Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Cheops or Khufu pyramid) is, in addition to being the largest of the Egyptian pyramids, the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world and the the only one that still exists. It was ordered to be built by the pharaoh Cheops of the fourth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. About the architect of said work, some scholars name Hemiunu, but it is not proven.
The estimated date of completion of the construction of the Great Pyramid is around 2570 BC. C., being the first and largest of the three great pyramids of the Giza necropolis, located on the outskirts of Cairo. It was the tallest building on Earth for 3,800 years, until in the 14th century it was surpassed by the spire of the Lincoln Cathedral, England, and the tallest stone building in the world until well into the 19th century, then being surmounted by the spire of the St. Nicholas Church in Hamburg.
The pyramid
The pyramidal necropolis of Khufu was erected in the northeastern section of the Giza plateau. Lack of space for the planned large construction, lack of local limestone quarries, and loose ground at Dahshur may have forced Khufu to move north, away from the necropolis of his predecessor Seneferu. Khufu chose the upper end of a natural plateau so that his future pyramid would be widely visible. He decided to call his burial complex Akhet Khufu (Khufu's Horizon). It is estimated that it was built with some 2.3 million stone blocks, the average weight of which is two and a half tons per block, although there are some of them that weigh up to sixty tons. It was originally covered by some 27,000 polished white limestone blocks weighing several tons each. It maintained this appearance until the early 14th century century, when an earthquake detached part of the limestone lining. Later, the Ottoman Turks used this coating for the construction of various buildings in Cairo.
Architect
Hemiunu, the architect of the pyramid of Cheops, was the son of the architect Nefermaat, the architect of the pyramid of King Seneferu, father of Cheops. Archaeologists have found mentions of Hemiunu with titles roughly translated as Master Builder and Vizier. His tomb is located near the Cheops pyramid, and contains reliefs depicting him. Some stones in his mastaba are marked with dates referring to Khufui's reign. The statue of Hemiunu is now in the Hildesheim museum in Germany.
Dating
Egyptologists, archaeologists specializing in Ancient Egypt, and historians (since Herodotus) agree that it was built during the reign of Khufu (Greek, Cheops), in the first half of the century XXVI a. C. It is thought that its construction was directed by his chaty, the architect Hemiunu. In 2013 a port and a ship depot were discovered; the latter contained numerous papyri contemporary to the construction of the pyramid. The papyrus called Merer's diary records shipments of limestone blocks from Tura to Giza, totaling 200 blocks per month.
The inside of the pyramid
The pyramid is made up of three main chambers, two located inside the pyramid, currently called the king's chamber and the queen's chamber, and one underground, the subterranean chamber.
The chambers were accessed from the north side, through a descending passage, obstructed at the end by large granite blocks, which communicated with two passages, one ascending, which leads to the Great Gallery, and another descending, which reaches the underground chamber.
The Grand Gallery
The Grand Gallery is a large passage about 47 meters long and 8 meters high. The walls of the Great Gallery are vertical from the ground up to a height of two meters and, from there upwards, by approximation of the courses with the stepped stones, forming a false vault.
The King's Chamber
The so-called king's chamber is made up of granite slabs and has a rectangular plan, smooth walls and ceiling, without decoration, and currently only contains an empty granite sarcophagus, without inscriptions, deposited there during the construction of the pyramid, since it is wider than the passages; On the roof are the so-called discharge chambers, and the highest has its roof with large inclined blocks, gabled, to divert the great pressure exerted by the upper blocks of the pyramid, preventing it from all the weight rests on the roof of the royal chamber. It is accessed through a horizontal passage called an antechamber that starts from the upper end of the Great Gallery.
