Ancient Egypt The Pyramids

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Ancient EgyptThe Pyramids

• M. L. Anderson

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Building with LimestoneThe Building of Khufus
Great Pyramid

• Khufus Great Pyramid is also known as the
  Pyramid of Cheops.
• It is the only surviving member of the Seven
  Wonders of the World.

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Khufu Pyramid Building Heritage

• Considered to represent the pinnacle of the
  Pyramid Age, the Great Pyramid is the epitome of
  the knowledge and experience of all previous
  pyramids.
• Khufu had every advantage in growing up in an
  atmosphere of the several pyramid building
  projects of his father Sneferu.
• In light of this it becomes easier to understand
  that Khufu was more than qualified to oversee and
  organize the grand task of building this great
  monument.

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Pyramid Precision

• The precision with which the pyramid was executed
  is related to the many structural problems
  encountered in previous pyramids.
• To minimize many of the previous errors, the
  attention to precision produced a pyramid whose
  base is level within 2.1 cm (less than 1 in!),
  with the only difference in the length of the
  sides being 4.4 cm (1.75 in).

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Limestone Structure

• It was constructed using around 2,300,000
  limestone blocks, weighing, on average, 2.5 tons
  each. Although some weigh as much as 16 tons.
• The blocks used in the pyramid are large, with a
  commonly stated average of 2.5 tons. Many blocks
  are indeed smaller than this, the blocks toward
  the top decrease in size.

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Great Pyramid

• The sides are oriented to the four cardinal
  points of the compass and the length of each side
  at the base is 755 feet (230.4 m). They rise at
  an angle of 51 52' to a height , originally, of
  481 feet (147 m) but now 451 feet (138 m).

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• The Great Pyramid mortar joints are consistently
  1/50 of an inch, which is incredible
  craftsmanship, considering that of the over two
  million stones that make up the Pyramid, there is
  no stone weighing less than a ton! The Pyramid
  covers over 13 acres and is solid masonry, not
  hollow or earth-filled like the Central American
  pyramids.

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• A pyramid is basically, most basically, two
  separate constructions it's an outer shell of
  very fine polished limestone with great accuracy
  in its joints, but most of that's missing and
  the other construction is the inner core, which
  filled in this shell.
• Since most of the outer casing is missing what
  you see now is the step-like structure of the
  core.

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Limestone Blocks

• The core was made with a substantial slop factor.
  They didn't join the stones very accurately.
  There are great spaces between the stones and you
  can actually see where the men were up there.
• They may have 4 - 6 between two stones, so
  they'd jam down pebbles and cobbles and some
  broken stones, and slop big quantities of gypsum
  mortar in there.

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Cutting the Blocks

• When blocks were cut at the various quarries they
  were organized and cataloged in order to prepare
  them for transportation to the site and final
  placement during assembly.
• The blocks were marked in red ink to fulfill this
  purpose and these markings would include the
  placements information and often also the name of
  the work-gang that would be directly working with
  the blocks.

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Marking the Blocks for Placement

• When the blocks were placed the markings were
  rubbed off of any surface that would be showing.
• Fortunately, they often did NOT remove these
  markings on surfaces which were not intended to
  be exposed.
• This has left us with some examples of these
  markings which can be seen on many sites.

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Limestone
Limestone

• The encasing limestone which covered the outside
  of the pyramid has eroded or been removed over
  time.
• With this casing off, the pyramid lost 33 feet
  (11m) of all of its dimensions.
• The top platform is 10m square. The base of the
  pyramid is 754 feet and covers 13 acres.

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Entrance

• The original entrance to the pyramid was about
  15m higher than the entrance that is used today.

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Entrances

• After the Great Pyramid was initially sealed,
  it's original entrance was hidden and faced with
  smooth limestone. Because this blended in so well
  with the surrounding casing, the opening was
  invisible.
• In the lower left you can see a granite block,
  believed to be one of the large portcullis blocks
  that were originally lowered in the antechamber
  to seal the main burial chamber.

