The Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid on the Giza plateau in Egypt, has been the object of scientific and archaeological study for over two hundred years. In this modem era of discovery, it is the last of the seven ancient wonders of the world, and the only one remaining. The Great Pyramid is singled out from all other pyramids. It is the oldest, and by the superior construction techniques over all the other pyramids, makes it appear that the Egyptians didn't make it. They tried to imitate this one, but they never were able to come close. More probably, whoever built it had divine help and planning. The Egyptians say that the Pharaoh Cheops, or Khufu, built it because of a Cartouche, or Kings Signature Symbol that was found inside. All the pyramids in Egypt are covered with writings and paintings, filled with statues and gold, all except one, The Great Pyramid. In this respect it is silent, except a few "quarry marks" found over the top of the kings chamber.

The Great Pyramid was built during Khufu's reign (2551 bc-2528 BC) to serve as a tomb when he died. Vandals and erosion have stripped away some of the Great Pyramid's outer material, and some of its uppermost levels have been dismantled. When it was built, the Great Pyramid was 145.75 m (481 ft) high. Over the years, it lost 10 m (30 ft) off its top. It ranked as the tallest structure on earth for more than 43 centuries, only to be surpassed in height in the nineteenth century AD. It was covered with a casing of stones to smooth its surface (some of the casing can still be seen near the top of Khefre's pyramid). The sloping angle of its sides is 51 degrees and 51 minutes. Each side is carefully oriented with one of the cardinal points of the compass, that is, north, south, east, and west. The horizontal cross section of the pyramid is square at any level, with each side measuring 229 m (751 ft) in length. The maximum error between side lengths is an astonishingly less than 0.1%. The structure consists of approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons. It has been suggested that there are enough blocks in the three pyramids to build a 3 m (10 ft) high, 0.3 m (1 ft) thick wall around France. The area covered by the Great Pyramid can accommodate St Peter's in Rome, the cathedrals of Florence and Milan, and Westminster and St Paul's in London combined.

On the north face, is the pyramid's entrance. A number of corridors, galleries, and escape shafts either lead to the King's burial chamber, or were intended to serve other functions. The King's chamber is located at the heart of the pyramid, only accessible through the Great Gallery and an ascending corridor. The interior of the Great Pyramid is complex, with a series of passages leading to several rooms. The most important room is the King's Chamber, the room in which Khufu's body was placed during his funeral. In this room the priests left items that Khufu, like all Egyptians, would need for the afterlife. Although the builders tried to block passages and doors when they left the pyramid after the king's funeral, tomb robbers did eventually take everything of value. The King's sarcophagus is made of red granite, as are the interior walls of the King's Chamber. Most impressive is the sharp-edged stone over the doorway which is over 3 m (10ft) long, 2.4 m (8 feet) high and 1.3 m (4 ft) thick. All of the interior stones fit so well, a card won't fit between them. The sarcophagus is oriented in accordance with the compass directions, and is only about 1 cm smaller in dimensions than the chamber entrance. It might have been introduced as the structure was progressing.

The entrance to the Great Pyramid was set 17 m (55 ft) above ground level. It was intended to be used only once, during Khufu's funeral, when special scaffolding was erected. Once the scaffolding was dismantled, the entrance's height served as a security measure against tomb robbers. The entrance leads the Descending Passage, which runs down through the pyramid into bedrock beneath the pyramid and levels out until it reaches the Subterranean Chamber. About 18 m (60 ft) from the pyramid entrance, before entering the bedrock, the Descending Passage intersects another corridor, called the Ascending Passage, now sealed with three large granite blocks.

The Ascending Passage runs upward for about 39 m (129 ft), until it levels out and enters the so-called Queen's Chamber. Early Arab explorers of the Great Pyramid gave it this name in the mistaken belief that the queen was buried here. Instead, it most probably held a statue of the king that represented his ka, a form of his spirit. The walls of the unfinished Queen's Chamber grow closer as they rise and meet at a single point at the ceiling. This form results from each level of stones in the walls projecting slightly outward from the level beneath it, an arrangement called corbeling.

Where the Ascending Passage levels off horizontally and runs toward the Queen's Chamber, it also intersects with one end of the Grand Gallery, a large, corbelled passageway 47 m (153 ft) long and 8.5 m (28 ft) high. The Grand Gallery held some of the large stones that were used to plug passages after the king's funeral. In the western wall at the point where the Ascending Passage and the Grand Gallery meet, there is an opening to a tunnel that winds its way down through the core of the pyramid and the bedrock to meet the Descending Passage near the Subterranean Chamber. It provided air to the workers carving out the Subterranean Chamber. At the upper end of the Grand Gallery, another level corridor runs south into the King's Chamber, a simple, rectangular room faced entirely with red granite. All that remains in the room now is a granite sarcophagus in which King Khufu was buried, near the western wall. Above the floor, near the center of the northern and southern walls of the King's Chamber, are openings to shafts that run upward though the pyramid to the exterior of the pyramid. The exact purpose of these shafts is not known. Similar shafts lead out from the Queen's Chamber but are blocked and never reach the exterior of the pyramid.

As the Great Pyramid rose, the workers built large ramps to drag their materials up the sides of the structure. The exact form of these ramps is not known, but scholars believe that they were probably built wrapping around the pyramid as they rose. These ramps were probably made of desert clay mixed with water and bonded with limestone debris left over from the construction work. When