The very first Egyptian pyramid. The pyramid of pharaoh cheops and the history of the Egyptian pyramids

8-07-2016, 15:07 |

Egyptian pyramids

The Egyptian pyramids are the most unique structure of the ancient era. The land of ancient Egypt has always been a place of unique scientific discoveries by archaeologists. Most of the finds naturally gave us the pyramids - the ancient tombs of the pharaohs. They were created in order to provide immortality to the spirit of the pharaoh. Pharaoh Djoser, the first king of the 3rd dynasty, became the first sovereign to build a pyramid. It consists of six steps, about 60 meters high. The authorship is attributed to Imhotep, a scientist, physician and architect. Djoser was very pleased with the structure built, so he was allowed to engrave the name of the architect on his statue - this is truly an unheard of honor for that time. Excavations on the pyramid of Djoser have opened the eyes of scientists to many tombs of members of the king's family and his entourage.

Egyptian pyramids pyramid of Cheops

The largest pyramid is the pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu or Cheops. Its age is about five thousand years, the height was 147 meters earlier, and now, due to the collapse, 137 meters, the side length is 233 meters. Until the end of the XIX century. the pyramid of Cheops was considered the tallest architectural structure in the world. It was found that it was built from 2,300,000 known boulders, they were polished and weighed about two tons. The most interesting thing is that the gap between the blocks is extremely insignificant, it is even problematic to stick a knife blade there. This is amazing ... Many people still argue how the Egyptians managed to move them. And it is also important to understand how laborious this work was, because those artisans who were engaged in grinding also used stone tools. On the right bank of the Nile there were kamelomni, it was there that stones were mined for the construction of pyramids. In the rock, the boundaries of the stone were marked, along these cutoffs the workers hollowed a furrow. Then a dry tree was placed there, it was watered with water, it expanded and the stone broke off from the mountain. The stones were polished here on the spot. The workers had to work in any weather. Then the blocks were transported on boats to the other side of the Nile, on wooden skids they were transported to the place of construction of the pyramid. They were built for many years, many workers died. According to the ancient scientist Herodotus, the pyramid of Cheops was built for about twenty years, every three months the workers changed, and about 100,000 people worked them. Two-ton boulders were lifted only with the help of human strength.

The rise of Egyptian civilization took place about 5 thousand years ago and existed for three thousand years. At this time, the first pyramids appeared, at first imperfect, and then very skillful. In the ancient world, they were considered one of the seven wonders of the world. The Egyptian pyramids keep their riddles to this day. Interesting facts about them are collected in this article.

Why the pyramids were created

Vladyka, wishing to show his greatness and power, built a magnificent creation in his memory. He filled individual rooms and the burial chamber with precious utensils that were to serve him after death.

The history of the creation of the pyramids

Mastaba was the name of the first tomb of the king. Low rectangular buildings were built from clay bricks. The burial itself was underground. This is how the first Egyptian pyramids were created. We have selected interesting facts for children below.

The first "house of eternity" was built by the architect Imhotep for the pharaoh Djoser. He put several mastabas one on top of the other. The base was the largest, then the mastabas decreased.

This is how the world's first stepped pyramid was built, the top of which is directed to the sky. It was a very imposing and monumental structure. I liked it, and soon the kings began to build houses for themselves for the afterlife - the Egyptian pyramids. Interesting facts about the world's first pyramid are as follows:

• A wall was built around it, which has a height of 10 meters. It has 15 entrances. Of these, only one is real.
• Outside, its walls are made of limestone, which weathered and became uneven over 4.5 thousand years.

• Inside there are shafts and branched corridors, in which it is easy to get confused. Of these, they fall into one or the other room, and there are more than four hundred of them. In these rooms, the priests performed religious rituals. The corridors are very narrow and low. They walk on them, bending their backs. This was done so that only the body of the deceased could be carried. The first eleven shafts are very even, with right angles. All others are more primitive.
• The top of the pyramid is directed towards the North Star.

The rituals of the priests we know about seem strange to us. They are witnessed by the Egyptian pyramids. Interesting facts about them can be collected endlessly. For example, here's what we know about Djoser's burial.

Due to its triangular shape, its head is directed to the heavens. Therefore, the soul of Pharaoh easily soared to the gods. But first, his body floated down the river of the underworld in a boat in search of a soul. When the priests believed that the soul ascended to heaven, they returned the heart to the dead body of the lord, then opened their eyes and mouth so that in the afterlife he could see everything and talk. After that, they began the sacrificial feast. Oils were poured over the mummy, thin bandages and tiaras were applied. This was the end of the ritual, and the pharaoh was considered resurrected.

Information for schoolchildren

V Ancient world there were Seven Wonders of the World. They reflected the cultures of different peoples. Ancient people included the pyramids of Egypt. There was even such a statement that everything is afraid of time, but it itself is afraid of the pyramids. It is true - no other miracles survived, only the pyramids survived. People have always wondered what these huge structures are hiding. They looked for treasures in them, and much was plundered, despite the fact that the trap systems completely permeated the Egyptian pyramids. Interesting facts about them can be found in numerous books. Children's libraries are rich in them. Here are some interesting facts about the Egyptian pyramids for schoolchildren:

• Pyramids do not cast shadows when the sun is high. The longest shadow falls on the earth on the day of the winter solstice. Using it, you can measure the height of the pyramid without instruments.
• Three of them were delivered by ancient astronomers and builders in the same way as the Orion constellation belt. As of today, the stars have shifted slightly, and the pyramids are not perfectly aligned under the stars. This situation was not accidental. Orion united in the consciousness of the Egyptians with the god Osiris. He was the lord underworld and ruled over the rebirth of life: the pharaohs must live forever.

