Egyptian pyramids. The ancient pyramids of Egypt: history, description and secrets

The magic of the mysterious countries still exists. Palm trees sway in the warm breeze, the Nile sails through the desert surrounded by a green valley, the sun illuminates the temple of Karnak and the mysterious pyramids of Egypt, and bright schools of fish flicker in the Red Sea.

Funerary culture of ancient Egypt

Pyramids are called grandiose structures in the form of a regular geometric polyhedron. In the construction of funerary buildings or mastabas, this form, according to Egyptologists, began to be used because of the similarity with a funeral cake. If you ask how many pyramids there are in Egypt, you can hear the answer that to date, about 120 buildings have been found and described, which are located in different areas along the banks of the Nile.

The first mastabas can be seen in Saqqara, Upper Egypt, Memphis, Abusir, El-Lahun, Giza, Khawara, Abu Rawash, Meidum. They were built from clay bricks with river silt - adobe, in a traditional architectural form. The pyramid housed a prayer room and a funeral "dowry" for traveling in the afterlife. The underground part kept the remains. The pyramids had a different appearance. They evolved from a stepped to a true, geometrically correct form.

The evolution of the shape of the pyramids

Tourists are often interested in how to see all the pyramids of Egypt, in which city they are located. There are many such places. For example, Meiduma is the most mysterious point, where the oldest of all the great funerary buildings are located. When Sneferu came to the throne (circa 2575 BC), Saqqara had the only large royal pyramid of Djoser completely completed.

The ancient locals called it "el-haram-el-kaddab", which means "false pyramid". Because of its shape, it has attracted the attention of travelers since the Middle Ages.

The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara is known as the earliest form of burial structure in Egypt. Its appearance is attributed to the period of the third dynasty. Narrowing passages from the north lead to the burial chamber. Underground galleries surround the pyramid from all sides except the south. This is the only completed building with huge steps that were lined with stone. But her form was different from the ideal. The first regular pyramids appeared at the beginning of the reign of the 4th dynasty of the pharaohs. The true form arose as a result of the natural development and improvement of the architectural design of the stepped building. The structure of a real pyramid is almost the same. Building blocks were stacked to the required shapes and sizes of the object, and then they were finished with limestone or stone.

Pyramids of Dahshur

Dahshur forms the southern region of the Memphis necropolis and contains a number of pyramidal complexes and monuments. Dahshur has only recently been opened to the public. In the valley of the Nile, south of Cairo, alone on the edge of the Western Desert, above the lush green fields at Meidum, is a remarkable area where one can see the transition from a stepped to a regular pyramid shape. The transformation took place during the change of the third dynasty of the pharaohs to the fourth. During the reign of the 3rd dynasty, Pharaoh Huni organized the construction of the first regular pyramid in Egypt, where the stepped structures from Meidum are located as a base for construction. The burial structure was intended for the son of Huni, the first pharaoh of the fourth dynasty, Sneferu (2613-2589 BC). The heir completed work on the pyramids of his father, then built his own - stepped. But the construction plans of the pharaoh were curtailed, as the construction did not go according to plan. Reducing the angle of the lateral plane led to a diamond-shaped curved silhouette. This design is called the Bent Pyramid, but it still has intact outer shells.

The oldest pyramids in Saqqara

Saqqara is one of the huge necropolises of the ancient city that is known today as Memphis. The ancient Egyptians called this place "White Walls". The pyramids of Egypt in Saqqara are represented by the first oldest step pyramid of Djoser. It was here that the history of the construction of these funerary structures began. In Saqqara they found the first inscription on the walls, known as the Pyramid Texts. The architect of these projects is called Imhotep, who invented hewn stone masonry. Thanks to construction developments, the ancient architect was ranked among the deities. Imhotep is considered the son of Ptah, the patron of crafts. Saqqara is home to many tombs belonging to important ancient Egyptian officials.

The true gem is the great pyramids of Egypt in the Sneferu complex. Feeling dissatisfied with the Bent Pyramid, which did not allow him to worthily go to heaven, he began construction about two kilometers to the north. It was the famous Pink Pyramid, so named because of the red limestone used in its construction. This is one of the oldest buildings in Egypt, which is created in the correct form. It has a tilt angle of 43 degrees and is the second largest, second only to the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was built by the son of Sneferu in Khufu. In fact, the Great Pyramid is only 10 meters from the Rose. Other major monuments in Dahshur date from the 12th and 13th dynasties and are not comparable in scale to the work of Huni and Sneferu.

Late pyramids at the Sneferu complex

There are later pyramids in Meidum. In Egypt, where the White Pyramid of Amenemhat II, the Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III and the building of Senusret III are located, smaller monuments of funerary purpose for minor rulers, nobles and officials dominate.

