History of the Egyptian pyramids. The ancient pyramids of Egypt: history, description and secrets
pyramids
The mysterious pyramids of Egypt
The Egyptian pyramid of Djoser, better known as the step pyramid, is located in Saqqara, 30 km from Cairo. A visit to the pyramid is part of the Dashur-Sakkara tour. It is worth visiting this pyramid at least out of curiosity, because this is the very first pyramid built in honor of the ruler Djoser. The peculiarity of the pyramid is that it is made in a stepped form. Six steps - the path by which the pharaoh goes to the afterlife, according to historians. Inside the pyramid are 11 burial chambers for the pharaoh and his family members. During the archaeological excavations, Djoser himself was not found, only the mummies of his relatives. This is explained by the fact that by the time the excavations began, the tomb had already been plundered in order.
An excursion to Saqqara with a visit to the pyramid of Djoser will cost about $ 80 per person.
Pyramid of Menkaure
The pyramid is located on the Giza plateau next to other famous pyramids - Cheops and Khafre. Compared with them, the pyramid of Menkaure is considered the smallest and youngest pyramid of the famous triad. The peculiarity of this pyramid is in its color - up to the middle it was made of red granite, and above it was made of white limestone. But in the 16th century, the lining was destroyed by Mamluk warriors. The fact that the pyramid of Menkaure is relatively small, scientists explain by the fact that the Egyptians stopped making grandiose tombs. But despite this, the pyramid never ceases to amaze scientists and travelers. For example, the largest block of stone weighs about 200 tons! What technical means helped the ancient Egyptians so much? An excursion to the pyramid is included in the Cairo travel program, its cost is approximately $ 60 per person. 
Pyramid of Menkaure
The Pyramid of Cheops
There is hardly a person. who would not know the main attraction of Egypt - the pyramid of Cheops. The height of this one of the Seven Wonders of the World today is 140 meters, and the area is about 5 hectares. The pyramid consists of 2.5 million stone blocks. The construction of the pyramid took 20 years. Several thousand years have passed since the construction of the Cheops pyramid, but the Egyptians still greatly honor the pyramid, and every year in August they celebrate the day when its construction began. Despite the fact that the research and excavation of the pyramid, it still keeps many secrets. For example, secret doors were found in the burial room of the pharaoh's wife, which, according to scientists, symbolize the path to the afterlife. But archaeologists have not been able to open the last door. The cost of an excursion to the Giza plateau with a visit to the pyramids is 50-60 dollars. For children, the ticket will cost twice as much.
Pyramid of Khafre
Although the Chefren pyramid is 4 meters smaller than the Cheops pyramid, visually it seems higher. The secret is that the pyramid stands on a ten-meter plateau and is very well preserved to this day. The pyramid has two entrances - one at a height of 15 m, and the other on the same side at the level of the base. Inside the pyramid of Khafre is rather modest - two rooms and a couple of corridors, but the real sarcophagus of the pharaoh is kept here. The tomb is made at the highest level and does not leave indifferent any of the tourists. The tomb itself is empty.
Archaeologists found a grand find in the pyramid in the 19th century - a sculpture of a pharaoh from mountain diorite.
The cost of an excursion to the pyramid of Khafre is about 60 dollars. 
Pyramid of Khafre
Dashur
This place does not have such popularity as the Giza plateau with its pyramids. Dashur is famous for its pyramids, which were built during the reign of Pharaoh Snofu. These structures are considered the first tombs in history built according to new types of structures.
The Southern Pyramid, which is better known as the Bent Pyramid, got its name from its irregular shape. During its construction, for some unknown reason, the angles of the faces were changed. Perhaps this was a mistake, but scientists explain this as a construction move with concern for the strength and durability of the pyramid. The main difference between the Bent Pyramid is that. that it has two entrances - the "traditional" northern one and the almost uncommon southern one.
Another attraction of Dashur is the Northern Pyramid, better known by its name as the Red Pyramid. The name of the pyramid was due to its facing red color. This is the first tomb of the correct pyramidal form. It is very dark in the pyramid, so you should take a flashlight with you. In the lowest burial chamber one can observe a high stepped ceiling, the same as in the gallery of the Cheops pyramid.
The cost of an excursion to Cairo, which includes a trip to Dashur, will cost an average of 85 dollars.
Everyone wants to look at the pyramids. And if this is your dream since childhood, then a tour to Egypt is what you need. Ordering such a tour today is very simple - just contact the travel agencies of your city through a special form on our website, or contact all your questions by calling 8-800-100-30-24.
