How high is the pyramid of Cheops. Pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops (Khufu) in Egypt. Pyramid of Cheops inside

The history of the construction of the Cheops pyramid

The beginning of the construction of the pyramid dates back to about 2560 BC. The architect was Khemion, the nephew of Pharaoh Cheops, who managed all the construction projects of the Old Kingdom at that time. It took at least 20 years to build the Cheops pyramid, while, according to various estimates, more than one hundred thousand people were involved. The project required a titanic effort: workers mined blocks for construction elsewhere, in the rocks, delivered them along the river and lifted them along an inclined plane to the top of the pyramid on a wooden sled. For the construction of the Cheops pyramid, more than 2.5 million granite and limestone blocks were needed, and a gilded stone was installed at the very top, which gave the entire cladding the color of the sun's rays. But in the 2nd century, when the Arabs destroyed Cairo, the locals dismantled the entire facing of the pyramid to build their houses.

For almost three millennia, the Cheops pyramid ranked first on Earth in height, giving the palm only in 1300 to Lincoln Cathedral. Now the height of the pyramid is 138 m, it has decreased in comparison with the original by 8 m, and the base area is more than 5 hectares.

The pyramid of Cheops is revered by the locals as a shrine, and every year on August 23, the Egyptians celebrate the day the construction began. Why August was chosen, no one knows, because no historical facts confirming this have been found.

The device of the Cheops pyramid

Inside the pyramid of Cheops, three burial chambers are of greatest interest, which are located one above the other in a strict vertical. The lowest one remained unfinished, the second belongs to the wife of the pharaoh, and the third belongs to Cheops himself.

To travel along the corridors, for the convenience of tourists, paths with steps were laid, railings were made and lighting was installed.

Cross section of the Cheops pyramid

1. Main entrance
2. The entrance that al-Mamun made
3. Crossroads, "traffic jam" and al-Mamun's tunnel made "bypassing"
4. Descending corridor
5. Unfinished underground chamber
6. Ascending corridor

7. "Queen's Chamber" with outgoing "air ducts"
8. Horizontal tunnel

10. Pharaoh's chamber with "air ducts"
11. Antechamber
12. Mainsail

The entrance to the pyramid

The entrance to the Cheops pyramid is an arch formed of stone slabs and is located on the north side, at a height of 15 m 63 cm. Earlier it was filled with a granite plug, but it has not survived to this day. In 820, Caliph Abdullah al-Mamun decided to find treasures in the pyramid and made a seventeen-meter gap 10 meters below the historic entrance. The Baghdad ruler did not find anything, but today tourists enter the pyramid through this tunnel.

When al-Mamun was making his way, a lump of limestone that fell out blocked the entrance to another ascending corridor, and three more granite plugs remained behind the limestone. Since a vertical tunnel was found at the junction of two corridors, descending and ascending, it was suggested that granite plugs were lowered down through it in order to seal the tomb after the burial of the Egyptian king.

Burial "pit"

The descending corridor, which is 105 meters long, descends into the ground at an inclination of 26 ° 26'46 and abuts against another 8.9 m long corridor leading to chamber 5 and located horizontally. Here is an unfinished chamber measuring 14 × 8.1 m, in shape stretching from east to west. For a long time it was believed that there were no other rooms in the pyramid except this corridor and the chamber, but it turned out differently. The height of the chamber reaches 3.5 m. At the southern wall of the chamber there is a well with a depth of about 3 m, from which a narrow manhole (0.7 × 0.7 m in cross-section) extends 16 m southwards, ending in a dead end.

Engineers John Shae Perring and Howard Wyse (Richard William Howard Vyse) in the early 19th century tore apart the cell's floor and dug a well 11.6 m deep, in which they hoped to find a hidden burial room. They were based on the testimony of Herodotus, who argued that Cheops's body is located on an island surrounded by a channel in a hidden underground chamber. Their excavations have led nowhere. Later research showed that the chamber was abandoned unfinished, and that the burial chambers were arranged in the center of the pyramid itself.

The interior of the burial pit, photo from 1910

Ascending corridor and Queen's Chambers

From the first third of the descending passage (after 18 m from the main entrance) upwards at the same angle of 26.5 °, an ascending passage (6) about 40 m long goes to the south, ending at the bottom of the Great Gallery (9).

At its beginning, the ascending passage contains 3 large cubic granite "plugs", which from the outside, from the descending passage, were masked by a block of limestone that fell out during the works of al-Mamun. It turned out that for almost 3 thousand years, scientists were sure that there were no other rooms in the Great Pyramid, except for the descending passage and the underground chamber. Al-Mamun failed to break through these plugs, and he simply gouged a bypass in the softer limestone to the right of them.

In the middle of the ascending passage, the construction of the walls has a peculiarity: so-called “frame stones” are installed in three places - that is, the passage, square along the entire length, pierces through three monoliths. The purpose of these stones is unknown.

A horizontal corridor 35 m long and 1.75 m high leads to the second burial chamber from the lower part of the Great Gallery southward. It is traditionally called the "Queen's Chamber", although according to the rite of the wives of the pharaohs, they were buried in separate small pyramids. The “Queen's Chamber”, faced with limestone, measures 5.74 meters from east to west and 5.23 meters from north to south; its maximum height is 6.22 meters. There is a high niche in the eastern wall of the chamber.

Grotto, Great Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Another offshoot from the lower part of the Great Gallery is a narrow, almost vertical shaft, about 60 m high, leading to the lower part of the descending passage. There is an assumption that it was intended for the evacuation of workers or priests who were completing the "sealing" of the main passage to the "King's Chamber". Approximately in the middle of it there is a small, most likely natural extension - "Grotto" of irregular shape, in which several people could fit at most. The grotto (12) is located at the "junction" of the pyramid's stonework and a small, about 9 meters high, hill on a limestone plateau, which lies at the base of the Great Pyramid. The walls of the Grotto are partially fortified with ancient stonework, and since some of its stones are too large, there is an assumption that the Grotto existed on the Giza plateau as an independent structure long before the construction of the pyramids, and the evacuation shaft itself was built taking into account the location of the Grotto. However, given the fact that the mine was hollowed out in the already laid masonry, and not laid out, as evidenced by its irregular circular cross-section, the question arises of how the builders managed to get to the Grotto.

The Great Gallery continues the ascending passage. Its height is 8.53 m, it is rectangular in cross-section, with slightly tapering upward ("false vault") walls, a high inclined tunnel 46.6 m long. In the middle of the Great Gallery, almost along its entire length, there is a square depression 1 meter wide in cross-section and a depth of 60 cm, and on both lateral protrusions there are 27 pairs of indentations of unknown purpose. The deepening ends with a "Big Step" - a high horizontal ledge, a platform of 1x2 meters, at the end of the Great Gallery, directly in front of the access to the "entrance" - the Predicamera. The site has a pair of recesses similar to the ramp depressions in the corners of the wall. Through the "hallway" the manhole leads to the burial "Tsar's Chamber" faced with black granite, where an empty granite sarcophagus is located.

Above the "Tsar's Chamber" are found in the XIX century. five unloading cavities with a total height of 17 m, between which there are monolithic slabs about 2 m thick, and above there is a gable floor. Their purpose is to distribute the weight of the overlying layers of the pyramid (about a million tons) in order to protect the "King's Chamber" from pressure. In these voids, graffiti was discovered, probably left by workers.

A network of ventilation ducts leads from the chambers to the north and south. The channels from the Queen's Chamber do not reach the surface of the pyramid by 12 meters, and the channels from the Pharaoh's Chamber come to the surface. No other pyramid has such branches found. Scientists have not come to a unanimous opinion whether they were built for ventilation or related to the Egyptians' ideas about the afterlife. At the upper ends of the channels there are doors, most likely symbolizing the entrance to another world. In addition, the channels indicate the stars: Sirius, Tuban, Alnitak, which makes it possible to assume that the Cheops pyramid had an astronomical purpose.

Surroundings of the Cheops pyramid

At the eastern edge of the Cheops pyramid there are 3 small pyramids of his wives and family members. They are located from north to south, according to size: the side of the base of each building is 0.5 meters smaller than the previous one. They are well preserved inside; time only partially destroyed the outer facing. Nearby you can see the foundation of the funeral temple of Khufu, inside which drawings were found depicting a ritual performed by the pharaoh, it was called the Unification of the Two Lands.

Pharaoh's boats

The Pyramid of Cheops is the central figure of the complex of buildings, the location of which had ritual significance. The procession with the deceased Pharaoh crossed the Nile to the west bank on numerous boats. The first part of the funeral ceremony began in the lower church, to which the boats were sailing. Further, the procession went to the upper temple, where the prayer house and altar were located. To the west of the upper temple was the pyramid itself.

On each side of the pyramid, in rocky recesses, boats were walled up, on which the pharaoh was supposed to travel through the afterlife.

In 1954, archaeologist Zaki Nur discovered the first boat, called the Solar Boat. It was made of Lebanese cedar, consisted of 1224 parts, without any traces of attachment and connection. Its dimensions: length 43 m and width 5.5 m. 16 years were spent on restoring the boat.

On the southern side of the Cheops pyramid, a museum of this boat is open.

The second boat was found in a mine located east of the place where the first boat was found. A camera was lowered into the shaft, which showed traces of insects on the boat, so it was decided not to raise it and seal the shaft. This decision was made by the scientist Eshimuro from Waseda University.

In total, seven pits were discovered with real ancient Egyptian boats taken apart.

Video: 5 unsolved secrets of the pyramids of Egypt

How to get there

If you want to see the Great Pyramid of Cheops, you need to arrive in Cairo. But there are practically no direct flights from Russia and you will have to make a transfer in Europe. Without a change, you can fly to Sharm el-Sheikh, and from there fly 500 kilometers to Cairo. You can get to your destination by a comfortable bus, the journey time is about 6 hours, or you can continue by plane, they fly to Cairo every half hour. In Egypt, they are very loyal to Russian tourists; a visa can be obtained directly at the airport after landing. It will cost $ 25 and is issued for a month.