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Ramp to Kings Chamber
The Great Pyramid has an internal arrangement
that is more elaborate than most of the other
pyramids. The first time a series of upper
passageway and chambers exist within the body of
the pyramid. A unique ascending passage leads to
a corbelled gallery, know as the Grand Gallery.
The function of the gallery is a holding place
for large blocks to seal off the upper chambers
after the burial of the king, in order to secure
his sacred burial.
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Kings Chamber

• The heaviest blocks are the granite blocks used
  to roof the kings chambers and the weight
  relieving chambers above the kings chamber.
  These are estimated to weigh from 50 to 80 tons
  each!
• Barges brought the 60-ton granite blocks from
  Aswan during yearly floods. There are no
  inscriptions or carved reliefs on the chamber
  walls.

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Kings Chamber

• The Kings Chamber, is a remarkable chamber built
  entirely of rose pink Aswan granite.
• It is situated at the 50th course of masonry.
• The stones used to construct this chamber are the
  heaviest known stones in the entire pyramid.
• There are 21 stones comprising the floor alone.
  The walls are comprised of 101 stones and there
  are 9 huge beams forming the ceiling.

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Red Granite Sarcophagus

• This chamber contains the granite sarcophagus and
  also has small apertures that pierce through the
  outer surface of the pyramids.
• The sarcophagus made of Aswan red granite, with
  no lid. The sarcophagus must have been placed
  inside the chamber as the pyramid was being
  built. It is much too large to have been moved in
  afterwards, as was the usual custom.

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Coffer

• The coffer is no longer has its lid and the
  southeast upper corner has been broken away.
• It is also made from a single block of rose
  granite weighing about 3.75 tons.
• Its western edge sports three drilled pinion
  holes that were used to hold the lid in place
  after the interment. The lid would have weighed
  over 2 tons and was slid into place within angled
  grooves.

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Antechamber

• There is an antechamber between the grand gallery
  and the main chamber.
• It has a configuration that housed large
  portcullis blocking slabs which were designed to
  be lowered to seal the chamber after the burial
  of the king.

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The Grand Gallery

• The gallery is 157 feet (48m) long and 28 feet
  (8.5m) high and is at the same 26 degree angle as
  the passages.
• The roof of the gallery is corbelled. It is said
  that not a piece of paper or a needle can be
  inserted between the stones making up the roof.
• The gallery is only 62 inches (1.6m) wide at the
  bottom and is only 41 inches (1m) wide at the top
  of the incline.

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Queens Chamber

• Queens Chamber in modern time, though this is
  truly a misnomer.
• The chamber is located at the 25th course of
  masonry.
• The chamber is made of limestone and has a
  pointed roof and a niche in its east wall that
  probably originally housed a statue of the king.
• This room served as serdab.
• It is believed that this chamber was never
  finished due to the fact that the floor appears
  to be only roughly finished.

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Queens Antechamber
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Ascending Passage

• The first ascending passageway seen in a major
  pyramid.
• This passage is 129 feet in length and rises at a
  gradient of 26?230. Its lower end was plugged
  with three 7-ton granite slabs, which are still
  in place. Currently, one enters the passageway
  through a hole that was hewn around these slabs
  from an intrusive entrance.
• One unique and ingenious feature of this passage
  is that it is supported by a series of four
  single stones which were hollowed out. Through
  these the corridor was laid, these have become
  known as the girdle stones.

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Limestone Reliefs
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More art found in the Pyramids.
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Plan of Mortuary Temple

• All that remains of the Mortuary temple of Khufu
  is the floor which was paved with black basalt.
• Sockets are in the floor which held the granite
  pillars for the colonnade that surrounded an open
  court.
• At the western end of the temple is a recess
  thought to be a sanctuary and signs of an outer
  wall flanked by two vestibules.
• The interior walls were made of limestone and
  were carved with fine reliefs.
• This temple is the first known temple to make
  use of limestone, granite and basalt.