Egyptologists have no doubt that the pyramids were being built in Egypt when it entered the dynastic period. But for many authors of non-fiction books, this is far from a fact. In the extreme case, they agree that this statement is true for all such structures, except for the pyramid of Cheops. According to some authors, it is a monument left to us as a legacy from an extraterrestrial civilization that visited our planet tens of thousands of years ago. The already mentioned Zakaria Sitchin, one of dozens of defenders of this theory, argues that the Great Pyramid served as a beacon for spacecraft arriving on earth (as well as a "transit prison" for aliens). Others believe that this is a memorial built by the Atlanteans who survived the death of their civilization. According to some researchers, the pyramid of Cheops is a monument left to us as a legacy from some civilization that existed before the Flood. Thus, John Anthony West cites the nearby Sphinx as an example and states that traces of water erosion are “absolutely distinct” on it. According to him, what we now see "clearly" could not have arisen only as a result of downpours that have passed in this area since 2500 BC. Thus, he too puts the date of the construction of the pyramid of Cheops to 10,400 BC, a mythical date that leads so many to accept the interpretation of Seiss. Unfortunately, it is often implied that the prediction itself carries more weight than the rationale for a particular theory, or at least supports it. It is therefore quite logical that serious scientists, including Egyptologists, oppose people who wish to bring conjectures and predictions into scientific debates. Scientific discussions, as you know, do not require allegations and prophecies.
So on the basis of what does science determine the age of the pyramids? In 1984, a large-scale project to determine the dating of the pyramids based on the method of radiocarbon analysis began, during which 64 samples of organic substances were taken from the pyramids for analysis. The results showed that Egyptologists were wrong by about 400 years - the pyramids were older than previously thought. However, measurements of some samples showed that the pyramids are “only” 120 years older, but this is also significant. Mark Lenner, summing up the new discoveries, said: “Now this is really important ... I mean, this discovery caused a very strong sensation. It turns out that the pyramids at Giza are four hundred years older than most scientists thought.” Although Lenner himself is an Egyptologist, it must be admitted that he has a much more scientific approach to the problem than many scholars associated with this topic. Perhaps only because he just sincerely wants to understand it. Unfortunately, he is not very well versed in another science - psychology, because he "obviously" does not understand his colleagues: no such "strong hype" has arisen. Most Egyptologists have chosen to simply ignore the results of the research than to challenge them.
Based on a survey of 15 samples, the age of the Cheops pyramid was clarified and it was concluded that it was built no earlier than 2985 BC. - five hundred years earlier than previously thought. However, the specified date is not enough to attribute the construction of the pyramid to the Atlanteans, who allegedly lived more than 10,000 years ago. At this point, most commentators stop, but I would like to take my reasoning one step further, since radiocarbon analysis has posed several new questions for researchers. And one of them - were the pyramids on the Giza plateau built by the very pharaohs who are credited with their construction?
The Pyramid of Khafre was built twenty-five years after the completion of the construction of the Great Pyramid in 2960. This gives grounds to assume with a high degree of probability that both pyramids were components of a single complex and were built at the behest of pharaohs who lived one after the other (or maybe one and the other). the same). It would also be logical to expect that the Menkaure pyramid was built over the next twenty to fifty years. However, radiocarbon analysis determines the date of its construction around 2572 BC. - almost four centuries later than the Cheops pyramid! Moreover, during the analysis of the samples of the Sphinx, it turned out that it was built approximately in 2416 BC, that is, almost five centuries after the pyramid of Khafre, and it was assumed that this pyramid and the Sphinx were built together ...
However, the new dating of the time when the construction of the Great Pyramid was completed is 3000 BC. - did not suit both camps: neither Egyptologists, nor supporters of the version about the Atlanteans. And this proves once again that scientific experiments can sometimes be unpopular even among representatives of science. Both sides of the "scientific dispute" tried to ignore the important results of the experiment, because they do not correspond to their ideas. As a result, one can now read articles that include paragraphs like this: “Even if the radiocarbon analysis of fifteen samples from the Great Pyramid was carried out, as claimed, with the utmost care, we still cannot be sure that, based on its results, to speak accurately about the age of the entire structure. Samples for analysis were taken from the outer lining of the pyramid or from the space between the facing slabs and blocks of the pyramid, where they could have fallen at a later time during repair work. As for the temple of the Great Sphinx, the dates of its construction, determined by radiocarbon analysis (2085 and 2746 BC), cannot be considered accurate, since the large limestone blocks that make up the temple were made simultaneously with the Sphinx itself. And the results of the weathering of the rocks of this statue, according to most geologists (but not Egyptologists), leave no doubt that its age is at least seven or nine thousand years” (8).
