Mysteries of the Egyptian pyramids. Egyptian pyramids: interesting facts

Everyone knows how many interesting, sometimes amazing scientific discoveries were made by scientists on ancient Egyptian land. A lot of wonderful finds were given by her tombs and temples. But the greatest miracle of Egypt, which amazed people in ancient times, were the pyramids - these amazing artificial mountains - the tombs of the ancient Egyptian kings. Travelers sailing along the yellow waters of the Nile have always been struck by a sharp line where the Nile valley with its green fields and date groves is replaced by the hot sands of the dead Libyan desert.

These are the Egyptian pyramids.

They seem to grow out of the sands of the desert - colossal, majestic, overwhelming a person with their extraordinary size and severity of outlines. Standing at the foot of the pyramid, it is hard to imagine that these huge stone mountains were created by human hands. Meanwhile, they were really built from separate stone blocks, as children today build pyramids from cubes. Thousands of hands of slaves and Egyptians subject to the pharaoh were busy with hard and useless work - the creation of a huge stone mountain, which was supposed to hide the dead body of the Egyptian king in its bowels.

By creating an eternal tomb, the pharaoh provided his immortal spirit with an eternal home.

The first of the Egyptian kings to erect a pyramid over his tomb was Pharaoh Djoser. This one ancient pyramid Egypt consists of six huge steps. Before the construction of the first pyramid in Egypt, tombs were erected with a massive rectangular above-ground part made of stone. In shape, they resemble Arabic benches - mastabas - and under this name they entered science. The Pyramid of Djoser essentially consisted of six such mastabas, placed one on top of the other, decreasing upwards. The creation of the world's first stone structure of such significant size (about 60 m high) is attributed to Imhotep, a remarkable medical scientist, mathematician and architect, the former vizier of King Djoser. The fame of Imhotep was so great that after several centuries his name was surrounded by legends. From a later time, statuettes depicting this remarkable architect have been preserved. Apparently, Pharaoh Djoser himself was so pleased with the unprecedented tomb built by Imhotep that he allowed the name of the architect to be carved on the base of his statue - an honor completely unheard of in ancient Egypt. During excavations of the mortuary temple, located near the pyramid of Djoser, scientists found fragments of several statues of the pharaoh and among them a pedestal on which the name of Imhotep was written.

Excavations near the pyramid of Djoser have opened a whole "city of the dead" that surrounded the tomb of the pharaoh. Mastabas were built around - the tombs of members of the royal family and nobles close to the pharaoh. There was also a memorial temple where sacrifices were made in honor of the deceased pharaoh. During the excavations of the temple, archaeologists discovered a hall decorated with the oldest columns in the world. True, these were not yet ordinary round columns, they only half protruded from the walls, but Imhotep, long before the Greek architects, created the prototype of a strict and slender Dorian colonnade.

The mortuary temple and the pyramid were surrounded by a wall of white limestone and, according to the architect, formed a single architectural ensemble.

The space near the pyramid was carefully studied by archaeologists at the beginning of our century. However, the Egyptian scientist Mohammed Ghoneim drew attention to one of the terraces southeast of the pyramid of Djoser. A thorough examination by Goneim discovered the remains of stone walls, fragments of processed limestone and alabaster, Goneim decided to excavate. The work uncovered the remains of masonry of large unhewn stones. It was the foundation of a massive fence, the same one that once surrounded the pyramid of Djoser. The top of this fence was dismantled in antiquity. Then a well-preserved part of the fence opened under a thick layer of sand and rubble - the workers called it the White Wall. It was magnificent - lined with white polished limestone, decorated with elegant ledges. Undoubtedly, the wall enclosed the pyramid. But where are the traces of the tomb itself, as ancient as the one-of-a-kind pyramid of Djoser so far?

Goneim decided to look for the remains of the pyramid in the center of the site and turned out to be right. From under the multi-meter thickness of sand, rubble and construction debris, the lower massive step of the ancient tomb appeared. The height of the step was 7 m. Goneim determined that this pyramid should have had seven steps. Consequently, it was one step higher than the famous pyramid of Djoser. The height of the open pyramid should have reached 70 m. But if the remains of the pyramid were buried under a deep layer of sand, then the burial itself is intact. I had to look for him. Near the lower step of the pyramid, a passage carved into the rock was discovered. It was a long corridor with branches.

In some of the galleries, things were found that only increased interest in the central burial, proving that the tomb was not robbed in antiquity. Goneim found many stone and clay vessels, gold jewelry, a box for ointments made of gold, a large number of beautiful bowls of porphyry.

But the most valuable find was the seals on small vessels made of dark red clay. On the seals, Goneim read the name Sekhemkhet, which meant "powerful in body" - it was the name of the pharaoh of one of the most ancient dynasties, unknown until now. Interest in the unknown lord buried in the pyramid increased even more. The Egyptian newspapers were full of articles with cryptic and sensational headlines like: "The Shining of Gold from the Tomb of the Pharaoh" or "The Gold Placers of the Unfinished Pyramid." Everyone was looking forward to the progress of the work. After a long search, many disappointments, at great risk (several times the stones collapsed into underground passages) the scientist managed to get into the tomb.