Where to stay

If your goal is the treasures of antiquity and you have come to the pyramids, then you can choose a hotel in Giza and in the center of Cairo. There are almost two hundred comfortable hotels with all the benefits of civilization. In addition, there are many attractions in Cairo, it is a city of contrasts: modern skyscrapers and ancient minarets, noisy colorful bazaars and nightclubs, neon nights and quiet palm gardens.

Instruction for tourists

Don't forget that Egypt is a Muslim state. Men should simply ignore Egyptians, because even an innocent touch can be considered harassment. Women must follow the rules of dress. Modesty and again modesty, a minimum of exposed parts of the body.

Tickets for organized excursions to the pyramids can be purchased at any hotel.

The pyramid zone is open to the public in the summer from 8 am to 5 pm, in the winter it is open for half an hour less, the cost of the entrance ticket is about 8 euros.

Museums are paid separately: you can see the Solar Boats for 5 euros.

For the entrance to the Cheops pyramid, you will be charged 13 euros, visiting the pyramid of Chephren will cost less - 2.6 euros. The passage is very low here and be prepared for the fact that you will have to walk 100 meters in a bent position.

Other pyramids, such as those of Khafre's wife and mother, can be viewed free of charge by showing an entrance ticket to the area.

The best time to see them is in the morning, right after opening. It is strictly forbidden to climb the pyramids, cut off a piece of memory and write "There was ...". You can pay a fine for this that it will exceed the cost of your trip.

If you want to capture yourself against the backdrop of the pyramids or just the surroundings, prepare 1 euro for the right to shoot, photography is prohibited inside the pyramids. If you are offered to photograph you, do not agree and do not give the camera to anyone, otherwise you will have to buy it back.

Tickets for visiting the pyramids are limited: 150 pieces are sold at 8 am and the same number at 1 pm. There are two cash desks: one at the main entrance, the other at the Sphinx.

Each of the pyramids is closed once a year for restoration work, so you are unlikely to see everything at once.

If you do not want to walk all over the Giza area, you can rent a camel. Its cost will depend on your bargaining ability. But keep in mind that you will not be told all the prices at once, and when you roll, it turns out that you have to pay for getting off the camel.

Delicate tip: The toilet is located in the Solar Boat Museum.

On the territory of the pyramid zone there are cafeterias where you can have a good lunch.

There is a one-hour sound and light show every evening. It is held in different languages: Arabic, English, Japanese, Spanish, French. On Sundays, the show is held in Russian. It is recommended to split the visit to the pyramids and the visit to the show for two days, otherwise you will not be able to accommodate so many impressions.

Age of the pyramid

The architect of the Great Pyramid is Hemiun, the vizier and nephew of Cheops. He also bore the title of "Manager of all Pharaoh's construction sites." It is assumed that the construction, which lasted twenty years (during the reign of Cheops), ended around 2540 BC. e. ...

The existing methods of dating the time of the beginning of the construction of the pyramid are divided into historical, astronomical and radiocarbon dating. In Egypt, officially established (2009) and celebrated the date of the beginning of the construction of the pyramid of Cheops - August 23, 2560 BC. e. This date was obtained using the astronomical method of Keith Spence (University of Cambridge). However, this method and the dates obtained with its help were criticized by many Egyptologists. Dates according to other dating methods: 2720 BC e. (Stephen Hack, University of Nebraska) 2577 BC e. (Juan Antonio Belmonte, University of Astrophysics in Canaris) and 2708 BC. e. (Pollux, Bauman University). The radiocarbon method gives a range from 2680 BC. e. to 2850 BC e. Therefore, the established "birthday" of the pyramid has no serious confirmation, since Egyptologists cannot agree on the exact year in which construction began.

The first mention of the pyramid

The complete absence of any mention of the pyramid in the Egyptian papyri remains a mystery. The first descriptions are found in the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) and in ancient Arab legends [ ]. Herodotus reported (at least 2 millennia after the appearance of the Great Pyramid) that it was erected under a despotic pharaoh named Cheops (Greek. Koufou), who ruled for 50 years, that the construction employed 100 thousand people. for twenty years, and that the pyramid is in honor of Cheops, but not his grave. The real grave is a burial near the pyramid. Herodotus gave erroneous information about the size of the pyramid, and also mentioned the middle pyramid of the Giza plateau, that it was erected by the daughter of Cheops, who sold herself, and that each building stone corresponded to the man to whom she was given. According to Herodotus, if "to lift a stone, a long winding path to the grave opened up", without specifying which pyramid in question; however, the pyramids of the Giza plateau had no "winding" paths to the tomb at the time of their visit by Herodotus; on the contrary, the descending passage of the BP Cheops is distinguished by careful straightness. And there were no other premises in the BP at that time.

Appearance

The surviving fragments of the lining of the pyramid and the remains of the pavement that surrounded the building

The pyramid is called "Akhet-Khufu" - "Horizon of Khufu" (or more precisely, "Relating to the sky - (this) Khufu"). Consists of limestone and granite blocks. It was built on a natural limestone hill. After the pyramid has lost several layers of cladding, this hill is partially visible on the east, north and south sides of the pyramid. Despite the fact that the Cheops pyramid is the tallest and most voluminous of all Egyptian pyramids, Pharaoh Sneferu nevertheless built the pyramids in Meidum and Dakhshut (Broken Pyramid and Pink Pyramid), the total mass of which is estimated at 8.4 million tons.

The pyramid was originally faced with a harder white limestone than the main blocks. The top of the pyramid was crowned with a gilded stone - the pyramidion (ancient Egyptian - "Benben"). The facing shone in the sun with a peach color, like "a shining miracle, to which the sun god Ra himself seemed to have given all his rays." In 1168, the Arabs sacked and burned Cairo. Residents of Cairo removed the cladding from the pyramid in order to build new houses.

Statistical data

Pyramid of Cheops in the 19th century

Map of the necropolis near the pyramid of Cheops

Height (today): ≈ 136.5 m
Side slope angle (now): 51 ° 50 "
Side Rib Length (originally): 230.33 m (estimated) or about 440 royal cubits
Side rib length (now): about 225 m
The length of the sides of the base of the pyramid: south - 230.454 m; north - 230.253 m; west - 230.357 m; east - 230.394 m
Base area (initially): ≈ 53,000 m2 (5.3 ha)
Side surface area of \u200b\u200bthe pyramid (initially): ≈ 85,500 m 2
Base perimeter: 922 m
Total volume of the pyramid without deduction of cavities inside the pyramid (initially): ≈ 2.58 million m 3
Total volume of the pyramid minus all known cavities (initially): 2.50 million m3
Average volume of stone blocks: 1.147 m 3
Average weight of stone blocks: 2.5 t
The heaviest stone block: about 35 tons - located above the entrance to the "King's Chamber".
The number of blocks of the average volume does not exceed 1.65 million (2.50 million m³ - 0.6 million m³ of the rock base inside the pyramid \u003d 1.9 million m 3 / 1.147 m 3 \u003d 1.65 million blocks of the specified volume can physically fit in the pyramid , without taking into account the volume of the solution in the interblock seams); attributing to a 20-year construction period * 300 working days a year * 10 working hours a day * 60 minutes an hour leads to a speed of laying (and delivery to the construction site) - about a block of two minutes.
According to calculations, the total weight of the pyramid is about 4 million tons (1.65 million blocks x 2.5 tons)
The base of the pyramid rests on a natural rock eminence with a height of about 12-14 m in the center and occupies, according to the latest data, at least 23% of the original volume of the pyramid
The number of layers (tiers) of stone blocks - 210 (at the time of construction). Now there are 203 layers.

Concavity of sides

The concavity of the sides of the Cheops pyramid

As the sun moves around the pyramid, you can notice the unevenness of the walls - the concavity of the central part of the walls. This may be due to erosion or damage from falling stone cladding. It is also possible that this was done on purpose during construction. As Vito Maragioglio and Celeste Rinaldi note, the Micerin pyramid no longer has such concave sides. I.E.S. Edwards explains this feature by the fact that the central part of each side over time simply pressed inward from the large mass of stone blocks. [ ]

As in the 18th century, when this phenomenon was discovered, today there is still no satisfactory explanation for this feature of architecture.

Observation of the concavity of the sides at the end of the 19th century, Description of Egypt

Tilt angle

It is not possible to accurately determine the initial parameters of the pyramid, since its edges and surfaces are currently mostly dismantled and destroyed. This makes it difficult to calculate the exact tilt angle. In addition, its symmetry itself is not perfect, so there are deviations in the numbers with different measurements.

Geometric study of ventilation tunnels

The study of the geometry of the Great Pyramid does not give an unambiguous answer to the question of the original proportions of this structure. It is assumed that the Egyptians had an idea of \u200b\u200bthe "Golden Ratio" and the number pi, which were reflected in the proportions of the pyramid: for example, the ratio of height to base is 14/22 (height \u003d 280 cubits, and base \u003d 440 cubits, 280/440 \u003d 14 / 22). For the first time in world history, these values \u200b\u200bwere used in the construction of the pyramid in Meidum. However, for the pyramids of the later eras, these proportions were not used anywhere else, as, for example, some have ratios of height to the base, like 6/5 (Pink pyramid), 4/3 (Khafre's pyramid) or 7/5 (Broken pyramid).

Some of the theories consider the pyramid to be an astronomical observatory. It is argued that the corridors of the pyramid accurately point towards the "polar star" of that time - Tuban, the ventilation corridors of the south side - to the star Sirius, and from the north side - to the star Alnitak.

Internal structure

Cross section of the Cheops pyramid:

The entrance to the pyramid is 15.63 meters high on the north side. The entrance is formed by stone slabs, laid in the form of an arch, but this is a structure that was inside the pyramid - the true entrance has not been preserved. The true entrance to the pyramid was most likely closed with a stone plug. A description of such a cork can be found in Strabo, and its appearance can also be imagined based on the surviving slab that closed the upper entrance to the Broken Pyramid of Sneferu, the father of Cheops. Today, tourists enter the pyramid through a 17-meter break, which was made in 820 by the Baghdad caliph Abdullah al-Mamun 10 meters lower. He hoped to find there the untold treasures of the pharaoh, but found there only a layer of dust half a cubit thick.

Inside the Cheops pyramid there are three burial chambers, one above the other.

