Egyptian pyramids history of origin. Mystery of the Egyptian pyramids

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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 to 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.

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 on 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 construction is called broken pyramid but it still has intact outer shells.

The oldest pyramids in Saqqara

Saqqara is one of the huge necropolises ancient city which 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 famous pink pyramid, so named because of the red limestone used in 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. Ancient World and the most famous sights. This is sacred place impresses with 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". Project author Great Pyramid in Egypt they call 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 western 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 nearly 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 are the only ancient wonder light that still exists 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 were built. ancient egypt, and on methods of construction directly Great. 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 processed stone blocks. These blocks had an impressive weight of two to fifteen tons. After completion of construction funerary structure hit the weight, which was about 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, not more great pyramids 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 slopes, along which stone blocks were towed along 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.

The pyramids have been standing on Earth for so long that it's time to figure out all the riddles, isn't it? However, things are still there! We bring to your attention the most Interesting Facts about the pyramids that Faktrum managed to find.

1. The three most famous Egyptian pyramids are those in the Giza Necropolis, but in fact, approximately 140 pyramids have been discovered in the area of ancient Egypt.

2. The oldest Egyptian pyramid is the Pyramid of Djoser, which was built in the Necropolis of Saqqara in the 27th century BC.

3. While the Pyramid of Djoser is considered the oldest, the Pyramid of Cheops is the largest. The original height of the pyramid was 146.5 meters, and the current height is 138.8 meters.

4. Until Lincoln Cathedral of Our Lady was built in England in 1311, the Great Pyramid of Giza held the title of the world's tallest man-made structure. She held the record for at least three thousand years!

5. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the last one in existence today.

6. Estimates of the number of workers involved in the construction of the pyramids vary greatly, however, it is likely that at least 100,000 people built them.

7. The Pyramids of Giza are guarded by the Great Sphinx, the largest monolithic sculpture in the world. It is believed that the face of the Sphinx was given a resemblance to the face of Pharaoh Khafre.

8. All Egyptian pyramids were built on the western bank of the Nile River, which is the place where the sun sets and is associated with the realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology.

9. The ancient Egyptians buried their noble citizens in pyramids with funerary gifts that ranged from household items to the most expensive items such as jewelry. They believed that the dead would use them in the afterlife.

10. The earliest known architect of the pyramids was Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian polymath, engineer and physician. He is considered the author of the first major pyramid - the Pyramid of Djoser.

11. While experts generally agree on the hypothesis that the pyramids were built from huge stones cut with copper chisels in quarries, the methods used to move and fold them are still the subject of heated debate and speculation.

12. Another relatively obvious fact is that the methods used to build the pyramids evolved over time. The pyramids of the later period were built differently from the earliest pyramids.

13. After the end of the period of pyramid building in ancient Egypt, an outbreak of pyramid building began in the territory of modern Sudan.

14. In the 12th century, an attempt was made to destroy the pyramids of Giza. Al-Aziz, the Kurdish ruler and second sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty, tried to demolish them, but he had to give up, as the task was too large-scale. However, he managed to damage the Pyramid of Menkaure, where his attempts left a vertical gaping pit in its northern slope.

15. The three pyramids of Giza are precisely aligned with the constellation of Orion, which may well have been the intention of the builders, since the stars of Orion were associated with Osiris, the god of rebirth and the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology.

16. According to estimates, the Great Pyramid of Giza consists of 2,300,000 stone blocks that weigh from 2 to 30 tons, and some of them even reach a weight of more than 50 tons.

17. Initially, the pyramids were covered with facing stones made of well-polished white limestone. These stones reflected the light of the sun and made the pyramids shine like precious stones.

18. When facing stones covered the pyramids, they could be seen from the mountains in Israel and maybe even from the moon.

19. Despite the wild heat around the pyramids, the temperature in the pyramids themselves actually remains relatively constant and stays around 20 degrees Celsius.

21. The Pyramid of Cheops was built facing north. In fact, it is the most carefully north-aligned structure in the world. Even though it was built millennia ago, the pyramid still faces north, with only a slight margin of error. However, the error occurred because the N Pole is gradually shifting, which means that at one time the pyramid was pointing exactly north.

