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Why the
Pyramids of Egypt
are special
The Pyramids of Egypt are so massive they confound the imagination. They are even more
amazing when we consider that they were built nearly 4600 years ago.
About my animated
picture of the
Pyramids of Egypt
 The animated picture on the
right illustrates the marked difference
in appearance between the way the Pyramids of Egypt look originally and today.
When built, they were
covered with a smooth limestone surfacing that
gave them a sleek finished look.
Today they have a rugged exterior
because subsequent ancient rulers filched the
surface stones from the monuments for use on their
own buildings.
Khufu's Pyramid
reigns supreme among
the three great
Pyramids of Eqypt
Pharaoh Khufu's structure is
the oldest, biggest and most famous of the great Pyramids of Egypt.
It was built during the
reign of pharaoh Khufu (2589 to 2566 BC) and is
the only true surviving member of the Seven
Ancient Wonders of the World.
Khufu's edifice
is the farthest of the three great
Pyramids of Egypt in the above picture. It seems
shorter than the middle pyramid (Chephren's) for
two reasons. First, Khufu's sits higher on
the plateau than Chephren's. Second, the
photographic vantage point makes Khufu's
seem smaller.
For
more insights on the pyramid of Khufu, click the
round green "7 Wonders"
button. Because Khufu's
pyramid is one of the original Seven Wonders of
the World, it has its own dedicated web page in
the Seven Wonders section of this website.
The mummies are
missing from all
three of the great
Pyramids of Egypt
The mummies were likely removed long ago by sophisticated tomb robbers. The priceless buried
treasures of the pharaohs were also taken.
Interesting tidbits
about
the Pyramids
of Egypt at Giza
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.
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.
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.
The
three great Pyramids of Egypt have a
north-south alignment because the polar stars were
considered sacred.
The
number of large stone blocks used to build the
Pyramids of Egypt is often overstated.
For example, it is commonly written that 2,300,000
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.
Some
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 pharaonic mummies and treasures are still concealed
somewhere within their respective pyramids,
waiting to be detected by future technology.
View my other top 100
Wonders of the World
 
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