Khafre pyramid

The Pyramid of Jafra or Kefren's Pyramid (Kefren is its name in Greek) is an Egyptian pyramid belonging to the necropolis of giza. It was erected on the Giza plateau, next to that of his "father" Cheops (according to Herodotus). It is dated to the XXVI century B.C. c.

In ancient times it was called the Great Pyramid, because it seemed to be higher than the pyramid of Cheops. This effect is due to the fact that it is located at a higher level of the plateau, and presents a steeper angle on its faces, the Egyptian sacred angle, used in some later pyramids.

The Funeral Complex

The pyramid is part of a funerary complex that has a mortuary temple on its eastern side and a paved processional causeway that links it to the Valley Temple, located in the vicinity of the Great Sphinx, presenting a plan and design similar to the Osireion temple, with courtyards and pillars devoid of hieroglyphics or any type of ornament, made with huge ashlars and large granite slabs covering the temple walls. There is also a subsidiary pyramid, five moats with solar boats and more than a hundred large rooms, considered warehouses or workshops for the pyramid workers.

Upper coating detail

Details of the granite remains of the lower coating

The pyramid of Japhra, and remains of the funeral temple, south

The inside of the pyramid

It has two entrances located on the north face, one twelve meters high, between the courses of the pyramid, and another right at the base, with a long interior passage. This second entrance was slow to be found, it was only discovered in relatively recent times. It is located about thirty meters from the pyramid.

The sarcophagus chamber is carved into the rock, although the roof is made of granite slabs placed obliquely, gabled; the lining of the walls is also the work of stonework. Inside the burial chamber is the black granite sarcophagus, practically at ground level, but empty for a long time. Belzoni, when he entered in 1818, found only a few cow bones in the sarcophagus.

Dimensions

Original total height: 143.5 m

Current height: 136 m

Area on one side: 14 663 m2

Earring, angle: 53o 37' 48"

Volume: 2 211 096 m3

It is the first great pyramid to be built based on the sacred Egyptian triangle of 3-4-5 proportions.

Gallery

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  Step of initial ramp

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  The final part of the passage inclined to the pyramid with a high ceiling

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  Funeral Chamber

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  Pharaoh's sarcophagus

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  Straight section of the passage

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  Get out of the funeral chamber

The Mortuary Temple

The funerary temple, with a rectangular plan and more than one hundred meters long, was divided into five areas that will be imitated in the funerary temples of the New Kingdom: the entrance hall, the open courtyard, the five niches for statues, the sanctuary, and storehouses. The first three elements make up the public area; the private one was only accessible to priests.

The Valley Temple

The valley temple, with a square floor plan, about 45 meters on each side, has thick limestone walls sloping to the outside, with an original height of more than twelve meters. It had two entrances in the eastern wall and another in the western one; they were preceded by a square naos, with a royal statue and two sphinxes, before each eastern door. After a passage there was access to the antechamber that communicated with the hypostyle room, built with monolithic pillars and granite cladding from Aswan.

A processional causeway linked both temples, about five hundred meters long and 4.50 meters wide, covered, possibly with bas-reliefs on the walls.