22. On average, each pyramid took 200 years to build. This means that often several pyramids were built at once, and not one pyramid.

23. One of the reasons why the pyramids are so well preserved is the unique cement mortar used in them. It is stronger than real stone, but we still don't know how they prepared it.

24. Contrary to popular belief, the pyramids were most likely not built by slaves or prisoners. They were built by ordinary workers who received wages.

25. Although many people associate pyramids with hieroglyphs, no inscriptions or hieroglyphs have been found in the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu (in the Greek version of Cheops), or the Great Pyramid - the greatest of the Egyptian pyramids, the oldest of the seven wonders of the world of antiquity and the only one of them that has come down to our time. For over four thousand years, the pyramid was the largest building in the world.

The pyramid of Cheops is located in the far suburbs of Cairo Giza. Nearby are two more pyramids of the pharaohs Khafre and Menkaure (Khafren and Mikerin), according to ancient historians, the sons and successors of Khufu. These are the three largest pyramids in Egypt.

Following the ancient authors, most modern historians consider the pyramids to be the burial structures of the ancient Egyptian monarchs. Some scholars believe that they were astronomical observatories. There is no direct evidence that pharaohs were buried in the pyramids, but other versions of their purpose are less convincing.

When was the pyramid of Cheops built?

Based on the ancient "royal lists", it is established that Cheops ruled around 2585-2566. BC. The construction of the "Sacred Height" lasted 20 years and ended after the death of Khufu, around 2560 BC.

Other versions of construction dates based on astronomical methods give dates from 2720 to 2577. BC. The radiocarbon method shows a spread of 170 years, from 2850 to 2680. BC.

There are also exotic opinions expressed by supporters of theories of visiting the Earth by aliens, the existence of ancient pra-civilizations, or adherents of occult currents. They determine the age of the pyramid of Cheops from 6-7 to tens of thousands of years.

How the pyramid was built

The Pyramid of Cheops is still the largest stone building on the planet. Its height is 137 m, the length of the side of the base is 230.38 m, the angle of inclination of the edge is 51 ° 50 ", the total volume is about 2.5 million cubic meters. At the time of completion of construction, the height was 9.5 m higher, and the side of the base was 2 m longer, however, over the past centuries, almost the entire lining of the pyramid has been dismantled.Natural factors have also done their job - temperature drops and winds from the desert, carrying clouds of sand.

Ancient Greek historians reported that the labor of millions of slaves was used in the construction. Modern researchers believe that with the proper organization of work and engineering, the Egyptians would have had several tens of thousands of workers for the construction. For the transportation of materials, temporary workers were involved, the number of which, according to Herodotus, reached 100 thousand. Modern scientists fully agree with this, as well as with the reality of a 20-year construction period.

Hemiun, the head of the royal works, supervised the construction of the pyramid. Hemiun's tomb is located next to his creation; a statue of the architect was found in it.

The main material for the construction was gray limestone, which was cut down in the nearest quarries or brought from the other side of the Nile. The pyramid was lined with light sandstone, because of which it literally shone under the sunlight. Granite was used for interior decoration, which was delivered a thousand kilometers from the area of \u200b\u200bpresent-day Aswan. The building was crowned with a hewn gilded granite block - a pyramidion.

In total, the construction of the pyramid took about 2.3 million blocks of limestone and 115 thousand facing plates. The total mass of the building, according to modern estimates, is almost 6 million tons.

The block sizes vary. The largest ones are laid in the base, their height is one and a half meters. The blocks are smaller the higher they are. The height of the block at the top was 55 cm. The length of the facing slabs ranged from 1.5 to 0.75 m.

The work of the pyramid builders was extremely difficult. A lot of time and effort required the extraction of stone, hewing blocks and fitting to the right size. In those days, neither iron nor bronze was known in Egypt. The tools were made of relatively soft copper, so they wore down quickly and were very expensive. Flint tools were widely used - saws, drills, hammers. Many of them were found during excavations.

Delivery of materials was carried out by river, and the stone was brought to the construction site on a wooden sled or rollers. It was hellish work, because the average weight of one block is 2.5 tons, and some of them weighed up to 50 tons.

