The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world, and it is located in Egypt.
We are about to find out more about the Great Pyramid of Giza!
- The Great Pyramid of Giza is also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops.
- It is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex.
- It is bordering present-day Giza in Greater Cairo, Egypt.
- It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
- It is also the only one to remain largely intact.
- Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was built as a tomb.
- More specifically they believe it was the tomb of the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu over a 20-year period concluding around 2560 BC.
- Initially it was 146.5 metres tall(481 feet).
- The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for more than 3,800 years.
- It is estimated to weigh approximately 6 million tonnes.
- It consists of 2.3 million blocks of limestone and granite, some weighing as much as 80 tonnes.
- It was originally covered by limestone casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface.
- What is seen today is the underlying core structure, although a few casing stones can still be seen at the base.
- It was built by extracting huge stones from a quarry and lifting them into place.
- Despite that there are varying scientific and alternative theories about the exact construction technique.
- 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 so-called Queen’s Chamber and King’s Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure.
- The main part of the Giza complex is a set of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honour of Khufu.
- One is close to the pyramid and one is near the Nile.
- Three smaller pyramids were for Khufu’s wives.
- There was an even smaller “satellite” pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs for nobles surrounding the pyramid.
- The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks which most believe to have been transported from nearby quarries.
- The Tura limestone used for the casing was quarried across the river.
- The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in the “King’s” chamber, weigh 25 to 80 tonnes
- They were transported from Aswan, more than 800 km (500 mi) away.
- Ancient Egyptians cut stone into rough blocks by hammering grooves into natural stone faces, inserting wooden wedges, then soaking these with water.
- As the water was absorbed, the wedges expanded, breaking off workable chunks.
- Once the blocks were cut, they were carried by boat either up or down the Nile River to the pyramid.
- It is estimated that 5.5 million tonnes of limestone, 8,000 tonnes of granite (imported from Aswan), and 500,000 tonnes of mortar were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid.
- In 2013, rolls of papyrus called the Diary of Merer were discovered written by a supervisor of the deliveries of limestone and other construction materials from Tura to Giza in the last year of Khufu’s reign.
- All the Pyramids of Giza, including the Great Pyramid, were once white.
- Historians believe that humans have looted the treasures of the chambers within the Great Pyramid over the years.
- Evidence reveals that human remains were present in the King’s Chamber around the 9th century CE, but due to theft, the interior was left nearly empty.It is commonly believed that slaves built all of the Pyramids includind the Great Pyramid of Giza.
- But there many scientists who believe that believe that those who constructed the monuments were actually skilled laborers who were paid
- Some Egyptologists believe that there was a permanent crew who worked full-time on the pyramids while the rest of the labor force only worked during the summer months.
- Inside the pyramid’s main chamber lies a granite coffer that archeologists believe was made out of a single piece of granite. What’s interesting about this is that the solid piece of granite is huge—far bigger than the narrow passageways of the Great Pyramid would allow.
- Considering this, many historians believe that the Great Pyramid was actually built around the coffer rather than bringing the coffer inside once the pyramid was constructed.
- Many of the treasures within the Great Pyramid may have been looted over the years, but one that remained was the Khufu Ship.
- The oldest intact ship to ever be discovered, the Khufu Ship is 153 feet long and was found inside an enclosed pit at the foot of the pyramid.
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