Egypt ian Pyramids

The ru ins o f 35 major pyramids s t i l l s tand near the Ni le R iver inEgypt. Each was bui l t to protect the body of an Egyptian king. TheEgyptians thought that a person's body had to be preserved and protectedso the soul could l ive forever . The Egypt ians mummif ied (embalmed anddr ied) the i r dead and h id the mummies in large tombs. From about 2700 ' to1700 8.C., the bodies of Egyptian kings were buried inside or beneath apyramid in a secret chamber that was f i l led wi th t reasures of go ld andprec ious ob jec ts .

Many gcho lars be l ieve that the pyramid shape has a rer ig iousmeaning to the Egypt ians. The s lop ing s ides may have reminded theEgypt ians of the s lant ing rays of the sun, by which the soul o f the k ingcould c l imb to the sky and jo in the gods.

Funera l ceremonies were per formed in temples that were a t tachedto the pyramids. Most pyramids' had two temples that were connected by along stone passage-way. Sometimes a smaller pyramid for the body of thequeen s tood next to the k ing 's pyramid. Egypt has at least 40 smal lerpyramids that were used for queens or as memor ia l monuments for k ings.The k ing 's re la t ives and of f ic ia ls were bur ied in smal ler rectangulartombs ca l led mastabas. These bui ld ings had s lop ing s ides and f la t roofs .

The f i rs t pyramids. lmhotep, a great arch i tect and s ta tesman, bu i l t thef irst known pyramid for, King Zoser about 2650 B.C. Zoser's tomb rose in aser ies of g iant s teps, or ter races, and is ca l led the Step pyramid. Th ispyramid s t i l l s tands at the s i te o f the anc ient c i ty o f Memphis , nearSaqqarah

The f i rs t smooth-s ided pyramid was bu i l t about 2600 B.C. l t s t i l lstands at Medum. l t began as a stepped pyramid, and then the steps weref i l led in wi th cas ing s tones to g ive the bu i ld ing smooth, s lop ing s ides:Other pyramids bu i l t dur ing a per iod of Egypt ian h is tory ca l led the OldKingdom (2686-2181 B.C.) can be seen at Abusi r and Dahshur . Dur ing theMidd le K ingdom (c . 1991-1786 B.c . ) , pyramids were bu i l t a t Hawara,l l lahun, L isht , and Dahshur-near what is now Cai ro . The remains of thesepyramids are s t i l l impress ive.

The Pyramids of Giza s tand on the west bank of the Ni le River outs ideCai ro. There are 10 pyramids at Giza ' , inc lud ing three of the largest andbest preserved of al l Egyptian pyramids. . They were bui l t foi kings about2600 to 2500 B.C. The largest was bui l t for King Khufu (cal led Cheops bythe Greeks. ) The second was bui l t for K ing Khafre (Chepren) , and the th i rdfor K ing Menkaure (Mycer inus) . A huge s tatue of a sphinx, ca l led the Great

Source: The Wor ld Book Encyc lopedia. 1996. P-15

Egypt ian Pyramids

Sphinx, was probably bu i l t for Khafre. l t s tands near h is pyramid.The pyramid o f Khufu , ca l led the Great Pyramid, conta ins more than

2 mi l l ion s tone b locks that average 21 i2 shor t tons each. l t wasor ig ina l ly 4Bl feet ta l l , but sbme of i ts upper s tones are gone now and i tstands about 450 feet high. l ts base covers about 13 acres

A s tudy o f the Great Pyramid shows how these g igant ic s t ruc tureswere bu i l t . The anc ient Egypt ians had no machinery or i ron too ls . Theycut b ig l imestone b locks wi th copper ch ise ls and saws. Most o f the s tonescame from quarr ies nearby. But some came from across the Ni le Fl iver, land others came by boat i rom d is tant quarr ies. Gangs of men dragged ihe"blocks to the pyramid si te and pushed the f i rst layer of stones into place.Then they bui l t long ramps of earth and brick, and dragged the stones upthe ramps to form the next layel. As they f inished each layer, they raisedand lengthened the ramps. Final ly, they covered the pyramid with qn outercoat ing of whi te cas ing s tones. They la id these outer s tones so exact lythat from a distance the pyramid appeared to have been cut out of a singlewhite stone. Mos.t of the casing stones are gone now, but a few are st i l l inplace at the bottom of the Great Pyramid. j , I

The bur ia lchamber is ins ide the Great Pyramid. A cor r idor leadsf rom an dnt 'rance on the north side to'seve'ral

' rooms within the pyramid.

One of the rooms is cal led the Queen's Chamber, al though the queen is .notburied there. The room was planned as the king's bur, ial- chamber. ButKhufu changed the p lan and bui l t another bur ia l chamber , ca l led the King 'sChamber. The Grand .Gal lery, a corr idor 153 feet long and 28 feet high,

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leads to Khufu 's chamber . l t is cons idered a marvel o f anc ientarch i tec tu re .

No one knows how long i t tookto bu i id the Great Pyramid. Theancient Greek histor ian Herodotus said that the work went on in four-month shif ts, with 100,000 workers in each sl-r i f t . Scholars now doubtthat account and bel ieve that about '100,000 men worked on the pyramidsfor three or four months each year. F.arm laborers bui l t the pyramids.They worked on the tombs dur ing per iods when f loodwaters of the Ni lecovered the f ie lds and made farming imposs ib le .

Th ieves broke in to most o f the pyramids, s to le the go ld , andsomet imes dest royed the bodies. Later Egypt ian k ings s topped,us ingpyramids, and bui l t .secret tombs in c l i f fs . But some k ings of the Kushi tekingdom in Nubia, south of Egypt, bui l t pyramids long after they were nolonger used in Egypt.

Source: The Wor ld Book Encyc lopedia. 1996. P-15