Write about the Egyptian pyramids. Egyptian pyramids. Great architecture of antiquity. History of the Pyramids of Giza

Pyramids of Ancient Egypt: secrets, riddles, structure, architecture and internal structure of the pyramids of Ancient Egypt

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Pyramid of Djoser

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It’s definitely worth deciding on this trip, if only out of curiosity. After all, the Pyramid of Djoser is recognized as the oldest surviving Egyptian pyramid. Yes, yes, this is the first pyramid of Egypt, and it was built in honor of the ruler Djoser by the architect and close associate of the pharaoh Imhotep.

Pyramids of Egypt - unique monument architecture, which has remained for centuries thanks to mysterious builders who managed to create structures so strong that no natural disasters or destructive wars could completely destroy these ancient Egyptian necropolises. The mystery of the pyramids has not yet been solved: it is impossible to speak with certainty either about the method of their construction, or about who acted as the main labor force. Now in Egypt there are about 118 pyramids, the largest of which were built during the reign of the III and IV dynasties of the pharaohs, that is, during the period of the so-called Old Kingdom. There are two types of pyramids: stepped and regular. The most ancient structures are considered to be of the first type. For example, the pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser, dating back to 2650 BC. e.
Necropolis translated from Greek means “ City of dead"and is a cemetery, usually located on the outskirts of the city. Egyptian pyramids- one of the varieties of this kind of burials - served as monumental tombs for the pharaohs.
What do we know about the pyramids of Egypt?
They first learned about the pyramids thanks to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. Traveling through Egypt, he was amazed famous pyramids Giza and immediately ranked one of them, dedicated to Cheops, among the seven wonders of the world. Moreover, it was Herodotus who created the legend about how these structures were built. As soon as the pyramids became the object of study by scientists, and this happened only two hundred years ago, this legend immediately became a historical truth, the authenticity of which was refuted not so long ago.
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How the ancient pyramids were built
Not as much has reached our time intact as we would like. Numerous vandals robbed the pyramids for the treasures hidden inside, and local residents, who broke out stone blocks for the construction of palaces and mosques, destroyed part of the external and internal appearance. Thus, the Pink or Northern Pyramid from Dahshur (26 km south of Cairo) got its name because of the color of the stone, turning pink in the rays of the setting Sun. However, she wasn't always like this. Previously, the structure was covered with white limestone, which was entirely used for the construction of houses in Cairo.
For a long time it was believed that people who disturbed the peace of the pharaohs were condemned to death by the ancient gods. This was confirmed by the legend about the curse of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, according to which everyone who participated in the opening of the grave was supposed to die within a few years. And indeed, by 1929 (the tomb was opened in 1922), 22 people, one way or another involved in the autopsy, died. Whether the cause was the magic of Ancient Egypt or the poison placed in the sarcophagus during burial is anyone's guess.
It is believed that the famous Great Sphinx, which lies near the pyramids of Giza, is the guardian of the peace of the buried pharaohs.
Architecture and internal structure of the pyramids
The pyramids were only part of the ritual and funerary complex. Next to each of them there were two temples, one nearby, and the other much lower, so that its foot was washed by the waters of the Nile. The pyramids and temples were connected by alleys. An analogue of an alley of a similar plan can be seen in Luxor. The famous Luxor and Karnak temples were united by an avenue of sphinxes that has partially survived to this day. The pyramids of Giza have practically not preserved their temples and alleys: only lower temple Khafre, pharaoh of the 4th dynasty, has long been considered the temple of the Great Sphinx.
The internal structure of the pyramids implied the obligatory presence of a chamber where the sarcophagus with the mummy was located, and cut passages to this chamber. Sometimes religious texts were placed there. Thus, the interior of the pyramids in Saqqara, an Egyptian village 30 km from Cairo, contained the oldest works of funeral literature that have come down to us.
It is believed that the famous Great Sphinx, which lies near the pyramids of Giza, is the guardian of the peace of the buried pharaohs. The ancient Egyptian name of this first monumental sculpture in the world has not reached our time. Only the Greek version of the designation remains in history. Medieval Arabs called the Sphinx "the father of horror."
Modern Egyptologists suggest that the construction of the pyramids was carried out in several stages. Moreover, sometimes the size of the tomb during the creation process increased several times in comparison with the original project. The pharaohs built their tomb for many years. Only ground work and leveling the site for the future structure required at least ten. It took Pharaoh Cheops twenty years to build the largest pyramid to date. The workers who built the tombs were not slaves tortured to death. Moreover, archaeological excavations have shown that they were kept in fairly decent conditions, treated and fed normally. However, it is still unknown exactly how the huge stone blocks got to the very top. What is clear is that construction techniques have changed over time, and later structures are built differently than the first.

