly appear in search queries, and all three are in Central America.

El Mirador compared to Giza concerns the La Danta complex in Guatemala, the largest Maya pyramid. It reaches about 72 meters in height with an estimated volume of about 2.8 million cubic meters, so it is slightly above Giza in volume and far below in height. However, the estimate is controversial because the volume includes a massive platform on which the actual structure stands.

Teotihuacán compared to Giza is more clear-cut. The Pyramid of the Sun has a base side of about 225 meters, almost the same as in Giza, but reaches only about 65 meters in height. It is thus similarly wide and less than half as high, and its volume is significantly lower.

Chichén Itzá compared to Giza is the clearest case. The famous step pyramid there measures about 30 meters in height and 55 meters on the base side. It is thus roughly the size of one of the small subsidiary pyramids on the edge of the Giza plateau.

The volume figures for these structures are consistently more uncertain than the Egyptian ones. They are based on surveys of complexes that are partly overgrown, partly only partially excavated, and almost always grew in several construction phases. Where the outline of an Egyptian pyramid is clear, for a Central American temple mound one must first decide where the structure ends and the platform begins.

Important for all three: they are not tomb structures in the Egyptian sense, but temple platforms with stairs and a sanctuary on top. Here we compare forms, not purposes.

The Bass Pro Pyramid in Memphis

The Bass Pro Pyramid compared to Giza is the most curious search query on this page, but it still has a clear answer.

It refers to a structure in Memphis, Tennessee, built in 1991 as an event hall and since 2015 a shopping mall with a hotel. It measures about 98 meters in height and about 180 meters on the base side. It is thus smaller than the original, in both dimensions: about two-thirds of the height and about three-quarters of the base side.

It remains impressive nonetheless. It is one of the largest pyramid-shaped buildings ever built, and the city is not named Memphis by chance: it is named after the ancient Egyptian capital, which lay a few kilometers south of Giza.

Remarkable is the reason for the shape. None of these modern buildings is a pyramid because the shape is technically sensible; it is because it is immediately recognized. A pyramid does not need a sign to function as a landmark. That is precisely the real achievement of the original: it has charged a basic geometric shape with a meaning that has lasted four and a half thousand years.

Similar cases exist several times. In Las Vegas, there is a pyramid-shaped hotel about 110 meters high, and in Paris a glass pyramid just over 21 meters. None of these structures reaches the dimensions of Giza, and none is solid: they are shells with interior spaces, while the Egyptian structures consist almost entirely of stone.

There is another category that rarely appears in such comparisons: earthworks. Burial mounds and ramparts in Europe, North America, and Asia sometimes reach considerable volumes, but they consist of piled-up material rather than cut stone. Putting them on the same list would be misleading because the effort per cubic meter is orders of magnitude lower. When comparing structures, one should therefore not only consider the quantity but also what had to be done with the material.

That is precisely the real difference. A modern building of this height might contain about one percent of the material amount.

Compared to a Person

The Pyramids of Giza compared to a person yield the most vivid of all figures, and it needs no conversion.

An average core block reaches about hip height for an adult. About two hundred layers lie on top of each other. If you stand at the base, you see stones in the lowest layers that you could not move, and above them ninety-nine percent of the structure.

On the surface, it becomes even clearer. A person standing takes up just under half a square meter. On the base area of the largest pyramid, over a hundred thousand people could fit, packed tightly. That corresponds roughly to the spectator count of the largest stadiums in the world.

A third approach works through time. If you walk around the base of the largest pyramid, you cover just over nine hundred meters and need about twenty minutes. In the same time, you could walk around an average football stadium twice. The difference becomes tangible once you walk it instead of reading it, and that is exactly why photos so regularly fail here.

What is taller than the Great Pyramid of Khufu? Today, many things: every larger office skyscraper, many church towers, all television towers. The height record fell already in the Middle Ages to Gothic cathedrals. What is rarely surpassed even today is not the height, but the mass in one place.

The entire landscape has been protected since 1979 as a World Heritage Site, together with the pyramid fields as far as Dahshur.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Great Pyramid of Khufu the largest in the world?

The tallest, yes. In construction volume, the Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico, with about 4.45 million cubic meters, is clearly ahead.

Is Stonehenge older than the Pyramids of Giza?

The oldest construction phases of the site, yes. The large stone circle that most people mean was built around the same time as the pyramids.

Is the pyramid in Memphis larger?

No. It reaches about 98 meters in height and about 180 meters on the base side, so it is below the original in both dimensions.

Which pyramid has the largest base area?

Cholula, with about sixteen hectares. The largest pyramid in Giza covers just over five.

Why does the Great Pyramid of Khufu often look smaller in photos?

Because a reference point is missing. Without people or vehicles in the picture, the eye systematically underestimates the size.