Burial "pit"

Underground chamber maps

A 105 m long descent corridor at an incline of 26 ° 26'46 leads to a horizontal corridor 8.9 m long leading to the chamber 5 ... Located below ground level in a rocky limestone foundation, it remained unfinished. The chamber dimensions are 14 × 8.1 m, it is stretched from east to west. The height reaches 3.5 m, the ceiling has a large crack. At the southern wall of the chamber there is a well about 3 m deep, from which a narrow manhole (0.7 × 0.7 m in section) stretches southward for 16 m, ending in a dead end. Engineers John Shae Perring and Richard William Howard Vyse cleared the floor in the cell in the early 19th century and dug an 11.6m deep well in which they hoped to find a hidden burial chamber. They were based on the testimony of Herodotus, who asserted that the body of Cheops was located on an island surrounded by a channel in a hidden underground chamber. Their excavations have led nowhere. Later research showed that the chamber was left unfinished, and that the burial chambers were arranged in the center of the pyramid itself.

Ascending corridor and Queen's Chambers

From the first third of the descending passage (after 18 m from the main entrance) upward at the same angle of 26.5 ° goes to the south an ascending passage ( 6 ) about 40 m long, ending at the bottom of the Great Gallery ( 9 ).

At its beginning, the ascending passage contains 3 large cubic granite "plugs", which from the outside, from the descending passage, were masked by a block of limestone that fell out during the works of al-Mamun. Thus, during the first 3000 years from the construction of the pyramid (including during the era of its active visits in Antiquity) it was believed that there were no other rooms in the Great Pyramid, except for the descending passage and the underground chamber. Al-Mamun failed to break through these plugs and he simply carved a bypass in the softer limestone to the right of them. This passage is still used today. There are two main theories about plugs, one of which is based on the fact that the ascending passage has plugs installed at the beginning of construction and thus this passage was sealed by them from the beginning. The second claims that the current narrowing of the walls was caused by an earthquake, and the plugs were previously within the Great Gallery and were used to seal the passage only after the funeral of the pharaoh.

An important mystery of this section of the ascending passage is that in the place where the plugs are now located, in the full-size, albeit shortened, model of the pyramid's passages - the so-called test corridors north of the Great Pyramid - there is a junction of not two, but three corridors at once, the third of which is the vertical tunnel. Since no one has been able to move the traffic jams so far, the question of whether there is a vertical hole above them remains open.

A horizontal corridor 35 m long and 1.75 m high leads to the second burial chamber from the lower part of the Great Gallery in a southern direction. The walls of this horizontal corridor are made of very large blocks of limestone, on which false "seams" are applied, imitating masonry from blocks of smaller size ... Behind the western wall of the passage, there are cavities filled with sand. The second chamber is traditionally called the "Queen's Chamber", although according to the rite of the wives of the pharaohs, they were buried in separate small pyramids. The “Queen's Chamber”, faced with limestone, measures 5.74 meters from east to west and 5.23 meters from north to south; its maximum height is 6.22 meters. There is a high niche in the east wall of the cell.

Drawing of the Queen's Chamber ( 7 )

Niche in the wall of the Queen's Chamber

Corridor at the entrance to the Queen's Hall (1910)

Entrance to the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Niche in the Queen's Chamber (1910)

The ventilation duct in the queen's chamber (1910)

The corridor to the ascending tunnel ( 12 )

Granite plug (1910)

Ascending tunnel corridor (on the left - covering blocks)

Grotto, Great Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Another offshoot from the lower part of the Great Gallery is a narrow, almost vertical shaft, about 60 m high, leading to the lower part of the descending passage. There is an assumption that it was intended for the evacuation of workers or priests who were completing the "sealing" of the main passage to the "King's Chamber". Approximately in the middle of it there is a small, most likely natural extension - "Grotto" of irregular shape, in which several people could fit at most. Mainsail ( 12 ) is located at the "junction" of the stone masonry of the pyramid and a small, about 9 meters high, hill on a limestone plateau, lying at the base of the Great Pyramid. The walls of the Grotto are partially fortified with ancient stonework, and since some of its stones are too large, there is an assumption that the Grotto existed on the Giza plateau as an independent structure long before the construction of the pyramids, and the evacuation mine itself was built taking into account the location of the Grotto. However, given the fact that the mine was hollowed out in the already laid masonry, and not laid out, as evidenced by its irregular circular cross-section, the question arises of how the builders managed to get to the Grotto.

The Great Gallery continues the ascending passage. Its height is 8.53 m, it is rectangular in cross-section, with slightly tapering upward (the so-called "false vault") walls, a high inclined tunnel 46.6 m long. In the middle of the Great Gallery almost along the entire length there is a square depression, regular in cross-section measuring 1 meter wide and 60 cm deep, and on both side projections there are 27 pairs of indentations of unclear purpose. The deepening ends with the so-called. "Big step" - a high horizontal ledge, a platform 1 × 2 meters at the end of the Great Gallery, directly in front of the manhole into the "hallway" - the Antechamber. The site has a pair of depressions similar to the ramp depressions at the corners of the wall (28th and last pair of depressions BG). Through the "hallway" a manhole leads to the burial "Tsar's Chamber" faced with black granite, where an empty granite sarcophagus is located. The sarcophagus lid is missing. The ventilation shafts have mouths in the "Tsar's Chamber" on the southern and northern walls at a height of about one meter from the floor level. The mouth of the southern ventshakhta is badly damaged, the northern one appears intact. The floor, ceiling, walls of the chamber do not have any decorations or holes or fasteners of anything related to the construction of the pyramid. The ceiling slabs all burst along the southern wall and do not fall into the room only due to the pressure of the overlying blocks by the weight.

Above the "Tsar's Chamber" there are five unloading cavities discovered in the 19th century with a total height of 17 m, between which there are monolithic granite slabs about 2 m thick, and above - a gable limestone ceiling. It is believed that their purpose is to distribute the weight of the overlying layers of the pyramid (about a million tons) in order to protect the "King's Chamber" from pressure. In these voids, graffiti was discovered, probably left by workers.

The Interior of the Grotto (1910)

Drawing of the grotto (1910)

Drawing of the connection of the Grotto with the Great Gallery (1910)

Tunnel Entrance (1910)

View of the Great Gallery from the entrance to the premises

Large gallery

Great Gallery (1910)

Pharaoh's Camera Drawing

Pharaoh's chamber

Pharaoh's Chamber (1910)

The interior of the lobby in front of the Tsar's chamber (1910)

Channel "ventilation" at the southern wall of the king's room (1910)

Ventilation ducts

From the "Tsar's Chamber" and "Tsarina's Chamber" in the northern and southern directions (first horizontally, then obliquely upward), there are so-called "ventilation" channels 20-25 cm wide. At the same time, the channels of the "King's Chamber", known since the 17th century, through, they are open both from below and from above (on the faces of the pyramid), while the lower ends of the channels of the "Queen's Chamber" are separated from the surface of the wall by about 13 cm, they were discovered by tapping in 1872. The upper ends of the "Queen's Chamber" shafts do not reach the surface of about 12 meters, and are closed by stone "Gantenbrink Doors", each with two copper handles. The brass pens were sealed with plaster seals (not preserved, but traces remained). In the southern ventilation mine, the "door" was discovered in 1993 by a remote-controlled robot "Upuaut II"; the bend of the northern shaft did not allow then find in it the same "door" by this robot. In 2002, with the help of a new modification of the robot, a hole was drilled in the southern “door”, but behind it was a small cavity 18 centimeters long and another stone “door”. What lies next is still unknown. This robot confirmed the presence of a similar "door" at the end of the northern channel, but it was not drilled. In 2010, a new robot was able to insert a serpentine camera into a drilled hole in the southern "door" and discovered that the copper "handles" on the other side of the "door" were decorated in the form of neat hinges, and individual signs in red ocher were applied on the floor of the "ventilation" shaft. Currently, the most widespread version is that the purpose of the "ventilation" ducts was of a religious nature and is associated with the Egyptians' ideas about the soul's journey beyond the grave. And the "door" at the end of the canal is nothing more than a door to the afterlife. That is why it does not come out to the surface of the pyramid. At the same time, the shafts of the upper burial chamber have through exits outside and inside the room; it is unclear if this is due to some change in the ritual; since several meters of the outer facing of the pyramid has been destroyed, it is unclear if the "Gantenbrink Doors" were in the upper shafts. (could have been in the place where the mine was not preserved). In the southern upper shaft there is a so-called. "Niches of Cheops" are strange extensions and grooves that may have contained a "door". In the northern upper one there are no "niches" at all.

Today we will take a trip several millennia ago, to the time of the ancient pharaohs and the majestic pyramids. To do this, we will go to the Giza plateau - a suburb with a population of more than 3 million inhabitants, which is visited by tens of thousands of tourists every year. After all, it is here that the Great Pyramids of Egypt are located, and not in Cairo itself, as many are accustomed to believe. And it is this place that provides us with an amazing opportunity to see with our own eyes the only one of the 7 wonders of the world that has survived to this day - the Cheops pyramid, as well as one of the largest statues in the world - the famous Great Sphinx. Just think, the complex has existed for over 4500 years! My head is spinning from such numbers.

What is Giza, a suburb of Cairo, today.

The modern district of Giza looks poor and inconspicuous. Nothing special - lots of cars, people, shops, signs ...

... sometimes not entirely clear.

Smiling residents of modern Giza.

Ironically, the inconspicuous town is adjacent to one of the most famous ancient architectural complexes in the world. What immediately catches the eye is the unusual combination of city buildings and the tops of the pyramids hanging over them. The majestic pyramids seem to beckon you, inviting you to come closer in order to lift the veil of their secrets and legends.