In fact, however, there is only one geologist representing this "majority", and his name is Robert Schoch. But these passionate arguments for one point of view become even more scathing when we mention that new studies were conducted in 1995 with different, but similar materials, and they fully confirmed the results of the 1984 analyzes!
In the end, it becomes clear that the status of the Great Pyramid cannot but cause pity. How arrogantly we treat the only wonder of the world that has come down to us! However, the same can be said about the entire legacy of the Era of the Pyramids. Egyptologists have clung to outdated dogmas for too long and with a kind of childish stubbornness and have not come one iota closer to understanding the true nature of these structures. One should only welcome the contribution to the development of the science of ancient Egypt by such researchers as Davidovits, and subject their hypotheses to serious, thoughtful analysis and criticism. Instead, we hear so far from official science only caustic attacks and observe idiotic neglect. The method of radiocarbon analysis should be adopted by scientists and become the main means for determining the true age of various pyramids. It should also be recognized that since no mummy has yet been found in any of the pyramids, it means that there is a possibility that these structures were not built as tombs, even despite the fact that on the walls of some of them there are images with scenes of the pharaoh's journey to sky. I would also like to note that many rather controversial conclusions about the nature of the pyramids are made on the basis of completely ridiculous assumptions, and completely absurd theories often become very popular (for example, the theory that “they were built by the descendants of the Atlanteans in 10400 BC). e."). Nevertheless, it is clear that both sides are doing nothing to truly understand what the pyramids are, not to mention the fact that no one has been able to answer the question of who built them, when and why.
The first wonder of the world of all time, one of the main structures of our planet, a place full of secrets and mysteries, a point of constant pilgrimage for tourists - the Egyptian pyramids and in particular the pyramid of Cheops.
The construction of giant pyramids, of course, was far from an easy task. Huge efforts of a large number of people were made to deliver stone blocks to the Giza or Saqqara plateau, and later to the Valley of the Kings, which became the new necropolis of the pharaohs.
At the moment, there are about a hundred found pyramids in Egypt, but the finds continue, and their number is constantly increasing. At different times, different pyramids were understood as one of the 7 wonders of the world. Someone meant all the pyramids of Egypt as a whole, someone pyramids near Memphis, someone three large pyramids of Giza, and the critics recognized only the largest pyramid of Cheops.
The afterlife of ancient Egypt
One of the central moments in the life of the ancient Egyptians was religion, which formed the whole culture as a whole. Particular attention was paid to the afterlife, perceived as a clear continuation of earthly life. That is why the preparation for life after death began long before it, it was set as one of the main life tasks.
According to the ancient Egyptian belief, a person had several souls. The soul of Ka acted as a double of the Egyptian, whom he was to meet in the afterlife. The soul of Ba contacted the person himself, and left his body after death.
The religious life of the Egyptians and the god Anubis
At first, it was believed that only the pharaoh had the right to life after death, but he could bestow this "immortality" on his entourage, who were usually buried next to the tomb of the lord. Ordinary people were not destined to get into the world of the dead, the only exception was slaves and servants, whom the pharaoh “took” with him, and who were depicted on the walls of the great tomb.
But for a comfortable life after the death of the deceased, it was necessary to provide everything necessary: food, household utensils, servants, slaves, and much more needed for the average pharaoh. They also tried to preserve the body of a person so that the soul of Ba could later unite with him again. Therefore, in matters of body preservation, embalming and the creation of complex pyramid tombs were born.
The first pyramid in Egypt. Pyramid of Djoser
Speaking about the construction of the pyramids in Ancient Egypt in general, it is worth mentioning the beginning of their history. The very first pyramid in Egypt was built about five thousand years ago at the initiative of Pharaoh Djoser. It is in these 5 millennia that the age of the pyramids in Egypt is estimated. The erection of the pyramid of Djoser was led by the famous and legendary Imhotep, who was even deified in later centuries.
