Pyramids of Giza are huge structures in the third largest city in Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile River. The city of Giza is known as Al Jizah in Arabic. The pyramids have square bases and four triangular-shaped sides that come to a point at the top. There are 10 pyramids at Giza, including three of the largest and best preserved of all Egyptian pyramids. They were built around 2600 to 2500 B.C. to be tombs or temples for kings. The pyramids are the most famous remains of ancient Egypt and are among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Large numbers of people travel to Egypt each year to admire the pyramids and the Great Sphinx statue at Giza.
The largest pyramid was built for King Khufu (called Cheops by the Greeks). The second was built for King Khafre (Chephren), and the third for King Menkaure (Mycerinus). A huge statue of a sphinx, called the Great Sphinx, was probably built for Khafre. It stands near his pyramid. Funeral ceremonies were performed in temples that were attached to the pyramids.
The pyramid of Khufu, called the Great Pyramid, contains more than 2 million stone blocks that average 21/2 tons (2.3 metric tons) each. It was originally 481 feet (147 meters) tall, but some of its upper stones are gone now and it stands about 450 feet (140 meters) high. Its base covers about 13 acres (5 hectares).
Loading the player...Pyramids at Giza
A study of the Great Pyramid shows how these gigantic structures were built. The ancient Egyptians had no machinery or iron tools. They cut big limestone blocks with copper chisels and saws. Most of the stones came from quarries nearby. But some came from across the Nile River, and others came by boat from distant quarries. Gangs of men dragged the blocks to the pyramid site and pushed the first layer of stones into place. Then they built long ramps of earth and brick and dragged the stones up the ramps to form the next layer. As they finished each layer, they raised and lengthened the ramps. Finally, they covered the pyramid with an outer coating of white casing stones. They laid these outer stones so exactly that from a distance the pyramid appeared to have been cut out of a single white stone. Most of the casing stones are gone now, but a few are still in place at the bottom of the Great Pyramid.
Khufu’s burial chamber is inside the Great Pyramid. A corridor leads from an entrance on the north side to several rooms within the pyramid. One of the rooms is called the Queen’s Chamber, although the queen is not buried there. The room was planned as the king’s burial chamber. But Khufu changed the plan and built another burial chamber, called the King’s Chamber. The Grand Gallery, a corridor 153 feet (47 meters) long and 28 feet (8.5 meters) high, leads to Khufu’s chamber. It is considered a marvel of ancient architecture.
No one knows how long it took to build the Great Pyramid. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus said that the work went on in four-month shifts, with 100,000 workers in each shift. Scholars now doubt that account and believe that about 100,000 men worked on the pyramids for three or four months each year. Farm laborers built the pyramids. They worked on the tombs during periods when floodwaters of the Nile covered the fields and made farming impossible. Thieves broke into most of the pyramids, stole gold, and sometimes destroyed the bodies. Later Egyptian kings stopped using pyramids and instead built secret tombs in cliffs.