GIZA PYRAMID COMPLEX

Information:
Giza pyramid complex
Location: Pyramids Road, Giza
How to get there: by bus: stop next to the Ramses Hilton hotel - bus 357, or minibuses in the direction of Giza; by metro: The Giza station, then - by minibus or taxi to the pyramids; by taxi (20-30 pounds)
Cost: 80 LE, students - 40 LE
Opening hours: summer - 7: 00-19: 00, winter - 8: 00-17: 00
The ticket includes entrance to the Giza plateau (viewing the pyramids from the outside), visiting the Valley Temple of Khafre, the pyramids-companions of Cheops, and some detached small pyramids

Separate tickets:
Pyramid of Khufu - 200 LE, students - 100 LE; summer - 8: 00-11: 00, 13: 00-18: 00, winter - 8: 00-11: 00, 13: 00-17: 00; only 150 tickets are sold before the break and 150 after.
Pyramid of Khafre - 40 LE, students - 20 LE; Pyramid of Menkaure - temporarily closed;
Sun Boat Museum - 60 LE;
Discounts are provided for students with the ISIC card

Sound and Light Show- daily at 19:00 - in English, 20:00 - German, Italian, Spanish, French (depending on the day of the week), 21:00 - in Arabic. Duration - about an hour. There is a possibility of translation into Russian, Japanese, Polish, Chinese and other languages \u200b\u200b(via headphones, included in the price).
Phones: (+202) 338-57320, (+202) 338-47823, (+202) 338-67374

Photography is prohibited inside the pyramids. Shooting on a plateau with a tripod - 20 LE. Tickets for the plateau and separate tickets for the entrance to the pyramids of Cheops and Khafre, as well as the light show, are sold near different entrances.

Briefly about the main thing.The Giza Plateau lies in the Libyan Desert. Here are the buildings of the times of the Ancient Kingdom (XXVI-XXIII centuries BC). The complex is based on the 3 Great Pyramids along with their satellite pyramids. Also on the plan of Giza you can see the tombs of members of the families of the pharaohs and the nobility, a statue of the Great Sphinx, 4 cemeteries, several temples, a modern center for the study of the pyramids and a museum. To examine all these buildings in detail, you will most likely need a whole day. Unfortunately, I didn't have that much time, so only the most important objects are included in my article.

Complex plan:

And so the Great Pyramids look like a bird's eye view. They can be seen even from the window of an airplane if you fly over Cairo. So, during my first flight to Egypt, a good half of the passengers gathered at the windows, when the captain said that if we all went to the right side of the cabin together, the plane would tilt from such a weight, and we would be able to see the pyramids. It worked 🙂

In the evenings, the Sphinx hosts Sound and Light Shows on the theme of Ancient Egypt and the pyramids (Sound and Light Show) in several languages \u200b\u200b(additional cost).

I want to warn you - be careful with such barkers. One friend told me the story of how her son was almost forcibly put on a camel and began to photograph "absolutely free." But in order to remove the frightened guy from the hump of the proud ship of the desert, and return the camera to the mistress, they began to demand baksheesh. I had to threaten with guides and policemen. The moral of this fable is this: you can ride, but be careful. In which case, immediately boldly declare that you will now call a guide, even if you came here alone. Oddly enough, it works. Just do not think that I am dissuading you from the opportunity to take beautiful photographs on a camel. In my opinion, the idea is great, the main thing is to agree on the price in advance 🙂

The Great Pyramids of Giza: the main decoration of the complex.

What kind of pyramids were not built in Ancient Egypt - stepped, broken, pink, huge or very tiny ... The most famous of them - the Great Pyramids - are located in the central part of the Giza complex, where they are located on the same line - from the largest to the smallest. it pyramids of Cheops (Khufu), Khafren (Khafre) and Mikerin (Menkaura).

!!Fact: As you know, these 3 pharaohs were related. Chefren was the brother or son of Cheops, and Mikerin was the son of Chefren.

Each of the pyramids has its own "satellite pyramids" where members of the families of the pharaohs are buried, and its own memorial temple (see the plan of the complex)... Here they are, beauties, towering against the backdrop of Cairo.

From this perspective, it seems that the pyramid with the "tip" is the largest in size, but in fact, it is the middle of the three - the pyramid of Khafre.

The next photo shows the smallest pyramid of Mikerin with its tiny satellites. Mikerin and Cheops got 3 "satellite pyramids" each, but Chefren got only one.

Until now, scientists argue whether these pyramids were built by humans or alien creatures, whether they were intended only for burials or had other secret meanings. It would be true to return to the past, to look at least with one eye at the life of Giza several thousand years ago ... Eh, dreams ...

Pyramid of Cheops: along the corridors of one of the Wonders of the World.

Having clicked a few "postcards", I went inside the Cheops pyramid. The only one from our group. What kind of incurious people are they? So gentlemen, it is the largest and most famous of the Egyptian pyramids, the only of the Seven Wonders of the World that has managed to survive to this day. Hurray, and I saw him with my own eyes! Another name for the Cheops pyramid is the Great pyramid. It was intended, in fact, for the burial of Pharaoh Cheops (or Khufu).

Its 3 companions - small pyramids standing next to each other - are the pyramid of Queen Hetepheres (GIa) - the mother of Khufu, the pyramid of Queen Meritit I (GIb) - the 1st wife of Khufu, and the pyramid of Henutsen (GIc) - the 2nd wife of Khufu. One of them is visible in the photograph.

!!Fact: Initially, the top of the Cheops pyramid was gilded.

She probably has the most crowds than the other points of the complex combined. Everyone wants to touch it, smell it, lean against it, take a picture ...

Here are the main parameters of the Cheops pyramid:

The height of the pyramid is 139 meters.
4 sides of its base - 230 meters long each, with a slight difference.
Construction materials - limestone, basalt, granite.
The total weight of the pyramid is over 6 million tons. It consists of about 2.5 million stone blocks. The average size of each block is 1 m³, the average weight is 2.5 tons. The heaviest of them weighs 35 tons.

You can climb the blocks, which I did. The truth is not high, otherwise the guards will start swearing. An excellent chance to "touch antiquity" ourselves.

As for the entrance, there are as many as 2 of them. Previously, people penetrated through the old entrance. The current one is located just below, through it nowadays tourists pass. It was once broken through in the wall of the pyramid, hoping to find treasures there. Not found.

So, we go inside, passing through the open gate in the background. Unfortunately, this photo was the only "legal" one inside the Cheops pyramid: for some reason, shooting here is prohibited. The camera has to be left at your own risk. I resisted for a long time, it was elementary scary for the fate of my camera. True, in the end he was returned safe and sound. Further photos will be taken using the phone, which I carefully hid so that it does not fall into the hands of the security 🙂

The first impression of the pyramid is subdued light and silence inside, long and very narrow corridors. There are no statues or wall paintings inside, such as are found, for example, in later tombs c. It has its own special atmosphere.

But what was my disappointment when I discovered that you can only walk along a few corridors and enter only a few rooms. I compared what is open to tourists with what is on the plan of the pyramid, and I realized that only a third is open for inspection. As a result, the entire hike down to the final point and back, if not considering every corner, took only a few minutes. That's the whole Great Pyramid. I read the comments on the Internet and came to the conclusion that either I somehow missed the aisles upstairs, or at that time they were simply closed. I will explain what this is about. Look at plan of the pyramid of Cheops.

As we can see, there are 3 burial chambers inside it, one of which was not completed for some reason. Also, the pyramid has a system of corridors with a large gallery. This is what I expected to see in theory. In fact, what I managed to get through - it is the path from the entrance (2) along the descending corridor (4) to the unfinished underground chamber (5). Everyone, comrades! It's a shame.

Descending corridor (4).

The length of the corridor is 105 m. The descent takes place at a large slope. If for some reason you want to stop in the middle, then this is unlikely to work, if you do not want to delay the rest: the passage is really narrow and does not even accommodate two people in width. Next comes short tunnelleading to the unfinished underground chamber (5). I saw another passage closed by bars. Apparently, behind it is the missing part on the plan of the pyramid.

Camera (5) is a small nondescript room. That, in fact, is all. Maybe I was not looking there?

Finally, one more fact. In the XX century, a large wooden boat was found in one of the premises, taken apart. Now she is in the Sun Boat Museum, located next to the pyramid. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to visit the museum.

We turn to one of the most beloved tourist points of the Giza complex - the Great Sphinx statue, the oldest surviving monumental statue in the world. Let me remind you that in Ancient Egypt the Sphinx is a stone figure of a lion with a human head. For several millennia, it has been basking under the Egyptian sun, carefully guarding the plateau and its buildings.

The height of the Sphinx is 20 m, its width is 73 m. For its age, the statue has been perfectly preserved to this day, however, having lost its nose in the struggle with the sandy winds. The face of the mythical animal is turned towards the Nile, from where the sun rises. Scientists believe that it bears a portrait resemblance to the Pharaoh Mikerin - the "owner" of one of the three Great Pyramids.

What kind of photos with the Sphinx are not taken by travelers who come here .. Some jump against its background, others try to hug, and still others give him a kiss hot, like the Libyan desert. I was no exception. The Sphinx impressed me almost more than the pyramids themselves, and I think he deserved this kiss.

There is an extension next to the statue - sphinx temple... Together they form a single complex. Separate tickets for visiting the temple are not needed, just as one of the barkers did not try to convince me otherwise. As a usher, he, of course, tried to act himself.

In this romantic shot with a kiss, I end my story. Until next time with hot Egypt!

, vizier and nephew of Cheops. He also bore the title of "Manager of all Pharaoh's construction sites." For more than three thousand years (before the construction of the Cathedral in Lincoln, England, around 1300), the pyramid was the tallest building on Earth.

It is estimated that construction, which lasted twenty years, ended around 2540 BC. e. The existing methods of dating the time of the beginning of the construction of the pyramid are divided into historical, astronomical and radiocarbon dating. In Egypt, the date for the start of construction of the pyramid of Cheops is officially established and celebrated - August 23, 2560 BC. e. This date was obtained using the astronomical method of Keith Spence (University of Cambridge). However, this date should not be considered a true historical event, since its method and the dates obtained with its help were criticized by many Egyptologists. The existing three other dating methods give different dates - Stephen Hack (University of Nebraska) 2720 BC. BC, Juana Antonio Belmonte (University of Astrophysics at Canaris) 2577 BC e. and Pollux (Bauman University) 2708 BC. e. The radiocarbon method gives a range from 2680 BC. e. to 2850 BC e. Therefore, the established "birthday" of the pyramid does not have any serious confirmation, since Egyptologists cannot agree on the exact year in which construction began.

