Hans Wrote:
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> John Greaves (1602-1652), professor of astronomy
> at the University of Oxford, first reviewed the
> existing literature and then went to Egypt to
> study the pyramids for himself. He dismissed all
> the accounts of the Giza pyramids having been
> built by biblical figures or legendary kings. From
> the classical sources, it was he who concluded
> that these monuments were erected by Cheops
> (Khufu), Chephren (Khafre) and Mycerinus
> (Menkaure), as tombs for the security of the body
> because of an ancient Egyptian conviction that
> this would ensure the endurance of the soul.
>
> [www.touregypt.net]

I've read Graeves and am aware he implied these were tombs. It's not my contention that it was never before 1830 postulated or believed they were tombs, it is my contention that it was not considered axiomatic by scholars. It is my contention that there was no unanimity concerning their function until well into the 19th century AFTER Champollion made it possible to translate mountains of material that is obviously of a religious and magical nature. It is my contention that when the PT were found in 1882 and seen to be an earlier version of the "book of the dead" irt was simply assumed that they also reflected religion and magic. By the late 19th century all scholars believed that the pyramids were tombs on this basis despite the fact there is no contemporary evidence to support it and that the Pyramid Texts specifically states over and over that the pyramid is the king and his tomb is in the sky.

That some ancient writers can be interpreted to suggest pyramids are tombs is wholly irrelevant to what the missing writers might have said. You can see even in your citations that there is an "evolution" of beliefs toward tombs rather than that they were always known to be tombs. If they are not tombs then Egyptological beliefs about other things are unsupported so this is no trivial point. If they are not tombs then what was so important as to condemn an entire society to dragging stones up ramps for centuries?

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Man fears the pyramid, time fears man.