In the unfinished, hastily carved central hall (construction debris was not removed, but it was only raked into the neighboring galleries) stood a magnificent alabaster sarcophagus. When the archaeologist carefully examined the sarcophagus, he was amazed - the sarcophagus did not have a lid. Carved from a single block of alabaster, it was closed on the front side with a door that lowered and rose in grooves. With excitement, Goneim was convinced that, after the sarcophagus was placed in the tomb, no one touched it - a funeral wreath of decayed flowers and herbs was placed on top, or rather, what was left of the funeral wreath laid on the sarcophagus 4700 years ago .

On the day appointed for the opening of the sarcophagus of the hitherto unknown pharaoh, the underground crypt was filled with a crowd of Egyptologists, photo and film reporters, and journalists. They watched with bated breath as the workers began to lift the heavy alabaster door. In deep silence, the sarcophagus was opened. It was empty. Shocked, Goneim carefully examined the sarcophagus. On its walls there were only traces left by the tools with which the craftsmen drilled and gouged the inside of the sarcophagus. No one has ever been buried in this magnificent tomb. Rubble and construction debris, not removed from the galleries and passages, the unfinished view of the tomb itself, the unfinished pyramid, the empty sarcophagus - all this was a mystery to Egyptologists.

The mystery of the unfinished pyramid was difficult to solve. Perhaps the pharaoh, for whom the tomb was intended, died unexpectedly, and his successor did not consider it necessary to continue construction. Maybe there were some other important events, unknown to us (as the name of King Sekhemkhet himself was unknown until recently), which forced the pharaoh to suddenly interrupt the construction of the pyramid. The secret remains a secret. But the riddles that have arisen before scientists are resolved sooner or later by them. So it was with many other monuments discovered on ancient Egyptian soil.

Much was unclear in the great pyramid, built by Pharaoh Khufu (or Cheops in Greek), who lived in the XXVIII century. BC.

This huge pyramid has been standing for almost five thousand years. Its height reached 147 m (now, due to the collapse of the peak, its height is 137 m), and each of the sides is 233 m long. In order to go around the pyramid of Khufu, you need to walk about a kilometer. Until the end of the XIX century. Khufu's pyramid was the tallest building on earth. Its grandiose size amazed everyone who was in Egypt. No wonder the first Russian travelers who came to Egypt called the pyramids "man-made mountains."

Scientists have calculated that the pyramid of Khufu was built from 2,300,000 huge blocks of limestone, smoothly polished, and each of these blocks weighed more than two tons. The carefully hewn and polished limestone blocks were so skillfully fitted one to the other that it was impossible to insert a knife blade into the gap between the two stones.

The stones were tightly adjacent to each other and held by their own weight. The accuracy of the work of masons and grinders is surprising, especially if you imagine that the ancient artisans who created such grandiose monuments of human labor still used stone tools. In the quarries on the right bank of the Nile, not far from ancient capital Egypt Memphis, thousands of workers quarried stone for the construction of the pyramid. According to the boundaries of the stone block marked on the limestone rock, the workers gouged deep furrows in the stone. This work took a lot of effort and work. Having hollowed out depressions in the furrow, the workers hammered wedges of dry wood into them and poured water over them. The wet wood began to swell, the crack widened, and the block broke off from the rock. The chipped stone was pulled out of the quarry shafts with the help of thick ropes woven from papyrus (such ropes were found in ancient quarries). Limestone boulders were then hewn by specialist masons here and there together. Stonemasons worked with a whole range of tools made of wood, stone and copper. This work, of course, was easier than the work of quarrying stone, but even here one had to work from dawn to dusk under scorching sun. In the well-known teaching of the ancient Egyptian scribe Akhtoy, in which he tells his son Piopi about various professions, it says: “A stonemason looks for work on any hard stone, when he finishes, his hands drop, he is tired. And so he sits until dusk, his knees and his back is bent." This teaching was written by a scribe who lived in the era of the Middle Kingdom. And the pyramids were built many centuries before, and it is unlikely that the work of a stonemason of that time was easier than in the time of the scribe Akhtoy. Blocks of white facing limestone were transported on boats to the other side of the Nile. They were brought to the construction site, loaded onto special wooden sleds. Ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century BC. BC, was the first scientist who reported in detail the information he had collected about the pyramids. The work of Herodotus was an extensive narrative, consisting of nine books, in one of which he described his journey to Egypt. The first chapter of the famous "History" of Herodotus began with the words: "Herodotus of Halicarnassus presents the following research so that the deeds of people are not erased from our memory from time to time, and also so that huge and surprisingly worthy structures, filled partly by Hellenes, partly by barbarians, are not ingloriously forgotten" . Herodotus conscientiously and thoroughly recorded the stories of the Egyptians about how the pyramids were created. Only one road, along which stones were delivered from the quarries to the place where the pyramid was erected, was built for about ten years. This road itself, wide, lined on the sides with polished stone, decorated with various images, according to Herodotus, was an amazing structure.

