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Why the
Pyramids of Egypt are special
The three great Pyramids of Egypt at Giza are so massive they
confound the imagination. They are even more amazing when we
consider that they were built nearly 4600 years ago.
About my animated picture of the Pyramids of Egypt
The animated picture on the left illustrates the marked
difference in appearance between the three great Pyramids of
Egypt then and now.
Originally, the three great Pyramids of Egypt were covered with
a smooth limestone surfacing that gave them a sleek finished
look.
Today the Pyramids of Egypt have a rugged exterior because
subsequent ancient rulers filched the surface stones from the
monuments for use on their own buildings.
Khufu's Pyramid reigns supreme among the three great Pyramids of
Eqypt
The pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) is the oldest,
biggest and most famous of the three great Pyramids of Egypt. It
was built during the reign of pharaoh Khufu (2589 to 2566 BC)
and is the only true surviving member of the Seven Ancient
Wonders of the World.
Khufu's pyramid is the farthest of the three great Pyramids of
Egypt in the above picture. It seems shorter than the middle
pyramid (Chephren's) for two reasons. First, Khufu's pyramid
sits higher on the plateau than Chephren's. Second, the
photographic vantage point makes Khufu's pyramid seem smaller.
For more insights on the pyramid of Khufu, click the round green
"seven ancient wonders" button. Because Khufu's pyramid is one
of the original Seven Wonders of the World, it has its own
dedicated web page in the Seven Wonders section of this website.
The mummies are missing from all three of the great Pyramids of
Egypt
The mummies were likely removed long ago by sophisticated tomb
robbers. The priceless buried treasures of the pharaohs were
also taken.
Interesting tidbits about
the Pyramids of Egypt at Giza
Many theories exist on how the pyramids were constructed. Most
Egyptologists now believe that a large temporary earth ramp with
a gentle incline was built. The giant stone blocks were then
dragged up the slope with a combination of pulleys, levers and
raw manpower.
Over the course of several centuries, the construction design
evolved from the modestly high step pyramid style to the
skyscraping, smooth-sided pyramids of Khufu and Chephren at Giza.
Then, starting with Menkure's pyramid (the nearest one in the
picture), size and structural strength gradually began to
decline. The primary reasons were weakening economies and fading
pharaonic powers.
The three great Pyramids of Egypt at Giza have a north-south
alignment because the polar stars were considered sacred.
The number of large stone blocks used to build the three great
Pyramids of Egypt is often overstated. For example, it is
commonly written that 2,300,000 million were used for Khufu's
pyramid. The actual figure is many times smaller when you divide
the cubic size of the pyramid by the average cubic size of the
stone blocks.
Some archeologists speculate that the tomb robbers were
unsuccessful in finding the true burial chambers of the three
pharaohs because the tomb builders were cleverer than the
thieves. If so, the pharaonic mummies and treasures are still
concealed somewhere within their respective pyramids, waiting to
be detected by future technologyاهرام مصر
سه هرم بزرگ
مصر در گیزا چنان عظیم الجثه هستند که ازتصورانسان خارجند.
این هرمها حتی جالب توجه تر می شوند هنگامیکه به ساخت آنها
که درچهارهزار سال پیش صورت گرفته است بیاندیشیم. درتصویر
زنده ای که ازاین هرمها در سمت چپ وجود دارد میتوان تفاوت
فاحش آنها را درآن زمان و در حال حاضردید. در ابتدا اهرام
مصر با لایه ای ازسنگ آهک نرم پوشیده شده بودند که به آنها
ظاهر براق وشفافی داده بود اما امروزه سطح خارجی آنها
بسیار زمخت و ناهموار شده است و آن شفافیت روزگاران گذشته
را ازدست داده است چراکه دربتدریج در طی سالها حکمفرمایان
بعدی این سنگهای با ارزش را از هرمها می دزدیدند و در ساخت
کاخها و قصرهای خود استفاده می کردند. هرم خوفو بزرگترین,
قدیمی ترین ومشهورترین هرم در بین این سه هرم است. این هرم
در زمان پادشاهی خوفو(2589 تا 2566) ساخته شد. این هرم
تنها عضو عجایب هفت گانه می باشد که هنوز باقی مانده است.
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