The
Great Pyramid of Giza , also called
Khufu's Pyramid or the
Pyramid of Khufu, and
Pyramid of Cheops, is the oldest and
largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now
Cairo, Egypt in Africa, and is the only remaining member of the
Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World. It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb
for Fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and constructed
over a 20 year period concluding around 2560 BC. The Great Pyramid was the
tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. Visibly all
that remains is the underlying step-pyramid core structure seen today. Many
of the casing stones that once covered the structure can still be seen
around the base of the Great Pyramid. There have been varying scientific and
alternative theories regarding the Great Pyramid's construction techniques.
Most accepted construction theories are based on the idea that it was built
by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into
place.
The great pyramids of Giza
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There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest
chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was
unfinished. The Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are higher up within the
pyramid structure. Despite precautions such as covering the entrance hole
with casing and the portcullises, thieves had bypassed all the barriers even
before the Old Kingdom had ended, digging through the soft limestone and
breaking a corner of Khufu's sarcophagus while removing the lid.'
Other sources suggest that the sarcophagus never had a lid. The Great
Pyramid is the only pyramid known to contain both ascending and descending
passages. [1]
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the main part of a complex setting of
buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to
the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's
wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the
two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.
Wonder of the Ancient World
It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for Fourth dynasty
Egyptian pharaoh Khufu and constructed over a 20 year period concluding
around 2560 BC.[2]
Khufu's vizier, Hemon, or Hemiunu, is believed by some to be the architect
of the Great Pyramid.[3] It is
thought that, at construction, the Great Pyramid was 280 Egyptian royal
cubits tall, 146.6 meters, but with erosion and the loss of its pyramidion,
its current height is 138.8 m. Each base side was 440 royal cubits, with
each royal cubit measuring 0.524 meters.[4]
The total mass of the pyramid is estimated at 5.9 million tonnes. The
volume, including an internal hillock, is believed to be roughly 2,500,000
cubic metres.[5] The first
precision measurements of the pyramid were done by Egyptologist Sir Flinders
Petrie in 1880–82 and published as The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh.
Almost all reports are based on his measurements. Petrie found the pyramid
is oriented 4' west of North and the second pyramid is similarly oriented.[6]
The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for
over 3,800 years,[7]
unsurpassed until the 160 metre tall spire of Lincoln Cathedral was
completed c. 1300. The accuracy of the pyramid's workmanship is such that
the four sides of the base have a mean error of only 58 mm in length, and 1
minute in angle from a perfect square. The base is horizontal and flat to
within 15 mm. The sides of the square are closely aligned to the four
cardinal compass points to within 3 minutes of arc and is based not on
magnetic north, but true north. The design dimensions, as confirmed by
Petrie's survey and all those following this, are assumed to have been 280
cubits in height by 4x440 cubits around originally, and as these proportions
equate to 2π to an accuracy of better than 0.05%, this was and is considered
by Petrie, I. E. S. Edwards, and Miroslav Verner to have been the deliberate
design proportion . Verner wrote "We can conclude that although the ancient
Egyptians could not precisely define the value of π, in practise they used
it".[8]
Source |
| A man, a camel, an oasis, and the pyramids of Giza.
1917 |
Casing stones
At completion, the Great Pyramid was surfaced by white 'casing stones' –
slant-faced, but flat-topped, blocks of highly polished white limestone.
Visibly all that remains is the underlying step-pyramid core structure seen
today. In AD 1301, a massive earthquake loosened many of the outer casing
stones, which were then carted away by Bahri Sultan An-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din
al-Hasan in 1356 in order to build mosques and fortresses in nearby Cairo.
The stones can still be seen as parts of these structures to this day. Later
explorers reported massive piles of rubble at the base of the pyramids left
over from the continuing collapse of the casing stones which were
subsequently cleared away during continuing excavations of the site.