After the masons, the front side of the facing stone was processed by grinders. They worked with grinding stone, water and sand. As a result of long-term processing, the surface of the plate became smooth and shiny. After that, the stones were considered ready for construction.

On a limestone rock, cleared of sand, gravel and stone, the builders erected the bulk of the pyramid, stacking the blocks with giant steps. Among these blocks, according to Herodotus, there was not one that did not reach 9 m.

According to the story of Herodotus, in order to drag stone blocks up, an inclined embankment was built. Subsequently, it was leveled. Along it, the builders, driven by the sticks of the overseers, pulled heavy stones on ropes, which were set in place with the help of a wooden lever. How many people died under the weight of a broken block of stone, how many were crippled when laying stones, how many died from overwork here, at the still unfinished walls of the pyramid! And this is for twenty long years. When the laying of the pyramid was completed, its steps were laid with facing blocks. They were brought from the quarries located in Upper Egypt, near Aswan. On the ledges of the pyramid, the facing blocks were lifted up and laid from top to bottom. Then they were polished. Under the rays of the southern sun, they shone with a dazzling brilliance against the cloudless Egyptian sky. Herodotus tells that the construction of the pyramid of Khufu lasted about twenty years. Every three months, workers changed, the number of which reached 100,000 people. Scourge of overseers, debilitating heat, inhuman labor did their job. After all, there were no machines for lifting two-ton limestone blocks. Everything was done only with the help of living human power. Even if we accept taking into account that Herodotus made a number of obvious exaggerations and inaccuracies, all the same, the figures he cited give an idea of ​​the grandiose scope of work undertaken by Cheops to create a colossal tomb.In the same story, Herodotus mentions an inscription made on the pyramid, which indicated the amount, spent on onions, garlic and radishes for the workers was equal to 1600 talents. "If this is true," exclaims Herodotus, "then how much should be spent on iron tools for work, on food and clothing for workers?"

The entire burial structure was almost solid masonry. The entrance to the pyramid was always located on its northern face, at a height of about 14 m from the ground. There were several chambers inside the pyramid, of which only two were burial chambers. One, the lower one, as scientists suggest, was intended for the wife of the king. The second, somewhat larger (10.6 X 5.7 m), located at a height of 42.5 m from the base of the pyramid, served as the tomb of the pharaoh himself. It contained a sarcophagus of polished red granite. Above the burial chamber of the king, one above the other, there are five deaf chambers, apparently designed to distribute pressure over the chamber. Several narrow and long passages were laid in the thickness of the pyramid, leading to the chambers located inside the pyramid, and to the chamber dug under its base. Scientists also traced two ventilation slots that penetrated the thickness of the masonry and went from the chamber of Cheops himself. When clearing the surface of the pyramid, many blocks were found to have marks made with red paint and containing the name of Pharaoh Khufu. Parts of the ancient lining were discovered by archaeologists when clearing the lower part of the pyramid, covered with sand. The fit of the facing stones was so perfect that it was impossible to immediately determine the places of their connection. And when photographing this cladding, the researchers had to specially paint around the seams where the blocks closed. We can safely say that none of the kings who ruled after Khufu could surpass his tomb in size and grandeur, but the name of the pharaoh, who decided to glorify himself by building an unprecedentedly magnificent pyramid, was hated by the people of Egypt for many centuries.

The second largest after the tomb of Khufu is the pyramid of Pharaoh Khafre (Chephren). It is 8 m lower, but less destroyed. The top of the pyramid retained part of the polished facing. The rest of the pyramids are much smaller, and many of them have been badly damaged.

Near the pyramid of Khafre, a hill rises from the sand of the desert. Its height is about 20 m, length is about 60 m. Approaching the hill, travelers see a huge statue carved almost entirely from the rock. This is the famous Great Sphinx - the figure of a reclining lion with a human head. His face was cracked, his nose and chin were beaten off. So Muslim Arabs crippled a statue that stood for millennia. The Arabs believed that evil spirits lived in the statues of the ancient Egyptian gods, and therefore they tried to destroy as many of their images as possible. With such a giant as a great sphinx, they could not cope, but they mutilated it thoroughly.

"Father of horror" - this is how the inhabitants of the desert call the great sphinx. He instills the greatest fear in them at night, illuminated by the bright moon, when deep shadows give his features a special expressiveness.

Who does this colossal statue represent, why did it end up in such close proximity to the pyramids? On the head of the statue is a bandage worn only by the pharaohs. Scientists believe that this is a statue of the pharaoh Khafre, which was part of a number of structures associated with the tomb of the pharaoh.

