The Pyramids of Giza

Gizeh By: Gabby D. 1st Hour

Pyramids at Giza, Google Imageshttp://www.firsthdwallpapers.com/pyramid-of-giza-wallpapers.html,28 January 2014

From about 2650 BC to 1800 BC, a great

number of pharaohs were buried in the pyramids that were used as great tombs.

Khufu (on the right) Khafre (Middle) Menkaure (Left), these large triangular structures were constructed under the order of these kings. The three smaller pyramids in the front of Menkaure were built for queens. 1

Basic InformationKing Khufu, http://egypttourists.blogspot.com/2011/06/khufu.html,28 January 2014

The word “Pyramid” (Mer in Ancient Egyptian) originated out of the

word pyramis in Ancient Greek translated as ‘a wheat cake’. Every stone used to build Khufu’s pyramid weighs about 2 ½ tons. 2

Khufu’s pyramid when is was freshly constructed was 460 feet tall, now it is ten feet smaller than it was originally. The cause of this is because the limestone casing has been left bare. Much of it was worn down by time and natural reasons, but a lot of it was stolen in the ninth century CE during the edifice of Cairo. 3

Bronze and wood levers were used to drag the heavy blocks to help them fit into place. 4

There is extensive archeological proof that ramps were used to help build these tombs and drag the bricks into their many stacks.

Building the Tombs

28 January 2014, http://www.technologystudent.com/culture1/egypt2.htm ,Levers

Khufu chose to build his tomb that falls near the west of

the Nile, directed toward the setting sun. Because in Egyptian tales the sun died each night and was reborn in the East at dawn, so he could travel with the sun god (Re) all night and live again in the morning. 5

The Great Pyramid was built by 100,000 workers in shifts up to three months for twenty years. A surprising theory is that the workers might not have been slaves, but willing workers wanting to serve their king. The theory that enslaved Hebrews were working on this has been proven false because the pyramids were built a millennium before the Hebrews time. 6

Building the Tombs Continued…

Built at about 2560 BCE for the pharaoh Khufu;

also known as, Cheops, “Smasher of Foreheads.” This ruler had absolute power over his people and was quite harsh. 7

Made of limestone and 480 feet tall, it was the tallest building on earth until 1311 AD. 8

It is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids on the Giza Plateau.

It is made up of, an estimated number of 2.3 million blocks.

Khufu’s Pyramid

29 January 2014, http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/pyramid2.htm,Khufu’s Pyramid Diagram

This Pyramid was built for Khufu’s son, Khafre. Khafre’s head is sculpted on the great Sphinx with

a lion’s body. Carved out of bed rock, it is in front of the Pyramid guarding it.

471 feet tall, built in 2520 BCE Even though this pyramid is much smaller than his

fathers it looks the largest because it is thirty-three feet up on bedrock. 9

The reason limestone is still on its top is because the plunderers could not reach as far as the top to take it. 10

Khafre’s Pyramid

29 January 2014, http://fineartamerica.com/featured/great-sphinx-of-giza-and-the-pyramid-of-khafre-in-egypt-ignatius-tan.html,Khafre’s Pyramid

213 feet tall Built in 2490 BCE This pyramid was much smaller than the other

two. Inferences are: Prices were getting too high to build another, or there wasn’t much room left to build on the Giza Plateau. 11

Menkaure ruled for 26 years and died before his tomb was complete.

Menkaure’s Pyramid

29 January 2014, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/37.6.1, Statue of Menkaure.

The Great Sphinx

It is carved from natural rock and has a human’s head (Khafre’s) and the body of a lion. It was built to protect the great tombs.

There are people that believe secret passages are in the heart of the Sphinx, nothing has been found yet.12

The term “Sphinx” had come into use 2,000 years after its construction. Its real name is left a mystery to us; we get the name from Greek mythology, it was a human headed lion. 13

66 feet high and 240 feet long. It was built close to 10,000 years ago. 13

29 January 2014, http://powertripberkeley.com/pyramids-of-egypt-sphinx-akashic-record-reading-asheville/, The Sphinx

Giza Complex

29 January 2014, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Giza_pyramid_complex_(map).svg,Giza Complex

There were three cemeteries located on the Giza Plateau-

The Eastern Cemetery, The Western Cemetery, and a third smaller one south of Khufu’s tomb.