A variety of devices were used to lift and install the monoliths, and inclined embankments were erected to pull up the most massive elements that make up the lower rows. Images of construction work have been found in a number of Egyptian temples and tombs.

Recently, an original theory has emerged regarding the construction methods of the Egyptians. Scientists who studied the microstructure of the blocks in order to establish their origin, found foreign inclusions. According to experts, these are the remains of animal hair and human hair, from which the scientists concluded that the limestone was crushed in the places of extraction and delivered to the construction site in crushed form. Blocks were made directly at the place of laying from the limestone mass, which thus were a semblance of modern concrete structures, and tool marks on the blocks are actually formwork prints.

Be that as it may, the construction was completed, and the grandiose dimensions of the pyramid fully justify the supporters of the theories of the Atlanteans and aliens who do not believe in the possibility of human genius.

What is inside the pyramid

The entrance to the pyramid was made at a height of almost 16 meters in the form of an arch of granite slabs. It was later sealed with a granite cork and covered with cladding. The current entrance, 10 meters lower, was broken in 831 by order of Caliph Al-Mamun, who hoped to find gold here, but did not find anything of value.

The main premises are the pharaoh's chamber, the queen's chamber, the Great Gallery and the underground chamber. The passage punched by Al-Mamun leads to a 105-meter inclined corridor, ending in a chamber carved into the rock below the base of the pyramid. Its dimensions are 14x8 m., height 3.5 m. Works here were not completed for unknown reasons.

At 18 meters from the entrance, a 40-meter-long ascending corridor separates from the descending corridor, ending in the Great Gallery. The Gallery itself is a high (8.5 m) tunnel 46.6 m long leading to the pharaoh's chamber. The corridor to the queen's chamber branches off from the Gallery at its very beginning. A rectangular ditch 60 cm deep and 1 m wide was pierced in the floor of the Gallery; its purpose is unknown.

The length of the pharaoh's chamber is 10.5 m, width 5.4 m, height 5.84 m. It is lined with black granite slabs. Here is an empty granite sarcophagus. The queen's chamber is more modest - 5.76 x 5.23 x 6.26 m.

Channels 20-25 cm wide lead from the burial chambers to the surface of the pyramid. The channels of the king's chamber go out at one end into the room, at the other - onto the surface of the pyramid. The channels of the queen's chamber begin 13 cm from the wall and do not reach 12 m to the surface, and both ends of the channels are closed with stone doors with handles. It is assumed that the channels were made to ventilate the premises during the work. Another version, connected with the beliefs of the Egyptians, claims that this is the path to the afterlife, which the souls of the deceased had to go through.

No less mysterious is another small room, the Grotto, to which an almost vertical passage leads from the beginning Big Gallery. The grotto is located at the junction of the base of the pyramid and the hill on which it stands. The walls of the Grotto are reinforced with rather roughly worked stone. It is assumed that this is part of some structure older than the pyramid.

It is necessary to mention one discovery related to the pyramid. In 1954, at the southern edge, two stone-lined pits were discovered, in which were the pharaoh's boats, made of Lebanese cedar. One of the boats has been restored and is now in a special pavilion next to the pyramid. Its length is 43.5 m, width is 5.6 m.

The study of the pyramid of Cheops continues. Research using the latest methods used in the exploration of the earth's interior, show with a high degree of probability the existence of unknown caverns inside the pyramid. So it is quite possible that scientists expect new interesting findings and discoveries.

In the meantime, the Great Pyramid keeps its secrets, proudly rising in the middle of the desert, like millennia ago. After all, according to an ancient Arabic proverb, everything in the world is afraid of time, but time is afraid of the pyramids.

general information

Among the Egyptian pyramids there are huge and more modest scales, with a smooth surface and stepped ones, which are very well preserved and resemble a pile of ruins. They can be observed in Saqqara and Memphis, Khawara and Upper Egypt, Medum and Abusir, El Lahun and Abu Ravash. However, only a few are considered the main tourist sites, namely the pyramids in Giza, a suburb of the Egyptian capital, erected, as is commonly believed, during the reign of the IV-VI dynasties of the pharaohs, which fell on the XXVI-XXIII centuries BC. e.