The Queen's Chamber
The so-called queen's chamber by the Arabs, although according to Mark Lehner and the vast majority of Egyptologists, it was not intended for the king's wife but for a Ka statue of the king himself. (Serdab, room destined to contain the spiritual representation of the deceased: Ka statue), is located almost on the axis of the pyramid. It is accessed through a horizontal passage, which communicates with the lower area of the Great Gallery, initially hidden by the paving slabs. It has a rectangular floor plan, smooth walls, without decoration, with a niche, and a sloping, gabled roof.
The Underground Chamber
The underground chamber, dug into the subsoil, has a rectangular plan, with an irregular floor, flat walls and ceiling; It contains two rooms, like sarcophagi, a well and a small gallery. It is accessed by a descending passage, an extension of the first passage of the pyramid. It is also connected to the Great Gallery through a narrow, almost vertical tunnel, perforated in the blocks.
Ventilation channels
Two narrow inclined ducts start from each royal chamber, on the north and south walls, called «ventilation channels», since that is their use since 1992, to ventilate using electric fans to reduce humidity inside the pyramid; Its original function is unknown since those of the queen's chamber did not communicate with the interior in its last section, since they were covered by the large granite slabs covering the walls. Those in the king's chamber were discovered by R. Howard Vyse, and those in the queen's chamber by W. Dixon.
1. Original access, on the north face, currently obstructed
2. Current access, ordered to open by the Al-Mamun caliph in 823, due to the popular rumors of hidden treasures inside, pierced at 16 m from the floor with levers
3. Granite blocks, which sealed access to the upper passage
4. Passage that communicates with the underground chamber
5. Ground chamber
6. Passage of access to the Great Gallery
7. Queen's House
8. Passage that communicates with the Queen's Chamber
9. Great Gallery
10. King's Camera and Download Cameras
11. Antecamara
12. perforated passage that communicates with the Great Gallery and the underground chamber
7-10 Ventilation channels of the king and queen chambers
Interior chambers and passages
- Original access, on the north face, currently obstructed
- Current access, ordered to open by Al-Mamun
- Granite blocks, which sealed access to the upper passage
- Passage that communicates with the underground chamber
- Ground chamber
- Passage of access to the Great Gallery
- Queen's House
- Passage that communicates with the Queen's camera
- Great gallery
- King's Chamber and download cameras
- Antecamara
- perforated passage that communicates with the Great Gallery and the underground chamber
- 7-10 Ventilation channels
Pictures of the interior
Granite block, sealing access to the Queen's chamber
Great Gallery
Great Gallery
The magnificent and intriguing Grand Gallery, about 1799, according to illustration in Description of l'Égypte
Nicho in the Queen's House
King's Chamber
Access to the Antecamara
Queen's House
King's Chamber and Download Cameras
The eight faces of the Great Pyramid
Flinders Petrie already observed, among other morphological aspects, that the horizontal section of the Great Pyramid has an octagonal shape, like a four-pointed star, since each of the faces is made up of two planes, with a slight slope towards the center, difficult to appreciate with the naked eye due to the almost total absence of the coating, as only a few limestone blocks have been preserved, coming from the Tura quarries, in the first course of the northern face. This characteristic and its orientation towards the geographic North generates a shadow projection phenomenon on the north and south faces during the equinoxes: towards dawn, for a few minutes, the western half of the north and south faces is illuminated by the Sun's rays, while the eastern half remains in shadow; towards sunset the opposite occurs, the eastern half of the north and south faces being illuminated, while the western half remains in shadow. This is the so-called lightning effect.
The three pyramids of the queens
The three so-called queens' pyramids are located near the east face of the Great Pyramid. They are currently called GI-a, GI-b, and GI-c. Its construction is dated to the middle of the XXVI century BC. C. The northernmost (GI-a) is of the "classic" and its sides measure 45.5, 47.4, 46.5, and 45.7 m., and 29.45 m. His height. It is attributed to Hetepheres I, the mother of Khufu (Cheops) (or to Merytetes, a wife). The one located in the center (GI-b) is of the "classical" and its sides measure 47.8, 49.4, 48.2, and 47.1 m., its height is 30.62 m. It is attributed to Merytetes (or Hetepheres I). The southernmost one (GI-c) is of the "classical" and its sides measure 45.5, 46.7, 46.8, and 45.2 m., its height being 30.2 m. It is attributed to Henutsen, a wife of Khufu.