Pyramid of Djoser
The entire complex of the building under construction occupied an area of 545 by 278 meters. Along the perimeter, it was surrounded by a 10-meter wall with 14 gates, only one of which was real. In the center of the complex was the pyramid of Djoser with sides 118 by 140 meters. The height of the pyramid of Djoser is 60 meters. Almost at a depth of 30 meters there was a burial chamber, to which corridors with many branches led. Utensils and sacrifices were kept in the branch rooms. Here, archaeologists found three bas-reliefs of Pharaoh Djoser himself. Near the eastern wall of the Djoser pyramid, 11 small burial chambers intended for the royal family were discovered.
Unlike the famous great pyramids of Giza, the pyramid of Djoser had a stepped shape, as if intended for the ascension of the pharaoh to heaven. Of course, this pyramid is inferior in popularity and size to the pyramid of Cheops, but still the contribution of the very first stone pyramid to the culture of Egypt is difficult to overestimate.
The Pyramid of Cheops. History and brief description
But still, the most famous for the ordinary population of our planet are the three pyramids of Egypt located nearby - Khafre, Mekerin and the largest and highest pyramid in Egypt - Cheops (Khufu)
Pyramids of Giza
The Pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops was built near the city of Giza, currently a suburb of Cairo. When the pyramid of Cheops was built, it is currently impossible to say for sure, and research gives a strong scatter. In Egypt, for example, the date of the beginning of the construction of this pyramid is officially celebrated - August 23, 2480 BC.
Pyramid of Cheops and Sphinx
About 100,000 people were simultaneously involved in the construction of the wonder of the world pyramid of Cheops. During the first ten years of work, a road was built, along which huge stone blocks were delivered to the river and underground structures of the pyramid. Work on the construction of the monument itself continued for about 20 years.
The size of the pyramid of Cheops at Giza is amazing. The height of the pyramid of Cheops initially reached 147 meters. Over time, due to falling asleep with sand and the loss of lining, it decreased to 137 meters. But even this figure allowed her to remain the tallest human structure in the world for a long time. The pyramid has a square base with a side of 147 meters. The construction of this giant is estimated to have required 2,300,000 limestone blocks weighing an average of 2.5 tons.
How were the pyramids built in Egypt?
The technology of building the pyramids is controversial in our time. Versions vary from the invention of concrete in ancient Egypt to the construction of pyramids by aliens. But still it is believed that the pyramids were built by man solely by his strength. So for the extraction of stone blocks, first a shape was outlined in the rock, grooves were hollowed out and a dry tree was inserted into them. Later, the tree was doused with water, it expanded, a crack formed in the rock, and the block was separated. Then it was processed to the desired shape with tools and sent along the river to the construction site.
To lift the blocks up, the Egyptians used gentle embankments, along which these megaliths were dragged on wooden sledges. But even with such a backward technology by our standards, the quality of work is surprising - the blocks fit snugly against each other with minimal mismatches.
You can talk for a long time about the pyramids shrouded in myths and legends, their labyrinths and traps, mummies and treasures, but let's leave it to the Egyptologists. For us, the pyramid of Cheops is one of the greatest structures of mankind throughout its existence and, of course, the only First Wonder of the World that has survived from the depths of centuries.
Schematic of the pyramid of Cheops
Video about the pyramids of Egypt
Video about the pyramid of Cheops
The Egyptian pyramids are the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. The largest of them - the pyramids of Cheops, Khafre and Mikerin in El Giza in ancient times were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The construction of the pyramid, in which the Greeks and Romans already saw a monument to the unprecedented pride of kings and cruelty, which doomed the entire Egyptian people to senseless construction, was the most important cult act and was supposed to express, apparently, the mystical identity of the country and its ruler.
The people worked on the construction of the pyramids in the part of the year free from agricultural work. Texts have survived that testify to the attention and care that the kings themselves (albeit of later times) paid to the construction of their tomb and its builders. It is also known about the special cult honors that were given to the pyramid itself.
Description of the most famous pyramids (briefly)
The Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu), the Great Pyramid is the face of the Egyptian pyramids and the largest building of antiquity, gives rise to many secrets and legends around itself. It took two decades to build the pyramid. Construction time IV dynasty 2600 BC. e. Located in Giza. The original height is 146.60 m, today it is 138.75 m. The dimensions of the base are 230 m. It was the largest building in the world for more than 4,000 years.
The pyramid has not one, but three funerary halls. One of them is located below ground level, and two are above the base line. Intertwining corridors lead to the burial chambers. It is possible to walk along them to the chamber of the pharaoh, to the chamber of his wife and to the lower hall. The chamber of the pharaoh is a chamber made of pink granite, 10 x 5 m in size. A granite sarcophagus without a lid is installed in it. Not a single report of the researchers mentioned the found mummies, therefore it is not known whether Cheops was buried here. It should be noted that the mummy of Cheops was not found in other tombs either.