Statistical data

Height (today): ≈ 138.75 m
Side slope angle (now): 51 ° 50 "
Side Rib Length (originally): 230.33 m (estimated) or about 440 royal cubits
Side rib length (now): about 225 m
The length of the sides of the base of the pyramid: south - 230.454 m; north - 230.253 m; west - 230.357 m; east - 230.394 m
Base area (initially): ≈ 53,000 m² (5.3 ha)
Lateral surface area of \u200b\u200bthe pyramid (initially): ≈ 85,500 m²
Base perimeter: 922 m
Total volume of the pyramid without deduction of cavities inside the pyramid (initially): ≈ 2.58 million m³
Total volume of the pyramid minus all known cavities (initially): 2.50 million m³
Average volume of stone blocks: 1.147 m³
Average weight of stone blocks: 2.5 t
The heaviest stone block: about 35 tons - located above the entrance to the "King's Chamber".
The number of blocks of the average volume does not exceed 1.65 million (2.50 million m³ - 0.6 million m³ of the rocky base inside the pyramid \u003d 1.9 million m³ / 1.147 m³ \u003d 1.65 million blocks of the specified volume can physically fit in the pyramid, without accounting for the volume of the solution in the interblock seams); attributing to a 20-year construction period * 300 working days a year * 10 working hours a day * 60 minutes an hour leads to a speed of laying (and delivery to the construction site) - about a block of two minutes.
According to calculations, the total weight of the pyramid is about 4 million tons (1.65 million blocks x 2.5 tons)
The base of the pyramid rests on a natural rock eminence with a height of about 12-14 m in the center and occupies, according to the latest data, at least 23% of the original volume of the pyramid

About the pyramid

Pyramid structure

The entrance to the pyramid is 15.63 meters high on the north side. The entrance is formed by stone slabs laid in the form of an arch, but this is a structure that was inside the pyramid - the true entrance has not survived. The true entrance to the pyramid was most likely closed with a stone plug. A description of such a cork can be found in Strabo, and its appearance can also be imagined based on the surviving slab that covered the upper entrance to the Broken Pyramid of Sneferu, the father of Cheops. Today, tourists enter the pyramid through a 17-meter gap, which was made in 820 by the Baghdad caliph Abdullah al-Mamun 10 meters lower. He hoped to find there the untold treasures of the pharaoh, but found there only a layer of dust half a cubit thick.

Inside the Cheops pyramid there are three burial chambers, one above the other.

Burial "pit"

Several photographs taken in 1910

Interior

Ascending corridor and Queen's Chambers

At its beginning, the ascending passage contains 3 large cubic granite "plugs", which outside, from the descending passage, were masked by a block of limestone that fell out during the works of al-Mamun. Thus, for the previous 3 thousand years, it was believed that there were no other rooms in the Great Pyramid, except for the descending passage and the underground chamber. Al-Mamun failed to break through these plugs and he simply carved a bypass in the softer limestone to the right of them. This passage is still used today. There are two main theories about plugs, one of which is based on the fact that the ascending passage has plugs installed at the beginning of construction and thus this passage was sealed by them from the beginning. The second claims that the current narrowing of the walls was caused by an earthquake, and the plugs were previously within the Great Gallery and were used to seal the passage only after the funeral of the pharaoh.

A horizontal corridor 35 m long and 1.75 m high leads to the second burial chamber from the lower part of the Great Gallery in a southern direction. The walls of this horizontal corridor are made of very large blocks of limestone, on which false "seams" are applied, imitating the masonry of smaller blocks ... Behind the western wall of the passage, there are cavities filled with sand. The second chamber is traditionally called the "Queen's Chamber", although according to the rite of the wives of the pharaohs, they were buried in separate small pyramids. The “Queen's Chamber”, faced with limestone, measures 5.74 meters from east to west and 5.23 meters from north to south; its maximum height is 6.22 meters. There is a high niche in the eastern wall of the chamber.

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Drawing of the Queen's Chamber ( 7 )

Niche in the wall of the Queen's Chamber

Corridor at the entrance to the Queen's Hall (1910)

Entrance to the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Niche in the Queen's Chamber (1910)

The ventilation duct in the queen's chamber (1910)

The corridor to the ascending tunnel ( 12 )

Granite plug (1910)

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Ascending tunnel corridor (on the left - covering blocks)

Grotto, Great Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Another offshoot from the lower part of the Great Gallery is a narrow, almost vertical shaft, about 60 m high, leading to the lower part of the descending passage. There is an assumption that it was intended for the evacuation of workers or priests who were completing the "sealing" of the main passage to the "King's Chamber". Approximately in the middle of it there is a small, most likely natural extension - "Grotto" of irregular shape, in which several people could fit at most. Mainsail ( 12 ) is located at the "junction" of the stone masonry of the pyramid and a small, about 9 meters high, hill on a limestone plateau, lying at the base of the Great Pyramid. The walls of the Grotto are partially fortified with ancient stonework, and since some of its stones are too large, there is an assumption that the Grotto existed on the Giza plateau as an independent structure long before the construction of the pyramids, and the evacuation mine itself was built taking into account the location of the Grotto. However, given the fact that the mine was hollowed out in the already laid masonry, and not laid out, as evidenced by its irregular circular cross-section, the question arises of how the builders managed to get to the Grotto.

The Great Gallery continues the ascending passage. Its height is 8.53 m, it is rectangular in cross-section, with slightly tapering upward (the so-called "false vault") walls, a high inclined tunnel 46.6 m long. In the middle of the Great Gallery, there is a square depression, regular in cross-section, almost along its entire length measuring 1 meter wide and 60 cm deep, and on both side ledges there are 27 pairs of indentations of unclear purpose. The deepening ends with the so-called. "Big step" - a high horizontal ledge, a platform 1 × 2 meters at the end of the Great Gallery, directly in front of the manhole into the "hallway" - the Antechamber. The site has a pair of depressions similar to the ramp depressions at the corners of the wall (28th and last pair of depressions BG). Through the "hallway" the manhole leads to the burial "Tsar's Chamber" faced with black granite, where an empty granite sarcophagus is located. The sarcophagus lid is missing. The ventilation shafts have mouths in the "Tsar's Chamber" on the southern and northern walls at a height of about one meter from the floor level. The mouth of the southern ventshakhta is badly damaged, the northern one appears intact. The floor, ceiling, walls of the chamber do not have any decorations or holes or fasteners of anything related to the construction of the pyramid. The ceiling slabs all burst along the southern wall and do not fall into the room only due to the pressure of the overlying blocks by the weight.

The Interior of the Grotto (1910)

Drawing of the grotto (1910)

Drawing of the connection of the Grotto with the Great Gallery (1910)

Tunnel Entrance (1910)

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View of the Great Gallery from the entrance to the premises

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Large gallery

Great Gallery (1910)

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"Big step"

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Pharaoh's Camera Drawing

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Pharaoh's chamber

Pharaoh's Chamber (1910)

The interior of the lobby in front of the Tsar's chamber (1910)

Channel "ventilation" at the southern wall of the king's room (1910)

Ventilation ducts

From the "Tsar's Chamber" and "Tsarina's Chamber" in the northern and southern directions (first horizontally, then obliquely upward), there are so-called "ventilation" channels 20-25 cm wide. At the same time, the channels of the "Tsar's Chamber", known since the 17th century, through, they are open both from below and from above (on the faces of the pyramid), while the lower ends of the channels of the "Queen's Chamber" are separated from the surface of the wall by about 13 cm, they were discovered by tapping in 1872. The upper ends of these channels do not reach the surface of about 12 meters. The upper ends of the channels of the "Queen's Chamber" are closed with stone "Gantenbrink doors", each with two copper handles. The brass pens were sealed with plaster seals (not preserved, but traces remained). In the southern ventilation mine, the "door" was discovered in 1993 by a remote-controlled robot "Upuaut II"; the bend of the northern shaft did not allow this robot to find the same "door" in it. In 2002, with the help of a new modification of the robot, a hole was drilled in the southern "door", but behind it was a small cavity 18 centimeters long and another stone "door". What lies next is still unknown. This robot confirmed the presence of a similar "door" at the end of the northern channel, but it was not drilled. In 2010, a new robot was able to insert a serpentine camera into a drilled hole in the southern "door" and discovered that the copper "handles" on the other side of the "door" were designed in the form of neat hinges, and individual signs in red ocher were applied on the floor of the "ventilation" shaft. Currently, the most widespread version is that the purpose of the "ventilation" ducts was of a religious nature and is associated with the Egyptians' ideas about the soul's journey beyond the grave. And the "door" at the end of the canal is nothing more than a door to the afterlife. That is why it does not come out to the surface of the pyramid.

Tilt angle

The study of the geometry of the Great Pyramid does not give an unambiguous answer to the question of the original proportions of this structure. It is assumed that the Egyptians had an idea of \u200b\u200bthe "Golden Ratio" and the number pi, which were reflected in the proportions of the pyramid: for example, the ratio of the height to half the perimeter of the base is 14/22 (height \u003d 280 cubits, and the base \u003d 220 cubits, half-perimeter of the base \u003d 2 × 220 cubits; 280/440 \u003d 14/22). For the first time in world history, these values \u200b\u200bwere used in the construction of the pyramid in Meidum. However, for the pyramids of the later eras, these proportions were not used anywhere else, as, for example, some have ratios of height to the base, like 6/5 (Pink pyramid), 4/3 (Khafre's pyramid) or 7/5 (Broken pyramid).

Concavity of sides

As in the 18th century, when this phenomenon was discovered, today there is still no satisfactory explanation for this feature of architecture.

Pharaoh's boats

Near the pyramids, seven pits were discovered with real ancient Egyptian boats taken apart. The first of these ships, called "Solar Boats" or "Solar Boats", was discovered in 1954 by the Egyptian architect Kamal el-Mallah and archaeologist Zaki Nur. The boat was made of cedar and did not have a single trace of nails for fastening the elements. The boat consisted of 1224 parts, they were assembled by the restorer Ahmed Youssef Mustafa only in 1968.

Boat dimensions: length - 43.3 m, width - 5.6 m, and draft - 1.50 m.

On the southern side of the Cheops pyramid, a museum of this boat is open.

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One of the two solar boat pits. Eastern part of the pyramid

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The location where the Solar Boat was discovered

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Boat museum on the south side of the pyramid

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The Cheops solar boat, discovered near the pyramid in 1954.

