The tallest and oldest pyramid in the Giza pyramid complex is known as the Great Pyramid of Giza. They are located on the outskirts of Giza in Egypt. Out of the Seven Wonders of the World, they are the oldest and well-preserved to their original state. According to Egyptologists, the pyramids acted as a tomb for the fourth dynasty of the pharaoh named Khufu. It took more than 27 years to complete the construction of the pyramid. Initially, it stood at about 481feet, making it to be the tallest human-made structure for a record of more than 3800 years. The pyramid's original foundation was limestone casing stones that made the pyramid have a smooth outer texture. Therefore, this essay will discuss the construction of the Giza Pyramids.
The construction of the Giza pyramids remains a puzzle. How the pyramid was constructed and who constructed the pyramid is yet to be revealed up-to-date. Despite the common belief that the pyramids were built by slaves or immigrants coerced into slavery, skeletons discovered by archaeologists indicate that the laborers were most likely native Egyptians. Encircling and sloping overpass of brick, earth, and sand was used during the construction process. These processes accelerated the pyramid's length and height as it went up. The progress was made possible using rollers, stone blocks that hauled up the ramp using sleds, and levers. As per the ancient historians, this Great Pyramid took more than 20 years and more than 100,000 laborers to construct.
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These laborers only provided the labor in the construction of the pyramid only when the agricultural sector demanded less labour, especially after the river Nile flood. However, archaeologists discovered later that more workers could have worked permanently rather than on a seasonal basis. These permanent workers were approximately 20,000 according to the study conducted by the archaeologists and comprised also priests, physicians' bakers, and other personnel. The designation of how the three pyramids were constructed corresponding to the king to who they were built. For example, king Khafre, Khufu, and, lastly, Menkaure. The three pyramids were pillaged from both inside and outside. A mortuary temple was constructed near each of the three pyramids. The mortuary temple was linked through a sloping footbridge down to a valley temple on the Nile floodplain's edge. There were also subsidiary pyramids near the pyramid that were purposed for burying the other members of the royal family. One particular thing with the Khufu pyramid is it was the single colossal building ever constructed on earth. The sides of the pyramid sides climb at a 51°52′ angle and are perfectly aligned with the main cardinal points of the compass. The foundation of the Khufu pyramid was designed with yellowish limestone bricks. The exterior body and inner passages were made of limestone, which was more light-colored, whereas the internal burial chamber was made of massive granite blocks. In making the pyramid stand out and be a masterpiece, approximately more than two million stone blocks were cut, transported, and assembled by engineers.
The internal walls having few outer casing stones made the pyramids unique to ever being built by any masonry personnel in Egypt's history. The Khufu pyramid entrance was located on the north side of the compass, about 18 meters from the ground. Additionally, it had a sloping corridor that descended from the top and passed through the pyramid's inner side. There was an ascending path that led to the room, which was referred to as Queen Chamber. At the end of the slanting gallery was a narrow trail that led to the burial room. The burial room was also known as the King chamber. The king chamber was lined and roofed with granite material. In the King chamber, two shafts crossed the masonry chamber with the pyramid's outer side. However, it’s not evident whether the shafts were intended for ventilation or religious purposes. Above the king's chamber were compartments that were separated by sizeable horizontal granite slabs. These compartments protected the burial chamber ceiling by diverting the immense thrusts exerted by overlying excellent masonry. Near Khafre temple valley lies the great sphinx, which is molded out of the limestone. It had facial features but having a body of a sprawled lion. The pyramid measured seventy-three meters long and twenty meters high. Also, the surrounding of the pyramids were vast fields with funerary structures named mastabas. Constructors arranged them in a particular pattern, and their purpose was for the burial of the king's relatives and officials. Among the tombs were simple mudbrick domes to elaborate stone temples. Also, within the pyramid had statuettes inside, while tomb walls had hieroglyphic inscriptions.
There were several reasons which led to the construction of the Giza Pyramids. The main aim of constructing the Giza's pyramids was to perform as royal tombs for three various pharaohs. For instance, the first pyramid to be erected was known as the great pyramid. It was located in the north most of the region. The Great Pyramid was the largest of all the three pyramids, and it belonged to Khufu, the second ruler of the fourth dynasty of Egypt. Khafre owned the middle pyramid. Khafre was the fourth ruler out of the eight kings of the 4th dynasty in the state. In the South was the third pyramid, which was the smallest among the three pyramids. This pyramid belonged to the Menkaure, who was the fifth ruler in the 4th dynasty.
Historians debate a lot on what the three pyramids in Egypt represented. Some answers are: Ancient Egyptians used the pyramids to act as tombs for the royal class at Giza and also offer other funeral services. According to some theories, the pyramid could serve as a pathway for the Pharaohs to ascend to the sky. The path would also signify the ancient mound of creation or even convey sunrays extending to the planet earth.
Giza pyramids had several parts. These pyramids are primarily concrete piles of stone with minute space on the interior. Khafre and Menkaure are only the two pyramids with passageways at their bases that give small space for underground burial chambers under each pyramid. Unlike other pyramids, the Khufu pyramid has tunnels on the inner side. Still, the tomb chambers are situated in the central part of the pyramid, which can only be reached by climbing up the tight interior passageway. Contrary to popular belief, there are no treasures, symbol scripts, or corpses in any of Giza's structures. Within the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, decoration started many centuries after they were built.
Several challenges were a hindrance during the construction of the Giza pyramids. The pyramid's ancient builders faced a problem in getting the large stone blocks to the appropriate height. For example, the Khufu pyramid used more than two million individual blocks of stones, which weighed more than two tons. Furthermore, it took more than twenty years to construct the pyramid meaning every five minutes of the twenty-four hours block was to be laid. Also, sometimes there was a lack of labor as most of the workforce came from the agricultural sector. They only provided full-time labor when the river Nile flooded.
In conclusion, the pyramids of Giza were built by Egyptian workers rather than the speculated slaves. The Egyptians provided a workforce when they were not working on their farms. They designed the three pyramids corresponding to the King's taste and preferences. The three pyramids were pillaged from both the inner and the outer parts. Besides, near the pyramid, subsidiary pyramids were constructed for the burials of other royal family members. The main reason for building the Giza's pyramids was to perform as tombs for the three various pharaohs; thus, they were designed with royalty. Studies show that the pyramids served as a pathway for the pharaoh fraternity to go up the sky. According to the archaeologists, burial chambers inside the pyramids were used for the king's burial of officials and relatives. Finally, the pyramid constructors faced many challenges, such as carrying heavy blocks used in constructing pyramids.
Bibliography
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- Harifi, Sasan, Javad Mohammadzadeh, Madjid Khalilian, and Sadoullah Ebrahimnejad. “Giza Pyramids Construction: An Ancient-Inspired Metaheuristic Algorithm for Optimization.” Evolutionary Intelligence, 2020, 1–19.
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- Kissock, Heather. Pyramids of Giza. Weigl Publishers, 2018.
- Moores, Bob. Building the Pyramids: How Did They Do It? iUniverse, 2019.
- Procter, Chris, and Mark Kozak-Holland. “The Giza Pyramid: Learning from This Megaproject.” Journal of Management History, 2019.
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