Nevertheless, many of the casing stones around the base of the Great Pyramid
can be seen to this day in situ displaying the same workmanship and
precision as has been reported for centuries. Petrie also found a different
orientation in the core and in the casing measuring 193 cm ± 25 cm. He
suggested a redetermination of north was made after the construction of the
core, but a mistake was made, and the casing was built with a different
orientation.[6]
Construction theories
There have been varying scientific and alternative theories regarding the
Great Pyramid's construction techniques. Most accepted construction theories
are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry
and dragging and lifting them into place. The disagreements center on the
method by which the stones were conveyed and placed. A recent theory
proposes that the building blocks were manufactured in-place from a kind of
"limestone concrete". In addition to the many theories as to the techniques
involved, there are also disagreements as to the kind of workforce that was
used. One theory, suggested by the Greeks, posits that slaves were forced to
work until the pyramid was done. This theory is no longer accepted in the
modern era, however. Archaeologists believe that the Great Pyramid was built
by tens of thousands of skilled workers who camped near the pyramids and
worked for a salary or as a form of paying taxes until the construction was
completed. The worker's cemeteries were discovered in 1990 by archaeologists
Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner. Verner posited that the labor was organized
into a hierarchy, consisting of two gangs of 100,000 men, divided
into five zaa or phyle of 20,000 men each, which may have been
further divided according to the skills of the workers.[9]
Inside the Great Pyramid
There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. These are
arranged centrally, on the vertical axis of the pyramid. From the entrance,
an 18 meter corridor leads down and splits in two directions. One way leads
to the lowest and unfinished chamber. This chamber is cut into the bedrock
upon which the pyramid was built. It is the largest of the three, but
totally unfinished, only rough-cut into the rock. The other passage leads to
the Grand Gallery (49 m x 3 m x 11 m) where it splits again. One tunnel
leads to the Queen's Chamber, a misnomer, while the other winds to intersect
with the descending corridor. The Grand Gallery itself features an ingenious
corbel halloed design and several cut "sockets" spaced at regular intervals
along the length of each side of its raised base with a "trench" running
along its center length at floor level. What purpose these sockets served is
unknown. An antechamber leads from the Grand Gallery to the King's Chamber.[2]
King's Chamber
At the end of the lengthy series of entrance ways leading into the
pyramid interior is the structure's main chamber, the King's Chamber. This
chamber was originally 10 x 20 x 11.2 cubits, or about 5.25 m x 10.5 m x 6
m, comprising a double 10x10 cubit square, and a height equal to half the
double square's diagonal. Some believe that this is consistent with the
geometric methods for determining the Golden Ratio φ (phi), which can be
derived from other dimensions of the pyramid, such that if φ had been the
design objective, then π automatically follows to 'square the circle'.[10]
The sarcophagus of the King's Chamber was hollowed out of a single piece
of Red Aswan granite and has been found to be too large to fit through the
passageway leading to the chamber. Whether the sarcophagus was ever intended
to house a body is unknown. It is too short to accommodate a medium height
individual without the bending of the knees, a technique not practiced in
Egyptian burial, and no lid was ever found. The King's Chamber contains two
small shafts that ascend out of the pyramid. These shafts were once thought
to have been used for ventilation, but this idea was eventually abandoned
leaving Egyptologists to now conclude they were instead used for ceremonial
purposes. It is now thought that they were to allow the Pharaoh's spirit to
rise up and out to heaven.[11]
Source |
| The great pyramids of Egypt in
panorama |
Queen's Chamber
The Queen's Chamber is the middle and the smallest, measuring
approximately 5.74 by 5.23 metres, and 4.57 metres in height. Its eastern
wall has a large angular doorway or niche, Egyptologist Mark Lehner believes
that the Queen's chamber was intended as a serdab, a structure found
in several other Egyptian pyramids, and that the niche would have contained
a statue of the interred. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the statue
would serve as a "back up" vessel for the Ka of the Pharaoh, should the
original mummified body be destroyed. The true purpose of the chamber,
however, remains uncertain.[11]
The Queens Chamber has a pair of shafts similar to those in the King's
Chamber, which were explored using a robot, Upuaut 2, created by the German
engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink. In 1992, Upuaut 2 discovered that these shafts
were blocked by limestone "doors" with two eroded copper handles. The
National Geographic Society filmed the drilling of a small hole in the
southern door only to find another larger door behind it.[12]
The northern passage, which was harder to navigate due to twists and turns,
was also found to be blocked by a door.[13]
Unfinished chamber
The "unfinished chamber" lies 90 ft below ground level and is rough-hewn,
lacking the precision of the other chambers. This chamber is dismissed by
Egyptologists as being nothing more than a simple change in plans in which
they believe it was intended to be the original burial chamber but later
King Khufu changed his mind wanting it to be higher up in the pyramid.[14]
Pyramid complex
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the main part of a complex setting of
buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to
the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's
wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the
two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles. One
of the small pyramids contains the tomb of queen Hetepheres (discovered in
1925), sister and wife of Sneferu and the mother of Khufu. There was a town
for the workers of Giza, including a cemetery, bakeries, a beer factory and
a copper smelting complex. A few hundred metres south-west of the Great
Pyramid lies the slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre, one of Khufu's
successors who is also commonly considered the builder of the Great Sphinx,
and a few hundred metres further south-west is the Pyramid of Menkaure,
Khafre's successor, which is about half as tall. In May 1954, 41 blocking
stones were uncovered close to the south side of the Great Pyramid. They
covered a 30.8 meter long rock-cut pit that contained the remains of a 43
meter long ship of cedar wood. In antiquity, it had been dismantled into 650
parts comprising 1224 pieces. This funeral boat of Khufu has been
reconstructed and is now housed in a museum on the site of its discovery. A
second boat pit was later discovered nearby.[15]
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