After the Great Wall of China, it is she who is the largest structure that has ever been erected in the history of mankind.
The second most important is the pyramid of Khafre, the son of Cheops. It was found during archaeological excavations in 1860. The tomb of this ancient Egyptian king is “guarded” by the famous Sphinx, which looks like a lion lying on the sand, whose face may have been given the features of Khafre himself. Near the pyramid of Khafre there is a separate pyramid for his wife, a temple, a port and a wall of protection.
The estimated time of the construction of the pyramid is the middle of the 26th century BC. e. It was built on a 10-meter plateau, so it seems higher than the pyramid of Cheops, but this is not entirely true. The original height is 143.9 m, today it is 136.4 m. The dimensions of the base are 210.5 m. The pyramid was decorated with a pink granite pyramidion, which is now lost. We have no information about whether the granite was decorated with limestone, gypsum or gold.
The third great pyramid is the Pyramid of Menkaure (also known as the "Pyramid of Menkaur"). It is the smallest of them, and was built later than others. Construction time IV dynasty (approximately 2540-2520 BC) The original height is 65.55 m, today it is 62 m. The dimensions of the base are 102.2 × 104.6 m. According to eyewitnesses, the pyramid Menkaura was the most beautiful of all the pyramids. The works of sculpture during the reign of Menkaur were characterized by the highest quality of artistic performance. In addition, the pyramid of Menkaure marked the end of the era of the great pyramids. All subsequent buildings were small in size.
The Step Pyramid of Djoser is one of the largest in Egypt. Time of construction III Dynasty (approximately 2650 BC). It is located in the village of Sakkara, and was erected for Pharaoh Djoser by Imhotep himself. The original height is 62.5 m, today it is 62 m. The size of the pyramid is 125 m × 115 m. This is the first pyramid in Egypt, and it has been very well preserved.
Initially, Imhotep was going to create an ordinary stone mastaba (rectangular tomb). Only in the process of construction did it turn into the first step pyramid. The meaning of the steps was, as it is believed, symbolic - the deceased pharaoh had to rise to heaven along them.
The burial complex included chapels, courtyards, and storage facilities. The base of the six-step pyramid itself is not square, but rectangular. Inside the building there are 12 burial chambers, where Djoser himself and members of his family could probably be buried. The mummy of the pharaoh was not found during the excavations. The entire territory of the complex of 15 hectares was surrounded by a 10-meter stone wall. Part of the wall and other buildings have now been restored.
The most unusual pyramid in Meidum. Construction time III Dynasty (approximately 2680 BC) Located 100 km south of the capital of Egypt, it was built for Pharaoh Huni, the last ruler of the III dynasty, but completed by his son Sneferu. It originally had eight steps, but today only the last three are visible. The original height is 93.5 m, today it is 65 m. The base is 144 m.
Its unusual forms were first reported by Al-Maqrizi in the 15th century. The pyramid had a stepped shape. In his essays, Al-Maqrizi described a pyramid consisting of 5 steps, and also that it was seriously damaged from erosion and from pulling away the masonry by local residents.
Pink Pyramid or Northern Pyramid. Construction time IV dynasty (approximately from 2640 to 2620 BC) The original height is 109.5 m, today it is 104 m. The base is 220 m. The northern pyramid of Pharaoh Snefru in Dahshur, at the time its construction in the XXVI century BC. e. was the tallest building in the world. It is now the third tallest pyramid in Egypt, after Khufu and Khafre at Giza.
It is unusual in that it has a pink tint due to the special stone that was used in construction. Researchers believe that this pyramid was erected by the pharaoh Sneferu, already mentioned above. The "Pink" pyramid was not always pink. Previously, its walls were covered with white limestone. However, in our time, white limestone is almost completely absent, since even in the Middle Ages a significant part of it was removed for the construction of houses in Cairo, as a result of which pinkish limestone was exposed.
Not far from the Pink one is a Broken ("cut" or "diamond-shaped") pyramid. Construction time IV dynasty (XXVI century BC) The original height is 104.7 m, today it is 101.1 m. The base is 189.4 m. It got its name because of its irregular shape. It was built in three stages, at each of which it was given different angles of inclination. It differs from other Egyptian pyramids in that the pyramid has an entrance not only on the north side, which was the standard, but also a second entrance, which is open higher, on the west side.
