Pyramid of Cheops (Great Pyramid of Giza)

The Pyramid of Cheops is a national treasure of Egypt, and the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World to survive to this day. It is located on the Giza Plateau, 8 km from the city of the same name, 25 km from the center of Cairo. The greatest pyramid of the world was built for Pharaoh Cheops of the IV dynasty. Its original name is Akhet-Khufu, which means “Relating to the sky”. Giza is home to an ensemble of large pyramids, of which the pyramid of Cheops is considered the most monumental.

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The majestic tomb of the pharaoh is shrouded in a tantalizing halo of mystery. For thousands of years, it has kept many secrets related to its origin and construction technology. The Pyramid of Cheops helps us realize that human capabilities are limitless and strength is in interaction. Perhaps this has been one of the reasons why the monument has attracted travelers since antiquity. Philosopher and mathematician Thales of Miletus guessed to measure the height of the pyramid based on the length of its shadow. And Herodotus, the “father of history”, made a detailed description of the pyramid of Cheops in 450 BC, which can be read today.

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Video: Unraveling the Mystery of the Pyramid of Cheops

Contents

History of the construction of the Pyramid of Cheops

The beginning of the construction of the pyramid dates back to about 2560 BC. The architect was Chemion, nephew of Pharaoh Cheops, who managed all the construction sites of the Old Kingdom during that period. It took at least 20 years to build the pyramid of Cheops, and, according to various calculations, more than a hundred thousand people were involved. The project demanded titanic efforts: workers extracted blocks for building in another place, in rocks, delivered them by the river and lifted on an inclined plane to the top of the pyramid on wooden skids. It took more than 2.5 million granite and limestone blocks to build the pyramid of Cheops, and a gilded stone was placed at the very top, which gave the entire facing the color of sunlight. But in the 2nd century, when the Arabs destroyed Cairo, the locals dismantled the entire facing of the pyramid to build their homes.

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For almost three millennia, the Pyramid of Cheops was the first place on Earth in terms of height, giving the palm of superiority only in 1300 to Lincoln Cathedral. Now the pyramid’s height is 138 meters, it has decreased from the original by 8 meters, and the base area is more than 5 hectares.

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The Pyramid of Cheops is revered by the locals as a shrine, and every year on August 23, Egyptians celebrate the day of the beginning of its construction. Why August was chosen, no one knows, as no historical facts confirming this have been found.

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The design of the pyramid of Cheops

Inside the pyramid of Cheops, the three burial chambers, which are arranged one above the other in a strict vertical line, are of most interest. The lowest one remains unfinished, the second belongs to the pharaoh’s wife, and the third belongs to Cheops himself.

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To travel through the corridors, for the convenience of tourists paved paths with steps, made handrails and lighting.

.Cross section of the pyramid of Cheops

1. Main entrance2. The entrance that was made by al-Ma’mun3. The crossroads, the “traffic jam” and the tunnel al-Ma’mun made “bypass”4. The descending corridor5. Unfinished underground chamber6. Ascending corridor

7. “Queen’s chamber” with outgoing “ducts”8. Horizontal tunnel9. Large gallery10. Pharaoh’s chamber with “air ducts”11. Pre-chamber12. Grotto

Entrance to the pyramid

The entrance to the pyramid of Cheops is an arch formed of stone slabs, and is located on the north side, at a height of 15 m 63 cm. It used to be laid with a granite plug, but it has not survived to this day. In 820 Caliph Abdullah al-Ma’mun decided to find treasure in the pyramid and made a seventeen-meter breach 10 meters below the historical entrance. The Baghdad ruler found nothing, but nowadays tourists enter the pyramid through this tunnel.

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When al-Ma’mun broke through his passage, a fallen block of limestone closed the entrance to another corridor – the ascending one, and three more granite plugs were left behind the limestone. As on a point of connection of two corridors, descending and ascending, the vertical tunnel has been found out, then it has been put forward an assumption that on it corks from granite were lowered down to thus seal a tomb after funeral of the Egyptian king.

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Burial “pit”

A descending corridor, 105 meters long, descends underground at an inclination of 26° 26’46 and terminates in another 8.9 m long corridor leading to chamber 5 and located horizontally. Here is an unfinished chamber measuring 14×8.1 meters, in shape extending from east to west. For a long time it was considered that there were no other rooms in the pyramid except for this corridor and chamber, but it turned out otherwise. The height of the chamber reaches 3,5 meters. At the southern wall of the chamber there is a well about 3 m deep, from which in a southern direction for 16 m stretches a narrow manhole (0,7×0,7 m in cross-section), ending with a dead end.

