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Once upon a time the ancient Egyptians began to build the pyramids. One of them, the most popular now, is the great pyramid, Khufu's pyramid. As all the other pyramids, Khufu's pyramid was built on the west bank of the Nile River. The architects started building the pyramid, by marking the outlines in the desert sand. It took the workers twenty years to finish it. At the end they put a special block covered in shining metal on the top of it and they used blocks of white limestone, which were trimmed, to make the outside of the pyramid smooth. The inside of the great pyramid is quite different in comparison with the inside of other pyramids. The main reason that makes this pyramid different from the others is that, apart from the underground chamber, there is another chamber for the king, higher. There are three opinions for the underground chamber. The first is that it was left unfinished for religious reasons. The second is that it was meant to be the burial chamber for Khufu and the third is that it was built to fool tomb robbers and lead them away from the real burial chamber. Also there are other parts in the great pyramid, such as other chambers, passages, air shafts, etc. The descending passage is twenty-nine meters long and the ascending passage is one meter wide and one meter tall. The connecting passage was used by the workers to get out of the pyramid after large blocks of stone were lowered to block the ascending passage. The grand gallery is nine meters tall and it connects the ascending passage and the king's chamber. The queen's chamber was meant to hold Khufu's funeral objects and not to be the burial chamber for a queen. There are two opinions for the airshafts. The first is that they were built to provide ventilation for the people working inside the pyramid while it was being built. The second is that they had a religious purpose because they are directed towards certain stars, the north pointing airshafts were directed towards the northern polar stars and the south pointing airshafts were directed towards the constellation of Orion. Today Khufu's chamber is empty, except for the granite sarcophagus in the corner. Khufu's mummy and all his goods were taken by ancient tombs robbers after Khufu was buried there. Another reason which makes the great pyramid different from the others is that, it consists of many buildings outside. There were two temples: a valley and a mortuary temple. The valley temple was the starting point for the pharaoh's funeral. The mortuary temple was next to Khufu's pyramid and it was where offerings were left and daily rituals were carried out for the king. There were also some smaller pyramids out of the Great Pyramid. The queens' pyramids and the satellite pyramid. The queens' pyramids were built on the eastern side of the pyramid. They built the satellite pyramid as a symbolic pyramid for Khufu's ka. The causeway was a long walkway that joined the valley temple and the mortuary temple and, according to experts' beliefs, it was decorated with painted relief and perhaps it had a ceiling with painted stars. They used the boat pits to bury boats, because they represented the "bark" that the pharaoh would travel in after he died. Others believe that these boats were actually used in Khufu's funeral procession across the Nile.
The pyramids were built in Egypt thousands of years ago. They were used as tombs for the pharaohs and their queens. Today, we know 80 pyramids. The most well known is Khufu's pyramid. They were built on the west bank of the Nile. The architects started building Khufu's pyramid by marking the outlines in the desert sand. The workers were slaves and farmers. It took them 20 years to build it. On top of it they put a special block covered in shining metal. They used blocks of white limestone which was trimmed to make it smooth. OUTSIDE THE PYRAMID The valley temple was the starting point for the pharaoh's funeral. The mortuary temple was next to the great pyramid. It was used to leave offerings and daily rituals. The queens' pyramids were built on the eastern side of the pyramid. The causeway was a long walkway that joined the valley temple and the mortuary temple. The causeway according to experts' beliefs, had walls decorated with painted relief. They buried in the boat pits the boats which represented the bark that the pharaoh would travel in after he died. The satellite pyramid was built as a symbolic tomb for Khufu's ka. The nobles wanted to be buried near their pharaoh because they wanted to stay close to him in the next life. That's why there are so many mastabas. INSIDE THE PYRAMID The underground chamber was: left unfinished for religious reasons or originally meant to be the burial chamber of Khufu or built to fool tomb robbers and lead them away from the real burial chamber. The descending passage is about twenty-nine meters long. The ascending passage is only about one meter wide and one meter tall. They used the connecting passage to get out of the pyramid after large blocks of stone were lowered to block the ascending passage. The grand gallery is nine meters tall. It connects the ascending passage and the king's Chamber. The queen's chamber was meant to hold Khufu's funerary objects and not to be the burial chamber for a queen. According to some experts the airshafts were built to provide ventilation for the people working inside the pyramid while it was built. According to some others they had a religious purpose because they are directed towards the polar stars; the south ones were directed towards the constellation of Orion. Today Khufu's chamber is completely empty except for the granite sarcophagus in the corner. Khufu's mummy and all his goods were probably taken out of the pyramid by ancient tomb robbers after Khufu was buried there.