In ancient Egypt, not every mortal had the right to approach the pyramid - this "eternal horizon", beyond which the pharaoh "went" (they did not say about the pharaoh that he died - he "set" beyond the horizon, like the sun; Egyptian kings called themselves sons sun). So that those who wish could honor the memory of the deceased pharaoh without offending his greatness, a mortuary temple was erected at some distance from the pyramid - something like the reception hall of the deceased king. Massive rectangular pillars of polished granite supported the ceiling. The granite walls and floor of the building were carefully polished.

The light fell from small holes punched in the upper part of the walls, and created a solemn twilight, in which the dark statues of the pharaoh, the lord, receiving respectful guests, seemed especially majestic. A long covered corridor led from this solemn hall to the pyramid. Its walls and floor were also made of polished granite. Along this corridor, the pharaoh's body was carried to the pyramid in a heavy sarcophagus made of valuable stone.

In order to keep the body of the king, which was the abode of his soul (among the Egyptians, it was called Ka), from decay, he was embalmed. A detailed story about the process of embalming was preserved for us by the ancient Greek writer Diodorus, who lived in the 1st century BC. AD Herodotus also speaks of the embalming of the dead. The deceased was brought to the embalming room. The corpse was laid on the floor and a man who was called the mark-maker approached him. On the left side of the body, he marked with a line the place where the incision was to be made. Then another person approached and made an incision on the corpse with an Ethiopian stone, after which he fled, as, according to custom, all those present threw stones at him with curses. These curses constituted the ancient religious ritual associated with the mutilation of the deceased. After that, the embalmers proceeded directly to the body. One with iron hooks through the nostrils removed part of the brain from the skull. The remaining brain was dissolved by injection of various strong drugs. Through a wound in the side, the insides were taken out, which were washed with palm wine and fragrant essences. Then they were wrapped in a thin linen cloth and put into special canopic vessels made of clay, alabaster or porphyry. Canopic lids were made in the form of various heads. The stomach and intestines were put into a canopy with a lid depicting a human head, lungs and a heart were in a canopy with a jackal's head, and a vessel with a falcon's head was intended for the liver. At this time, the body of the deceased was first rubbed with cedar oil and washed inside with palm wine. Then for 40 days they put it in a special alkaline solution. Then they were washed again with wine and impregnated with various aromatic resins that prevent decay. After filling the inside of the body with aromatic substances, the incision was sewn up and the embalmed corpse was handed over to special dressers who decorated it. Often they gilded the nails on the hands and feet, inserted eyes made of crystal or ivory. Rings were worn on the fingers and toes. Having dressed up the deceased in this way, the dressers covered the whole body with a layer of glue and began wrapping it with thin linen bandages. They wrapped, carefully wrapping, fingers and toes and the whole body several times, so that the length of these bandages was several hundred meters. In this way, a mummy was prepared - an incorruptible abode for the spirit Ka, which was supposed to live forever.

The same Diodorus says that when the king of Egypt was dying, a long mourning was imposed on the whole country, lasting seventy-two days. Temples were locked, no sacrifices were made to the gods, no celebrations were celebrated, no anointing was done with incense. All these days the Egyptians did not eat meat, wine, or starchy food. Sprinkling ashes on their heads, crowds of men and women wandered around the city with mournful chants in which the virtues of the deceased pharaoh were glorified. On the day appointed for burial, the sarcophagus with the embalmed body of the pharaoh was placed on special skids, decorated with the richest carvings and paintings, and with solemn ceremonies the deceased lord, the "son of the sun", who had gone to the gods, was escorted on his last journey. The sarcophagus with the body of the king was placed in a crypt inside the pyramid, the granite walls and ceiling of which were carefully polished.

The pharaoh's relatives and the priests made sure that the deceased was not in danger in afterlife so that he can move freely inside his tomb and that the gods accept him as an equal. Therefore, often the walls of the premises inside the pyramids are dotted with prayers and spells. Doors that led from one room to another or from a corridor to a cell were subjected to a particularly thorough curse. In the pyramid of Pharaoh VI of the Pepi dynasty, a whole hymn is written near the first door, which states that these "doors of heaven" open only for Pepi, but not for anyone else. In front of another door there is a text ending with the words: "When Pepi comes with his Ka, the door must open. This pyramid is dedicated to Pepi and his Ka." On the walls adjacent to the doors, there are images of the door guards - baboons, wolves, lions, and spells against them and evil demons threatening the deceased pharaoh. These texts, found in large numbers, are among the most ancient works of religious literature. Scholars named them after the place of discovery "Pyramid Texts".