Explaining the non-standard shape of the pyramid, the German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt (1863-1938) put forward his “increment theory”. According to it, the king died suddenly and the angle of inclination of the pyramid's faces was sharply changed from 54° 31 min. up to 43° 21 min., for the fastest completion of work.
What is known about the Egyptian pyramids
pyramid building
Slabs weighing at least 2.5 tons, from which the pyramids were built, were cut out of stone in a nearby quarry and dragged to the construction site using ramps, blocks and levers. There is an opinion, recognized by the scientific community as marginal, that concrete was used in the construction of the pyramid, that is, the slabs were made directly at the construction site. At the top of the pyramids, to this day, traces of wooden forms have been preserved, erased at the base by numerous sandstorms. To prevent the walls of the pyramids from cracking as a result of the compression-expansion process, the individual blocks were separated by thin layers of mortar. The slope of the outer walls is exactly 45°. The surface was covered with blocks of polished white limestone. After the fall, the limestone was stretched by local residents for their needs.
What is encrypted in the pyramids
What is the secret of the Egyptian pyramids? Why, for almost 5 millennia, they do not cease to excite the imagination of everyone who has seen them? What assumptions were not put forward about this: they were built by aliens, they encoded astronomical, magical knowledge of the ancient priests, they contain a prediction of the future. The digital magic of the great was so popular that by measuring it in all directions and adding up the results, amateurs could predict anything.
Why were the pyramids built?
Even the debate about whether the pyramids are actually the tombs of the pharaohs does not stop today. Some of the researchers believe that these are temples where the sun god Amon-Ra was ordained to the cult, others that the pyramid is a huge scientific laboratory of the ancients. Someone argues that the pyramids are huge natural generators of earthly energy, in which the pharaohs were “charged” with this energy for a long time, even rejuvenated and prepared for state activity. And then they were buried near the pyramids, in small rooms, perhaps near the funeral temples.
The pyramids admired many greats of this world:, Cleopatra,. The latter, in order to inspire his grenadiers during the Egyptian campaign, he first exclaimed: “The pyramids are looking at you,” and then instantly calculated in his mind that from the two and a half million stone blocks of the pyramid of Cheops it would be possible to build a wall around France three meters high.
Interesting facts about the Egyptian pyramids
All Egyptian pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile River, which is the place where the sun sets and is associated with the realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology.
The sides of the pyramids are curved by one meter so that they can accumulate solar energy. Thanks to this, the pyramids could reach thousands of degrees and emit an incomprehensible rumble from such heat.
Despite the intense heat that reigns around the pyramids, the temperature in them actually remains relatively constant and stays around 20 ° C.
The Egyptian pyramids also have this feature. The stone blocks are arranged in such a way that there are no gaps between them at all, even the thinnest blade will not fit through.
The Great Pyramid consists of 2.3 million blocks, perfectly aligned and matching each other. The blocks weigh from 2 to 30 tons, and some of them even reach a weight of more than 50 tons.
Although many people associate pyramids with hieroglyphs, no inscriptions or hieroglyphs have been found in the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Estimates of the number of workers involved in the construction of the pyramids vary greatly, however, it is quite possible that they were erected by at least 100 thousand people.
Three large pyramids on the Giza Plateau copy the "Belt of Orion" from the constellation Orion on Earth. The Pyramid of Cheops and the similarly sized Pyramid of Khafre take the place of the two brightest stars in the Orion belt, Al-Nitak and Al-Nilam, while the smaller pyramid of Menkaur is offset from the axis of the two neighbors, just like the third and smallest star of the belt, Mintaka.
Buildings similar to the Egyptian pyramids can also be found in Sudan, where the tradition was later picked up.
Each side of the pyramid is located in the direction of one side of the world.
It has been estimated that large necropolises at that level of technology should have been built in at least a century. How, for example, the pyramid of Cheops was built in just 20 years?
In the 12th century, an attempt was made to destroy the pyramids of Giza. Al-Azis, the Kurdish ruler and second sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty, tried to demolish them, but he was forced to retreat, as this task was too large-scale. And yet, he was able to damage the Pyramid of Menkaure, where, due to his attempts, a vertical gaping hole was left in its northern slope.