Khufu's Funeral Boat
In 1954, a funeral boat was found buried in a pit near the south side of the pyramid. It was disassembled and it took fourteen years to rebuild it. It is displayed in a large room erected over the moat. This boat was an important part of the funeral ritual, since it would be in charge of taking Jufu (Cheops) on his journey through the afterlife. There is knowledge of another boat, but as a precaution and to avoid its deterioration it has not been extracted yet.
Dimensions of the Great Pyramid
British Egyptologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie made the most detailed study of the monument up to 1984. At present, the following dimensions are considered valid, the result of the work of Mark Lehner and Jon Goodman in 1984:
- Original height = 146.50 m
- Current height = 136.86 m
- Earring: 51o 50' 39"
The length of the sides of the base, according to Mark Lehner, David Goodman, and Glen Dash (AERA: The Great Pyramid’s Footprint: Results from Our Survey by Glen Dash (2015)) is:
- Side N: 230,329 m
- Side E: 230,334 m
- Side S: 230,384 m
- Side O: 230,407 m
- Average: 230,363 m
Theories about its construction
The Great Pyramid stands at the height of pharaonic power during the Old Kingdom, and shows the great organizational skills and knowledge acquired by Egyptian craftsmen and technicians to erect such monuments, albeit with seemingly simple means. It is the best exponent of all the pyramids made in Egypt, the culmination of a process of improvement in construction techniques that began in the time of Dyeser and continued in that of Seneferu.
There are various theories that try to explain how the pyramids were built, but it is not known with certainty how they were erected, since no document of the time describing it has survived. Possibly, the archaeological excavations that are carried out on the Giza plateau in the remains of the artisan village, the cemetery, the warehouses or the quarries can provide significant data.
The oldest text that indicates how to build it comes from the historian Herodotus, reflecting what the Egyptian priests told him.
Herodotus, who contemplated the pyramid around 450 B.C. C., commented that "its construction time was twenty years", and that the carved stones were raised, from tier to tier, by means of artifacts made of short logs.
As for the pyramid, they were spent on their construction twenty years: it is a square factory of eight long plets on each side, and many other heights, of labrated stone and perfectly adjusted, and built of pieces so large, that no down of thirty feet.The pyramid was built in such a way that there were a few steps or poyos that some call scales and other altars.
Thus from the beginning the lower part, they were rising and climbing the stones, already broken, with a certain machine formed of short woods that, lifting them from the ground, put them in the first order of stairs, from which with another machine that they had prevented them they were going up to the second order, where they loaded them on another similar machine, thus proceeding to raise them, because it seems that as many were going, So the façade began to be polished up, then descending consecutively, so that the lower part, which stood on the same floor, was the last to receive the last hand.
In the pyramid it is noticed with Egyptian letters how much it was spent in radishes, onions and garlic for the consumption of pawns and officers; and I remember very well that when I read it the interpreter told me that the account was 4600 talents of silver. And if this is so, how much will we say that the expense of tools would go up to work, and of food and clothing for the workers, and more taking into account, not only the time mentioned that they spent in the factory of such works, but also that, and in my understanding it must have been very long, that they would use so to cut the stone as to open the underground excavation?Halicarnaso's hero. Book II. Euterpe. Cap. CXXIV-CXXV.
During the XIX century, «symbolic» theories proliferated, but with the gradual advance of archeology and Egyptology, the majority, have been abandoned, although some remain transformed into others more in line with the new fashions.
