The Great Pyramid of Cheops

The Pyramid of Cheops

The Pyramid of Cheops (also known as The Great Pyramid of Giza and The Great Pyramid) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in Giza Necropolis. Despite the fact that the name originates from the Pharaoh Khufu, the pyramid was built in an earlier era. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the only one which survives, (the rest were destroyed by earthquake, fire, looting etc.). Based on an engraving in a chamber of the pyramid indicates a workgroup, and the name of the Pharaoh Cheops, the Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was built as a tomb. The construction took 20 years to be completed

Description

Having 146.5 meters height (139 today because of soil erosion, the absence of several overlapping stones and the absence of the pyramids) it was the world's tallest building for more than 3800 years (until early in this century). Originally the Great Pyramid was covered with white coating stones which create a smooth, flat surface and a striking picture. What is left now is the bottom structure. Some of the stones are preserved scattered around the base of the pyramid.

• Built by thousands of slaves • The material used was mainly limestone blocks•Blocks were quarried in Aswan, almost 1.000 kilometers to the south• Nobody knows how they were transported

How was it built?

Chambers and Temples

There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The one who is lower, is dug in the bedrock beneath the pyramid and is unfinished. The so-called chambers of Queen and King, are higher, built inside the pyramid. The complex of the pyramid includes two temples constructed in honor of Khufu, three smaller pyramids for his wives, and a smaller pyramid "satellite", namely, a covered walkway connecting the two temples and smaller tombs, so called bastampades, which belong to nobles and are located around the pyramid.

Other interesting facts

•Every block weighed 15 tons •No writing or hieroglyphics were found in it •No artifacts were found there ,they were probably looted centuries ago.•It is oldest and the largest and most famous of all the Pyramids in Egypt •The only remaining of the seven wonders of the ancient world that still stands today•For nearly 4000 years it remained the tallest man-made structure in the world

Some Photographs:

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