Architecture of the Giza Egypt Pyrymids

Architecture of the Giza Egypt Pyrymids

The Egyptian Pyramids are one of the greatest engineering achievements in the history of the world. Five thousand years ago, before the invention of computers, electronics, steam engines, iron, screws, or pulleys, and without knowledge of electricity, calculus, or hydraulics, a civilization for a hundred years devoted itself to the task of building mountains in the sand with the singular purpose of serving as a resting place for their pharaohs. The great pyramid was built during the reign of Khufu, second king of the fourth dynasty 2,720-2,560 BC. It stands on the Giza plateau nearby Cairo and is the biggest pyramid in Egypt. The pyramid itself now stands 137 meters high, its original height of 146.16 meters is indicated by an iron post erected on the apex. Each side originally measured 230.362 meters or 440 royal cubits. At present the side measures 227 meters, due to the loss of the casing stones. The core masonry consists of large blocks of local limestone taken from the nearby quarries and built around and over a rocky knoll. The size of the knoll cannot be determined, since it is completely covered by the pyramid.

The entrance to the pyramid is in the centre of the northern face. It is located in the thirteenth course of masonry from the base. This entrance has a pointed roof formed of massive slabs of local limestone and opens into a long steeply descending passage. From there a 36 meters long ascending passage leads to a 35 meters long horizontal passage that leads to the so called 'Queen's chamber'. This chamber measures 5.2 by 5.7 meters and the maximum height of its pointed roof is about 15 meters. The north and south walls each have a small hole a few centimetres square about 1 meter from the floor. These lead into narrow channels that originally opened on the exterior of the pyramid. At the juncture of the ascending and horizontal passage is an opening of a shaft which descends to a depth of 60 meters. It opens into the lower part of the descending passage, close to the unfinished, underground chamber, and is believed to have been an escape shaft for the workmen who filed the ascending passage with huge stones after the king's funeral. From the horizontal passage the Grand Gallery, which leads to the king's chamber, starts. It is 47 meters long and 8.5 meters high, and has a corbelled roof. In the centre of the floor is a sunken ramp about 60 centimetres deep. The Grand Gallery ends in a horizontal granite passage which serves as an antechamber. It measures 8.4 meters long and 3.1 meters high, and has slots for three portcullises. Beyond the antechamber is the so-called 'King's Chamber' which is lined, roofed and paved with red granite. It measures 5.2 by 10.8 meters and is 5.8 meters high. Its flat roof is formed of nine monolithic slabs of granite The northern and southern walls each have an 'air channel', one of which is open to the outside. The Pyramid can be seen to have about two hundred

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