The pyramids of the queens of Cheops

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Descent to the Henoutsen burial chamber

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Burial chamber Henoutsen

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Literature

Ionina N.A. 100 great wonders of the world. - Moscow., 1999.
Voytech Zamarovsky... Their Majesties are pyramids. - Moscow., 1986.

Notes

Links

(English)
(English)
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The ancient kingdom
(2686-2181 BC)

1st transition period
(2181–2040 BC)

Middle kingdom
(2040-1650 BC)

2nd transition period
(1650-1570 BC)

New kingdom
(1570-1070 BC)



Pyramids

Sculptures

An excerpt characterizing the Pyramid of Cheops

- What are you talking about the militia? He said to Boris.
- They, Your Grace, preparing for tomorrow, for death, put on white shirts.
- Ah! .. Wonderful, incomparable people! - said Kutuzov and, closing his eyes, shook his head. - Peerless people! He repeated with a sigh.
- Want to smell gunpowder? He said to Pierre. - Yes, a pleasant smell. I have the honor to adore your wife, is she healthy? My halt at your service. - And, as often happens with old people, Kutuzov began to look around absentmindedly, as if he had forgotten everything he needed to say or do.
Obviously, remembering what he was looking for, he beckoned Andrei Sergeich Kaisarov, the brother of his adjutant, to him.
- How, how, how is Marina's poetry, how is poetry, how? That on Gerakova he wrote: "You will be a teacher in the building ... Tell me, tell me," Kutuzov began, obviously intending to laugh. Kaisarov read ... Kutuzov, smiling, nodded his head in time to the poetry.
When Pierre moved away from Kutuzov, Dolokhov, moving up to him, took his hand.
“I am very glad to meet you here, Count,” he said to him loudly and not embarrassed by the presence of strangers, with particular decisiveness and solemnity. - On the eve of the day on which God knows which of us is destined to stay alive, I am glad to have the opportunity to tell you that I regret the misunderstandings that were between us, and I wish you had nothing against me. I ask you to forgive me.
Pierre, smiling, looked at Dolokhov, not knowing what to say to him. Dolokhov, with tears coming into his eyes, hugged and kissed Pierre.
Boris said something to his general, and Count Bennigsen turned to Pierre and offered to go with him along the line.
“It will interest you,” he said.
“Yes, very interesting,” said Pierre.
Half an hour later, Kutuzov left for Tatarinova, and Bennigsen and his retinue, including Pierre, drove along the line.

From Gorki, Bennigsen went down the high road to the bridge, which the officer from the mound had pointed out to Pierre as the center of the position, and on which on the bank lay rows of mown grass that smelled of hay. They drove across the bridge to the village of Borodino, from there they turned left and past a huge number of troops and cannons they drove to a high mound, on which the militia were digging the ground. It was a redoubt that did not yet have a name, later called the Raevsky redoubt, or the kurgan battery.
Pierre did not pay much attention to this redoubt. He did not know that this place would be more memorable for him than all the places in the Borodino field. Then they drove through the ravine to Semyonovskoye, in which the soldiers were pulling the last logs of huts and barns. Then downhill and uphill, they drove forward through broken rye knocked out like hail, along the newly laid artillery road along the thrusts of arable land to the flush [a kind of fortification. (Note. LN Tolstoy.)], Also then still digging.
Bennigsen stopped at the flushes and began to look ahead at the (formerly ours yesterday) Shevardinsky redoubt, on which several horsemen could be seen. The officers said that Napoleon or Murat was there. And everyone looked eagerly at this bunch of horsemen. Pierre also looked there, trying to guess which of these barely visible people was Napoleon. Finally the horsemen left the mound and disappeared.
Bennigsen turned to the general who approached him and began to explain the entire situation of our troops. Pierre listened to Bennigsen's words, straining all his mental powers to understand the essence of the forthcoming battle, but with grief felt that his mental abilities were not sufficient for this. He didn't understand anything. Bennigsen stopped speaking, and noticing the figure of Pierre listening, he suddenly said, addressing him:
- You, I think, are not interested?
“Oh, on the contrary, it's very interesting,” Pierre repeated, not entirely truthfully.
With a flush, they drove even further to the left along a road winding through a dense, low birch forest. In the middle of this
forest, a brown hare with white legs jumped into the road in front of them and, frightened by the stomp of a large number of horses, was so confused that it jumped for a long time along the road in front of them, arousing general attention and laughter, and only when they shouted at him in several voices did and disappeared into the thicket. Having traveled two versts through the forest, they drove into a clearing where troops of Tuchkov's corps were stationed, which was supposed to defend the left flank.
Here, on the extreme left flank, Bennigsen talked a lot and fervently and made, as it seemed to Pierre, an important military order. In front of the location of Tuchkov's troops was an elevation. This elevation was not occupied by troops. Bennigsen loudly criticized this mistake, saying that it was insane to leave the commander-in-chief of the hill unoccupied and place troops under it. Some generals expressed the same opinion. One in particular spoke with military fervor that they had been put here for slaughter. Bennigsen ordered in his own name to move the troops to the height.
This order on the left flank made Pierre even more doubtful about his ability to understand military affairs. Listening to Bennigsen and the generals condemning the position of the troops under the mountain, Pierre fully understood them and shared their opinion; but precisely because of this, he could not understand how the one who placed them here under the mountain could have made such an obvious and gross mistake.
Pierre did not know that these troops were not deployed to defend the position, as Bennigsen thought, but were placed in a hidden place for an ambush, that is, in order to be unnoticed and suddenly strike at the advancing enemy. Bennigsen did not know this and moved the troops forward for special reasons, without telling the commander-in-chief about it.

Prince Andrey on this clear August evening on the 25th was lying with his elbows on his arm in a broken shed in the village of Knyazkov, on the edge of the location of his regiment. Through the hole in the broken wall, he looked at a strip of thirty-year-old birches with chopped-off lower branches running along the fence, at the arable land with heaps of oats broken on it and at the bushes, over which the smoke of the fires of soldiers' kitchens could be seen.
No matter how cramped and not needed by anyone, and no matter how hard his life now seemed to Prince Andrey, he, just like seven years ago in Austerlitz on the eve of the battle, felt agitated and irritated.
Orders for tomorrow's battle were given and received by him. There was nothing more for him to do. But his thoughts were the simplest, clearest and therefore terrible thoughts did not leave him alone. He knew that tomorrow's battle should have been the most terrible of all those in which he participated, and the possibility of death for the first time in his life, without any relation to everyday life, without considerations of how it would affect others, but only because to him, to his soul, with liveliness, almost with certainty, simply and horribly, presented itself to him. And from the height of this performance, everything that previously tormented and occupied him suddenly lit up with a cold white light, without shadows, without perspective, without distinction of outlines. His whole life seemed to him like a magic lantern, into which he looked for a long time through glass and under artificial lighting. Now he suddenly saw, without glass, in bright daylight, these ill-painted pictures. “Yes, yes, these are those false images that excited and admired and tormented me,” he said to himself, going over in his imagination the main pictures of his magic lantern of life, now looking at them in this cold white light of the day - the clear thought of death. - Here they are, these crudely painted figures, which seemed to be something beautiful and mysterious. Glory, the public good, love for a woman, the fatherland itself - how great these pictures seemed to me, what a deep meaning they seemed to be fulfilled! And all this is so simple, pale and rough in the cold white light of that morning, which I feel is rising for me. " The three major sorrows of his life in particular held his attention. His love for a woman, the death of his father and the French invasion that captured half of Russia. “Love! .. This girl, who seemed to me full of mysterious powers. How I loved her! I made poetic plans about love, about happiness with her. Oh dear boy! - He said angrily aloud. - How! I believed in some kind of ideal love that was supposed to keep her faithful to me for a whole year of my absence! Like the tender dove of a fable, she should have wither away from me. And all this is much simpler ... All this is terribly simple, disgusting!
My father also built in Bald Mountains and thought that this was his place, his land, his air, his men; but Napoleon came and, not knowing about his existence, like a chip from the road, knocked him down, and his Bald Mountains and his whole life collapsed. And Princess Marya says that this is a test sent from above. What is the test for when it is no longer and will not be? never again! He's gone! So who is this test? Fatherland, death of Moscow! And tomorrow he will kill me - and not even a Frenchman, but his own, as yesterday a soldier unloaded a gun near my ear, and the French will come, take me by the legs and by the head and throw me into a hole so that I do not stink under their noses, and new conditions will arise. lives that will also be familiar to others, and I will not know about them, and I will not be. "
He looked at the strip of birches, with their motionless yellowness, greenery and white bark, glistening in the sun. "To die, to be killed tomorrow, so that I would not be ... so that all this would be, but I would not be." He vividly imagined the absence of himself in this life. And these birches with their light and shadow, and these curly clouds, and this smoke of fires - everything around him was transformed and seemed to be something terrible and menacing. Frost ran down his back. Getting up quickly, he left the barn and began to walk.
Voices were heard from behind the barn.
- Who's there? - Prince Andrey called.
The red-nosed captain Timokhin, the former company commander of Dolokhov, now, after the loss of officers, the battalion commander, timidly entered the barn. Behind him came the adjutant and the treasurer of the regiment.
Prince Andrey hastily got up, listened to what the officers had to convey to him in the service, gave them some more orders and was about to let them go when a familiar, whispering voice was heard from behind the shed.
- Que diable! [Damn it!] - said the voice of a man bumping against something.
Prince Andrew, looking out of the shed, saw Pierre approaching him, who stumbled on a lying pole and almost fell. Prince Andrey was generally unpleasant to see people from his world, especially Pierre, who reminded him of all those difficult moments that he experienced on his last visit to Moscow.
- That's how! - he said. - What are the fates? I didn't wait.
While he was saying this, there was more than dryness in his eyes and the expression on his whole face - there was hostility, which Pierre immediately noticed. He approached the barn in the most animated state of mind, but seeing the expression on Prince Andrey's face, he felt embarrassed and awkward.
- I came ... so ... you know ... I came ... I'm interested, - said Pierre, already so many times that day that day was meaninglessly repeating this word "interesting." - I wanted to see the battle.
- Yes, yes, but what do the freemasons say about the war? How can you prevent it? - said Prince Andrey mockingly. - Well, Moscow? What are mine? Have you finally arrived in Moscow? He asked seriously.
- We arrived. Julie Drubetskaya told me. I went to see them and did not find them. They went to the Moscow region.