Pyramids are one of the many evidences in favor of the existence of some advanced civilization in those ancient times. Meanwhile, that era fits into the time frame of the existence of the legendary Atlantis, although no one undertakes to assert that the civilization that built the early pyramids was in fact the civilization of the Atlanteans.
Information for tourists
The Great Pyramid Complex of Giza is open to the public from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm every day, except during the winter months (open until 4:30 pm) and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when access is closed at 3:00 pm.
Some of the travelers believe that if the pyramids are in the open air and are not a museum in the truest sense of the word, then here you can behave freely, climb these structures. It should be remembered: it is strictly forbidden to do this - in the interests of your own safety!
Before you enter the pyramids, you need to objectively assess your psychological state and physical health. For those who are afraid of closed spaces (claustrophobia), it is better to skip this part of the tour. Due to the fact that inside the tombs it is usually dry, hot and a little dusty, asthmatics, hypertensive patients and those suffering from other diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous system are not recommended to come here.
How much can an excursion to the area of the Egyptian pyramids cost a tourist? Cost has several components. The entrance ticket to it will cost you 60 Egyptian pounds, which is approximately equal to 8 euros. Would you like to visit the pyramid of Cheops? For this you will have to pay 100 pounds or 13 euros. Inspection from the inside of the pyramid of Khafre is largely cheaper - 20 pounds or 2.60 euros.
You will have to pay separately for visiting the Solar Boat Museum, which is located south of the Cheops Pyramid (40 pounds or 5 euros). Taking pictures in the pyramid zone is allowed, but you will have to pay 1 euro for the right to take pictures. Visiting other pyramids in Giza - for example, the mother and wife of Pharaoh Khafre - is not paid.
Pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu (in the Greek version of Cheops), or the Great Pyramid - the greatest of the Egyptian pyramids, the oldest of the seven wonders of the world of antiquity and the only one of them that has come down to our time. For over four thousand years, the pyramid was the largest building in the world.
The pyramid of Cheops is located in the far suburbs of Cairo Giza. Nearby are two more pyramids of the pharaohs Khafre and Menkaure (Khafren and Mikerin), according to ancient historians, the sons and successors of Khufu. These are the three largest pyramids in Egypt.
Following the ancient authors, most modern historians consider the pyramids to be the burial structures of the ancient Egyptian monarchs. Some scientists believe that these were astronomical observatories. There is no direct evidence that pharaohs were buried in the pyramids, but other versions of their purpose are less convincing.
When was the pyramid of Cheops built?
Based on the ancient "royal lists", it is established that Cheops ruled around 2585-2566. BC. The construction of the "Sacred Height" lasted 20 years and ended after the death of Khufu, around 2560 BC.
Other versions of construction dates based on astronomical methods give dates from 2720 to 2577. BC. The radiocarbon method shows a spread of 170 years, from 2850 to 2680. BC.
There are also exotic opinions expressed by supporters of theories of visiting the Earth by aliens, the existence of ancient pra-civilizations, or adherents of occult currents. They determine the age of the pyramid of Cheops from 6-7 to tens of thousands of years.
How the pyramid was built
The Pyramid of Cheops is still the largest stone building on the planet. Its height is 137 m, the length of the side of the base is 230.38 m, the angle of inclination of the edge is 51 ° 50", the total volume is about 2.5 million cubic meters. At the time of completion of construction, the height was 9.5 m higher, and the side of the base was 2 m longer, however, over the past centuries, almost the entire lining of the pyramid has been dismantled.Natural factors have also done their job - temperature drops and winds from the desert, carrying clouds of sand.
Ancient Greek historians reported that the labor of millions of slaves was used in the construction. Modern researchers believe that with the proper organization of work and engineering, the Egyptians would have had several tens of thousands of workers for the construction. For the transportation of materials, temporary workers were involved, the number of which, according to Herodotus, reached 100 thousand. Modern scientists fully agree with this, as well as with the reality of a 20-year construction period.
Hemiun, the head of the royal works, supervised the construction of the pyramid. Hemiun's tomb is located next to his creation; a statue of the architect was found in it.
The main material for the construction was gray limestone, which was cut down in the nearest quarries or brought from the other side of the Nile. The pyramid was lined with light sandstone, because of which it literally shone under the sunlight. Granite was used for interior decoration, which was delivered a thousand kilometers from the area of \u200b\u200bpresent-day Aswan. The building was crowned with a hewn gilded granite block - a pyramidion.
In total, the construction of the pyramid took about 2.3 million blocks of limestone and 115 thousand facing slabs. The total mass of the building, according to modern estimates, is almost 6 million tons.