They tell of a fairly stable and peaceful period in the history of Egypt. Interestingly, the Black Pyramid and the structure of Senusret III were built not of stone, but of brick. Why this material was used is unknown, but in those days new construction methods penetrated into Egypt from other countries, thanks to trade and international relations. Unfortunately, although brick was much easier to work with than multi-ton granite blocks, the material did not stand the test of time. Although the Black Pyramid is fairly well preserved, the White Pyramid is badly damaged. Tourists, who are little aware of the huge number of pyramidal burials, have a misunderstanding. They ask: "Where are the pyramids in Egypt?" While everyone knows about the great burial structures of Egypt, there are many less significant examples of such structures. Scattered along the Nile from Celia on the edge of the oasis to the island of Elephantine in Aswan, in the village of Naga el-Khalifa, about five miles south of Abydos, in the city of Minya and many other unexplored places.

Giza pyramids and necropolis

For all tourists who come to Egypt, an excursion to the pyramids becomes almost a ritual. The buildings of Giza are the only surviving of the seven wonders of the Ancient World and the most famous sights. This sacred place impresses with its antiquity, the scope of the necropolis, the unreality of buildings and the Great Sphinx. The secrets of the construction and supposed symbolism of the pyramids of Giza only add to the appeal of these ancient wonders. Many modern people still consider Giza to be a spiritual place. A number of fascinating theories have been proposed to explain the "mystery of the pyramids". The author of the project of the Great Pyramid in Egypt is called the adviser of Cheops and his relative - Hemiun. Giza is the most important site on earth for many researchers who are trying to unravel the geometric perfection of burial structures in ancient sources. But even great skeptics are in awe of the deep antiquity, scope and absolute harmony of the pyramids of Giza.

History of the Pyramids of Giza

Located on the west bank of the Nile River, about 12 miles southwest of downtown Cairo, Giza (el-Gizah in Arabic) is the third largest city in Egypt with a population of almost 3 million. This is a famous necropolis on the Giza plateau, which houses the most popular monuments in Egypt. The Great Pyramids of Giza were built in 2500 BC for the burial places of the pharaohs. Together they make up the only ancient wonder of the world still in existence today. Many tourists are attracted by Egypt (Hurghada). They can see the pyramids of Giza in half an hour, which will be required on the road. You can admire this wonderful ancient sacred place to your heart's content.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu, or Cheops as the Greeks called it (it is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza), and the necropolis bordering Cairo have remained virtually untouched by time. It is believed that the pyramid was built as a tomb for the fourth dynasty of the Egyptian pharaohs Khufu. The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. Initially, it was covered with facing stones, which created a smooth outer surface. Some of them can be seen around the base and at the very top. There are various scientific and alternative theories about how the pyramids of Ancient Egypt were built, and about the construction methods of the Great One itself. Most of the accepted construction theories are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from the quarry and lifting them into place. It occupies an area of ​​just over 5 hectares. The original height was 146 m in height, but the pyramid is still impressive at 137 m. The main losses are associated with the destruction of the smooth limestone surface.

Herodotus on Egypt

When the Greek historian Herodotus visited Giza, around 450 BC, he described what kind of pyramids there were in Egypt. He learned from the Egyptian priests that the Great Pyramid was built for Pharaoh Khufu, who was the second king of the Fourth Dynasty (c. 2575-2465 BC). Priests told Herodotus that it was built by 400,000 people over 20 years. At the construction site, 100,000 people were employed to move the blocks at a time. But archaeologists find this implausible and tend to think that the workforce was more limited. Perhaps 20,000 workers, with an accompanying support staff of bakers, doctors, priests, and others, would be sufficient for the task.

The most famous pyramid was carefully laid out using 2.3 million worked stone blocks. These blocks had an impressive weight of two to fifteen tons. After the construction was completed, the burial structure struck with a weight that was approximately 6 million tons. All the famous cathedrals in Europe, taken together, have such a weight! The Pyramid of Cheops has been recorded for thousands of years as the tallest building in the world.

Only the graceful spiers of the extraordinarily majestic Lincoln Cathedral, built in England, 160 m high, were able to break the record, but collapsed in 1549.

Pyramid of Khafre

Among the pyramids of Giza, the second largest is the structure built for the afterlife journey of Khafre (Khaphren), the son of Pharaoh Khufu. He inherited power after the death of his elder brother and was the fourth ruler in the fourth dynasty. Of his well-born relatives and predecessors on the throne, many were buried in penny tombs. But the grandeur of Khafre's pyramid strikes almost the same as the "last house" of his father.

