A pyramid is a structure which external surface is triangular and joins at the top in a single step, converting in a geometrically shaped pyramid. The base of the pyramid can be any polygon in shape like triangular shape etc. The Great Pyramid of Giza were some of the most man-made structures in history. Their huge scale reflects the unique role that pharaohs or kings played in ancient Egyptian society.
Although the pyramids were built from the beginning of the ancient kingdom to the end of the Ptolemaic era in the fourth century, the pinnacle of the pyramid building began towards the end of the third dynasty and continued until about the sixth (approximately 2325 BC). More than, 5000 years later, the pyramids of Egypt still retain their glory, providing a glimpse of the country’s rich and glorious past.
The Great Pyramid of Giza
No pyramid is more celebrated than the Great Pyramid of Giza, located on a plateau on the west bank of the Nile River on the outskirts of modern Cairo. Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids, known as the Great Pyramid, the only surviving structure among the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was built for Pharaoh Khufu (Greek for Chapus), the second of eight kings of the Fourth Dynasty to inherit Sneferu. Although Khufu ruled for 23 years (2589-2566 BC), little is known about his reign beyond the majesty of his pyramids.
The base of the pyramid averaged 755.75 feet (230 m), and its actual height was 481.4 feet (147 m), making it the largest pyramid in the world. Three small pyramids built for the Khufur queens lined the side of the Great Pyramid, and a tomb was found nearby where her mother, Queen Hetfeirs, had an empty sarcophagus. Like other pyramids, Khufu is surrounded by rows of Mastaba, where the king’s relatives or officials bury him to be his companion and support in later life. The central pyramid at Giza was built for Pharaoh Khafre (2558-2532 BC), son of Khufur. Pyramid of Khafar is the second longest pyramid of Giza and contains the tomb of Pharaoh Khafar.
A unique feature built inside the pyramid complex of Khafar was the Great Sphinx, a guardian statue carved in limestone with a human head and a lion’s body. It was the largest statue in the ancient world, measuring 240 feet tall and 66 feet high. In the 18th Dynasty (c. 1500 BC) the Great Sphinx came to worship himself as a local idol of the god Horace. The pyramid south of Giza was built for Menkaur, son of Khafar (2522-203 BC). It is the smallest of the three pyramids (218 feet) and is the predecessor of the smaller pyramids that were built during the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties.
Who Built the Egyptian Pyramids
Although some popular versions of history say that the pyramids were forced to work by slaves or foreigners, excavated skeletons from the area show that the workers were probably local Egyptian agricultural workers who worked on the pyramids during the year when the Nile flooded much nearby land.
Complete Information On Egyptian society
Egypt enjoyed tremendous economic prosperity and stability during the Third and Fourth Dynasties of the Old Kingdom. Kings achieved a unique position in Egyptian society. Somewhere between man and the divine sage, it was believed that they were chosen by the gods to act as their mediator on earth. For this reason, it was in everyone’s interest to keep the king’s glory intact even after his death, when he was believed to be Osiris, the god of the dead.
The new pharaoh, instead, became Horace, the Falcon-god who acted as the protector of the sun-god, Ra. To take proper care of his soul, the corpse was mummified, and gold pots, food, furniture, and other offerings were buried with whatever the king would need in the afterlife. The pyramids became the center of a religion of the dead king that was supposed to function well after his death. Their hes svarya will provide not only for him, but also for his close buried relatives, officials and priests.
Beginning of Building Pyramids
From the beginning of the Dynasty era (2950 BC), royal tombs were carved in stone and covered with a flat-roofed rectangular structure known as the “Mastaba”, the forerunner of the pyramids. The oldest known pyramid in Egypt was built in 230 BC at Sakkara, for King Joser of the Third Dynasty. Known as the Step Pyramid, it started out as a traditional theatrical mastaba but turned into something much more ambitious.