I would like to summarize all the information about the most famous Egyptian pyramids collected on LifeGlobe into a single collection. Naturally, here I will describe only the largest pyramids, with links to a separate article about each of them. In detailed topics you will find both their coordinates and more detailed description. There are a total of 118 pyramids in Egypt of different shapes, sizes and heights, but we will start, of course, with the three Great Pyramids of Giza. It is these structures on the Giza plateau that are included in the list of the seven ancient wonders of the world, although, in addition to Giza, there are many pyramids in other parts of Egypt.
The first number in our review will be the Great Pyramid of Cheops, which is known anywhere in the world. It is she who is the face of the Egyptian pyramids and the largest construction of antiquity, giving rise to many secrets and legends around her. The construction of the pyramid took two whole decades and was completed in 2560 BC.

With a height of 146.5 meters, it was the largest structure in the world for more than 4 millennia. I have been collecting material about the Great Pyramid for a long time in a separate article; using the link above you can learn more about it.

The second most important pyramid is the pyramid of Khafre, the son of Cheops. It was built on a 10-meter plateau, so it seems taller than the Cheops pyramid, but it is not. Its height is 136.4 meters, while Cheops is 146.5 meters.

Not far from the Pyramid of Khafre is the Great Sphinx - a monument carved into the rock. The Sphinx's facial features mirror those of Pharaoh Khafre.

The third great pyramid is the Pyramid of Mikerinus. It is the smallest of them, and was built the latest. It is only 66 meters in height, and the length of the base is 108.4 meters.

Despite its small size, it is considered to be the most beautiful of the three pyramids. In addition, the pyramid of Mykerinus marked the end of an era great pyramids. All subsequent constructions were small sizes.

The Egyptian pyramids do not end there; we move from Giza to other parts of Egypt. The step pyramid of Djoser is considered one of the largest in Egypt. It is located in the village of Saqqara, and was built for Pharaoh Djoser by Imhotep himself. It occupies an area of 125 by 115 meters, and its height is 62 meters. This is the first pyramid of Egypt, and also very well preserved.

The most unusual in shape can be safely called the pyramid in Medum. It is located 100 kilometers south of the capital of Egypt, it was built for Pharaoh Huni, but it was completed by his son Snofru. It originally had 8 steps, but nowadays only the last 3 are visible. After construction, its height was 118 meters, and its area was 146 by 146 meters.

The Pink Pyramid is unusual in that it has a pink hue due to the special stone used for its construction. This is the third tallest pyramid after Cheops and Khafre, 104.4 meters high. Researchers believe that this pyramid was also built by the already known Pharaoh Snefru.

Not far from Rozovaya is the Bent Pyramid, built in the 26th century. BC e. It got its name because of its irregular shape. Look for yourself, it was built in 3 stages, at each of which it was given different angles of inclination:

I have described the largest and most famous Egyptian pyramids, now let's move on to smaller specimens. A later structure is the pyramid of Userkaf at Saqqara, not far from the pyramid of Djoser. It was preserved very poorly, so only initial data can be given: its height is 49.4 meters, length at the base is 73.30 meters.

