Giza

Giza (Arabic: الجيزة Al-Ğīzah, pronounced Al-Dyísah in Egyptian dialect) is a city in Egypt located in the Nile, about 20 km southwest of downtown Cairo, forming part of the metropolitan area of the Egyptian capital. It is the capital of the governorate of the same name. Its population was 2,681,863 in 2006.

Archaeological site

The Sphinx before the pyramid of Keops on the plateau of Guiza

It is famous throughout the world because in its vicinity is the Giza plateau, the place where the three great pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty were erected around 4,600 years ago. Giza is part of the great necropolis of Memphis, which stretched for more than forty kilometers and was known in the Old Kingdom of Egypt under the generic name of Her-necher (the Necropolis) or Imentet (the West).

Each of the three great pyramids had its own name, which also designated the necropolis that surrounded it: The luminous horizon of Khufu Cheops, Khafre is great and Menkaure is divine. It was during the reign of Cheops that the Giza plateau reached great importance.

There are several types of tombs in Giza, such as mastabas and hypogea, intended for members of the ruling family, high dignitaries or priests.

The pyramids that guarded the remains of the pharaohs were part of extensive funerary complexes, with temples, other tombs, and smaller pyramids. To the east of the Cheops pyramid, the so-called Queens' Pyramids were built, almost 50 meters on each side and 30 meters high, to serve as tombs for her mother Hetepheres and her wives Merytites and Henutsen. In 1992 part of another pyramid located to the southeast of the Great Pyramid was discovered, with a square base of 23 meters on each side and about 12 meters high with only the remains of the first three rows of stone.

Guiza Plateau: Plano.

The Giza Plateau

The most significant buildings and elements of the Giza plateau are:

• The Pyramid of Jufu (Keops) or the Great Pyramid
• Jafra Pyramid (Kefrén)
• The Pyramid of Menkaura (Micerin)
• The Great Sphinx
• Pyramids of queens
• Subsidiary pyramids
• Mastabas of nobles and courtiers
• Funeral temples
• Temples of the valley
• Procedural lifts
• Features containing Solar Ships
• The city of artisans with warehouses and workshops.

The Three Pyramids

In the plain of Giza, there are three pyramids (Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure), which, in addition to being used for burial, are believed to have had other functions in the past.

The Great Pyramid

The Cheops Pyramid, also known as the Great Pyramid of Giza, is one of the most iconic symbols of pyramid culture. It is made up of approximately 2.5 million stone blocks, and is characterized by having a perfect slope; its cusp is 76 degrees. Its height is 146 meters and each side of the base measures 230 meters.

From its entrance a corridor descends to the underground crypt, where a second path leads to a gallery, which in turn leads to the sarcophagus chamber.

Currently, the pyramid is not accessed through the original entrance; a tunnel was opened in the IX century by the interests of Caliph Abdullah al-Mamun, with the intention of finding the treasures and secrets of Egyptian wisdom. After his efforts, he did not find any treasure and as for the wisdom written on the walls of the halls, he did not provide him with any new knowledge.

The true access, as the historian Strabo wrote, was hidden with a “secret stone”, and could be moved simply with the help of a bolt.

The pyramid was built by approximately 80,000 workers, under the orders of the pharaoh with the same name, Cheops, who was said to be cruel to his subjects.

As the largest funerary monument in Egypt, researchers have long been trying to unravel its secret, well guarded for more than 4,000 years. These studies have been carried out with infrared cameras, concluding that there is probably something unknown inside some cameras. The study has led to the belief that there are secret chambers, due to temperature changes of up to 6 °C compared to neighboring rooms.

Kefren's Pyramid

View of the Necropolis of Guiza

On the same plain as Giza, to the south of the Pyramid of Cheops is the Pyramid of Khafra or Khafre, with a similar volume, although a few meters smaller than that of his brother and also It was built later. Unlike this one, it has a much simpler structure, just two corridors. One upper, which is accessed from outside and another underground. Both lead directly to the burial chamber.

In the underground corridor there is a room whose function is unknown, which has given rise to many mysteries. Some visitors have even claimed to have felt sick when visiting it, however this may be due to the environment of the tomb, which does not have air intakes.

One of the great mysteries is that it is not known for sure if the sarcophagus contained inside is that of Kefren. Many mystery hunters continue to insist on the existence of secret galleries and passages, however, to this day they have still not been found.

The Pyramid of Menkaure

There is a third pyramid, of notably smaller dimensions, the Pyramid of Mikerinos. It is 66 meters high and 108 at the base. It was known in its time as the Divine Pyramid.

In the 20th century, explorations were carried out on the pyramid. They found a basalt sarcophagus with a wooden coffin containing a mummy. But said mummy was not the pharaoh for whom the Pyramid had been built, it was not Menkaure, but another important character of the time.

It is believed that it also hides unknown secrets inside, but not even modern science has been able to understand the mysteries that surround this pyramid.

Climate

Average climatic parameters of Guiza, Egypt
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	28	30	36	41	43	46	41	43	39	40	36	30	46
Average temperature (°C)	19.3	20.9	24.2	28.4	32.0	34.9	34.5	34.4	32.4	30.2	25.4	21.1	28.1
Average temperature (°C)	13.0	14.0	17.2	20.5	24.0	27.1	27.5	27.5	25.6	23.5	19.2	15.0	21.2
Temp. medium (°C)	6.8	7.2	10.3	12.7	16.1	19.3	20.6	20.7	18.9	16.8	13.0	8.9	14.3
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	2	4	5	8	11	16	17	17	16	11	4	4	2
Total precipitation (mm)	4	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	4	17
Source: Climate-Data.org