Pyramids of Egypt

candid Egypt tips

 

Why the
Pyramids of Egypt
are special

The Pyramids of Egypt are far bigger than most people would imagine. They are even more amazing when we consider that they were built nearly 4600 years ago.

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About my animated
picture of the
Pyramids of Egypt

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Then and now

The animated picture above illustrates the marked difference in appearance between the way the Pyramids of Egypt looked originally and look today.

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Smooth facade

When built, they were covered with a smooth limestone surfacing that gave them a sleek finished look. 

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Stripped away

Today they have a rugged exterior because subsequent ancient rulers filched the surface stones from the monuments for use on their own buildings. 

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Optical illusion

Khufu's edifice is the farthest of the three great Pyramids of Egypt in the animated picture. It seems shorter than the middle pyramid (Chephren's) for two reasons. First, Chephren's sits higher on the plateau than Khufu's. Second, this vantage point (popular with photographers) makes Khufu's appear smaller because it is more distant.

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Khufu's Pyramid
reigns supreme among
the three great
Pyramids of Eqypt

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Pharaoh Khufu

His structure is the oldest, biggest and most famous of the great Pyramids of Egypt.

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Over 4,500 years old

Pharaoh Khufu's pyramid was built during his reign, 2589 to 2566 BC.

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Mummies

The mummies in all three tombs were removed long ago by sophisticated tomb robbers. They also took priceless buried treasure.

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Ancient 7 Wonders

Pharaoh Khufu's pyramid is the only true surviving member of the famous olden list. Click my round blue "Ancient seven wonders" button in the right column to read my 8-page section on that list. It is based on my firsthand research at all seven locations.

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Interesting
tidbits about
Pyramids of Eqypt

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Pyramid
construction method

Many theories exist on how the Pyramids of Egypt were constructed. Most Egyptologists now believe that a large temporary earth ramp with a gentle incline was built. The giant stone blocks were then dragged up the slope with a combination of pulleys, levers and raw manpower.

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Evolving
Pyramid design

Over the course of several centuries, the construction design evolved from the modestly high step pyramid style to the skyscraping, smooth-sided pyramids of Khufu and Chephren at Giza.

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Decline

Then, starting with Menkure's pyramid (the nearest one in the picture), size and structural strength gradually began to decline. The primary reasons were weakening economies and fading pharaonic powers.

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Alignment

The three great Pyramids of Egypt have a north-south alignment because the polar stars were considered sacred.

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Erroneous
block count

The number of large stone blocks used to build the Pyramids of Egypt is often overstated. For example, it is commonly written that 2.3 million were used for Khufu's structure. The actual figure is many times smaller when you divide the cubic size of the pyramid by the average cubic size of the stone blocks.

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Burial-chamber
locations

A small minority of archaeologists speculate that the tomb robbers were unsuccessful in finding the true burial chambers in the Pyramids of Egypt because the tomb builders were cleverer than the thieves. If so, the true pharaonic mummies and treasures are still concealed somewhere within their respective pyramids, waiting to be detected by future technology.

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