The Pyramid of Khafre stretches visually towards the sky and seems to be higher than the first pyramid of Giza - the funerary building of Cheops, because it stands on a higher part of the plateau. It is characterized by a steeper angle of inclination with a preserved smooth limestone coating. At the second pyramid, each of the sides was 216 m and was originally 143 m high. Its limestone and granite blocks weigh about 2.5 tons each.

The ancient pyramids of Egypt, such as Cheops, as well as the construction of Khafre, include five burial pits connected by passages. Together with the mortuary, the Valley of the Temples and the connecting dam, it is 430 meters long, carved into the rock. The burial chamber, which is underground, kept a red granite sarcophagus with a lid. Nearby is a square cavity, where there was a chest with the insides of the pharaoh. The Great Sphinx near the Pyramid of Khafre is considered to be his royal portrait.

Pyramid of Menkaure

The last of the pyramids of Giza is the Pyramid of Menkaure, located to the south. It was intended for the son of Khafre, the fifth king of the fourth dynasty. Each side is 109 m and the height of the structure is 66 m. In addition to these three monuments, small pyramids were built for Khufu's three wives and a series of flat-topped pyramids for the remains of his beloved children. At the end of a long dam lined small tombs of courtiers, a temple and a mortuary were built only for the mummification of the body of the pharaoh.

Like all the pyramids of Egypt, created for the pharaohs, the burial chambers of these buildings were filled with everything necessary for the next life: furniture, statues of slaves, niches for canopic canopies.

Theories about the construction of the Egyptian giants

Many mysteries are hidden by the centuries-old history of Egypt. Pyramids built without modern devices only increase curiosity about these places. Herodotus assumed that the foundation was laid out of huge blocks weighing about seven tons. And then, as from children's cubes, step by step, all 203 layers were lifted up. But this cannot be done, as evidenced by the Japanese attempt in the 1980s to duplicate the actions of the Egyptian builders. The most plausible explanation is that the Egyptians used ramps, which were used to tow stone blocks down a ladder using sleds, rollers, and levers. And the base was a natural plateau. The majestic structures have withstood not only the crushing work of time, but also numerous attacks by grave robbers. They robbed the pyramids in ancient times. Khafre's burial chamber, opened by the Italians in 1818, was empty, there was no longer any gold and other treasures.

There is a possibility that there are still undiscovered pyramids of Egypt or are now completely destroyed. Many make fantastic theories about the extraterrestrial intervention of another civilization, for which such construction is child's play. The Egyptians are only proud of the perfect knowledge of their ancestors in the field of mechanics, dynamics, thanks to which the construction business developed.

Egyptian pyramids are one of the most mysterious and unusual structures ever created by man. The name "pyramids" is usually attributed to all Egyptian structures that have a shape resembling a pyramid. But only some of them can be called pyramids from a geometric point of view. These include, in particular, the great pyramids at Giza.

These buildings have an ideal pyramidal shape. The largest of them is world famous pyramid of Cheops. She is one of the seven wonders of the world. But the pyramids are located not only in Giza, but also in other parts of Egypt. A large number of pyramids are located in Saqqara, Dahshur, Meidum, Abusir. The Egyptian pyramids attract many scientists, archaeologists and historians, and some facts about them do not fit into the traditional history of the development of civilizations.
Interesting Egyptian Pyramid Facts:

The largest Egyptian pyramid is the Pyramid of Cheops at Giza. Its height is about 139 meters. Initially, its height was almost 10 meters more, but after the destruction of the cladding, it decreased. Its base is a square with a side of 230 meters. The construction of such a pyramid took over 2.5 million blocks. On average, each of the blocks weighs about 2-3 tons. It is the tomb of the great pharaoh Cheops (Khufu).

Age of the pyramids

The age of the most ancient pyramids, many scientists date 2650-2600 BC. One of the very first is the pyramid of Djoser. But some scientists believe that the age of the pyramids is much older. Using new scientific achievements, they suggest that the age of some pyramids is more than 10,000 years. Thus, if we take this age into account, it turns out that the first pyramids were built at a time when mammoths still lived on the planet.

Dynasties and pyramids

Almost all the dynasties of Egyptian kings left their mark in history in the form of pyramids. At present, no pyramids belonging to the first and second dynasties have been found. The forerunners of the pyramids are considered mastabas. These are ancient Egyptian structures of a trapezoidal shape, which are the tombs of kings. The beginning of the construction of the pyramids is associated with the third dynasty. The most famous and largest pyramids at Giza belong to the Fourth Dynasty.

The device of the pyramids

Most of the pyramids are almost monolithic structures, with long corridors and small rooms. So, in each pyramid there is a main entrance. It leads to the main corridor, which branches into two: one goes up, the other goes down. The lower one leads to underground chambers that lie much deeper than the foundation of the pyramid. The upper one, in turn, expands and passes into a spacious gallery leading to the king's tomb.