The officers wanted to take their leave, but Prince Andrey, as if not wanting to remain face to face with his friend, invited them to sit and drink tea. Benches and tea were served. The officers not without surprise looked at the fat, huge figure of Pierre and listened to his stories about Moscow and the disposition of our troops, which he managed to travel around. Prince Andrew was silent, and his face was so unpleasant that Pierre turned to the good-natured battalion commander Timokhin than to Bolkonsky.
- So you understand the whole disposition of the troops? - Prince Andrey interrupted him.
- Yes, that is how? - said Pierre. - As a non-military person, I cannot say that completely, but I still understood the general disposition.
- Eh bien, vous etes plus avance que qui cela soit, [Well, you know more than anyone else.] - said Prince Andrew.
- A! - said Pierre with bewilderment, looking through his glasses at Prince Andrey. - Well, how do you say about the appointment of Kutuzov? - he said.
“I was very happy about this appointment, that's all I know,” said Prince Andrey.
- Well, tell me, what is your opinion about Barclay de Tolly? In Moscow, God knows what they said about him. How do you judge him?
“Just ask them,” said Prince Andrey, pointing to the officers.
Pierre, with a condescending questioning smile, with which everyone involuntarily turned to Timokhin, looked at him.
“They saw the light, your Excellency, as the Most Serene One did,” Timokhin said timidly and incessantly looking back at his regimental commander.
- Why is it so? - Pierre asked.
- Yes, at least about firewood or feed, I will report to you. After all, we were retreating from Sventsyan, don't you dare touch a twig, or a senz there, or something. After all, we are leaving, he gets it, isn't it, your Excellency? - he turned to his prince, - don't you dare. In our regiment, two officers were put on trial for such cases. Well, as His Serene Highness did, it just became about it. They saw the light ...
- So why did he forbid?
Timokhin looked around in confusion, not understanding how and what to answer such a question. Pierre turned to Prince Andrey with the same question.
“And so as not to ruin the land that we left to the enemy,” Prince Andrew said with malicious irony. - It's very basic; you should not be allowed to plunder the region and accustom the troops to looting. Well, in Smolensk, he also reasoned correctly that the French could bypass us and that they had more strength. But he could not understand that, - suddenly, as if in a thin voice that had escaped, Prince Andrey cried out, - but he could not understand that we fought there for the first time for the Russian land, that there was such a spirit in the troops that I had never seen before, that we fought off the French for two days in a row, and that this success multiplied our strength tenfold. He ordered to retreat, and all efforts and losses were wasted. He did not think about treason, he tried to do everything as best he could, he thought it over; but from this it does not work. He is no good now, precisely because he thinks everything over very thoroughly and carefully, as every German should. How can I tell you ... Well, your father has a German lackey, and he is an excellent lackey and will satisfy all his needs better than you, and let him serve; but if your father is ill at death, you will drive the lackey away and with your unfamiliar, clumsy hands will begin to follow your father and calm him down better than a skillful but stranger. And so they did with Barclay. While Russia was healthy, a stranger could serve her, and there was an excellent minister, but as soon as she was in danger; you need your own, dear person. And in your club they thought he was a traitor! By slandering him as a traitor, they will only do what, later, ashamed of their false reproach, they will suddenly turn the traitors into a hero or a genius, which will still be more unfair. He is an honest and very neat German ...
“However, they say he is a skillful general,” said Pierre.
“I don’t understand what a skillful commander means,” said Prince Andrei with a sneer.
- A skillful commander, - said Pierre, - well, the one who foresaw all accidents ... well, he guessed the enemy's thoughts.
“Yes, it’s impossible,” said Prince Andrew, as if about a long-settled case.
Pierre looked at him in surprise.
“However,” he said, “they say that war is like a chess game.
- Yes, - said Prince Andrey, - only with that small difference that in chess you can think as much as you like over every step, that you are out of the conditions of time, and with the difference that a knight is always stronger than a pawn and two pawns are always stronger one, and in war one battalion is sometimes stronger than a division, and sometimes weaker than a company. Nobody knows the relative strength of the troops. Believe me, ”he said,“ that if everything depended on the orders of the headquarters, I would have been there and make orders, but instead I have the honor of serving here in the regiment with these gentlemen, and I think that tomorrow will depend, not on them ... Success has never depended and will not depend either on position, or on weapons, or even on numbers; and least of all from the position.
- And from what?
- From the feeling that is in me, in him, - he pointed to Timokhin, - in every soldier.
Prince Andrey glanced at Timokhin, who was looking at his commander in dismay and perplexity. Contrary to his former reserved silence, Prince Andrew now seemed agitated. He, apparently, could not resist expressing those thoughts that suddenly came to him.
- The battle will be won by the one who is determined to win it. Why did we lose the battle at Austerlitz? Our loss was almost equal to that of the French, but we told ourselves very early that we had lost the battle - and lost. And we said this because we had no reason to fight there: we wanted to leave the battlefield as soon as possible. "If you lose - well run!" - we ran. If we hadn't said this until evening, God knows what would have happened. We won't say that tomorrow. You say: our position, the left flank is weak, the right flank is stretched, - he continued, - all this is nonsense, nothing of this. What do we have to do tomorrow? One hundred million of the most varied accidents, which will be solved instantly by the fact that they or ours ran or run, that they kill that one, they kill another; and what is being done now is all fun. The fact is that those with whom you traveled around the position not only do not contribute to the general course of affairs, but interfere with it. They are only busy with their own little interests.
- At such a moment? - Pierre said reproachfully.
“At such a moment,” repeated Prince Andrei, “for them this is only such a moment in which you can dig under the enemy and get an extra cross or ribbon. For me tomorrow is this: the 100,000-strong Russian and 100,000-strong French troops have come together to fight, and the fact is that these 200,000 are fighting, and whoever will fight angrily and feel less sorry for himself will win. And if you want, I'll tell you that no matter what, no matter what they confuse up there, we will win the battle tomorrow. Tomorrow, whatever it is, we will win the battle!
“Here, your Excellency, it’s true, true,” said Timokhin. - Why feel sorry for yourself now! The soldiers in my battalion, believe me, did not drink vodka: not such a day, they say. - All were silent.
The officers got up. Prince Andrew went out with them behind the shed, giving the last orders to the adjutant. When the officers had left, Pierre went up to Prince Andrei and was just about to start a conversation, when the hooves of three horses began to clatter along the road not far from the shed, and looking in this direction, Prince Andrei recognized Volzogen and Clausewitz, accompanied by the Cossack. They drove close, continuing to talk, and Pierre and Andrei involuntarily heard the following phrases:
- Der Krieg muss im Raum verlegt werden. Der Ansicht kann ich nicht genug Preis geben, [War must be transferred to space. This view I cannot praise enough (in German)] - said one.
“O ja,” said another voice, “da der Zweck ist nur den Feind zu schwachen, so kann man gewiss nicht den Verlust der Privatpersonen in Achtung nehmen. [Oh yes, since the goal is to weaken the enemy, private casualties cannot be taken into account (DE)]
- O ja, [Oh yes (German)] - confirmed the first voice.
- Yes, im Raum verlegen, [transfer to space (German)] - repeated Prince Andrew, sniffing viciously, when they drove by. - Im Raum then [In space (German)] I have a father and a son and a sister in the Bald Mountains. It doesn't matter to him. This is what I told you - these gentlemen Germans will not win the battle tomorrow, but will just shit how much their forces will be, because in his German head there are only arguments that are not worth a damn, and in his heart there is nothing that only and what is needed for tomorrow is what is in Timokhin. They gave all of Europe to him and came to teach us - glorious teachers! His voice screamed again.
"So you think tomorrow's battle will be won?" - said Pierre.
“Yes, yes,” said Prince Andrey absently. “One thing I would do if I had power,” he began again, “I would not take prisoners. What are prisoners? This is chivalry. The French have destroyed my house and are going to destroy Moscow, and they insulted and insulted me every second. They are my enemies, they are all criminals, according to my ideas. And Timokhin and the whole army think the same. We must execute them. If they are my enemies, they cannot be friends, no matter how they talk in Tilsit.
- Yes, yes, - said Pierre, looking at Prince Andrey with shining eyes, - I completely, completely agree with you!
The question that had worried Pierre from Mozhaiskaya Mountain all that day now seemed to him perfectly clear and completely resolved. He now understood the full meaning and significance of this war and the coming battle. Everything that he saw that day, all the significant, stern expressions that he caught a glimpse of, lit up for him with a new light. He understood that latente, as they say in physics, the warmth of patriotism that was in all those people whom he saw, and which explained to him why all these people calmly and as if frivolously prepared for death.
“Don't take prisoners,” continued Prince Andrew. “That alone would change the whole war and make it less brutal. And then we played war - that's bad, we are generous and the like. This magnanimity and sensitivity - like the generosity and sensitivity of a lady, with whom she becomes sick when she sees a calf being killed; she is so kind that she cannot see blood, but she eats this calf with gusto with sauce. They talk to us about the rights of war, about chivalry, about parliamentarianship, to spare the unfortunate, and so on. All nonsense. In 1805 I saw chivalry, parliamentary work: we were cheated, we were cheated. They rob other people's houses, send fake banknotes, and worst of all, they kill my children, my father and talk about the rules of war and generosity to enemies. Do not take prisoners, but kill and go to death! Who came to this as I did, with the same suffering ...
Prince Andrey, who thought that he did not care whether or not they took Moscow as they took Smolensk, suddenly stopped in his speech from an unexpected convulsion that seized him by the throat. He walked several times in silence, but his eyes glittered feverishly, and his lip trembled when he began to speak again:
- If there was no generosity in the war, then we would go only when it is worth going to certain death, as now. Then there would be no war for the fact that Pavel Ivanitch offended Mikhail Ivanitch. And if the war is like now, so is the war. And then the intensity of the troops would not be the same as now. Then all these Westphalians and Hessians led by Napoleon would not have followed him to Russia, and we would not have gone to fight in Austria and Prussia, without knowing why. War is not a courtesy, but the most disgusting thing in life, and one must understand this and not play war. This dire necessity must be taken strictly and seriously. This is all: throw away the lie, and war is so war, not a toy. And then war is the favorite pastime of idle and frivolous people ... The military class is the most honorable. And what is war, what is needed for success in military affairs, what are the customs of a military society? The purpose of the war is murder, the weapons of war are espionage, treason and its encouragement, ruining the inhabitants, robbing them or stealing for the food of the army; deception and lies called military tricks; the morals of the military class - lack of freedom, that is, discipline, idleness, ignorance, cruelty, debauchery, drunkenness. And despite that - this is the upper class, revered by all. All the kings, except for the Chinese, wear a military uniform, and the one who killed the people more is given a great reward ... They will converge, like tomorrow, to kill each other, they will interrupt, injure tens of thousands of people, and then they will serve thanksgiving prayers for having beaten many people (of which the number is still being added), and they proclaim victory, believing that the more people are beaten, the greater the merit. How God looks from there and listens to them! - Prince Andrey shouted in a thin, squeaky voice. - Oh, my soul, lately it has become hard for me to live. I see that I have begun to understand too much. And it is not good for a person to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil ... Well, but not for long! He added. “However, you are asleep, and a pen for me, go to Gorki,” Prince Andrey suddenly said.