The block sizes vary. The largest ones are laid in the base, their height is one and a half meters. The blocks are smaller the higher they are. The height of the block at the top was 55 cm. The length of the facing slabs ranged from 1.5 to 0.75 m.
The work of the pyramid builders was extremely difficult. A lot of time and effort required the extraction of stone, hewing blocks and fitting to the right size. In those days, neither iron nor bronze was known in Egypt. The tools were made of relatively soft copper, so they wore down quickly and were very expensive. Flint tools were widely used - saws, drills, hammers. Many of them were found during excavations.
Delivery of materials was carried out by river, and the stone was brought to the construction site on a wooden sled or rollers. It was hellish work, because the average weight of one block is 2.5 tons, and some of them weighed up to 50 tons.
A variety of devices were used to lift and install the monoliths, and inclined embankments were erected to pull up the most massive elements that make up the lower rows. Images of construction work have been found in a number of Egyptian temples and tombs.
Recently, an original theory has emerged regarding the construction methods of the Egyptians. Scientists who studied the microstructure of the blocks in order to establish their origin, found foreign inclusions. According to experts, these are the remains of animal hair and human hair, from which the scientists concluded that the limestone was crushed in the places of extraction and delivered to the construction site in crushed form. Blocks were made directly at the place of laying from the limestone mass, which thus were a semblance of modern concrete structures, and tool marks on the blocks are actually formwork prints.
Be that as it may, the construction was completed, and the grandiose dimensions of the pyramid fully justify the supporters of the theories of the Atlanteans and aliens who do not believe in the possibility of human genius.
What is inside the pyramid
The entrance to the pyramid was made at a height of almost 16 meters in the form of an arch of granite slabs. It was later sealed with a granite cork and covered with cladding. The current entrance, 10 meters lower, was broken in 831 by order of Caliph Al-Mamun, who hoped to find gold here, but did not find anything of value.
The main premises are the pharaoh's chamber, the queen's chamber, the Great Gallery and the underground chamber. The passage punched by Al-Mamun leads to a 105-meter inclined corridor, ending in a chamber carved into the rock below the base of the pyramid. Its dimensions are 14x8 m., height 3.5 m. Works here were not completed for unknown reasons.
At 18 meters from the entrance, a 40-meter-long ascending corridor separates from the descending corridor, ending in the Great Gallery. The Gallery itself is a high (8.5 m) tunnel 46.6 m long leading to the pharaoh's chamber. The corridor to the queen's chamber branches off from the Gallery at its very beginning. A rectangular ditch 60 cm deep and 1 m wide was pierced in the floor of the Gallery; its purpose is unknown.
The length of the pharaoh's chamber is 10.5 m, width 5.4 m, height 5.84 m. It is lined with black granite slabs. Here is an empty granite sarcophagus. The queen's chamber is more modest - 5.76 x 5.23 x 6.26 m.
Channels 20-25 cm wide lead from the burial chambers to the surface of the pyramid. The channels of the king's chamber go out at one end into the room, at the other - onto the surface of the pyramid. The channels of the queen's chamber begin 13 cm from the wall and do not reach 12 m to the surface, and both ends of the channels are closed with stone doors with handles. It is assumed that the channels were made to ventilate the premises during the work. Another version, connected with the beliefs of the Egyptians, claims that this is the path to the afterlife, which the souls of the deceased had to go through.
No less mysterious is another small room, the Grotto, to which an almost vertical passage leads from the beginning of the Great Gallery. The grotto is located at the junction of the base of the pyramid and the hill on which it stands. The walls of the Grotto are reinforced with rather roughly worked stone. It is assumed that this is part of some structure older than the pyramid.
It is necessary to mention one discovery related to the pyramid. In 1954, at the southern edge, two stone-lined pits were discovered, in which were the pharaoh's boats, made of Lebanese cedar. One of the boats has been restored and is now in a special pavilion next to the pyramid. Its length is 43.5 m, width is 5.6 m.
The study of the pyramid of Cheops continues. Research using the latest methods used in the exploration of the earth's interior, show with a high degree of probability the existence of unknown caverns inside the pyramid. So it is quite possible that scientists expect new interesting findings and discoveries.
In the meantime, the Great Pyramid keeps its secrets, proudly rising in the middle of the desert, like millennia ago. After all, according to an ancient Arabic proverb, everything in the world is afraid of time, but time is afraid of the pyramids.
