What were the pyramids primarily built as?

The story behind the answer

Tombs for pharaohs is correct because pyramids were monumental burial places designed to secure a ruler’s body and soul for eternity. Egyptians believed the pharaoh’s ka and ba needed a preserved body (mummification) and rich grave goods to live on in the afterlife. Pyramid interiors held sarcophagi and treasures, while Pyramid Texts inscribed within guided the king’s journey to the heavens.

Though the pyramid complexes included mortuary temples for rituals and are precisely aligned with cardinal points, their purpose wasn’t worship centers, observatories, or defenses. Think “pyramid = pharaoh’s staircase to the sky”: the shape evoked the primordial Benben mound and the sun’s rays, symbolically lifting the king toward eternal life.