The biggest of the pyramids is Khufu's pyramid or the "Great pyramid". It was built on the west bank of the Nile River. It is one hundred and forty six metres high and each side of the base is two hundred and thirty metres. Egyptians used about two millions blocks of stones which weigh two and a half tones. The monument is a masterpiece of technical skill and mechanic ability. The geometric exactness of arrangement and the exactness in which the stones have been cut is amazing. Herodotus says that the pyramid "needed" thousands of workers for more than thirty years. The workers were farmers or slaves and they changed every three months. Thousands died because of hard work or illness. Khufu forced everyone to bring huge stones and work hard for twenty hours a day. The architects started to build the pyramid by making the outlines in the desert sand. They wanted to make the outside surface smooth so they used blocks of white limestone. On the top of the pyramid they put a special block covered in shining metal. Inside the pyramid they constructed the "Grand Gallery", many different passages and queen's and king's chambers. They made airshafts to provide ventilation for the people working inside the pyramid while it was being built. Today Khufu's pyramid is empty except the big granite sarcophagus. Khufu's mummy and the goods which were inside, were probably stolen by ancient tomb robbers. That fact doesn't reduce the splendor of pyramid and doesn’t refute the mystery and the legend of the "Great Pyramid".
In ancient Egypt, people used to believe that after death life continued. That's why we see those huge buildings in Egypt called pyramids. The pyramids were built so they could bury their king, pharaoh. Nowadays eighty of them are known. The most famous of them all is Khufu's pyramid. Scientists named those pyramids "Houses of Eternity", which means forever houses, for endless time. The pyramids were built across the river Nile, on the west bank. According to the scientists Khufu's pyramid took 20 years to finish. When they built it they put a special block covered in shining gold metal on top of it. They also put white limestone to make the outside of the pyramid smooth. Surrounding the pyramid there were many buildings. One of them was the valley temple, where the pharaoh's funeral started. In front of the pyramid there were three smaller pyramids, named queens' pyramids. There were also some graves named mastabas where rich people were buried. Inside the pyramid was a complicated system. There was an underground chamber were Khufu was supposed to be buried. The underground chamber was connected with the exit, by the descending passage. The ascending passage connected the exit, the descending passage and the grand gallery. The grand gallery is nine metres tall and it connects the ascending passage with the king's chamber. They also built airshafts to provide air for the workers inside the pyramid. According to some experts Khufu's mummy and his goods were stolen by ancient tomb robbers.
The pyramids were used as tombs for the pharaohs. There are about 80 pyramids known today. The most well-known of these pyramids, the Great Pyramid, was built for the pharaoh Khufu. The pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile River. The architects marked the outlines in the desert sand. The workers were farmers and slaves. It took them 20 years to finish Khufu's pyramid. On top of it they put a special block covered in shining metal. To make the outside of the pyramid smooth they used trimmed blocks of limestone. The names of the buildings outside the great pyramid are: mortuary temple, satellite pyramid, causeway, boat pits, queen's pyramids, mastabas and valley temple. The valley temple was where the funeral procession started. The mortuary temple was next to the Great pyramid and it was used for offerings and daily rituals. The causeway was a long walkway that joined the valley temple and the mortuary temple. According to experts' beliefs it had walls decorated with painted relief and a ceiling with painted stars. They buried boats in the boat pits because they believed that the boats buried in these pits represented the bark. the pharaoh would travel in after he died or they were used in Khufu's funeral procession across the Nile. They built a satellite pyramid as a symbolic tomb for Khufu's Ka. The nobles wanted to be buried near their pharaoh so they built mastabas all around the great pyramid. The names of the parts you can see inside the pyramid are: chambers above king's chamber, under ground chamber, queen's chamber, ascending passage, descending passage, grand gallery and air shafts. The underground chamber was left unfinished for religious reasons, or was originally meant to be the burial chamber of Khufu or it was built to fool tomb robbers. The descending passage is 29 metres long. The ascending passage is 1 metre wide and a little over 1 metre tall. The workers used the connecting passage to get out of the pyramid after large blocks of stone were lowered to block the ascending passage. The Grand Gallery is almost 9 metres tall. It connects the ascending passage and the king's chamber. The Queen's chamber was meant to hold Khufu's funerary object and not to be the burial chamber for a queen. According to some experts the airshafts were built to provide ventilation for the people working inside the pyramid while it was being built. According to some others they had a religious purpose because they are directed towards certain stars. The north pointing airshafts were directed towards the northern polar stars while the south ones were directed towards the constellation of Orion. Khufu's chamber is now completely empty expect for the granite sarcophagus. Khufu's mummy and all of his funerary goods for the next life were probably taken out of the pyramid by ancient tomb robbers.