In the XX century, hypotheses emerged such as that of the German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt, who in 1928 exposed the theory of the use of large ramps, perpendicular to the face of the pyramid, as a means of building it. In the middle of the XX century, Goneim claimed to have found traces of retaining walls from these ramps. But, other scholars, such as Dunham or Rösster, ruled out the theory of the ramps, believing that the pyramid itself served as a work platform, supporting the stories of the Egyptian priests, transcribed by Herodotus.
French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin put forward in April 2007 the theory that the stones of the Great Pyramid of Giza were transported up a traditional outdoor ramp up to a height of 45 meters. From there the blocks were raised by another spiral ramp, mounted inside the pyramid itself. According to Houdin: "the tunnel (sic) would continue to exist today. And this hypothesis could give veracity to the narrations of Herodotus and Pliny the Elder, reflecting stories of subterranean chambers of the pyramid (sic), perhaps being the famous Tomb- island.»
Ten were, as I say, the years that were employed in the construction of that road (processional) and the underground chambers of the hill on which the pyramids rise, chambers that, in order to serve him as a burial, Keops built – leading up to there a channel with water from the Nile – on an island.Herodote, History, Book II, 124.
The head of the Egyptian Higher Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, stated that it is just one more hypothesis and that, for the moment, he will not grant permission to excavate the Great Pyramid.
Excavations on the Giza Plateau
Flinders Petrie, in his excavation campaigns in Giza, found remains of warehouses that were used to store large-volume goods and to carry out various crafts. Saleh found remains of a dump. In 1988, remains of an official settlement were found, a royal storage and production complex, related to the construction of the Giza pyramids, which has three paved streets of about one hundred meters and several large structures (about 35 m wide) which is being excavated by Mark Lehner.
Historical evidence
The Great Pyramid of Giza, due to its antiquity, magnitude and singular geometry, has dazzled many famous visitors. These are some of their testimonials:
Breyndeback, in his 1484 book Breyndeback's Voyages, believed they were the barns built by the Biblical Joseph.
Jean Palerme, brother of Henry III of France, in 1581 observed that the chest (sarcophagus), if struck, sounds like a bell; and he took a piece, possibly the one in the damaged corner.
John Greaves, 1638, professor at Oxford, author of the first scientific paper on the pyramids, thought it had been built by Cheops, as a tomb. Athanasius Kircher, in 1666, was the first to believe that the obelisks and pyramids had a mystical and hidden meaning. Gemelli Careri, in 1693 suggests that, in addition to being a tomb, the Great Gallery previously served as an astronomical observatory.
Paul Lucas, a London physician, in 1714 proposed that the pyramid was a large sundial indicating the solstices. Thomas Shaw, in 1721, thought that it was a temple of initiation into the mysteries of Osiris. Nathaniel Davison, 1763-65, discovered the first discharge chamber, which would later be named after him.
Napoleon invades Egypt in 1798. He wanted to be alone in the King's Chamber and when he came out, shocked, when asked, he said he had nothing to comment on. He always kept what happened a secret.Thomas Yeates, an English theologian, wrote in 1833 that the Great Pyramid could be a copy of the Tower of Babel, erected a short time before. M. Fialin de Persingny, in 1845, stated that the purpose of the pyramids was to act as a barrier to the desert sands. Flinders Petrie in his 1883 book, The Pyramids and Temples of Giza, makes a very complete measurement of the pyramids.
The Great Pyramid in modern popular culture
The construction of the great pyramid and the supposed metric relationships it presents have been the subject of numerous hypotheses in recent times, generally without excessive scientific rigor. One of the best known —and used by the esoteric world— is the association of the original height of the pyramid as a fraction of the distance from the Earth to the Sun. This construction has been attributed to extraterrestrials, Atlanteans, Egyptians before Cheops or to other unknown cultures or civilizations.
These theories have had repercussions on the internet, in magazines, books and in the world of cinema, with films such as Stargate or 10,000 B.C. C., where the construction is attributed to aliens or an unknown civilization of 12,000 years ago, respectively.
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