The Giza pyramid complex (Arabic: أهرامات الجيزة, IPA: [ʔɑhɾɑˈmɑːt elˈɡiːzæ], "pyramids of
Giza") is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt.
This
complex of ancient monuments includes the three pyramid complexes known
as the Great Pyramids, the massive sculptureknown as the Great Sphinx, several
cemeteries, a workers' village and an industrial complex. It is located in
the Libyan Desert,
approximately 9 km (5 mi) west of the Nile river at the old town
of Giza, and about
13 km (8 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre.
The
pyramids, which have historically loomed large as emblems of ancient
Egypt in the Western imagination, were popularised in Hellenistic times,
when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as
one of the Seven
Wonders of the World. It is by far the oldest of the ancient Wonders and
the only one still in existence.
The
Pyramids of Giza consist of the Great Pyramid of
Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu and constructed c.
2560–2540 BC), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or
Chephren) a few hundred meters to the south-west, and the relatively
modest-sized Pyramid
of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred meters farther
south-west. The Great
Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex. Current consensus among
Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Along with these major
monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as
"queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids.
Khufu's pyramid complex
Khufu’s pyramid complex consists
of a valley temple, now buried beneath the village of Nazlet el-Samman; basalt
paving and nummulitic
limestone walls have been found but the site has not been
excavated. The valley temple was connected to a causeway which was largely
destroyed when the village was constructed. The causeway led to the Mortuary
Temple of Khufu. From this temple the basalt pavement is the only thing that
remains. The mortuary temple was connected to the king’s pyramid. The king’s
pyramid has three smaller queen’s pyramids associated with it and five boat
pits. The boat pits contained a ship, and the 2 pits on the south side of
the pyramid still contained intact ships. One of these ships has been restored
and is on display. Khufu's pyramid still has a limited collection of casing
stones at its base. These casing stones were made of fine white limestone
quarried from the nearby range.
Khafre's pyramid complex
Khafre’s
pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, the Sphinx temple, a causeway, a
mortuary temple and the king’s pyramid. The valley temple yielded several
statues of Khafre. Several were found in a well in the floor of the temple by
Mariette in 1860. Others were found during successive excavations by Sieglin
(1909–10), Junker, Reisner, and Hassan. Khafre’s complex contained five
boat-pits and a subsidiary pyramid with a serdab. Khafre's pyramid
appears larger than the adjacent Khufu Pyramid by virtue of its more elevated
location, and the steeper angle of inclination of its construction—it is, in
fact, smaller in both height and volume. Khafre's pyramid retains a prominent
display of casing stones at its apex.
Menkaure's pyramid complex
Menkaure’s
pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, and
the king’s pyramid. The valley temple once contained several statues of Menkaure. During the 5th dynasty, a
smaller ante-temple was added on to the valley temple. The mortuary temple also
yielded several statues of Menkaure.
The king’s pyramid has three subsidiary or queen’s pyramids. Of the four
major monuments, only Menkaure's pyramid is seen today without any of its
original polished limestone casing.
Sphinx
The
Sphinx dates from the reign of king Khafre. During the New
Kingdom, Amenhotep II dedicated
a new temple to Hauron-Haremakhet and this structure was added onto by later
rulers.
Tomb of Queen Khentkaus I
Khentkaus I was
buried in Giza. Her tomb is known as LG 100 and G 8400 and is located in the
Central Field, near the valley temple of Menkaure. The pyramid complex
of Queen Khentkaus includes: her pyramid, a boat pit, a valley temple and a
pyramid town.
Construction
Most
construction theories are based on the idea that the pyramids were built by
moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place. The
disagreements center on the method by which the stones were conveyed and placed
and how possible the method was.
In
building the pyramids, the architects might have developed their techniques
over time. They would select a site on a relatively flat area of bedrock—not
sand—which provided a stable foundation. After carefully surveying the site and
laying down the first level of stones, they constructed the pyramids in
horizontal levels, one on top of the other.
For
the Great
Pyramid of Giza, most of the stone for the interior seems to have been
quarried immediately to the south of the construction site. The smooth exterior
of the pyramid was made of a fine grade of white limestone that was quarried
across the Nile. These
exterior blocks had to be carefully cut, transported by river barge to Giza,
and dragged up ramps to the construction site. Only a few exterior blocks
remain in place at the bottom of the Great Pyramid. During the Middle Ages (5th
century to 15th century), people may have taken the rest away for building
projects in the city of Cairo.[3]
To
ensure that the pyramid remained symmetrical, the exterior casing stones all
had to be equal in height and width. Workers might have marked all the blocks
to indicate the angle of the pyramid wall and trimmed the surfaces carefully so
that the blocks fit together. During construction, the outer surface of the
stone was smooth limestone; excess stone has eroded as time has passed.
Purpose
The
pyramids of Giza and others are thought to have been constructed to house the
remains of the deceased Pharaohs who
ruled over Ancient
Egypt. A portion of the Pharaoh's spirit called his ka was believed to remain with his
corpse. Proper care of the remains was necessary in order for the "former
Pharaoh to perform his new duties as king of the dead." It's theorized the
pyramid not only served as a tomb for the Pharaoh, but also as a storage pit
for various items he would need in the afterlife. "The people of Ancient
Egypt believed that death on Earth was the start of a journey to the next
world. The embalmed body of the King was entombed underneath or within the
pyramid to protect it and allow his transformation and ascension to the
afterlife."