The pyramids were used as tombs for the pharaohs and their queens. Only eighty of all the still exist today. The most well - known is the Great Pyramid. The phrase "house of eternity" means pyramids tombs. The pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile. The architects built Khufu's pyramid by marking the outlines in the desert sand. Most of the workers were slaves or farmers. It took them twenty years to finish Khufu's pyramid and they put on top of it a special block covered in shining metal. They used blocks of white limestone which were trimmed to make the outside of the pyramid smooth. The buildings outside the Great Pyramid are: the mortuary temple, the satellite pyramid, the causeway, the boat pits, the queens' pyramids, the mastabas and the valley temple. The parts you can see inside the pyramid are: the chambers above king's chamber, the underground chamber, the queen's chamber, the connecting passage, the king's chamber, the ascending passage, the descending passage, the grand gallery, the north painting air shafts and the south painting air shafts.
Khufu's pyramid was built by slaves but there are some possibilities that 100,000 farmers helped them, because the Nile flooded and they could not do farm works. They worked hard, about 18 years. The pyramid at last finished in 2566 BC. The pyramid was the largest and oldest in Giza. It is the most attractive place in Egypt. Herodotus says that it took them 10 years only to prepare the ground, ramps, waterways and underground chamber. The grand gallery is a very visiting place. It is almost 9 metres tall. It connects the King's chamber and the acceding passage. The queen's chamber was meant to hold Khufu's funerary objects. As all pyramids, it had poisonous gasses. But some people found a way to get in and stole Khufu's mummy and his objects. Today, there's only Khufu's sarcophagus and some of his golden objects. Today, many people go to visit it. And that worths it because it has many interesting places.
The pyramids in Ancient Egypt were used as tombs for pharaohs and their Queens. Today we know eighty of them and the most well known is Khufu's pyramid. The phrase "House of eternity" means tomb. Khufu's pyramid was built on the west bank of the Nile River. The architects started building it by planning the outlines in the desert sand. The workers were slaves and farmers. Khufu's pyramid took a long time to finish, about 20 whole years. They put on top of the pyramid a special block covered in shining metal (gold or electrum). They used blocks of white limestone from quarries across the Nile which were trimmed to make the outside of the pyramid smooth. Khufu's pyramid was not one building only but a group of buildings. The group included the Valley temple, the Causeway, the Mortuary temple, the Boat pits, the Satellite pyramid, the Queens' pyramids and the Mastabas. The Valley temple was where the Pharaoh's funeral began. The Mortuary temple was where offerings and daily rituals were left. The Queens' pyramids were built on the eastern side of the pyramid. The Causeway was a long walkway that joined the Valley temple and the Mortuary temple. The Causeway had, according to experts' beliefs, walls decorated of painted relief and perhaps a ceiling with painted stars. They buried boats in the Boat pits because some experts believe that the boats buried in these pits represented the bark that the pharaoh would travel in after he died. Some others believe that these boats were actually used in Khufu's funeral procession across the Nile. The nobles wanted to be buried near their favourite pharaoh because they wanted to stay close to him in the next life. That's why there are so many mastabas all around the Pyramid. The inside of the pyramid included many parts: the chambers above King's chamber, the Underground chamber, the Queen's chamber, the Connecting passage, the Descending passage, the King's chamber, the Ascending passage, the Grand gallery ( the biggest room) and the air shafts. The Underground chamber was left unfinished for religious reasons, or it was originally meant to be the burial chamber of Khufu, or it was built to fool tomb robbers and lead them away from the real room. The Descending passage was about twenty-nine metres long. The Ascending passage was one metre wide and a little over one metre tall. The Grand gallery was almost nine metres tall and it connects the Ascending passage and the King’s chamber. The Queen's chamber was meant to hold Khufu's funerary objects and not to be the burial chamber for a Queen. According to some experts the airshafts were built to provide ventilation for the people working inside the pyramid while it was being built. According to some others they had a religious purpose because they are directed towards certain stars. The north pointing airshafts were directed towards the northern polar stars while the south ones were directed towards the constellation of Orion. Khufu's chamber today is completely empty except for the granite sarcophagus in the corner. Khufu's mummy and his goods were taken out of the pyramid by ancient tomb robbers after Khufu was buried there.
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