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 defines the entire page and surprises most people.

Height and size are two very different things when it comes to pyramids. A pyramid can be flat yet massive if its base area is correspondingly large. This has happened multiple times in Central America: there, structures were built with huge footprints and low heights that exceed Egyptian pyramids in volume.

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

There is also a category that appears strikingly often in search queries: modern replicas. There are office buildings, hotels, and shopping malls shaped like pyramids, and for several of them, people wonder if they are larger than the original. This page answers that as well.

A note on comparability beforehand. The Mesoamerican structures are not tombs but temple substructures: they support a sanctuary on top, have stairs on their flanks, and were expanded over centuries in multiple layers, each time over the predecessor building. The Egyptian structures are graves, built in one go, and sealed after completion. Thus, we are comparing structures that share only the geometric form.

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

The world's largest pyramid stands in Mexico

The world's largest pyramid stands in Mexico, and it does not look like a pyramid.

Cholula compared to Giza is the most compelling case. The structure near Puebla is the largest pyramid in the world by volume, with around 4.45 million cubic meters compared to just under 2.6 million in Giza. 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 footprint: it covers around 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 matter look completely skewed: the structure is today covered by earth and vegetation and looks like a natural hill. On its summit stands a church from the 16th century. Those who drive there see no pyramid, but a rise with a place of worship on top.

Remarkable is how long this remained unnoticed. The site 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 merely landscape for centuries. This says a lot about how visibility and size can diverge.

The comparison still falls short in one point, and that belongs to it: Cholula arose over centuries in several construction phases, each time over the predecessor building. The Egyptian structures were built in one go.

El Mirador, Teotihuacán, Chichén Itzá

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

El Mirador compared to Giza concerns the La Danta complex in Guatemala, the largest Maya pyramid. It reaches a height of around 72 meters 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 a massive platform on which the actual structure stands is included in the volume.

Teotihuacán compared to Giza is clearer. The Pyramid of the Sun has a base side of around 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 around 30 meters in height and 55 meters at the base side. It is thus roughly as large as one of the small subsidiary pyramids on the edge of the Giza plateau.

The volume data for these structures are consistently less certain than those of the Egyptians. They are based on surveys of sites that are partly overgrown, partly only partially excavated, and almost always grown in multiple construction phases. Where the outline of an Egyptian pyramid is clear, one must first decide where the structure ends and the platform begins for a Mesoamerican temple mound.

Important for all three: They are not burial monuments in the Egyptian sense, but temple substructures with stairs and a sanctuary on the peak. Here, forms are compared, not purposes.

The Bass Pro Pyramid in Memphis

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

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

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

Remarkable is the reason for the building form. None of these modern buildings is a pyramid because the form would be technically sensible; it is because it is immediately recognized. A pyramid needs no sign to function as a landmark. Exactly therein lies the real achievement of the original: It has imbued a basic geometric form with a meaning that has lasted for four and a half millennia.

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

There is another entirely different category that rarely appears in such comparisons: earthen structures. Mounds and ramparts in Europe, North America, and Asia sometimes achieve considerable volumes, but consist of piled-up material rather than cut stone. Putting them in 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 amount but also what had to be done with the material.

Exactly therein lies the real difference. A modern building of this height contains perhaps one percent of the material quantity.

Compared to a Human

The Pyramids of Giza compared to a human yield the most illustrative of all numbers, and it requires no conversion.

An average core block reaches about to the hip of an adult human. Around 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 that ninety-nine percent of the structure.

On the surface, it becomes even clearer. A standing person occupies just under half a square meter. Calculated, over one hundred thousand people fit onto the base area of the largest pyramid, shoulder to shoulder. This corresponds roughly to the spectator capacity of the world's largest stadiums.

A third approach works via time. If you walk around the base of the largest pyramid, you cover good nine hundred meters and need about twenty minutes for it. In the same time, you can walk around an average football stadium twice. The difference becomes palpable as soon as you walk it instead of reading it, and exactly that is why photos fail here so regularly.

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

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

Frequently asked questions

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

The tallest yes. In terms of construction volume, the pyramid of Cholula in Mexico with around 4.45 million cubic meters clearly precedes it.

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 created approximately simultaneously with the pyramids.

Is the pyramid in Memphis larger?

No. It reaches a height of around 98 meters and a base side of about 180 meters, thus lying below the original in both dimensions.

Which pyramid has the largest base area?

Cholula with around sixteen hectares. The largest pyramid in Giza achieves 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 image, the eye systematically underestimates the size.