Thousands of Years Later, the Great Pyramid Still Stands Strong

by Layla Calahan, age 12

In Giza, the Great Pyramid stands on the edge of the Egyptian desert, west of the Nile River. In the 26th century BC, when the Great Pyramid was built, it was believed it was for Pharaoh Khufu. In the 4th Dynasty, other kings built their own pyramids near the Great Pyramid. The three pyramids form the world’s best-known buildings.

A fascinating feature of the Great Pyramid is that it weighs over nearly seven million tons. The Great Pyramid has 2.25 million blocks of limestone, meaning each block weighs over 15.25 tons. The slaves that helped build the Great Pyramid did not have machinery like we have now; they only had their hands and strength. The workers built the pyramid with four nearly perfect right angles on the base forming a square. The pyramid was aligned with a compass meaning each individual four sides faced north, east, south, or west with accuracy.

There are many theories behind why these pyramids were built. Many speculate that these pyramids exist as tombs for pharaohs. There is a theory that the Great Pyramid was built for Pharaoh Khufu in 2589 BC. Years later, his son Khafre had a second pyramid built close to the Great Pyramid for himself. Almost 100 years later Mankaure, who may have been Khafre’s son, becomes a Pharaoh and adds the third and smallest pyramid. Strangely though, when a party broke inside the pyramid in the King’s Chamber, there was a stone coffin with no corpse and no sign of previous disturbance by any robbers. The purpose of these tombs remains a mystery to this day.

In the Great Pyramid, there is a long passage known as the Grand Gallery which is 153 ft long. The passage leads to the King’s Chamber which is 140 ft above the ground. During the search through the Great Pyramid, there were two other chambers but both were found empty. Right outside the pyramid there was found a cedar boat inside a long pit which was 143 ft long. There were many other boats buried nearby, probably for the dead ruler’s voyages in the afterlife. All three of the pyramids are part of a complex that has temples and miniature pyramids provided for the Pharaohs' wives and tombs of priests.

On the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, there's a place called the City of the Dead which is guarded by a powerful Sphinx who watches over the desert sand. There's a riddle on the Sphinx that it was built by Pharaoh Khafre with a portrait of him on the head. The Sphinx is a laying down lion with a human head that is 66 ft high and 240 ft long. He was made out of a knoll of rock left in place when the stone was removed for the Great Pyramid. He is considered a guardian of the Necropolis, also known as the City of the Dead. The clothing he wears is a royal headpiece that has a cobra symbol on its forehead. The nose on the Sphinx is partly missing, including the beard which is completely gone. The Sphinx was once plastered and painted red, but nobody knows who had it done – these vibrant colors have faded through hundreds of years and are no longer seen today. In front of the Sphinx there is a stela, a slab of granite which recorded a curious experience of a Pharaoh in the 15th century BC called Thutmose IV. He rested in the shade of the Sphinx while hunting, and dreamed he would take Egypt’s throne if he cleared sand from the monument. As he did, his wish was granted.

King Khufu is not a mythological being but just as important, he is associated with water, fertility, procreation, and creation. He had so much influence and power that one of the oldest and largest pyramids was built for him. Now the Great Pyramid of Giza is widely known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

[Source: 100 Great Wonders Of the World]