Near Eastern Institute

Pyramids of Giza

The amazing site of Giza with the pyramids, Sphinx and other ruins like the Valley Temple of Khafre above could easily fill an entire day with exploring and soaking in the sheer magnitude of the history they represent. I flew into Cairo from Amman and could see the Pyramids of Giza from the air as we circled Cairo on approach. They are unmistakable forms. The drive from the airport to Giza took about an hour. When I arrived, I was swarmed by people offering camel rides to the pyramids and the Sphinx but I decided to take my time and hoof it.

The Great Pyramids consists of the three pyramids which stands on Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. It consists of the ancient monuments, the three pyramids known as the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure. Along with these pyramids is the huge and massive sculpture of a lion with the head of a pharaoh, the Great Sphinx. These major monuments is surrounded by a number of smaller outpost edifices known as “Queens” of pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids. And beneath these imperial shrine are the tombs of high officials and burials and monuments signifying the respect of those buried in the Giza Necropolis.

The completed pyramid rose nearly 50 stories high. Its core consists of a hill of unexcavated rubble making it so impossible to determine the exact number of blocks used. It is believed that there are about 2.3 million blocks weighing a weight of 2.3 metric tons per block used to build the Great Pyramid. The building and construction of the pyramids took the architects to develop their techniques over time. The site should be relatively a flat area of bedrock for stable foundation. After a careful and thorough surveying of the site, the first level of stones were laid horizontally, one on the top of the other. Its interior consists of stones quarried to the south of the construction site, while the smooth exterior was made from a fine grade of white limestone quarried across the Nile River and transported by a barge to Gaza. The symmetry of the pyramid is ensured by the equal height and width of the exterior casing stones. Blocks are marked up indicating the angle of the pyramid wall, trimming the surfaces carefully for the perfect fit, and excess stone was removed later.

Archaeologists and engineers believe that the builders of the pyramids were not slaves as was thought and seen in the movies. They are believed to be skilled and unskilled men and women workers and labourers hired to work for quarrying, moving, setting, and sculpting the massive amount of stones to build and complete the pyramids. There are also supporting workers like bakers, carpenters and water carriers in the site. Farmers were also hired but just for a limited time. Architects, masons, metalworkers and carpenters are those specialist workers often employed by the king.

The precise construction of the pyramids have made a huge impression to the people around the world especially to the researchers. But there are varying theories about the construction techniques. Some believes that the pyramids were built by moving huge stones from the quarrying, dragging and lifting them into places. While some believes that he blocks is a kind of limestone concrete being manufactured in place. It is only the method by which the stones were conveyed and placed that claimed this agreements.

All sides of all three of the Giza pyramids were astronomically oriented to be north-south and east-west within a small fraction of a degree. It is a n argument representation of the Orion constellation in the Orion Constellation Theory.