The Giza Complex There are over 100 pyramids in Egypt, but none surpassed the size and technical excellence of the construction of the three pyramids of Giza. These pyramids were erected on a rocky plateau on the west bank of the Nile River in Northern Egypt. Sneferu built three pyramids, of which the last one was used as a referent for the rest. His son Khufu (2575-2566 b.c.) built the largest one, known as the Great Pyramid, over a twenty-year period. 100,000 people worked on the structure for three months each year, during the Nile’s annual flood when farming was impossible and the population was unemployed. The pharaoh gave his workers food and clothing, and was remembered in folk tales for centuries. The sides are oriented to the four cardinal points of the compass and each side of the base is 755 feet (230.4 meters). 2,3000,000 limestone blocks were used in the pyramid, each weighing around 2.5 tons. Some weigh 16 tons! The Great Pyramid also was encased in smooth limestone, but it was plundered to build Cairo. Khufu’s son Khafre (also known as Chephren, 2558-2532 b.c.) built another pyramid. It appears taller than the one from his father, but in reality it is smaller by 33.5 feet or 10.2 meters, but built on higher ground. This pyramid retains some of the original casing at the apex. Khafre also built the Great Sphinx. It is 66 feet (20 meters) high and 240 feet (73 meters) long. It represents Ra-Harakhte, the sun god, but the face is a portrait of Khafre himself. It was carved from an outcropping of limestone left after quarrying the stone for his father’s pyramid. Khafre’s son, Menkaure built another pyramid at the Giza necropolis AKA cemetery. He also built three “queen” pyramids behind it. Its height is of 228 feet (70 meters), less than half than the Great Pyramid. The lower layers consist of red granite and the upper courses were originally made of gleaming white limestone. ~Alexandria
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 23:05:29 +0000
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