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Engineers John Shae Perring (John Shae Perring) and Howard Vyse (Richard William Howard Vyse) in the early 19th century dismantled the floor of the chamber and dug a well 11.6 m deep, in which they hoped to discover a hidden burial chamber. They relied on the evidence of Herodotus, who claimed that the body of Cheops was on an island surrounded by a canal in a hidden underground chamber. Their excavations came to nothing. Later investigations showed that the chamber had been abandoned unfinished, and the burial chambers were decided to be placed in the center of the pyramid itself.

Interior of the burial pit, photo from 1910

The ascending corridor and the Chambers of the Queen

From the first third of the descending passage (after 18 m from the main entrance) upwards at the same angle of 26.5° goes southward ascending passage (6) about 40 m long, ending in the lower part of the Great Gallery (9).

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At its beginning, the ascending passage contains 3 large cubic granite “plugs”, which from outside, from the descending passage, were masked by a block of limestone that fell out during the works of al-Ma’mun. It turned out that almost 3 thousand years scientists were sure that there were no other rooms in the Great Pyramid except for the descending passage and the underground chamber. Al-Ma’mun failed to break through these plugs, and he simply hollowed out a bypass to the right of them in the softer limestone.

.The queen’s chamber and corridors

In the middle of the ascending passage, the construction of the walls has a peculiarity: in three places, so-called “frame stones” are set – that is, a square passage along its entire length pierces through three monoliths. The purpose of these stones is unknown.

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In the second burial chamber from the lower part of the Great Gallery leads in a southern direction horizontal corridor 35 meters long and 1.75 meters high. It is traditionally called the “Queen’s Chamber”, although according to the ritual the wives of pharaohs were buried in separate small pyramids. “Chamber of the Queen”, lined with limestone, is 5.74 meters from east to west and 5.23 meters from north to south; its maximum height is 6.22 meters. There is a high niche in the east wall of the chamber.

.Drawing of the Chamber of the Queen

Grotto, Great Gallery and Pharaoh’s Chambers

Another branch from the lower part of the Great Gallery is a narrow almost vertical shaft about 60 meters high leading to the lower part of the descending passage. There is an assumption that it was intended for the evacuation of workers or priests who were completing the “sealing” of the main passage to the “Chamber of the King”. Approximately in the middle of it there is a small, most likely, natural expansion – “Grotto” of irregular shape, which could fit several people. Grotto (12) is located at the “junction” of the stone masonry of the pyramid and a small, about 9 meters high, hill on the limestone plateau, lying at the base of the Great Pyramid. The walls of the Grotto are partially strengthened by ancient masonry, and as its separate stones are too large, there is an assumption that the Grotto existed on the Giza plateau as an independent construction long before the construction of the pyramids, and the evacuation shaft itself was built taking into account the location of the Grotto. However, taking into account the fact that the shaft was chiseled in the already laid masonry, and not laid out, as evidenced by its incorrect circular cross-section, the question arises as to how the builders managed to reach the Grotto precisely.

.Grand Gallery

The Grand Gallery continues the ascending passage. Its height is 8.53 meters, it is a rectangular in cross-section, with slightly tapered to the top (“false vault”) walls, a high inclined tunnel 46.6 meters long. In the middle of the Great Gallery, almost along its entire length, there is a square depression with a width of 1 meter and depth of 60 cm, and on both side ledges there are 27 pairs of depressions of unknown purpose. The deepening ends with the “Big Step” – a high horizontal ledge, a 1×2 meter platform at the end of the Big Gallery, just before the entrance to the “antechamber” – the Pre-chamber. The platform has a pair of similar recesses of the ramp, recesses at the corners of the wall. Through the “antechamber” the lazer leads to the burial “Chamber of the King” faced with black granite, where an empty granite sarcophagus is placed.

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Above the “Chamber of the King” are five unloading cavities discovered in the XIX century. total height of 17 m, between which lie monolithic slabs about 2 m thick, and above – gable slab. Their purpose is to distribute the weight of the overlying layers of the pyramid (about one million tons) to protect the “Chamber of the King” from pressure. Graffiti, probably left by workers, has been found in these voids.

Pharaoh’s Chamber

Ventilation ducts

A network of ventilation ducts leads from the chambers to the north and south. The channels from the Queen’s Chamber do not reach the surface of the pyramid by 12 meters, and the channels from the Pharaoh’s Chamber go to the surface. In no other pyramid such branches are not found. Scientists have not come to the unanimous opinion, whether they were constructed for ventilation or have a relation to representations of Egyptians about an afterlife. At the upper ends of the channels are doors, most likely symbolizing the entrance to the other world. In addition, the canals point to the stars: Sirius, Tuban, Alnitak, which suggests that the pyramid of Cheops had an astronomical purpose.