It used to be believed that thousands of slaves were used in the construction of the pyramids. They were brought to the great construction site from all over the kingdom. But in the vicinity of the pyramids, no mass graves were found confirming the large number of slaves who died at the construction site. Recently, archaeologists have found many outbuildings and residential buildings that refute slave labor in the construction of the pyramids. So the builders had granaries, hostels, places for healing, canteens and even a brewery. This suggests that the builders of the pyramids had a fairly high standard of living at that time.

Imhotep and the Pyramid of Djoser

Before the appearance of the great pyramids in Gizea, the tombs of the kings had a different look. The pyramids of the third dynasty were several three-dimensional trapezoids stacked on top of each other. At the base lay the largest trapezoid to the top, they decreased. The first of these pyramids is the pyramid of Djoser, built by Imhotep. It was to him that the invention of such a form for tombs belongs. Imhotep also developed a special way of laying from hewn stones. This method was subsequently widely used in the construction of the pyramids.

The walls of the galleries and tombs inside the pyramids are painted with various hieroglyphs and images. Moreover, each hieroglyph and image is not chosen by chance and carries a religious meaning. They usually depict the lifetime accomplishments of the deceased, a kind of instruction for moving to the afterlife, and more. Also in one of the pyramids, images similar to a tank, a helicopter and a flying machine were found.

Legend of the Curse of the Pyramids

In various films and stories, the legend of the curse of the pyramids is quite common. It says that everyone who enters the tomb and disturbs the peace of the pharaohs will be cursed and die soon. The basis for this opinion was an article in the 1920s in one of the newspapers, which stated that all participants in the excavations of the tomb of Tutankhamun died under mysterious circumstances.

In fact, many of the scientists were elderly people, which may explain their death within a few years after participating in the excavations. Some participants lived after the expedition for more than a dozen years.

One of the pyramids in Dahshur has a broken shape. From the base to the middle, the angle of the sides is about 54 degrees, and from the middle to the top, about 43 degrees. Some researchers believe that Pharaoh Snefr, for whom it was built, died prematurely and in order to speed up construction, the angle of inclination was changed. Another version is that the lining on other pyramids with the same angle fell off and the angle was changed in order to avoid this.

The purpose of the pyramids

The pyramids are the tombs of the kings of Egypt. It is believed that it becomes the home of the pharaoh after death and therefore everything that would be useful to him in the afterlife was placed in it. Also, along with the pharaoh, his wives, concubines and slaves were buried. According to another version, the pyramids are designed to move to another world. For this, according to archaeologists, a vertical shaft was made in the tomb.

The Pink Pyramid is located in Dahshur. It is the largest of the Egyptian pyramids apart from the great pyramids at Giza. This pyramid got its name because of the material from which it is made. This limestone in the rays of the setting sun gives it a pinkish tint.

Other pyramids

Pyramids exist not only in Egypt, but also in other parts of the Earth. For example, in Central and South America there are also pyramids. They are slightly different from the Egyptians, but nevertheless have many similarities with them.

The following facts are interesting - during the construction of the pyramids in Giza, huge blocks weighing several tons were used, and inside the Cheops pyramid there are blocks weighing up to 80 tons. And they are made with high precision. Questions arise: how did people process, deliver and lift them up? Indeed, even with modern technology and science, much of this is beyond our power. There are several hypotheses: they possessed technologies unprecedented for us, they were helped by some more advanced race (possibly alien), the builders possessed a magic crystal that helped in construction.

Facts about the great pyramids in Giza: they have a strict orientation to the cardinal points, the angle of inclination is 52 degrees, the deviation between the ribs is no more than 5 centimeters with a base side length of more than 200 meters.

Interesting video about the secrets of the pyramids:

The pyramids of Egypt are simply amazing, legends and myths make you hold your breath and listen with admiration. Scientists and researchers for most of the centuries have been trying to get, in the truest sense of the word, to the truth that the most unique man-made wonders of the world keep inside themselves!

In accordance with the Egyptian religion, the pyramids were needed for people who had gone to the afterlife, because, together with embalmed bodies, all the things a person needed, everything that he needed during his lifetime were buried there: precious jewelry, clothes, household utensils and other items. that he might need in another life.

It is believed that the larger and higher the pyramid, the more powerful and richer the person was during his lifetime. Now, looking at such large structures, it is difficult to imagine what kind of wealth the pharaohs should have owned, and that all this was built by human hands, for all that, it should be taken into account that all buildings were carried out manually, without the use of special building equipment.