In the Western Cemetery all of the men with a high position in society; like Prince Hemiunu, the Pharaoh's nephew were buried.

In the east the Pharaoh’s sons and daughters were laid in double stone mastabas (an ancient Egyptian tomb rectangular in shape with sloping sides and a flat roof, standing to a height of 17–20 feet (5–6 m), consisting of an underground burial chamber with rooms above it) 14

The Cemeteries at Giza

29 January 2014, http://egyptsites.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/etombs-2.jpg%3Fw%3D497,East Cemetery Tomb

The first spells found were on Unas’ chamber walls; the script tells the

unification of him and his father as he climbs a latter to the skies. The many inscriptions and hieroglyphs written on the burial chambers walls

had a purpose; the purpose was to ensure that the Pharaoh resurrected to his afterlife and united with the gods. 15

Texts in the passage directing to Unas’ burial chamber says: This Unas comes to you, O Nut,

This Unas comes to you, O Nut, He has consigned his father to earth, He has left Horus behind him. Grown are his falcon wings, Plumes of the holy hawk; His ba has brought him His magic has equipped him. 16

The devine goddess of the sky accepts him with words of her welcoming.

Spells of Different Pyramids

The best preserved mortuary temples are Khafre’s. (2258-2532

BCE) Auguste Mariette, famous Egyptologist, made his second principal

discovery unearthing the Valley Temple of Khafre. He started excavating in 1853 and fully finished it in 1858. Though it was found in bad condition. Another important discovery, the diorite stature of the pharaoh, Khafre. 17

Once standing in its halls 23 statues of the pharaoh stood, but now only the bases are left, but Mariette salvaged one that is made up of polished diorite. Wings folded, Horus stands in the form of a falcon and the king sits in a throne that represented the lands of Upper and Lower Egypt. 18

This was the main entrance to the pyramid and it is connected to the Nile river by canal.

The temple had two entrances symbolizing upper and lower Egypt.

It is called the Granite Temple because it is made up of red blocks of polished Aswan granite. 19

Valley Temple of Khafre

29 January 2014, http://brianholihan.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/img9631.jpg,Valley Temple of Khafre

In the 1950s a boat was found buried next to Khufu’s pyramid

and was used to carry his body to his final resting place. This boat had 1,224 parts made up out of Lebanese cedar and

sycamore wood. It is 143 feet long, joined together by ropes and small wooden

pegs. It had six pairs of oars, but the boat probably would have been pulled through the water by smaller boats, so the wooden oars would have been used to steer it in the right direction and not to propel the boat through the Nile. 20

Many more boats like these were found in pits next to the Pyramids.

The Boats were buried close to him because Re was often mentioned as riding in a boat in Egyptian text. The king wanted to be able to go with Re on his daily travels.

Khufu’s Boats

29 January 2014, http://www.sca-egypt.org/eng/images/MUS_Khufu-Boat02.jpg, Khufu’s Boats

4,500 years ago this little builders quarters housed

up to 20,000 people. There was no texts found there, archeologists have

to interpret their lifestyle from artifacts found on the ground. 21

Beds have been found in huge half open rooms, workers there only worked for a certain amount of time and then left, so this builder’s quarters could only hold up to 2,000 people at one time. 22

Evidence has shown that they did lots of copper work and cooking.

Builder’s Village

“The Great Pyramid of Giza once had a swivel door at

the entrance. It weighed about 20 tons and could easily be pushed open from the inside. On the outside it was very hard to find because it fit perfectly. There are only two other pyramids known to have had swivel doors. One was Khufu’s father’s pyramid and the other was his grandfather’s pyramid.” 23

“The mortar that was used to build the pyramid cannot be reproduced today. Even though it has been analyzed they still can’t make it. It is stronger than the stone that was used to build the pyramid and is still in place today.” 24

