upon the populace, and all of Djelibeybi's dead rulers come back to life. Also, the nations of Ephebe and Tsort prepare for war with one another, as Djelibeybi can no longer act as a buffer zone between the two. Eventually, Teppic re-enters the Kingdom and attempts to destroy the Great Pyramid, with the help of all of his newly resurrected ancestors. They are confronted by Dios, who, it turns out, is as old as the kingdom itself, and has advised every pharaoh throughout its history. Dios hates change and thinks Djelibeybi should stay the same. Teppic succeeds in destroying the Pyramid, returning Djelibeybi to the real world and sending Dios back through time (where he meets the original founder of the Kingdom, thereby restarting the cycle). Teppic then abdicates, allowing Ptraci (who turns out to be his half-sister) to rule. Ptraci immediately institutes much-needed changes, Teppic decides to travel the Disc, and Death comes to ferry the former rulers of Djelibeybi to the afterlife. Characters Teppic (short for Pteppicymon XXVIII), who left the kingdom to train at the Assassin's Guild of Ankh-Morpork as a boy, thus regarding himself more as Morporkian than Djelibeybian Dios, the High Priest of Djelibeybi and chief minister Pteppicymon XXVII, the late king of Djelibeybi and Teppic's father Chidder, one of Teppic's classmates Arthur Ludorum, one of Teppic's classmates and the son of Johan Ludorum, a famous assassin Cheesewright, one of Teppic's classmates Ptraci, a handmaiden of the late king and Teppic's half-sister Dil and Gurn, master and apprentice embalmers tasked with mummifying Pteppicymon XXVII Ptaclusp I, Ptaclusp IIa and Ptaclusp IIb, the pyramid-building dynasty tasked with the construction of the Great Pyramid Major themes The novel portrays a "time polder", a bubble which comprises a particular slice of history and a particular bit of geography. In this "polder", history repeats itself through Dios, and critic Stefan Ekman argues that a central theme of the novel is the struggle breaking free from the "polder", of leaving one's background behind. References External links Annotations for Pyramids Quotes from Pyramids Synopsis of Pyramids Pyramids at Worlds Without End 1989 British novels Discworld books 1989 fantasy novels Victor Gollancz Ltd books Ancient Egypt in fiction British comedy novels