Caring for the safety of the spirit of the deceased in the afterlife, his relatives did not forget about the vital necessary things. Jewels and various items belonging to the pharaoh were kept in special rooms. After all, the ancient Egyptians believed that the deceased continues to live after death, that he needs all those things that he needed during his lifetime. And the splendid tomb of the king served as his home, just as during his lifetime the house was a magnificent palace.

On holidays in memory of the deceased pharaoh, a solemn procession went to his pyramid. In the hall with columns in front of the image of the pharaoh, "sitting next to Ra", prayers were made and sacrifices were made. These days in the "city of the dead" near great pyramids it was noisy and busy. Herds of sacrificial animals were driven, people were walking with baskets of gifts, flowers, offerings. Only relatives of the king, close associates and priests were allowed into the mortuary temple. The remaining participants in the procession in honor of the deceased pharaoh remained in the valley at the entrance to the corridor leading to the mortuary temple of the king, and waited for the end of the sacrifice. To the pyramid - the consecrated resting place of the pharaoh, who became a deity - a mere mortal did not dare to approach. However, the riches that filled the pantries of the royal tomb were a great temptation for the robbers. The builders of the pyramids foresaw this. The entrance to the crypt was closed from the inside with a heavy keystone. After the completion of the funeral ceremonies, supports were knocked out from under the stone and the entrance to the central chamber of the pyramid, where a magnificent granite sarcophagus with the body of the pharaoh stood, was closed forever.

The same huge stone, lowered down the sloping passage into the crypt, closed the passage to the corridor.

The well, along which people descended, after all the entrances and exits were walled up, fell asleep. The royal grave was inaccessible to people and demons. The pharaoh could rest peacefully under the hundred-meter-high pyramid, hanging over the vaulted crypt.

But all the precautions were in vain. The royal tombs were robbed in antiquity, and only empty halls and complex passages inside the pyramids have survived to this day. One could only guess about the unheard-of value of the treasures that lurked in the royal graves until, in 1922-1923. the famous tomb of the king of the XVIII dynasty Tutankhamun, who died in the XIV century, was not opened. BC, more than 32 centuries ago. By a lucky chance, it was not looted, and all the utensils that accompanied the king to his afterlife appeared before the eyes of scientists.

Several rooms surrounded the central chamber, where stood the sarcophagus of the young king, who died when he was only 18 years old. All these pantries were filled with a mass of things. There were four royal chariots bound with gold, magnificent royal beds with the heads of animals, a golden throne, on the back of which the image of the deceased pharaoh and his wife was made of precious stones. Fragrant ointments were stored in miraculous vessels made of transparent alabaster. Roasted geese and hams were found in wooden cases - the food of the young king in his afterlife. Numerous chests with clothes, jewelry, shoes, and vessels filled the pantries.

At the entrance were statues of the pharaoh himself, guarding the doors that led to the central room. When the door was opened, the scientists saw a solid golden wall, decorated with turquoise tiles. It was a huge box - a sarcophagus, which occupied almost the entire room. On one side of the box there were doors sealed with a seal with the name of Tutankhamun and closed with a bronze bolt. Three thousand years have passed since the seal of the pharaoh was placed on these doors, and now they creaked again, but already at the hand of an archaeologist. The first case has been removed. Beneath it was a second, just as ornate. The piers between the first and second sarcophagi were also filled with things. There were two magnificent golden ostrich-feather fans, wonderful alabaster vessels and many other valuable things.

The third coffin was made of expensive carved gilded oak. When it was also removed, under it was a sarcophagus made of pink granite of extraordinary beauty. Having removed the lid, the scientists saw a gilded bed, on which there was a sarcophagus in the form of a swaddled mummy. It was covered with sheets of gold and sparkled with precious stones.

The last case, in which the mummy of Pharaoh Tutankhamen lay, wrapped in 16 linen sheets, was made of pure gold. On the face of the mummy was a golden mask, a portrait of a young pharaoh. On the mummy found a huge amount of gold jewelry - necklaces and bracelets. Gold forged sandals were worn on the feet, fingers and toes were enclosed in gold cases. The treasures found in the tomb of the young king had no price. But it was not yet the richest burial of the Egyptian rulers.

Pharaoh Tutankhamen was an insignificant ruler, under him Egypt did not achieve much power and wealth. No pyramid was erected over his grave. In this era, the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings, in tombs carved into the rock.

What untold riches must have contained the burials of other, more powerful rulers of Egypt! It is no coincidence that the Babylonian king wrote Egyptian pharaoh: "My brother, there is as much gold in your country as there is sand."

And, probably, weeks and months were needed to place everything in numerous storerooms and hiding places. priceless gifts, treasures and sacrificial offerings that were due to a powerful king.

No wonder the inscriptions found in the pyramids compare the deceased pharaoh with the sun god Ra himself, the supreme deity of the Egyptians.

"He flies, flying away ... He flies from you, O people," one of the inscriptions reads. "He is no longer on earth, he is in heaven ... He rows in your boat, O Ra, in your boat he rules in heaven, and when you leave the eastern horizon, he sails with you in your boat, O Ra Oh Sun!"