According to legend, the architect of the pyramids was Imhotep, a priest and healer who, about 1,400 years later, would be considered a patron saint of writers and physicians. During Joser’s nearly 20-year reign, the pyramid builders assembled a six-step layer of stone (as opposed to mud-brick, as opposed to the previous tomb) that eventually reached a height of 204 feet (62 m); It was the tallest building of its time.
Around the Step Pyramid was a courtyard, a temple and a temple complex where Joser could enjoy his later life. After Joser, the pyramids gradually became the norm for royal cemeteries, although none of the plans designed by his dynastic successors were accomplished (probably due to their relatively short reign). For the color of the limestone blocks used in the original construction of the pyramid.
Ending of Pyramid Era
Pyramids continued to be built throughout the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, but the general quality and scale of their construction declined during this period, along with the power and wealth of the kings. In later Old Kingdom pyramids, starting with King Unas (2375-2345 BC), pyramid builders began writing on the walls of the cemetery and on the interior walls of the rest of the pyramids.
Known as pyramid texts, these are the oldest notable religious writings known from ancient Egypt. The last of the great pyramid builders was Pepi II (2278-2184 BC), the second king of the Sixth Dynasty, who came to power at a young age and ruled for 94 years. During his reign, the prosperity of the old kingdom was declining and as the power of non-royal administrative officials increased, Pharaoh lost some of his semi-divine divine dignity.
The pyramid of Pepy II, built in Sakkara and completing almost 30 years of his reign, was much smaller (172 feet) than the others in the old kingdom. With Pepi’s death, the state and strong central government virtually collapsed, and Egypt entered a turbulent period known as the First Intermediate Period. The kings of the 12th dynasty would return to the pyramid building during the so-called Middle Kingdom episode, but it was never the equivalent of the Great Pyramid.
Story Behind The Making Of Pyramid
Contrary to popular belief, it was not the pyramid-building slaves. We know this because archaeologists have found the remains of a purpose-built village for thousands of workers who built the famous Pyramid of Giza about 5000 years ago. When there were stamps and seals of ancient names bureaucratic evidence of how officials accounted for huge expeditions to feed and house workers.
The animal bones found in the village show that the workers got the best cut of meat. More than anything, there were hundreds and thousands of jars of bread enough to feed all the workers who slept in the long, purpose-built dormitory. Slaves were never well treated, so we think these workers were recruited from farms, probably far from the Nile River near Luxor.
The combination of high quality food and the opportunity to work on such a prestigious project would have tempted the workers. Today, many of the pyramid’s most experienced archaeologists come from the same region, although their main beef is paid in hard currency instead of praise. Building a pyramid was not an easy task. The skeleton of some workers shows that their muscles were under a lot of pressure.
Age of Egyptian Pyramid
Archaeologists believe that the great pyramids of Egypt are the work of the Old Kingdom Society, which ascended to the Nile Valley in 3000 BC. Analysis Historical analysis tells us that the Egyptians built the Pyramid of Giza 85 years between 2589 and 2504 BC. Interest in Egyptian chronology is widespread, both popular and scholarly.
We wanted to use science to test the accepted historical dates of several old kingdom monuments. A radioactive, or unstable, carbon isotope is C14, which decomposes over time and therefore provides scientists with a kind of clock to measure the age of organic matter. The earliest experiments in radiocarbon dating were made on ancient material from Egypt. Willard F.
Libby argued that since the half-life of C14 is 5568 years, the C14 concentration of the Djoser sample should be 50% the density found in living wood (see Arnold and Libby, 1949 for details). The results proved their assumptions correct. Subsequent work with radiocarbon testing raises questions about the fluctuations of atmospheric C14 over time. Scientists have developed calibration techniques to adjust for these fluctuations.
Final Words
In both ancient and modern times tomb robbers and other vandals removed most of the corpses and funeral materials from the Egyptian pyramids and also looted their exteriors. Nevertheless, millions of people continue to visit the pyramids every year, due to their glorious majesty and the enduring greed of Egypt’s rich and glorious past.