And when you still look at the numbers, it will seem completely unrealistic - the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe largest and well-known pyramid of Cheops is 85,000 m3, the length of each side of the pyramid is 230 m and the height is almost 150 m. To really imagine how much it is, then just remember a 9-storey house, its area is approximately 10,000 m3. These numbers are truly shocking! The most fascinating thing is that it took only 20 years to create such a thug!

Shrouded in mystery from creation itself. To this day, scientists do not agree on when and by whom the pyramids were built. Representations are generally divided into 2 theories:

1st - that the pyramids were built long before the first Egyptians by aliens;

The second one says that it was the Egyptians who were the creators of these unique objects.

Together with this, they do not stop arguing about the actual purpose of the pyramids. Some believe that the famous pyramids at Giza were intended as beacons for alien ships, showing the course to the Sinai desert, which served as a typical port. This version is confirmed by a picture taken by NASA's galactic ship from space.

If you superimpose a map of Egypt on a map of the starry sky, you will notice that the placement of the pyramids coincides with the stars, the placement of the Nile can be compared with the Milky Way, and the three pyramids in Giza are recognized as Orion's belt. But not everything matches - 2 monuments of the 5th dynasty do not fall into such a cipher, but they are not stars, but they are 2 parallel medians.

Archaeologists have found unique ancient Egyptian manuscripts and texts, which, according to legend, were acquired in ancient times from Nefers - people with divine abilities who lived in Atlantis.

And these are no longer some hypotheses, there is real documentary evidence for this. Whoever the Gods worshiped in Egypt were, ordinary mortal people who knew the laws of the Universe or aliens, they gave the Egyptians knowledge that we have not yet known. In particular, the knowledge of the synchronization of heaven and earth was glorified in history by the Egyptians by building the entire pyramid complex in strict accordance with the map of the starry sky.

Like the stars, the pyramids of Egypt are very diverse, we can only solve the riddles hidden in the majestic structures that have transferred the most ancient knowledge through the centuries. There is a legend that when all the doors are open and the last riddle is solved, the end of the world will come. But along with this, there is another legend, which says that in the pyramids, like in the others, hidden knowledge is hidden that will help reveal the secrets of the Egyptian pyramids, and together with them the secrets of the philosophy of the world.

While the secrets of the Egyptian pyramids remain secrets and excite our fantasies, no one has yet been able to guess them, maybe because they are looking in the wrong place; after all, one of the legends says that the secret is hidden not on the walls and in the writings, but in the structures themselves, this knowledge is the source of a separate energy, which is destined to be read only by the chosen one!

A report on the topic: "Egyptian pyramids" will help prepare for the lesson and find out interesting information.

Message "Egyptian pyramids"

Pyramids are known to everyone architectural monuments of Ancient Egypt. The pyramids of Cheops and Giza are one of the seven wonders of the world. Pyramids are huge pyramid-shaped stone structures used as tombs for pharaohs. The word "pyramid" - Greek, means a polyhedron. In total, more than 118 pyramids of various shapes and heights were discovered in Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian architecture, even today, amazes with the power of its huge stone structures. At the entrance to these structures, there are huge statues of pharaohs, sphinxes made of stone lie. Sphinx - in ancient Egypt - the embodiment of royal power, a statue depicting a fantastic creature with the body of a lion and the head of a person or a sacred animal.

The Great Pyramid of Cheops is the face of the Egyptian pyramids and the largest building of antiquity. The construction of the pyramid took two whole decades and was completed in 2560 BC. With a height of 146.5 meters, it was the largest building in the world for over 4 millennia. The weight of the pyramid is more than 6 million tons. The area of ​​this giant is about 5 hectares. The pyramid of Cheops consists of 2.3 million stone blocks.

The second most important is the pyramid of Khafre, the son of Cheops. It was built on a 10-meter plateau, because it seems to be higher than the pyramid of Cheops, but it is not. Its height is 136.4 meters. Not far from the pyramid of Khafre is the Great Sphinx - a monument carved into the rock. The facial features of the Sphinx repeat the face of Pharaoh Khafre.

The tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs are not inside the pyramids, as many mistakenly believe, but not far from them, in the Valley of the Kings. According to one theory, the Egyptians mastered the mathematical “principle of leverage” to build the majestic pyramids. But, at the same time, it would have been possible to build the pyramid of Cheops in this way in a century and a half. Whereas it appeared in just two decades. Egyptian pyramids were built for about two centuries in a row. While one was being built, another was already springing up on the sands.

Long gone are the days when the Egyptian pyramids amazed the observer with their unprecedented grandeur and unsurpassed monumentality. Approximately one thousand three hundred years ago, mankind learned to build more, higher, more massively and faster than the ancient Egyptians did. But still, for four thousand years, leadership in the field of construction was retained by a long-disappeared people...