Interesting Facts

1 Gillian Allen, Beth Apple, Jill Bunyan, Joanne Connor, Chris Drew, Lee Gibbons, Sue Grabham, Jo Haddon, Joanne Little, Dulcie Rowe, Carey Scott, Ancient Egypt Revealed (New York, New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 2002), 7. 2 Gill Harvey, Struan Reid, The Useborne Internet-linked Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Tulsa, OK: EDC Publishing, LTD, 2001), 66. 3 Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002) 68.4 Technology Student, “How were the pyramids built?” Internet; Available from http://www.technologystudent.com/culture1/egypt2.htm

Accessed 29 January 20145Salima Ikram, Janice Kamrin, “X Marks the Spot!” Callope Exploring World History, September 2012, 2. 6Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002), 50-51.7 Helen Howe, Robert T. Howe, Ancient and Medieval worlds, (White Plains, New York: Longman, 1992), 55.8 Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002), 66. 9Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002), 68.10 Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002), 68.11 National Geographic “Pyramid of Menkaure,” Internet; http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/menkaure.html

29 January 201412 Ancient Egypt, “What is the Great Sphinx?” Internet; Available from http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/pyramids/about/sphinx.html 29 January 2014

End Notes

13 Tour Egypt, “The Cemeteries at Giza,” Internet. Available from

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/gizacemeteries.htm Accessed 29 January 201414 Mastaba Definition, “Mastaba,” Internet.

https://www.google.com/search?q=definition+of+mastaba&oq=definition+of+masta&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.11132j0j1&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8 Accessed 28 January 201415 Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002), 52. 16 Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002), 5217 Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002), 36-37.18 Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002), 68-6919 Lucia Gahlin, Lorna Oakes, Ancient Egypt (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002),

68-6920 Jane Bingham, Fiona Chandler, Jane Chisholm, Gill Harvey, Lisa Miles, Struan Reid, Sam Taplin, The Usborne

Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (London: Usborne Publishing Ltd, 2002) ,11021 National Geographic “Pyramid Builders’ village found in Egypt,” Internet. Available from

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0805_020805_giza.html Accessed 28 January 2014

22 National Geo graphic “Pyramid Builder’ village found in Egypt,” Internet. Available from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0805_020805_giza.html

Accessed 28 January 201423 Soft Schools “Great Pyramid of Giza Facts,” Internet; available from http://www.softschools.com/facts/wonders_of_the_world/great_pyramid_of_giza_facts/66/ Accessed 29 January 201424

Soft Schools “Great Pyramid of Giza Facts,” Internet; available from http://www.softschools.com/facts/wonders_of_the_world/great_pyramid_of_giza_facts/66/ Accessed 29 January 2014

End Notes

Allen, Gilliah, Apple, Beth, Bunyan, Jill, Connor, Joanne, Drew, Chris, Gibbons, Lee, Grabham, Sue, and Haddon, Jo. Ancient Egypt Revealed. New York, New York: DK Publishing Inc., 2002.

Bingham, Jane, Chandler, Fiona, Chisholm, Jane, Harvey, Gill, Miles, Lisa, Reid, Struah, and Taplin, Sam. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. London: Usborne Publishing, Ltd., 2002.

Gahlin, Lucia, Oakes, Lorna. Ancient Egypt. London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2002.

Harvey, Gill, Reid Straun. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Tulsa, OK: EDC publishing, LDT., 2001.

Howe, Helen, Howe, Robert, T. Ancient and Medieval World. White Plains, New York: Longman, 1992.

Ikram, Salima, Kamrin, Janice. “X Marks the Spot!” Callope Exploring World History, September 2012.

No Author. “What is the Great Sphinx?”www.ancientegyptpf.co.uk/pyramids/about/sphinx.html

No Author. “The Cemeteries at Giza,”www.touregypt.net/featurestories/gizameteries.htm

No Author. “Pyramid of Menekaure,”www.nationalgeographic. Com/pyramids/menkaure.html

No Author. “Pyramid Builders’ Village Found In Egypt,”news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0805_020805_giza.html

No Author. “Giza Facts,”www.softschools.com/facts/wonders_of_the_world/great_pyramid_of_giza_facts/66

No Author. “How Were The Pyramids Built?”

www.technologystudent.com/culture1/egypt2.htm

Bibliography