Not far from Saqqara, in Abusir, there is a pyramid of the 5th dynasty pharaoh Sahura. In the likeness of this pyramid, all subsequent complexes of the pharaohs of this dynasty were built. Unfortunately, this pyramid has survived to this day in rather poor condition.

Let's finish our review of the most outstanding Egyptian pyramids with the Pyramid of Unis in Saqqara. It is notable for the fact that the very first “Pyramid Texts” were discovered here - ancient hieroglyphs on the walls of the burial chamber. Many scientists are still deciphering these texts.

The first pyramid, which gave rise to all Egyptian pyramid construction, is located at Saqqara, about 17 km south of Giza. It was built in 2667-2648 BC for Djoser, the first pharaoh of the third dynasty.
History of the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser
The invention of masonry dates back to the beginning of Djoser's reign. The Pyramid of Djoser is considered the oldest stone structure on Earth; its prototype was the mastaba of the pharaohs of the first dynasty, built of unbaked brick. At first it was also a mastaba made of stone, but then it went through five stages in its development.
First, the pharaoh's architect Imhotep built a large mastaba, similar to the previously built tomb of Djoser in Upper Egypt. This time the mastaba was made not of brick, but of stone blocks. Subsequently, during the reign of the pharaoh, it was expanded in four directions, and then made oblong. The decision to expand the building a fourth time resulted in a tomb unlike any built before. Imhotep built three more mastabas, placing them on top of each other, each smaller than the previous one. This is how the first pyramid appeared, which became the prototype of all Egyptian pyramids.
However, Djoser wanted to make the pyramid even larger; he ordered to enlarge its base and make six terraces on its top. The pyramid was faced with limestone, which was brought from the opposite bank of the Nile, from the hills of Tura.
Design Features
To create Djoser's step pyramid, several independent layers of masonry were used, they rested on a central base of. All the pyramids that appeared in the future - Khafre, Khufu and other pharaohs who reigned later - were built in a similar way. However, unlike later pyramids, here the stone blocks are inclined inward at an angle of 74° in order to give the structure greater strength. In the pyramids built later, the layers of masonry are arranged horizontally.
Djoser's tomb was located under the foundation, it was carved into the rock, and a square shaft led to it. The entrance to the mine was located far outside the pyramid, to the north of it. A massive ten-meter wall was built around the pyramid, and inside it was a square on which several temples and

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Artificial granite made from natural stone chips was widely used.

Artificial granite was used not only for casting the entire structural element, but also as a decorative, protective coating for various structural and decorative elements of buildings cast from sedimentary rocks, as well as for decorating interiors as coatings.

Of course, in addition to the above, stone processing was also used. Well, about the fact that the Giza plateau is well known for its massive underground system, which consists of both artificial tunnels and chambers, and underground rivers and passages, which have been mapped using ground-penetrating radar since 1978, we will tell you sometime in another time. See you on our channel.
Predecessors of the pyramids

So, until the time of King Rampsinitis, the priests further said, under good laws, Egypt achieved great prosperity. However, his successor Cheops plunged the country into disaster. First of all, he ordered the closure of all sanctuaries and prohibited sacrifices. Then he forced all the Egyptians to work for him. Thus, some were obliged to drag huge blocks of stones from quarries in the Arabian Mountains to the Nile (the stones were transported across the river on ships), while others were ordered to drag them further to the so-called Libyan Mountains. One hundred thousand people performed this work continuously, changing every three months. It took ten years for the exhausted people to build the road along which these stone blocks were dragged; the work, in my opinion, was almost as enormous as the construction of the pyramid itself. After all, the road was 5 stages long, and 10 orgies wide, in the highest place 8 orgies high, built of hewn stones with figures carved on them. The construction of this road and underground chambers on the hill where the pyramids stand continued for ten years. In these chambers, Cheops built his tomb on the island, drawing a Nile canal to the mountain. The construction of the pyramid itself lasted 20 years. It is four-sided, each side is 8 inches wide.