Tourists arriving on vacation in Egypt, as a rule, are interested in the pyramids much more than other local attractions. Against the background of all existing ancient buildings, the pyramid of Cheops is of particular interest.

Find out what is remarkable about it and what you need to remember when going on this kind of excursion.

During this excursion, you will see at once three nearby pyramids of Ancient Egypt, namely:

Cheops;
Mekerin;
Khafre.

Among them, the pyramid of Cheops is the highest.

A memo of the ancient Egyptian civilization is located near the city, in the suburbs of Cairo. It is extremely difficult to establish the exact time of the construction of the pyramid: the data of numerous studies are very different from each other. The Egyptians themselves believe that construction work began in 2480 BC. and this event is celebrated annually on 23 August.

According to the assumptions of historians, about 100 thousand workers were simultaneously engaged in the construction of the pyramid. During the first decade of hard labor, a road was made for the delivery of stone blocks and the arrangement of underground structures was completed. The monument itself was erected for another 20 years.

The height and overall dimensions of the monument are truly impressive. Initially, the pyramid towered by about 147 m, but time did not spare the monument: as a result of the loss of the facing and filling with sand, the previously cited figure decreased to 137 m.

At the base of the pyramid is a square with a side of 230 m. According to averaged data, the construction of the monument took over 2.3 million blocks, each weighing an average of 2500 kg.

The price of a trip to the pyramids depends on where you live and how you will get on the excursion. Those living in Cairo or Giza will not have any problems with the trip - the distance is short, you can also get there by bus. As for the popular Egyptian resorts, the fastest way to get to the pyramids is from Hurghada - the distance is about 457 km. Taba is a little further - about 495 km. The longest road will be for residents of Sharm el-Sheikh - about 576 km.

Long away? Naturally! And it's good that you found out about this before your trip, and not already upon your arrival in Egypt. In general, you will have to spend about a day on a trip to the pyramids and back.

As for the tour, in specialized agencies it is most often referred to as "excursion to Cairo", and in addition to the famous pyramids, it includes visits to local museums and a variety of trade shops, mostly sponsored.

The cost of the excursion also depends on how exactly you are going to get to the Cheops pyramid. Thus, tourists are usually taken from Hurghada by bus. The guests of Sharm el-Sheikh and Taba have the opportunity to fly. Average prices are as follows:

bus tour from Hurghada - $ 50-70 for an adult and $ 40-50 for a child ticket;
by bus from Sharm el-Sheikh - $ 50-60, by plane - $ 170-190;
by bus from Taba - $ 50-70, by plane - $ 250-270.

Helpful advice! Do not immediately discount the possibility of flying. First, familiarize yourself with the features of the road to the pyramids and back. It is possible that after studying the information provided, you will change your mind.

There are no questions about the flight - I got on the plane, waited a little, and now you are at your destination. Tourists who choose bus tours need to know the following:

firstly, it is hot in Egypt at any time of the year. To prevent travelers from getting sick during a bus trip, travel agencies carry out transfers mainly at night;
secondly, you can hardly count on a trip in a comfortable modern bus with powerful air conditioning. Of course, these vehicles have air conditioners, but they rarely "cope" with the local climate. When driving, do not hesitate to ask the driver to increase the power of the air conditioner.

You will arrive in the suburbs of Cairo at about 7-8 a.m. Here you will be asked to get into the caravan and calmly, accompanied by local security, proceed to your destination. You will reach approximately 10-11 am.

After listening to the stories of the guide, seeing the areas open to tourists, taking the desired number of pictures, you will go back to the hotel and get to your room in the middle of the night.

Description of the pyramid

The external design of the monument is very interesting and unusual. Many grooves of various sizes can be seen on the walls. At the correct viewing angle, individual lines add up to an incredibly tall portrait of a man, presumably one of the deities of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Around the main image there are several pictures and other design elements of a more modest size, namely:

airplane bird;
interior plans;
trident;
texts with beautiful signs, etc.

On the northern part of the monument, you can see a beautiful image of a woman and a man with bowed heads. The painting was applied shortly before the installation of the last stone.

The pyramid in question is not a simple stone monument, but a well-thought-out building with an extensive system of corridors. The first of them has a length of about 47 meters - this is the so-called. "Big gallery". From here you can get to the Cheops chamber, which has a height of about 6 m and dimensions of 10.5x5.3 m. The room is covered with granite. There are no ornaments.

Here tourists are invited to look at the empty sarcophagus. It was brought here during the construction of the pyramid, because the dimensions of the item would not have allowed the item to be carried later. There is a similar chamber in almost every pyramid. It was in such premises that the rulers found their last refuge.

Of the decorations and inscriptions inside the pyramid, it is worth noting only the portrait in the corridor through which you can get to the Queen's chamber. Outwardly, the portrait looks like a photograph taken in stone.

In general, there are 3 chambers in the pyramid. The first burial chamber was cut out in the rocky base, but was never completed. A narrow corridor with a length of about 120 m leads to the unfinished cell. A low (about 175 cm) 35-meter corridor was made to connect the 1st and 2nd cells. The next burial chamber of the pyramid of Cheops is traditionally called the “queen's chamber”, although according to ancient Egyptian custom, the wives of the rulers found their last refuge in their own pyramids of more modest size.

The story of the "queen's chamber" is very interesting. According to legend, in ancient times, the pyramid was the main temple of the so-called. Supreme Deity. Special religious ceremonies were held here, shrouded in darkness and secrets. According to legend, an unknown creature with a human body and a lion's face lived inside the pyramid. And the keys of Eternity were constantly in the hands of this creature. Only people who had gone through a series of cleansing procedures could see the "lion face". They alone received the magical Divine Name from the High Priest. And a person who knew the secret of the name was endowed with great magical power, not inferior to the power of the pyramid itself.

The main ceremony was held in the royal chamber. The initiate was tied to a ritual cross and placed in a large sarcophagus. While in it, the candidate found himself in the space between the material and divine worlds, where knowledge that was inaccessible to mere mortals came to him.

Inside the pyramid of Cheops, the vault above the pharaoh's chamber)

Another corridor branches off from the previously mentioned corridor, leading directly to the pharaoh's chamber.

Pyramid of Cheops - the tomb of the pharaoh

The internal structure of the pyramid is not limited to the chambers and corridors alone. There are ventilation shafts and additional rooms. For example, in one of these rooms there is a table with a book on it telling about the development of events in the country and the main achievements of civilization during the construction of the monument. The purpose of many other rooms and passages remains unclear.

The purpose of the underground structures located at the foot of the building has not been fully determined either. Some of them have been opened at different times. So, for example, archaeologists who studied the pyramid in 1954 found a wooden boat in one of the underground chambers - this is the oldest known man-made ship. No nails were used to build the boat. The traces of silt found on the ship made it possible to conclude that before the death of the pharaoh, the ship managed to swim along the Nile.

When planning an excursion to the Cheops pyramid, remember: this is a very exhausting journey. It is recommended to go on such a tour only in relatively cool periods of the year: from October to April. If possible, do not take children. Little tourists are unlikely to be interested in when he ruled and what the pharaoh became famous for. No entertainment awaits them inside the pyramid either.

If possible, avoid cooperation with local excursion companies: reviews of travelers indicate the extreme irresponsibility of such organizations. Better to pay for the tour at your travel agency. So you will overpay a little, but you can be sure that on occasion you will have someone to make a claim.

Try to find out as much information as possible about the guide. The best informants are the hotel staff and guests. The qualification of a guide on such trips is very important. With an inexperienced guidebook, who somehow knows Russian, you will simply not be interested.

And the last parting word: do not expect something super-outstanding from a trip to the Cheops pyramid. Treat the excursion as one of the points of your route. Listen to the stories of the guide, inspect the parts of the building that are open to travelers, take some beautiful photos and add a visit to the Cheops pyramid to your personal travel credit.

Have a nice holiday!

How high is the pyramid of Cheops. Pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops (Khufu) in Egypt. Pyramid of Cheops inside

The history of the construction of the Cheops pyramid

The device of the Cheops pyramid

The entrance to the pyramid

Burial "pit"

Ascending corridor and Queen's Chambers

Grotto, Great Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Surroundings of the Cheops pyramid

Pharaoh's boats

Video: 5 unsolved secrets of the pyramids of Egypt

How to get there

Where to stay

Instruction for tourists

Age of the pyramid

The first mention of the pyramid

Related Videos

Appearance

Statistical data

Concavity of sides

Tilt angle

Internal structure

Burial "pit"

Ascending corridor and Queen's Chambers

Grotto, Great Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Ventilation ducts

Statistical data

About the pyramid

Pyramid structure

Burial "pit"

Ascending corridor and Queen's Chambers

Grotto, Great Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Ventilation ducts

Tilt angle

Concavity of sides

Pharaoh's boats

The pyramids of the queens of Cheops

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Notes

Links

An excerpt characterizing the Pyramid of Cheops

Description of the pyramid

Table - Cost of transfer to Giza (Cairo)

Video - Pyramid of Cheops Egypt

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