The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Giza Necropolis, located on the Giza Plateau, in the desert outside of Cairo, Egypt, is a complex of ancient funereal monuments. It consists of the three Great Pyramids and the massive sculpture of the Great Sphynx. The Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu, is the only monument remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The smaller pyramids are the pyramids of Khafre and Mykerinos. The head of the great Sphynx is considered among Egyptologists to be that of Khafre.
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Except for the pyramid of Mykerinos, the monuments keep part of their original polished limestone casing. The complex also encompasses smaller edifices known as queens pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids. At the time of their construction, around the 23rd century B.C., the Giza pyramids were the tallest structures on the planet.
Apart from their funereal function, the pyramids are effigies of precision and geometry as ancient science, with the circular proportions incorporated symbolically in their design. They were built from a huge amount of stone by several thousand skilled workers, unskilled laborers and supporting workers. Some of their tombs, supplied with beer and bread, were discovered alongside the pyramids in 1990. The proximity to the pyramids and the manner of burial attests that they were not slaves, as generally thought, but paid laborers who took pride in their work.
The Great Pyramid of Cheops contains 3 known chambers, the lowest cut into the foundation bedrock. The Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are located higher inside the structure.
The entrance is continued through a descending passage, under a precise angle, into the unfinished bottom chamber. A square hole in the roof of the descending passage marks the beginning of the ascending passage, originally concealed with a slab of stone. The ascending passage slopes up at almost exactly the same angle as the descending one slopes downward. 3 huge granite blocks close the ascending passage at its lower end. They are thought to have been released to seal the entrance from above, by workmen who would thus have been shut inside the pyramid. A vertical shaft following an irregular path through the masonry may have been their surreptitiously carved escape route.
The Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are connected through the Grand Gallery and feature a series of shafts into the wall, thought initially to correspond to the alignment of stars. The King's Chamber contains a sarcophagus larger than the ascending passage, so it must have been placed into the structure before the construction of the roof.