During the construction of the most grandiose monument of antiquity, the Pyramid of Cheops, more than one year was spent and involved great amount slaves, many of whom died on construction sites. This was the opinion of the ancient Greeks, among them Herodotus, one of the first historians who described this grandiose structure in detail.

But modern scientists do not agree with this opinion and argue: many free Egyptians wanted to work on construction sites - when agricultural work ended, it was an excellent opportunity to earn extra money (here they provided food, clothing and housing).

For any Egyptian, participating in the construction of a tomb for their ruler was a duty and a matter of honor, since each of them hoped that he would also be touched by a piece of pharaonic immortality: it was believed that the Egyptian ruler had the right not only to life after death, but could also take with him their loved ones (usually they were buried in tombs adjacent to the pyramid).

Ordinary people, however, were not destined to go to the afterlife - the exception was slaves and servants, who were buried with the ruler. But everyone had the right to hope - and therefore, when housework was finished, for many years the Egyptians rushed to Cairo, to the rocky plateau.

The Pyramid of Cheops (or as it was also called, Khufu) is located near Cairo, on the Giza plateau, on the left side of the Nile, and is the largest tomb located there.

This tomb is the tallest pyramid on our planet; it took many years to build and has a non-standard layout. A rather interesting fact is that during the autopsy, the ruler’s body was not found in it. For many years now, it has been exciting the minds of researchers and admirers of Egyptian culture, who ask themselves the question: were ancient people able to build such a structure and is the pyramid the work of representatives extraterrestrial civilizations

who built it with only one clear purpose?
- The fact that this tomb of stunning size almost immediately entered the list of the ancient seven wonders of the world does not surprise anyone: the size of the Cheops pyramid is amazing, and this, despite the fact that over the past millennia it has become smaller, and scientists cannot determine the exact proportions of the Cheops pyramid condition, since its edges and surfaces were dismantled for their needs by more than one generation of Egyptians:
- The height of the pyramid is about 138 m (interestingly, in the year it was built, it was eleven meters higher);
- The foundation has a square shape, the length of each side is about 230 meters;
- The foundation area is about 5.4 hectares (thus, the five largest cathedrals of our planet will fit on it);
The length of the foundation along the perimeter is 922 m.

Construction of the pyramid

If earlier scientists believed that the construction of the Cheops pyramid took the Egyptians about twenty years, in our time, Egyptologists, having studied the records of the priests in more detail, and, taking into account the parameters of the pyramid, as well as the fact that Cheops ruled for about fifty years, refuted this fact and came to I conclude that it took at least thirty, and maybe even forty, years to build it. Despite the fact that the exact date of construction of this grandiose tomb is unknown, it is believed that it was built by order of Pharaoh Cheops, who allegedly reigned from 2589 to 2566 BC. e., and his nephew and vizier Hemion was responsible for the construction work, using Newest technologies

of its time, over the solution of which many scientific minds have been struggling for many centuries. He approached the matter with all care and meticulousness.

More than 4 thousand workers were involved in the preliminary work, which took about ten years. It was necessary to find a place for construction, the soil of which would be strong enough to support a structure of this scale - so the decision was made to stop on a rocky site near Cairo.

To level the site, the Egyptians, using stones and sand, built a waterproof square shaft. They cut out channels intersecting at right angles in the shaft, and the construction site began to resemble a large chessboard.

After this, water was released into the trenches, with the help of which the builders determined the height of the water level and made the necessary notches on the side walls of the channels, after which the water was released. The workers cut down all the stones that were above the water level, after which the trenches were filled with stones, thus creating the foundation of the tomb.

Works with stone

The building material for the tomb was obtained from a quarry located on the other side of the Nile. To obtain a block of the required size, the stone was cut down from the rock and hewn to the required size - from 0.8 to 1.5 m. Although on average one stone block weighed about 2.5 tons, the Egyptians also made heavier specimens, for example, the heaviest the block that was installed above the entrance to the “Pharaoh’s Room” weighed 35 tons.