Who, how and when built the Egyptian pyramids? Interest in the pyramids of Giza has not faded for five millennia in a row. Egyptologists know the answers to most questions.

How and from what the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids - in many cases we only assume, and among the hypotheses promoted there is a lot of outright fantasy. Let's try to understand the history of the Egyptian pyramids without prejudice, mysticism and mock mystery.

How many pyramids are there in Egypt?

And if the pyramids of Giza are famous for their impressive size, perfect shape and good preservation, the pyramids of other ancient Egyptian tombs were less fortunate. Many of them - due to the fragility of the mud-bricks common at that time or the urgent need for building materials - have collapsed completely or partially, and are more reminiscent of hills than pyramids.

So, in 2013, the American archaeologist Angela Micol, examining high-resolution photo maps, suggested that several hills on the territory of modern Egypt are nothing more than ancient pyramids, partly eroded under the influence of climatic factors, partly covered with sand and dust.

Inspired by a tip from across the ocean, Egyptian archaeologists undertook an expedition to the indicated heights. Cautious statements have appeared in the press regarding the fairness of the judgments of the American scientist, however, Angela Mikol's finds have not yet been included in the official register of the Egyptian pyramids - as well as the remains of 17 more pyramids similarly discovered by Sarah Parkak from the University of Birmingham, Alabama.

Mastaba - a modest tomb of the pharaoh

The imperfection of the then building technologies forced the Egyptians to create buildings with sloping edges of the outer walls. The intuitive assimilation of the artificial structure of a natural mound of stone ensured the stability of the erected structure no worse than that of a conical pile of fragments of various sizes at the foot of the mountain.

In Arabic Egypt, the first tombs of the pharaohs were called "mastaba", which means "stool" in Arabic.

In terms of architectural appearance, the mastaba repeats a slightly grown ancient Egyptian residential building, and there is not a drop of holiness in a purely utilitarian building. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that every new ruler sought to build his mastaba above any buildings in the area, and most importantly - above the tomb of his predecessor. Delusions of grandeur are so characteristic of leaders!

The logical result of the growth of the mastaba was a geometrically correct pyramid, but it was not possible to achieve the desired shape immediately.

Tomb of Djoser - the first Egyptian pyramid

Imhotep is a brave innovator

Understanding that raw clay bricks (in the Russian tradition the material is known as "adobe") is not strong enough to create a high-rise structure, Imhotep ordered limestone blocks to be used to build the body of the tomb.

The ingenious technology of building the pyramid of Djoser

A thick clay composition was used as a binder solution, designed not only to hold the blocks together, but to fill the voids. The idea of ​​such a building material could have been suggested to Imhotep by nature itself. The Egyptians traveling around the surrounding world must have come across, formed by mudflows and quickly turning into a dense and durable material.

Clay was dug in the Nile valley, soaked and mixed with some sand (to prevent cracking during the drying process). The wall stone was laid with an inclination inside the building so that the line of the wall deviated from the vertical by 15˚. Thus, the walls of each of the tiers of the tomb formed an angle of 75˚ with the conditional plane of the earth's firmament.

The critical components of the internal structures of the pyramid of Djoser were made of two-ton blocks delivered from afar by water, and coarsely hewn limestone. The cementing gypsum mortar, used by the Egyptians more often than lime, held the elements together only in some places. In particular, the blue tiles in the lining of the interior of the tomb were kept on the walls thanks to gypsum binders.

Imhotep - the deified pioneer of perestroika

The consent of the pharaoh was not long in coming. The uninterrupted continuation of work allowed the outstanding architect of Ancient Egypt to increase the height of the pyramid to 62 meters. Having become six-tiered in 2649 BC, the pyramid of Djoser crowned a huge complex of ritual buildings and for a long time became a record building in Egypt and the whole world of that time.

It is estimated that 850 thousand tons of limestone were spent on the construction of the pyramid of Djoser. According to the unanimous opinion of the builders of our time, there are no technological mysteries in the construction of the first Egyptian pyramid. However, Imhotep's contemporaries treated the outstanding architect with much more reverence. After his death, the architect, engineer and scientist Imhotep was deified, and the Egyptian pyramids, according to the behest of the founder, were built stepwise for a long time.

Pyramids in Giza - the focus of secrets and mysteries

The pyramids of Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure are the pinnacle of the building art of Ancient Egypt. The conducted studies did not give a clear and reliable picture of the stages and methods of construction. Of the historical documents, the description of Herodotus is considered the most detailed - however, it must be remembered that Herodotus made his notes 2000 years after the construction of the Cheops pyramid ...

