Building Blocks: Desert Pyramid

As you’re exploring the dunes of the desert biome, dodging husks, camels, and dead bushes, you’ll occasionally spot something more solid poking out of the sand. Often it’s just a desert well. Boring. But occasionally it’s not – and when it’s not, there’s a good chance it’ll be our structure of the month: the enigmatic, dangerous, treasure-packed desert pyramid.

These impressive edifices were added to Minecraft in August 2012, in the same unnamed patch that added emeralds, ender chests and tripwires. Originally they were called desert temples, but a temple suggests worship or rituals and I’ve seen no evidence of either in these structures – so perhaps that’s why they got renamed to “pyramid” instead.

A desert pyramid can usually be recognised by its towers. They’re decorated with an ankh made of orange terracotta, which is the ancient Egyptian symbol for life. On the side with the towers you’ll find a main entrance, but if that’s buried then you can also get in through the windows near the top of the pyramid.

Inside, you’ll find a decorative floor and not much else. But wait! Underneath that floor is a deep pit, containing four chests stuffed with goodies – ingots, diamonds, emeralds, horse armour, and even rare armor trim. There’s one problem – at the centre of the pit is a pressure plate linked to a bunch of TNT, which explodes if anything steps on the plate, destroying the loot. Tread very, very carefully if you want to recover it.

That’s not all you’ll find in these structures. Near the back, if you dig a bit, you can uncover a secret room buried in sand. This room is a treasure trove for archaeologists, who’ll find loads of suspicious sand that they can practice their brush skills on.

Image credit: tobeytravels // CC BY-SA 2.0

The inspiration for Minecraft’s desert pyramids is pretty clear – the pyramids at the Giza necropolis in Egypt are considered to be one of the great wonders of the ancient world – and they’re not alone. More than 100 pyramids of different sizes were constructed in Egypt between 2700 and 1700 BC as the burial monuments of kings.

But the Egyptians weren’t the first pyramid-builders. Far from it. Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations built the earliest pyramid-like structures, called ziggurats, as far back as 4000 BC. People at the time believed that gods lived in temples on the top of these structures, and so only priests and other high-status individuals could enter.

Other civilizations that have built pyramids include... *deep breath*...  the Nubians, the Songhai, the Igbo, the ancient Greeks, the Spanish, the Romans, the Aztecs and Incans, various Andean cultures, Native American societies, the Chinese empire, the Chola empire, Austronesian cultures, Pacific islanders, and more. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a culture that didn’t build some sort of pyramid at some point.

Perhaps the most interesting real-world pyramid for Minecrafters is the Zeitpyramide in Wemding, Germany. This work of public art began construction in 1993, and a new block is added every 10 years. So at the time of writing, it consists of four blocks, and it’s due to be completed in the year 3183. 

So how about that as a challenge? Ten years is maybe a bit much, but why not pledge to create a pyramid in Minecraft where you place just one block per month, or per week? If the Ancient Egyptians weren’t in a rush to finish their pyramids, then maybe you can afford to take a bit more time over yours, too...