Using thick ropes and levers, the builders secured the block on wooden runners and dragged it along a deck of logs to the Nile, loaded it onto a boat and transported it across the river. And then they again dragged it along the logs to the construction site, after which the most difficult stage began: the huge block had to be pulled to the very top platform of the tomb. How exactly they did this and what technologies they used is one of the mysteries of the Cheops pyramid.

One of the versions proposed by scientists implies the following option. Along a 20 m wide brick rise located at an angle, the block lying on skids was pulled upward with the help of ropes and levers, where it was placed in a clearly designated place. The higher the Cheops pyramid became, the longer and steeper the climb became, and the upper platform became smaller - so it became more and more difficult and dangerous to lift the boulders.

The workers had the hardest time when it was necessary to install the “pyramidon” - the topmost block 9 meters high (not preserved to this day). Because to raise huge block it was necessary to climb almost vertically, the work turned out to be deadly, and many people died at this stage of the work. As a result, the Cheops pyramid, after construction was completed, had more than 200 steps leading up and looked like a huge stepped mountain.

In total, it took the ancient Egyptians at least twenty years to build the body of the pyramid. The work on the “box” was not finished yet - they still had to lay them with stones and make sure that the outer parts of the blocks became more or less smooth. And at the final stage, the Egyptians completely lined the pyramid with outside slabs of white limestone polished to a shine - and it sparkled in the sun like a huge shiny crystal.

The slabs have not survived to this day on the pyramid: the inhabitants of Cairo, after the Arabs plundered their capital (1168), used them in the construction of new houses and temples (some of them can be seen on mosques today).

Drawings on the pyramid

Interesting fact: the outer side of the pyramid body is covered with curvilinear grooves of different sizes. If you look at them from a certain angle, you can see the image of a man 150 m high (possibly a portrait of one of the ancient gods). This drawing is not alone: on the northern wall of the tomb one can also distinguish a man and a woman with their heads bowed to each other.

Scientists claim that these Egyptians made the grooves several years before they finished building the pyramid body and installed the top stone. True, the question remains open: why did they do this, because the slabs with which the pyramid was subsequently decorated hid these portraits.

What the Great Pyramid looked like from the inside

A detailed study of the Cheops Pyramid showed that, contrary to popular belief, there are practically no inscriptions or any other decorations inside the tomb, except for a small portrait in the corridor leading to the Queen's Room.

The entrance to the tomb is located on the north side at a height exceeding fifteen meters. After burial, it was closed with a granite plug, so tourists get inside through a gap located about ten meters below - it was cut down by the Caliph of Baghdad Abdullah al-Mamun (820 AD) - the man who first entered the tomb with the aim of robbing it. The attempt failed because he found nothing here except a thick layer of dust.

The Cheops Pyramid is the only pyramid where there are corridors leading both down and up. The main corridor first goes down, then branches into two tunnels - one leads down to the unfinished funeral chamber, the second leads up, first to the Great Gallery, from which you can get to the Queen's Room and the main tomb.

From central entrance through the tunnel leading down (its length is 105 meters), you can get into the burial pit located below ground level, the height of which is 14 m, width - 8.1 m, height - 3.5 m. Inside the room, near the southern wall, Egyptologists a well was discovered, the depth of which is about three meters(a narrow tunnel stretches from it to the south leading to a dead end).

Researchers believe that this particular room was originally intended for the crypt of Cheops, but then the pharaoh changed his mind and decided to build a tomb higher for himself, so this room remained unfinished.

You can also get to the unfinished funeral room from the Great Gallery - at its very entrance a narrow, almost vertical shaft 60 meters high begins. Interestingly, in the middle of this tunnel there is a small grotto (most likely of natural origin, since it is located at the point of contact between the stonework of the pyramid and a small hump of limestone), which could accommodate several people.

According to one hypothesis, the architects took this grotto into account when designing the pyramid and initially intended it to evacuate builders or priests who were completing the “sealing” ceremony of the central passage leading to the tomb of the pharaoh.