Looking at these grandiose creations of human hands, one involuntarily thinks: how much time and effort was spent on the construction of such structures, which seem - at least in their scale - absolutely useless. Either the pharaohs who ruled 45 centuries ago thereby wanted to emphasize their own divinity and the greatness of their era, or these structures contain some hidden meaning that is still inaccessible to our understanding. But it is difficult to comprehend it, because the secrets are securely hidden under the layer of millennia, and we have no choice but to build guesses and versions, hoping that sooner or later all the secret will definitely become clear ...

Secrets of the Egyptian pyramids

The Egyptian pyramids are shrouded in a halo of myths and secrets, and with the passage of time and the development of science, there are still more questions than answers. As the proverb says: "Everything in the world is afraid of time, but time itself is afraid of the pyramids." Interest is fueled by various theories about the appearance of these majestic monuments. Fans of the mystical consider the pyramids to be powerful energy sources and believe that the pharaohs spent time in them not only after death, but also during their lifetime in order to draw strength. There are also quite incredible ideas: for example, some believe that the Egyptian pyramids were built by aliens, and others that the blocks were moved by people who own a magic crystal. Let's look at the generally accepted and most likely scenario.

Religion in the life of ancient Egypt occupied a dominant position. It shaped both the worldview of the people and their entire culture. Death was perceived only as a transition to another world, so preparation for it had to take place ahead of time, even during earthly life. However, the privilege of remaining "immortal" was, as it was believed, only with the pharaoh and members of his family. And he, at his own discretion, could bestow it on his entourage. Commoners were deprived of the right to an afterlife, with the exception of servants and slaves, whom the powerful ruler "took" with him. Nothing should have interfered with the comfortable "existence" of a high-ranking deceased, so he was supplied with everything necessary - food supplies, household utensils, weapons, servants.

At first, the rulers were buried in special "houses after life", and in order for the body of the pharaoh to be preserved for centuries, he was embalmed. These early burial buildings - mastabas - date back to the period of the first dynasties. They consisted of an underground burial chamber and an above-ground part in the form of a stone structure, where chapels were equipped and grave goods were located. In section, these tombs resembled a trapezoid. They were built in Abydos, Nagadei, Upper Egypt. The main necropolis of the then capital of the first dynasties - the city of Memphis - was located in Saqqara.

Actually, pyramidal tombs began to be erected about 5 thousand years ago. The initiator of their construction was Pharaoh Djoser (or Necherihet), the first in the III dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The construction of the necropolis named after this ruler was led by the supreme dignitary and famous architect of his time, Imhotep, who was almost equated with a deity. If we discard all the fantastic versions about the contacts of the then rulers with aliens and proceed from the fact that these structures were nevertheless built by people on their own, then the scale of work, their laboriousness cannot but impress. Experts tried to establish their chronology and nature, and here are the results they came up with. Since the pyramids are made of stone blocks, the question immediately arose: where and how were they mined? It turned out, in the rocks ...

Having marked the shape in the rock and hollowed out the grooves, dry trees were inserted into them, which were watered with water. From moisture, they expanded and created cracks in the rock, facilitating the process of excavating blocks. Then they were immediately, on the spot, subjected to processing with tools and, having given the desired shape, they were sent by river to the construction site. But how did the Egyptians lift these heavy masses up? First, they were loaded onto wooden sleds and pulled along gentle embankments. By modern standards, such technologies look backward. However, the quality of work is top notch! The megaliths are so closely adjacent to each other that there are practically no mismatches.

The Pyramid of Djoser, located in Saqqara, is considered the very first pyramid in Egypt and the oldest of such large stone structures surviving in the world (its size is 125 by 115 meters with a height of 62 meters). It was built in 2670 BC. e. and has the appearance of a building with six huge lined steps. Because of so unusual shape in those distant times it was called the "false pyramid". The pyramid of Djoser began to attract the attention of travelers since the Middle Ages, and this interest has not dried up to this day.

The architect initially did not plan to build such a pyramid. The stepped tomb became in the process of construction. In the presence of steps, a symbolic meaning is clearly guessed: the deceased pharaoh was supposed to ascend to heaven along them. This structure differed from previous necropolises in that it was built of stone, not brick. And one more feature: the presence of a very wide and deep vertical shaft, closed from above by a dome. In the pyramids built later, there is nothing of the kind. Of no less interest to archaeologists and Egyptologists are the marble fragments under the sarcophagus, on which carved images resembling stars are visible. These are clearly fragments of some unknown structure, but no one knows exactly which one.