But although the texts of the pyramids praised the divine power of the pharaoh, although the powerful walls of the pyramid reliably hid the burial of the king, the huge granite sarcophagi in the pyramids of the kings Khufu and Khafre are empty. Even in ancient times, the temples at the pyramid of Khafre were destroyed. Huge statues of pharaoh Khafre were smashed and thrown into a well, from where they were excavated by archaeologists during excavations. It was clear that these magnificent statues of dark hard stone had not suffered from time. They were deliberately spoiled, broken into pieces, mutilated.

Even Herodotus, who collected stories about the pharaohs - the builders of the pyramids during his trip to Egypt, wrote that the kings Khufu and Khafre, who erected the largest pyramids, were hated by the people even after death. It was said that the people, driven to despair by overwork, requisitions, hunger and poverty, rebelled and devastated the tombs of these two most merciless tyrants. The mummies of Khufu and Khafre were thrown out of their magnificent tombs and torn to pieces. The indignant people smashed the statues that perpetuated the memory of these cruel oppressors wherever they met. And the hated names of Khufu and Khafre were forgotten for many centuries, the people avoided calling them.

It is easy to imagine what a grandiose uprising resulted in the despair of the people, who had been languishing for decades on the construction of the huge pyramid of Khufu.

Vague traditions have come down to our time about this uprising. But the papyri, which tell of the performances of the Egyptian poor in later times, say that the Egyptian people were not humble sufferers. He tried to protect his freedom from the arbitrariness of the rich. The papyri repeatedly mention popular unrest, when the people, brought out of patience by the despotism of the pharaoh, the priests and the rich, took up arms. Stonemasons and stone-cutters, exhausted by overwork, rebelled. Craftsmen and peasants rose. They were joined by slaves who worked in quarries, irrigation canals and dams. They sacked rich estates, temples, killed the oppressors, destroyed the very memory of them, imprinted in statues, tombs, memorial temples.

"The rich man falls asleep hungry, and those who used to beg for his olives drink strong wine ... those who had no bread now have barns ..." - this is what one of the papyri called "Complaint of Ipuwer" says. "The earth turned like a potter's wheel: the insignificant ones own treasures... The noble ones are full of complaints, and the insignificant ones are full of joy," the priest Ipuwer narrated with horror.

Apparently, the rebellious people managed to temporarily seize part of the wealth of the nobility, land, livestock, granaries. The exploiters were forced to work in the most difficult and humiliating work. Civil war broke out in Egypt.

But from the same papyri, scientists learned that the old order was restored again, when, according to Ipuwer, “the hands of people will build pyramids, dig ponds, plant groves of trees for the gods; it’s good when noble people stand dressed in thin clothes, and look at the rejoicing in their house ... ".

These people, whose hands were supposed to build the pyramids again, were the same Egyptian poor - artisans, farmers, slaves. They again fell under the merciless oppression of taxes, duties, exhausting and hard work.

During the uprising and civil war temples, royal tombs and tombs of the nobility were not built. But when calm came, the pharaohs and the nobility began to re-erect magnificent funerary structures.

In Egypt, even the most distinguished person did not dare to think of building such burial structure like a pyramid. Only the pharaoh, the son of the Sun, could have such a grandiose tomb. The tombs of noble Egyptians were either carved into the rock or built of stone or brick. These were low rectangular structures built over the crypt. tombs Egyptian nobility they usually crowd around the pyramids, as if the nobles wanted to be closer to the pharaoh after death.

These mastaba tombs usually had several rooms. In the main was a sarcophagus with the body of the deceased. In one of the rooms were stacked things that belonged to the owner of the tomb. In a small room, there was usually a statue of the deceased. The scale walls were decorated with paintings or painted reliefs. The colors of the paintings amaze with their brightness and freshness. The liveliness and subtlety of the drawing were amazing. But the Egyptian artists worked with rather rough brushes made from pieces of fibrous wood. At one end, such a piece was broken with a stone until it was ground, forming a rough fringe. With such primitive brushes (several brushes with remnants of paint on them were found in the tombs), the artists created elegant, picturesque images that adorned the walls of the tombs.

Here you can see scenes of everyday life - harvesting, sowing, artisans and farmers at work, hunting, boating on the Nile, dancing girls, dancing warriors. Simple people, industrious and talented - such were the Egyptian workers, depicted in their usual occupations.

And not the nobles - the owners of rich mastabas decorated with paintings, who boastfully listed their services to the pharaoh, immortalized themselves by building these tombs, but modest workers, whose names are not named in the inscriptions.