The Pyramid of Cheops has another mysterious room with an unclear purpose - the “Queen's Chamber” (like the lowest room, this room is not completed, as evidenced by the floor, on which they began to lay tiles, but did not complete the work).

This room can be reached by first going down the corridor 18 meters from the main entrance, and then going up a long tunnel (40 m). This room is the smallest of all, located in the very center of the pyramid, has an almost square shape (5.73 x 5.23 m, height - 6.22 m), and a niche is built into one of its walls.

Despite the fact that the second burial pit is called the “queen’s room,” the name is a misnomer, since the wives of Egyptian rulers were always buried in separate small pyramids (there are three such tombs near the tomb of the pharaoh).

Previously, it was not easy to get into the “Queen’s Chamber”, because at the very beginning of the corridor that led to the Great Gallery, three granite blocks were installed, disguised with limestone - so it was previously believed that this room did not exist. Al-Mamunu guessed about its presence and, being unable to remove the blocks, hollowed out a passage in the softer limestone (this passage is still in use today).

It is not known exactly at what stage of construction the plugs were installed, and therefore there are several hypotheses. According to one of them, they were installed even before the funeral, during construction work. Another claims that they were not there at all in this place before, and they appeared here after the earthquake, rolling down from the Great Gallery, where they were installed after the funeral of the ruler.

Another secret of the Cheops pyramid is that exactly where the plugs are located, there are not two, as in other pyramids, but three tunnels - the third is a vertical hole (though no one knows where it leads, since granite blocks with no one has moved the seats yet).

You can get to the tomb of the pharaoh through the Great Gallery, which is almost 50 meters long. It is a continuation of the upward corridor from the main entrance. Its height is 8.5 meters, with the walls narrowing slightly at the top. In front of the tomb of the Egyptian ruler there is a “hallway” - the so-called Antechamber.

From the Antechamber, a hole leads to the “Pharaoh's Chamber,” built from monolithic polished granite blocks, in which there is an empty sarcophagus made from a red piece of Aswan granite. (interesting fact: scientists have not yet found any traces or evidence that there was a burial here).

Apparently, the sarcophagus was brought here even before construction began, since its dimensions did not allow it to be placed here after the completion of construction work. The length of the tomb is 10.5 m, width – 5.4 m, height – 5.8 m.

The biggest mystery of the Cheops pyramid (as well as its feature) is its 20 cm wide shafts, which scientists call ventilation ducts. They start inside the two upper rooms, first go horizontally, and then go out at an angle.

While these channels in the Pharaoh’s room are through, in the “Queen’s Chambers” they begin only at a distance of 13 cm from the wall and do not reach the surface at the same distance (at the same time, at the top they are closed with stones with copper handles, the so-called “Ganterbrink doors”). .

Despite the fact that some researchers suggest that these were ventilation ducts (for example, they were intended to prevent workers from suffocating during work due to the lack of oxygen), most Egyptologists are still inclined to think that these narrow channels had religious significance and were able to prove that they were built taking into account the location of astronomical bodies. The presence of canals may well be related to the Egyptian belief about the gods and souls of the dead who live in the starry sky.

At the foot Great Pyramid there are several underground structures - in one of them archaeologists (1954) found the most old ship of our planet: a wooden boat made of cedar, disassembled into 1224 parts, the total length of which when assembled was 43.6 meters (apparently, it was on it that the pharaoh was supposed to go to the Kingdom of the Dead).

Is this tomb Cheops?

Over the past few years, Egyptologists have increasingly questioned the fact that this pyramid was actually intended for Cheops. This is evidenced by the fact that there is absolutely no decoration in the burial chamber.

The pharaoh's mummy was not found in the tomb, and the sarcophagus itself, in which it was supposed to be located, was not completely finished by the builders: it was hewn rather roughly, and the lid was missing altogether. These Interesting Facts make it possible for fans of theories of the alien origin of this grandiose structure to claim that the pyramid was built by representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations, using technologies unknown to science and for a purpose incomprehensible to us.

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