The Pyramid of Djoser was intended not only for himself, and in this it also differs from other similar structures. In the burial chambers, there are only 12 of them, the ruler and members of his family were buried. Archaeologists discovered the mummy of an 8-9-year-old boy, apparently a son. But the body of the pharaoh himself could not be found. Perhaps he owned the mummified heel found here. Even in ancient times, it is believed that robbers entered the tomb, probably abducting its dead "owner" as well.

However, the version of the robbery does not seem so unambiguous. When examining the inner galleries, gold jewelry, porphyry bowls, clay and stone jugs and other valuables were found. Why didn't the thieves carry all this wealth? Historians were also interested in the seals affixed to small clay vessels. The name “Sekemhet” was written on them, translated as “mighty in body”. It clearly belonged to an unknown pharaoh of one of the powerful dynasties. Everything indicated that in ancient times the construction of another pyramid was started here, but for some reason it was not completed. They even found an empty sarcophagus, the internal state of which allowed us to conclude that no one was buried here ...

As for the pyramid of Djoser itself, the attraction has been well preserved to this day and is open to tourists. The entrance to it, as well as to other structures on the territory, is located on the north side. A tunnel equipped with columns leads inside. The northern temple, whose location on the ground is clear from the name itself, is one with the pyramid. architectural ensemble. Funeral services were held in it and sacrifices were made in the name of the pharaoh.

Egyptian pyramids at Giza

The most famous among all the Egyptian pyramids are the so-called great pyramids, located in Giza - the third largest city in the modern Arab Republic of Egypt, with a population of almost 3 million people. The metropolis is located on the west bank of the Nile, about 20 km from Cairo and is actually a suburb of the capital.

The Great Pyramids of Giza are by far the most popular ancient monuments in the country. For many years, visiting them has become almost a ritual for tourists. Fly to Egypt and not see these majestic structures with your own eyes? This is unimaginable! Many travelers even consider this place spiritual, connected with the cosmos, and visiting here becomes akin to some kind of healing. Recent studies have shown that the builders of the necropolises pointed them surprisingly accurately to the belt of the constellation Orion, in which there is an as yet unrevealed meaning. It is also interesting that their faces are oriented to the sides of the sun, and this is done with the same accuracy.

The Egyptian pyramids at Giza are undoubtedly extremely impressive sight. Their sandstone façades reflect the sunlight: pink in the morning, golden in the afternoon, and dark crimson at dusk. It is impossible not to admire the feat of engineering and organization that resulted in millions of stone blocks being transported from one place to another and accurately stacked on top of each other without power plants or lifting equipment.

The complex of the great pyramids is made up of the tombs of the three most ancient rulers - Cheops, Khafre and Mykerin. Unlike the previous "houses after life" (makabs), these necropolises have a strict pyramidal shape. Moreover, the first of them is the only one of the seven wonders of the world that have survived to this day.

Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)

You can talk about the pyramid of Cheops (or Khufu) for a long time and a lot, but in any case the story will be incomplete, because it continues to keep many unsolved secrets. One of them is the orientation to the North Pole exactly along the meridian: with its top, the monumental structure “looks” at the North Star. It is amazing how ancient architects could make such accurate calculations without modern astronomical instruments. This accuracy has even less error than the famous Paris Observatory.

Cheops, the second pharaoh of the fourth dynasty of Ancient Egypt, who reigned for 27 years, has the glory of a cruel and despotic ruler. He literally exhausted the resources of his kingdom, directing them to the construction of the pyramid. He was also merciless to his people, forcing them to overwork on the construction of his posthumous "dwelling". The Great Pyramid was built in three stages, as evidenced by the corresponding number of chambers. The first, its area is 8 by 14 meters, was carved deep into the rock, the second (5.7 x 5.2 m) - under the top of the pyramid. The third chamber - it is the only one of them completed - and became the tomb of the pharaoh. Special mention should be made of her. It stretches 10.4 m from west to east, and 5.2 m from south to north. Granite slabs, with which the room is lined, fit perfectly to each other. Nine monolithic blocks form the ceiling, their total weight is 400 tons.