It was they who grew the wonderful crops of the Nile Valley. They built irrigation canals and dams, they carved magnificent statues, erected beautiful temples, decorated the walls of the building with wonderful reliefs full of life's truth. And in these pictures of everyday life, they immortalized themselves, their inconspicuous work, without which the entire thousand-year-old culture of Egypt could not exist. Without knowing it themselves, they have preserved to this day on the stone pages of the walls stories about their hard working life, about the forced existence of some and the prosperity of others, about their sorrows, amusements and entertainments.

There are less and less unsolved mysteries on our planet every year. The constant improvement of technology, the cooperation of scientists from various fields of science reveals to us the secrets and mysteries of history. But the secrets of the pyramids still defy understanding - all discoveries give scientists only tentative answers to many questions. Who built the Egyptian pyramids, what was the construction technology, whether there is a curse of the pharaohs - these and many other questions still remain without an exact answer.

Description of the Egyptian pyramids

Archaeologists talk about 118 pyramids in Egypt, partially or completely preserved to our time. Their age is from 4 to 10 thousand years. One of them - Cheops - is the only surviving "miracle" from the "Seven Wonders of the World". The complex called "The Great Pyramids of Giza", which includes and, was also considered as a participant in the New Seven Wonders of the World competition, but it was withdrawn from participation, since these majestic structures are actually the "wonder of the world" in the ancient list.

These pyramids have become the most visited sightseeing objects in Egypt. They are perfectly preserved, which cannot be said about many other structures - time did not spare them. Yes and locals contributed to the destruction of the majestic necropolises, removing the lining and breaking out the stones from the walls to build their houses.

The Egyptian pyramids were built by pharaohs ruling from the 27th century BC. e. and later. They were intended for the repose of the rulers. The huge scale of the tombs (some up to almost 150 m high) should have testified to the greatness of the buried pharaohs, things that the ruler loved during his lifetime and which would be useful to him in the afterlife were also placed here.

For the construction, stone blocks of various sizes were used, which were hollowed out of the rocks, and later brick began to serve as the material for the walls. Stone blocks were turned and adjusted so that a knife blade could not slip between them. Blocks were stacked on top of each other with an offset of several centimeters, which formed a stepped surface of the structure. Almost all Egyptian pyramids have a square base, the sides of which are oriented strictly to the cardinal points.

Since the pyramids performed the same function, that is, they served as the burial place of the pharaohs, their structure and decoration are similar inside. The main component is the burial hall, where the ruler's sarcophagus was installed. The entrance was arranged not at ground level, but several meters higher, and it was disguised facing slabs. From entrance to inner hall Ladders and corridors led, which sometimes narrow so much that you can only walk along them squatting or crawling.

In most necropolises, burial chambers (chambers) are below ground level. Ventilation was carried out through narrow shaft-channels, which penetrated the walls. Rock paintings and ancient religious texts are found on the walls of many pyramids - in fact, scientists draw some of the information about the construction and owners of the burials from them.

The main mysteries of the pyramids

The list begins unsolved mysteries from the form of necropolises. Why was the shape of the pyramid chosen, which is translated from Greek as “polyhedron”? Why were the edges located clearly on the cardinal points? How did the huge stone blocks move from the place of development and how they were lifted to great height? Were the buildings erected by aliens or people who own a magic crystal?

Scientists even argue over the question of who built such tall monumental structures that stood for millennia. Some believe they were built by slaves who died in the hundreds of thousands building each. However, new discoveries of archaeologists and anthropologists convince us that the builders were free people who received good food and medical care. They made such conclusions based on the composition of the bones, the structure of the skeletons and the healed injuries of the buried builders.

All deaths and deaths of people involved in the study Egyptian pyramids, attributed mystical coincidences, which provoked rumors and talk about the curse of the pharaohs. There is no scientific evidence for this. Perhaps the rumors were spread to scare off thieves and marauders who want to find valuables and jewelry in the graves.

The mysterious interesting facts include the short time frame for the construction of the Egyptian pyramids. According to calculations, large necropolises with that level of technology should have been erected in at least a century. How, for example, was the pyramid of Cheops built in just 20 years?

Great Pyramids

This is the name of the burial complex near the city of Giza, consisting of three large pyramids, a huge statue of the Sphinx and small satellite pyramids, probably intended for the wives of the rulers.

The initial height of the pyramid of Cheops was 146 m, the length of the side was 230 m. It was built in 20 years in the 26th century BC. e. The largest of Egyptian landmarks has not one, but three funerary halls. One of them is below ground level, and two are above the base line. Intertwining corridors lead to the burial chambers. On them you can go to the chamber of the pharaoh (king), to the chamber of the queen and to the lower hall. The chamber of the pharaoh is a chamber made of pink granite, has dimensions of 10x5 m. A granite sarcophagus without a lid is installed in it. Not a single report of scientists contained information about the mummies found, so it is not known whether Cheops was buried here. By the way, the mummy of Cheops was not found in other tombs either.