Workers' village
The
work of quarrying, moving, setting, and sculpting the huge amount of stone used
to build the pyramids might have been accomplished by several thousand skilled
workers, unskilled laborers and supporting workers. Bakers, carpenters, water
carriers, and others were also needed for the project. Along with the methods
utilized to construct the pyramids, there is also wide speculation regarding
the exact number of workers needed for a building project of this magnitude.
When Greek historian Herodotus visited
Giza in 450 BC, he was told by Egyptian priests that "the Great
Pyramid had taken 400,000 men 20 years to build, working in three-month shifts
100,000 men at a time." Evidence from the tombs indicates that a workforce
of 10,000 laborers working in three-month shifts took around 30 years to build
a pyramid.
The
Giza pyramid complex is surrounded by a large stone wall, outside which Mark Lehner and his
team have discovered a town where the workers on the pyramids were housed. This
town is located to the southeast of the Khafre and Menkaure complexes.
Among the discoveries at the workers' village are communal sleeping quarters,
bakeries, breweries and kitchens (with evidence showing that bread, beef and
fish were staples of the diet), a hospital and a cemetery (where some of the
skeletons were found with signs of trauma associated with accidents on a
building site). The workers' town discovered appears to date from the
middle 4th
dynasty (2520–2472 BC), after the accepted time of Khufu and
completion of the Great Pyramid. According to Lehner and the AERA team;
"The development of this urban complex must have been quite
rapid. All of the construction probably happened in the 35 to 50 years that
spanned the reigns of Khafre and Menkaure, builders of the Second and Third
Giza Pyramids".
Without
carbon dating, using only pottery shards, seal impressions, and stratigraphy to
date the site, the team further concludes;
"The picture that emerges is that of a planned settlement,
some of the world's earliest urban planning, securely dated to the reigns of
two Giza pyramid builders: Khafre (2520–2494 BC) and Menkaure
(2490–2472 BC)".
Cemeteries
As the
pyramids were constructed, the mastabas for lesser
royals were constructed around them. Near the pyramid of Khufu, the main
cemetery is G 7000 which lies in the East Field located to the east of the main
pyramid and next to the Queen’s pyramids. These cemeteries around the pyramids
were arranged along streets and avenues. Cemetery G 7000 was one of the
earliest and contained tombs of wives, sons and daughters of these 4th dynasty rulers.
On the other side of the pyramid in the West Field, the royals sons Wepemnofret and Hemiunu were buried in
Cemetery G 1200 and Cemetery G 4000 respectively. These cemeteries were further
expanded during the 5th and 6th dynasty.
Central Field – Royalty
Tombs
dating from the Saite and later period were found near the causeway of Khafre and the Great Sphinx.
These tombs include the tomb of a commander of the army named Ahmose and his
mother Queen Nakhtubasterau, who was the wife of Pharaoh Amasis II.
South Field
The
South Field includes some mastabas dating from the 2nd dynasty and 3rd dynasty.
One of these early dynastic tombs is referred to as the Covington tomb. Other
tombs date from the late Old Kingdom (5th and
6th dynasty). The south section of the field contains several tombs dating from
the Saite period
and later.
Tombs of the pyramid builders
In
1990, tombs belonging to the pyramid workers were discovered alongside the
pyramids with an additional burial site found nearby in 2009. Although not
mummified, they had been buried in mud-brick tombs with beer and bread to
support them in the afterlife. The tombs' proximity to the pyramids and the
manner of burial supports the theory that they were paid laborers who took
great pride in their work and were not slaves, as was previously thought. The
commonly held belief of slaves building the pyramids was likely to have been
popularized by Hollywood films based on the original archaeological and
anthropological opinion that they could not have been built without forced
labor. Evidence from the tombs indicates that a workforce of 10,000 laborers
working in three-month shifts took around 30 years to build a pyramid. Most of
the workers appear to have come from poor families. Farms supplied the laborers
with 21 cattle and 23 sheep daily. Specialists such as architects, masons,
metalworkers and carpenters, were permanently employed by the king to fill
positions that required the most skill.
New Kingdom
During
the New Kingdom,
Giza was still an active site. A brick-built chapel was constructed near the
Sphinx during the early 18th dynasty,
probably by King Thutmose
I. Amenhotep II built
a temple dedicated to Hauron-Haremakhet near the Sphinx. Pharaoh Thutmose IV visited
the pyramids and the Sphinx as a prince and in a dream was told that clearing
the sand from the Sphinx would be rewarded with kingship. This event is
recorded in the Dream stela. During the early years of his reign, Thutmose IV
together with his wife Queen Nefertari had stelae erected at Giza.
Pharaoh Tutankhamun had
a structure built, which is now referred to as the king's resthouse. During
the 19th
dynasty, Seti I added
to the temple of Hauron-Haremakhet, and his son Ramesses II erected a
stela in the chapel before the Sphinx and usurped the resthouse of Tutankhamun.