The
Pyramids are situated at Giza just outside Cairo and is one of the engineering marvels of all time and the only remaining wonder of the
ancient world. Situated on the west bank of the Nile, which is
associated with death, the pyramids are generally believed to be tombs
for the Pharaohs or a resurrection machine for his rebirth. The first
large Egyptian pyramid was the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, built during the
third dynasty of the Old Kingdom to protect the body of the king Djoser
who died around 2650 BC.
The Pyramid was the development of the Mastaba
which was a house built over the body. The most prolific builder was
Sneferu who ruled from around 2612–2589 BC and built three pyramids. The
greatest and most famous however, are the Pyramids of Giza, built near
the capital city of Memphis for the fourth dynasty kings Khufu, Khafre
and Menkaure who ruled from 2589-2504 BC.
Built
on a Plateau they consist of a number of other buildings associated
with the preparation and maintenance of the Pharaoh and his afterlife.
Such buildings include mortuary temple, where rituals for the dead king
and for the Egyptian gods may have been carried out; small subsidiary
pyramids and numerous other tombs for the royal family and officials
together with storage for objects including pits for funerary boats. The
complex consisted of a causeway running to a lower temple at the Nile
that acted as an entrance to the complex.
The
first and great pyramid was constructed by Khufu (also known as Cheops)
the son of Sneferu. Khufu ruled around 2589-2566 when the Old Kingdom
of Egypt was nearing its peak of prosperity and could afford the vast
amounts of money required to build the pyramid. Constructed
of limestone and granite the total weight is 6.5 million tons with some
of the 2,300,000 blocks weighing 70 ton. The whole structure reached
140 metres in height and had a base length originally of 230 metres. It
is believed that the stone blocks were hauled up gradually sloping
ramps, built out of mud, stone, and with wood runners which would be
lubricated by water the Sledges pulled by a team of men using ropes of
papyrus twine. To complete the face white limestone blocks were placed,
smoothed and polished. It is believed that construction took 20 years.
The original entrance to the great pyramid is on the North face, 15m
high and surmounted by a double vault. The modern entrance is located
several metres down, which was forced in the 9th century. Inside the
pyramid are a number of chambers and passages. The burial chamber is
almost six meters tall, and was built by solid blocks of granite to
prevent penetration. The floor is made with blocks of pink granite,
which cover 60 square meters. Inside the chamber is the sarcophagus,
which was built inside the pyramid during construction as it would have
been almost impossible to move it in considering the confined and narrow
passage.
The other two pyramids were constructed by Menkaure (also known as Mycerinus),
which is the smallest and Khafre’s (who is also known as Chephren)
which although looks higher than Khufu’s it is actually half a metre
smaller but was built on higher ground. The
most distinctive feature of Khafre's Pyramid is the topmost layer of
smooth stones that are the only remaining casing stones on a Giza
Pyramid. Some believe that the Sphinx has the face of Khafre
while others will argue that it was Khufu, and that it was part of
Khufu’s pyramid complex, while others believe that it was there before
Khufu built his pyramid.
Due
to the vast expense, the end of the Old Kingdom and the movement of the
capital to Thebes, modern day Luxor, the Pharaohs started to be buried
in tombs cut out of the rock in the Valley of the King and the
construction of pyramids ceased.
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