It still remains a mystery whether the Cheops pyramid was used for its intended purpose, and if so, then apparently it was plundered by looters in the past centuries. The name of the ruler, by whose order and project this tomb was built, was learned from the drawings and hieroglyphs above the burial chamber. All other Egyptian pyramids, with the exception of Djoser, have a simpler engineering device.

Two other necropolises in Giza, built for the heirs of Cheops, are somewhat more modest in size:

Tourists travel to Giza from all over Egypt, because this city is actually a suburb of Cairo, and all transport interchanges lead to it. Travelers from Russia usually go to Giza as part of excursion groups from Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada. The trip is long, 6-8 hours one way, so the tour is usually designed for 2 days.

The great buildings are available for visiting only during working hours, usually until 17:00, in the month of Ramadan - until 15:00. It is not recommended to go inside for asthmatics, as well as people suffering from claustrophobia, nervous and cardiovascular diseases. You must take with you on the tour drinking water and headwear. The tour fee consists of several parts:

1. Entrance to the complex.
2. Entrance inside the pyramid of Cheops or Khafre.
3. Entrance to the Museum of the Solar boat, on which the body of the pharaoh was transported across the Nile.

Against the backdrop of the Egyptian pyramids, many people like to take photos while sitting on camels. You can bargain with camel owners.

Pyramid of Djoser

The first pyramid in the world is located in Saqqara, near Memphis - former capital ancient egypt. Today, the pyramid of Djoser is not as attractive to tourists as the Cheops necropolis, but at one time it was the largest in the country and the most complex in terms of engineering.

The burial complex included chapels, courtyards, and storage facilities. The six-step pyramid itself does not have a square base, but a rectangular one, with sides of 125x110 m. The height of the structure itself is 60 m, inside it there are 12 burial chambers, where Djoser himself and members of his family were supposedly buried. The mummy of the pharaoh was not found during the excavations. The entire territory of the complex of 15 hectares was surrounded by a stone wall 10 m high. Currently, part of the wall and other buildings have been restored, and the pyramid, whose age is approaching 4700 years, has been preserved quite well.

In the distant hot sands of Egypt created man-made miracle light, exciting the minds of researchers of different times. How many theories and hypotheses about their construction and purpose have already been expressed! The mysteries and mysteries of the Egyptian pyramids disturb not only scientists, but also ordinary people. How were such gigantic structures erected in antiquity? Involuntarily you begin to think about the intervention of extraterrestrial civilizations.

Who built the Egyptian pyramids

The Soviet occultist H. P. Blavatsky believes that the pyramids were built not 2500 BC, but 75 years earlier. And they were supposed to store the gene pool of humanity - the Atlanteans, who erected the pyramids.

Nostradamus also expressed his opinion that the people of Atlantis built the pyramids, but they did it not by mechanical influences on the blocks, but mentally acted on gravity.

Thanks to scientific research, we know about the voids under the pyramids, as well as under the Sphinx. Scientists launched a robot into the mines of the lower tier, but it did not go far - every now and then it ran into limestone doors.

Giant structures are literally riddled with mines, channels and voids along their entire length! And it has already been scientifically proven that all mines and canals were laid according to maps of the starry sky. A vertical channel runs along the axial line - supposedly for communication with the ancestors or the Universal mind.

There are also a large number of rooms that have nothing to do with the burial rite. During the excavations, lanterns of weak light were found - they were used in painting and arranging inside the pyramids.

The mysteries of the Egyptian pyramids are directly connected with Imhotep. His activities left an imprint on the entire history of Egypt - from 2630 BC. e. It is he who is the high priest and chief adviser to the pharaoh. It was he who created the project of the first pyramid of stone blocks. He was considered the god of medicine, architecture and philosophy.

Who actually built them? This question worries every person who is at least somewhat interested in the secrets of the Egyptian pyramids. Slave labor, primitive tools and less than 40 years of construction for each - and such a result ?! After all, they did not even have modern technology ...

And pyramids were built from stones mined in the Aswan quarries, which are located in the Macedonian mountains - tens of kilometers from Giza. The Egyptians indicated that they transported the stones along the Nile in boats, and then rolled them to the construction site. But the boats are light - they would easily sink from the weight of at least one such block. And even if the stones would roll, there would be a road and pieces breaking off from the blocks.

Date palms with very soft wood would not hold a single block, and there were not enough palms themselves to support such a large-scale construction.

The weight of the pyramid is 6500 billion tons. The construction took 2,300,000 stone blocks. Not only did the blocks have to be mined and delivered to the appointed place, they had to be dragged to a great height. According to scientists, it turned out that 20,000 workers, placing 10 monoliths each, would spend 664 years to complete the construction of a giant structure. But it’s not realistic for a pharaoh to live a good six hundred years!

The frescoes of Khufu's pyramid depict figures very similar to airplanes, helicopters, ships and submarines. But how could the Egyptians know about such technologies? How was it possible to carve images so similar to modern technology? Here it remains only to shrug. So far, we don't know the answer.