.Ventilation channels

Surrounding the pyramid of Cheops

Near the eastern face of the pyramid of Cheops are 3 small pyramids of his wives and family members. They are arranged from north to south, according to size: the base side of each structure is 0.5 meters smaller than the previous one. They are well preserved inside, time has partially destroyed only the outer cladding. Nearby you can see the foundations of the funeral temple of Khufu, inside which were found drawings depicting the ritual performed by the pharaoh, it was called the Unification of the Two Lands.

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Pharaoh’s boats

The Pyramid of Cheops is the centerpiece of a complex of structures whose location had ritual significance. The procession with the deceased pharaoh crossed the Nile to the west bank on numerous rooks. The first part of the funeral ceremony began in the lower temple to which the rooks sailed. Then the procession went to the upper temple, where there was a prayer room and altar. To the west of the upper temple was located the pyramid itself.

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On each side of the pyramid in rocky recesses bricked up rooks, on which the pharaoh was supposed to travel to the afterlife.

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In 1954, archaeologist Zaki Nur discovered the first boat, called the Solar Rook. It was made of Lebanese cedar and consisted of 1,224 parts, with no traces of fastening and joining. Its dimensions were 43 meters long and 5.5 meters wide. It took 16 years to rebuild the rook.

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A museum of this boat has been opened on the south side of the pyramid of Cheops.

Boat Museum

The second boat was found in a mine located east of where the first rook was found. A camera was lowered into the mine, which showed evidence of insects on the boat, so it was decided not to lift it and seal the mine. This decision was made by scientist Yoshimuro from Waseda University.

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A total of seven pits were discovered with real ancient Egyptian boats taken apart.

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Video: 5 unsolved mysteries of Egypt’s pyramids

How to get there

If you want to see the Great Pyramid of Cheops, you need to arrive in Cairo. But there are practically no direct flights from Russia and you will have to make a connection in Europe. Without a connection, you can fly to Sharm el-Sheikh, and from there overcome 500 kilometers to Cairo. You can get to your destination on a comfortable bus, the travel time is about 6 hours, and you can continue your journey by airplane, they fly to Cairo every half hour. Egypt is very loyal to Russian tourists, you can get a visa right at the airport after landing. It will cost 25 dollars and is issued for a month.

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Where to stay

If your goal is the treasures of antiquity and you come to the pyramids, you can choose a hotel both in Giza and in the center of Cairo. Comfortable hotels with all the benefits of civilization are represented in the number of almost two hundred. In addition, Cairo has many attractions, it is a city of contrasts: modern skyscrapers and ancient minarets, noisy colorful bazaars and nightclubs, neon nights and quiet palm gardens.

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Memo to tourists

Don’t forget that Egypt is a Muslim state. Men should just ignore Egyptian women because even an innocent touch can be considered harassment. Women should follow the rules in dress. Modesty and once again modesty, a minimum of bare body parts.

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For organized tours to the pyramids, tickets can be purchased at any hotel.

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The pyramid area is open to the public in summer from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., in winter it is open for half an hour less, the entrance fee is approximately 8 euros.

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Museums are charged separately: you can see the Sun Boats for 5 euros.

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To enter the pyramid of Cheops you will be charged 13 euros, to see the pyramid of Chephren is cheaper – 2.6 euros. Here is a very low passageway and be prepared that 100 meters you will have to walk in a half-bent position.

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Other pyramids, such as Chephren’s wife and mother, can be viewed for free by presenting an entrance ticket to the area.

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The best time to see them is in the morning, just after opening. It is strictly forbidden to climb on the pyramids, chipping off a piece as a souvenir and writing “Here was…”. The fine you can pay for this is such that it will exceed the cost of your trip.

If you want to take a picture of yourself against the backdrop of the pyramids or just the surrounding area, prepare 1 euro for the right to take pictures, it is forbidden to take pictures inside the pyramids. If you are offered to take a picture of you, do not agree and do not give the camera to anyone, otherwise you will have to buy it back.

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Tickets to visit the pyramids are limited: 150 are sold at 8 a.m. and the same number at 1 p.m. There are two ticket offices: one at the main entrance and one at the Sphinx.

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Each of the pyramids is closed once a year for restoration work, so you are unlikely to see everything at once.

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It is not recommended to visit the pyramids for people with heart and lung problems, as well as asthma sufferers: the air there is dusty, very hot and dry inside.

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If there is no desire to walk the entire Giza area, you can rent a camel. The cost of it will depend on your bargaining skills. But keep in mind that you will not be told all the prices at once, and when you ride, you will find out that you have to pay to get off the camel.

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Sensitive tip: the restroom is located in the Sun Boat Museum.

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There are cafeterias in the pyramid area where you can have a nice lunch.

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Every day in the evening there is a light and sound show lasting one hour. It takes place in different languages: Arabic, English, Japanese, Spanish, French. On Sundays the show is held in Russian. It is recommended to divide the visit to the pyramids and the show into two days, otherwise you will not be able to absorb so many impressions.

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