Each cell has its own “hallway” connected to adjacent shaft corridors. At first, the entrance to the tomb was located on the north side and was located above the base at a height of 25 meters. Currently, you can enter the pyramid from another place, and this entrance is not so high. The builders could hardly have imagined that after several thousand years their brainchild would become a tourist attraction, so the 40-meter corridor was made not only narrow, but also low. Numerous tourists have to overcome it by crouching. The corridor ends with a wooden staircase. It leads to the same low room, which is the center of the entire necropolis.

The height of the pyramid of Cheops is more than 146 meters - this is the "growth" of a 50-story skyscraper. After the Great Wall of China, it is she who is the largest structure ever erected in all of human history. The attraction is not in "loneliness", there are several other buildings around it. Of these, only three companion pyramids and the ruins of the mortuary temple have survived to this day. Obviously, no less effort was made to build them. According to the most common version, the companion pyramids were intended for the wives of the ruler.

Pyramid of Khafre (Khafra)

A pharaoh named Khafre was either the son or brother of Cheops and reigned after him. His pyramid, located nearby, is somewhat smaller, however, at first glance, it is perceived as more significant. And all because it stands on some elevation. The pyramid of Khafre was found during archaeological excavations in 1860. The tomb of this ancient Egyptian ruler is “protected” by the famous Sphinx, which looks like a lion lying on the sand, whose face may have been given the features of Khafre himself. Being the oldest of the monumental sculptures preserved on our planet (its length is 72 m, height is 20 m), it is interesting in itself. Egyptologists tend to think that the tombs of the two pharaohs, together with the sphinx, represent a single burial complex. Slaves, it is believed, were not involved in the construction of this pyramid: free workers were hired for this purpose ...

Top of Khafre's pyramid

Pyramid of Menkaure (Menkaura)

And finally, the pyramid of Menkaure is the third in the complex of great monuments of Giza. Also known as the Pyramid of Menkaure, it bears the name of the fifth pharaoh of the fourth ancient Egyptian dynasty. Little is known about this ruler - only that he was the son of Cheops (at least, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus claimed so). This necropolis is called the "younger brother" of the two aforementioned tombs: it was built later than the others and the lowest of them, its height is slightly more than 65 meters. Such modest dimensions testify to the decline ancient kingdom, lack of resources necessary for construction.

However, the monumentality of the structure as such did not suffer from this. For example, the weight of one of the blocks used in the construction of the mortuary temple exceeds 200 tons, which makes it the heaviest on the Giza plateau. Just imagine what inhuman efforts had to be made to put this colossus in place. And the majestic statue of the pharaoh himself, seated inside the temple! She is among the most large sculptures, personifying that mysterious era ... From the pyramid of Mikerin, as the smallest, the destruction of the entire historical and architectural complex in Giza, conceived by Sultan al-Malik al-Aziza, who ruled at the end of the 12th century, could begin. The dismantling of the necropolis lasted about a year, but the practical result was minimal. The Sultan was eventually forced to turn them off, because his, frankly, stupid and unjustified undertaking entailed exorbitant costs.

Sphinx

At the base of the sacred causeway that once connected the pyramid of Khafre with the Nile, there is the Sphinx - a mysterious sculpture with the head of Khafre attached to a lion's body. In Egyptian mythology, sphinxes were guardian deities, and this sculpture is a protective monument 73 m long and 20 m high. After the death of the pharaoh, the body of the Sphinx was gradually covered with desert sands. Thutmose IV believed that the statue addressed him and said that he would become pharaoh if he cleared the sand, which he hastened to do. Since then, the ancient Egyptians believed that the monument had prophetic powers.

Solar Boat Museum

Behind the pyramid of Cheops is the Museum of the Solar Boat, which houses a beautifully restored cedar boat, on which the body of the dead pharaoh was transported from the east to the west bank of the Nile.

Useful information for tourists

The Great Pyramid Complex of Giza is open to the public from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily. The exceptions are the winter months (opening hours until 16:30) and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when access closes at 15:00.

Some travelers believe that if the pyramids are located under open sky and are not a museum in the truest sense of the word, then here you can feel free, climb and climb these structures. Remember: it is strictly forbidden to do this - in the interests of your own safety!