Hemiun - the hero of pyramid-building work

Perhaps the task was set somehow differently - but it does not matter. Hemiun managed to create a pyramid that contained millions of tons of natural stone, rose almost to the sky (147 meters in height), hid several secret rooms, amazed (and amazed) the observer with the perfection of forms and the grandeur of the idea.

The first secret plus the main secret

This is the first mystery of the main of the Egyptian pyramids. However, there are several clues:

• a) the researchers were simply unlucky to find the right document;
• b) there was a ban on documenting and disclosing the methods of erecting the pyramid;
• c) project documentation was not drawn up, construction records were not carried out - as unnecessary.

How was the largest of the Egyptian pyramids built?

The Egyptian builders did just that. The limestone blocks of the pyramid are the smaller, the closer they lie to the top. Which, by the way, refutes the fashionable theory about the construction of a structure from concrete blocks.

Is the concrete idea false?

The time factor is also important. The curing of concrete requires a long rest of the cast part. Primary setting is not equivalent to full strength gain. On a freshly cast and already hardened stone, one cannot immediately pile up a multi-ton load like this. You can speed up the hardening of the casting with organic additives - even with egg white - but then the mountain of shells will exceed the size of the pyramid. Is such a monument pleasing to the pharaoh?

The production of a binder for making concrete requires high-temperature dehydration of the feedstock - in the case of Ancient Egypt. A certain amount of gypsum mortar, the country's resources allowed to produce painlessly, but not the millions of cubic meters required for a complete transition to artificial building stone! There was simply no such amount of firewood in the state!

Concrete is not only a binding solution, it is also a mineral filler of several fractions. Modern concrete is created from cement mortar, sand and crushed granite. The blocks of the Egyptian pyramids are entirely limestone. You can, of course, imagine how thousands of slaves have been crushing natural limestone for years to get crumbs, thousands more dragging stretchers with limestone chips to a construction site, others carry water in waterskins, and still others trample wet concrete - because without compaction it will turn out to be fragile.

But isn't it easier to carve ready-made blocks out of stone? Moreover, all qualified mineralogists are unanimous in their assessment of the main material of the Cheops pyramid and consider it to be natural limestone.

However, individual elements of the pyramids could indeed be made of artificial stone. But only not the most responsible and loaded with astronomical masses of overlying materials.

The Granite Mystery of the Pyramid of Cheops

Meanwhile, granite columns, obelisks and other "megaliths" in ancient Egypt were produced without much difficulty. Our French contemporaries have reproduced all the stages of mining and processing of granite, and are quite satisfied with the experience gained.

The following method was used to break off a large workpiece from a natural massif.

• 1. A low hearth was built along the contour of the proposed clay brick blank.
• 2. Firewood was loaded into the hearth, a fire was made. Hot coals heated the underlying granite to a shallow depth.
• 3. Water poured onto the heated granite. The stone cracked.
• 4. After the removal of bricks, ash and exfoliated rock, the heating zone was subjected to impact treatment with dolerite (dolerite - a variety) hammers. As a result, a groove 10–15 cm deep was formed in the monolithic granite massif.
• 5. To deepen the contour groove, the operation was repeated.

Handmade technique with a rounded dolerite hammer suggests endurance and perseverance of the performer. Hourly (even not too dexterous) beating with dolerite on granite allows you to remove a layer 6-8 mm thick over an area of ​​​​several square decimeters.

A dolerite concretion split in half served as the main tool for grinding granite. The abundance of dolerite in the eastern regions of Egypt allowed the masters of antiquity to use this hard stone in unlimited quantities.

Lifting weights without a crane

Modern inventors talk about the possibility of sheathing a stone product with voluminous wooden structures that bring the shape of the packaged part closer to a cylinder. Such a container does facilitate transportation, but requires a solid road.

Sloped ramp or spiral road?

Approximately so, the researchers believe, were built and access roads to the Egyptian pyramids. A scalable (7˚-8˚) ramp made of loose materials, compacted and reinforced with imported timber, could really help in the delivery of massive stone blocks to their installation site.

However, the volume of earthworks in this case turns out to be comparable to the volume of the entire construction, and the pace of work is limited by the frequency of reconstruction of the transport route. The bulk spiral road laid around the pyramid makes it impossible to check the geometry of the edges and faces of the entire structure.

Another thing, suggested the French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin, if a spiral road is laid in the body of the pyramid along its outer edges. On such a road, you can walk like a gentle staircase, dragging limestone blocks up along the way. True, this path is replete with turns at right angles. But if at the places of turns to make open areas with the simplest forklifts, the difficulties will disappear.

Houdin's hypothesis is flawed in many respects. Nevertheless, turntables in the corners of the building were found, as well as some inclined passages along the perimeter of the pyramid. However, the Egyptian authorities have not yet given permission for a large-scale instrumental study of the historical structure.

