Jammer Wrote:
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> 2) The pyramid period, far from concealing the
> Pharaoh's corpse, showed one and all exactly where
> they were buried. What better explanation for the
> development of rock-cut tombs (which also
> attempted to conceal the burial place), other than
> frequent and successful tomb robberies?

I have a problem with this, Jammer.
Wouldn't the Pyramid Builders have been fully aware from the beginning that burying their king inside or underneath massive above-ground structures only served to make the lot of the tomb robbers a much easier and happier one?

If the AEs had an Idiots Guide to Tomb Robbing it would probably would have begun with: "Step One. Find out where the tomb is located."
Not a particularly difficult first step if one can with the naked eye see the tomb/pyramid from a very long way off...
I really can't see the AEs taking several hundred years to twig that a tomb sans pyramid would have been more secure.
Which leaves me wondering just how important to the AEs the security of their kings/pharaohs tombs really was.

To help me get a handle on this, do you or anybody else here know what happened to a pyramid after its owner, so to speak, was (allegedly) interred in it?
For example, what happened with or to Khufu's pyramid once his successor, Djedfre, took on the role of king?
Was there, say, a permanent guard on Khufu's pyramid to protect it from tomb robbers, and, if so, for how long did this continue?
Or did it not really matter to anybody what happened to Khufu's mummified remains, pyramid, etc., once Djedfre ascended to the throne (or whatever it was a king's successor did)?

MJ