Before agreeing to enter the pyramids, objectively assess your psychological state and physical health. Persons who have a fear of closed spaces (claustrophobia) should skip this part of the tour. Due to the fact that inside the tombs it is usually dry, hot and a little dusty, it is not recommended to enter here for asthmatics, hypertensive patients and those suffering from other diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous system.

How much will a tourist visit the Egyptian pyramids area? Cost has several components. The entrance ticket to it will cost you 60 Egyptian pounds, which is equivalent to about 8 euros. Would you like to visit the pyramid of Cheops? For this you will have to pay 100 pounds or 13 euros. Inspection from the inside of the Khafre pyramid is much cheaper - 20 pounds or 2.60 euros.

A visit to the Solar Boat Museum, which is located south of the Cheops Pyramid (40 pounds or 5 euros), is also paid separately. Taking pictures in the pyramid zone is allowed, but for the right to take pictures you will have to pay 1 euro. Visiting other pyramids in Giza - for example, the mother and wife of Pharaoh Khafre - is not paid.

Many tourists admit that, after getting to know the main attractions, leaving this amazing place, literally saturated with the spirit of antiquity, you don’t want to at all. In such cases, you can rent camels for leisurely walks. Their owners wait for clients right at the foot of the pyramids. They may overcharge for their services. Do not settle for it right away, bargain, and you will get a discount.

The Pyramid of Cheops is the only surviving wonder of the world.
The pyramids were built for two centuries and were built several at a time. Now, according to the studies of various scientists, their age is from 4 to 10 thousand years.
In addition to the exact mathematical proportions, the pyramids have another feature in this area. The stone blocks are arranged in such a way that there are no gaps between them at all, even the thinnest blade will not fit through.
Each side of the pyramid is located in the direction of one side of the world.
The Pyramid of Cheops, the largest in the world, reaches a height of 146 meters, and its weight is more than six million tons.
If you want to know how the Egyptian pyramids were built, you can learn interesting facts about the construction from the pyramids themselves. Construction scenes are depicted on the walls of the aisles. The sides of the pyramids are curved by one meter so that they can accumulate solar energy. Thanks to this, the pyramids could reach thousands of degrees and emit an incomprehensible rumble from such incandescence.
For the pyramid of Cheops, a perfectly straight foundation was made, so the faces differ from each other by only five centimeters.
The first pyramid built is dated 2670 BC. e. In appearance, it resembles several pyramids located next to each other. The architect created a type of masonry that helped achieve this effect.
The pyramid of Cheops was created from 2.3 million blocks, perfectly even and matching each other.
Structures similar to the Egyptian pyramids are also found in Sudan, where the tradition was later picked up.
Archaeologists managed to find the village where the pyramid builders lived. A brewery and a bakery were discovered there.

Camels in front of the Pyramids of Giza

How to get there

Tourists from Russia and the CIS countries usually prefer to spend their holidays in Sharm el-Sheikh or Hurghada and often want to combine their holidays on magnificent beaches with a visit to the Giza pyramid complex. Since the resorts are far enough from the named city, you can only get there as part of an excursion group. If you go by bus, then you will have to spend from 6 to 8 hours on the way. By plane it will be faster: fly in just 60 minutes. It can also be reached by car with a driver. It is much more comfortable, but it will significantly hit the wallet.

In a more advantageous position are those who rest in Cairo, or stay in the Egyptian capital on a business trip. They can take the bus (routes nos. 900 and 997) or the subway (yellow line no. 2, exit at Giza station). Alternatively, you can call a taxi or catch one at Tahrir Square. The trip will cost more than public transport, but you will get there faster, in just half an hour. It will be possible to return by the same car and back, only you will have to pay a little more.

You can get to Giza from the capital by taking a bus in the New Cairo (aka Heliopolis) area, which follows one of two routes: No. 355 or No. 357. These comfortable vehicles, plying every 20 minutes, are marked with the letters STA, by which they are easy to recognize. Ending station is located just before the entrance to the pyramid zone, at the crossroads.

Funerary culture of ancient Egypt

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

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

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 western 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 nearly 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

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

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 building 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.