Final reconstruction of the process

• - the most massive parts of the base of the pyramid and the interior of the tomb were delivered to the place of installation along surface roads and a low bulk ramp;
• - the blocks that make up the body of the pyramid climbed the spiral scaffolding attached outside;
• - white limestone top - pyramidion - was installed immediately after the masonry was completed;
• - facing blocks of white limestone, in cross-section representing a right-angled triangle, were laid from top to bottom, flush with the faces of the pyramidion.

And although the individual details of the construction have not been clarified to the end, the overall picture is quite clear and plausible. However, the secrets of the Egyptian pyramids were not only in the design and construction of cyclopean structures.

"Unsolved" secrets of the Egyptian pyramids

As a result, today scientists do not have a complete plan of the cavities and rooms of the Cheops pyramid - which is why assumptions about the purpose of rooms, corridors and channels are based on insufficient information.

This situation gives food for idle thought about the presence of secret treasures under the Egyptian pyramids and the Sphinx. The yellow press is exaggerating with might and main the idea of ​​the secrecy of samples of ancient knowledge, stored either under the paws of the Sphinx, or under the burial chamber of Khufu, or even deeper.

However, historians and archaeologists do not expect special revelations from hypothetical treasuries. Yes, upon discovery of repositories that have not been plundered in the past, the museum collections of the world will be fairly replenished with works of ancient Egyptian art - but one cannot expect advanced technologies among the surviving artifacts. Alas…

Pyramid - a working device?

Echoes of the excitement that arose during the years of perestroika and concerning the miraculous properties of pyramidal structures are still alive. Allegedly, the blades in them are self-sharpening, bacteria are self-destructing, water is self-sanctifying - and in large pyramids, plus, time slows down, organisms become younger and fools grow smarter.

Experiments are still ongoing, but the statistics of the results are disappointing. Neither in the pyramids of ancient Egyptian work, nor in their modern counterparts, nothing special happens.

“Besides,” the esotericists object, “that contact is being made with the higher mind!”

The influence of the Egyptian pyramids on the mind

True, psychiatrists, having learned about the voices and visions, begin to nervously trample and stroke the bags of medicines. Psychologists also talk about the similarity of individual reactions to darkness, silence and complete solitude. To save money, they say, instead of a sarcophagus, you can lie down in a wooden box with a lid, and instead of an Egyptian pyramid, use any dungeon - even a shallow hole.

The sum of sensations and thoughts that arise in the subjects is typical. In such solitude, every person thinks about the transience of life, the futility of all things and the inevitability of the end. The pyramids are here!

Astronomical factor

The check showed that the coincidence of directions and proportions is very conditional. Defending his point of view, Buvel suggested that the position of the pyramids corresponds to the picture of the starry sky of the time of the third dynasty of the pharaohs.

The development of computer technology has made it possible to restore the position of the stars in the past. A simulated starry sky pattern from 2500 BC turned out to be close to the location of the Giza pyramids, but only approximately ...

Further research led astronomers to the conclusion: the relative position of the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaur (Cheops, Khafre and Mykerin) fully corresponds to the location of Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintak (the stars of the Orion's Belt asterism) in 10500 BC.

Idle thinkers immediately came to the conclusion that the initial marking of the construction site was completed in 10500, and the actual construction was decided to be postponed for 8 thousand years.

Moreover! At the beginning of the beginning, namely, 14 thousand years before the birth of Christ, on the site of the future Giza and all its tombs, there was a pyramid - for all the pyramids, a pyramid, the size of a real mountain! True, the progenitor of the pyramids was monolithic and cracked during the earthquake. It was decided to demolish the hulk, and in its place, after cleaning up the debris, to build a new pyramidal complex.

Who and why made such unexpected decisions, the thinkers do not say.

Numerological heresy of the pyramid of Cheops

The data obtained became the subject of scientific discussions that continue to this day. For two hundred years of thinking, especially advanced experts have established a relationship between the linear parameters of the Cheops pyramid and:

• - the size of the Earth and the solar system;
• - the number "pi";
• - past and future events;
• - physical constants that determine the balance of interaction of forces in the Universe.

Hey psychiatrists!

So, there are no secrets in the Egyptian pyramids?

So far, there is no unambiguous picture of the complex of technologies used almost 5,000 years ago. It is not clear why the pyramid of Cheops, the most monumental of all the monuments of Ancient Egypt, is devoid of wall inscriptions and images. There is no certainty in understanding the purpose of the discovered objects, premises, buildings ...

It is important, however, that only those studies of the Egyptian pyramids that are carried out within the framework of materialistic theory become fruitful. The search for the extraordinary forces involved in the creation of the Egyptian pyramids is fantastically fun - and nothing more.