• The pyramids are not only in North Africa... They are found in South and Central America, India and Mexico, Ethiopia and Cambodia, in Somalia. This leads some scientists to think that a single civilization existed in ancient times.

Giant on the Nile

The exact number of pyramids is difficult to determine. There are about seventy or eighty of them. They lined up in a row on the rocky plateau that separates the valley of the life-giving Nile from the desert, at a distance of one hundred kilometers from Cairo to Illauhan. Almost all of them, with the exception of two, are geometrically correct. We have already mentioned one of them - a stepped one, the other is located in Dashur and has the shape of a rhombus. But the rest of the pyramids are alike like two drops of water. They differ only in size. The pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) is the largest.

If you describe it in numbers, it will awaken your imagination. Its volume is 2,525,000 cubic meters, and the area is 54,000 square meters. This site can accommodate more than 1000 two-room apartments. Royal palaces Europe is smaller than it: Versailles in Paris and Buckingham in England, Escorial in Madrid and Winter Palace In Petersburg. The pyramid is higher than the dome over the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome, St. Paul in London, Notre Dame in Paris, St. Vitus in Prague. If it were empty inside, it would fit a space rocket tower and its launch pad. Aren't these interesting facts about the Egyptian pyramids?

Guardians of eternity

In ancient Egypt, above all the temples dedicated to the gods, the works of architects and builders, who were supposed to glorify the earthly rulers, towered above. In architecture, perhaps, there are no more powerful and more laconic structures than the pyramids of Khufu, Khafren and Mikerin. These stone "crystals" boldly triumph over the unknowability and the mystery of death. Here are the most interesting facts about the Egyptian pyramids:

• The angle of inclination of the stacked blocks is not too steep. It is only 6 degrees above 45 °.
• The four sides of the three main pyramids are strictly oriented north, south, west and east.
• If we put five nine-story houses on top of each other, then we get the approximate maximum height of buildings.
• On average, each block weighs 2500 kg, but there are also those whose weight exceeds the average by 32 times, which is about eighty tons.
• The stones adhere tightly to each other without mortar. Their pressure is such that it is impossible to squeeze even a piece of paper between them.

• The road that led to the pyramid from the quarry took about ten years to build, and the pyramid itself took about twenty years. Therefore, the pharaohs began the construction of the tomb from their youth.

Tutankhamun's tomb

In 1922, English explorers found the tomb of the young ruler, practically untouched by thieves, in the area of ​​former Thebes.

Immediately, exciting facts about the Egyptian pyramids began to appear, more precisely, about the new sensational one:

• Tutankhamun died at the age of 19.
• The causes of death have not yet been established: illness, murder, falling from a chariot.
• Treasures were found in the pyramid: a golden chariot and throne, lamps, chests, vases, writing supplies, gold jewelry, precious stones, ships. On them, the ruler had to sail to afterworld... Gold masks on three coffins and on a mummy.

Mysterious death

Excavations went on for five years, and all this time, their participants gradually died. The list of mysterious facts about the Egyptian pyramids includes the "curse of the tomb." Assumptions were put forward about the presence of radioactive elements, poisons, and a harmful fungus in it. Here is a list of those killed:

• Lord Carnarvon died in 1923.
• Then Douglas-Reid, who performed the X-ray.
• A.C. Mace, who opened the burial room with Lord Carnarvon, dies.
• Colonel Aubrey Herbert, brother of Lord Carnarvon, has died.
• The wife of an Egyptian prince kills her husband right on the excavation site.
• In 1928, deaths continue. First, the secretary of the archaeologist Carter dies, then his father is thrown out of the window in 1930.
• In the same year, Carnarvon's half-brother commits suicide.

The work on the tomb of Tutankhamun ended with such tragedies, which were not disclosed until our time.

The number of unsolved mysteries on our planet is getting smaller every year. Continuous improvement of technology, cooperation of scientists from various fields of science reveals to us the secrets and mysteries of history. But the secrets of the pyramids still defy understanding - all discoveries give scientists only tentative answers to many questions. Who built the Egyptian pyramids, what was the construction technology, is there a curse of the pharaohs - these and many other questions still remain without an exact answer.

Description of the Egyptian pyramids

Archaeologists talk about 118 pyramids in Egypt, partially or completely preserved to our time. Their age is from 4 to 10 millennia. One of them - Cheops - is the only surviving "miracle" from the "Seven Wonders of the World". The complex called "Great Pyramids of Giza", which includes and, was also considered as a participant in the "New Seven Wonders of the World" competition, but it was withdrawn from participation, since these majestic structures are actually a "wonder of the world" in the ancient list.

These pyramids have become the most visited sightseeing sites in Egypt. They have been perfectly preserved, which cannot be said about many other structures - time has not been kind to them. Yes and locals contributed to the destruction of the majestic necropolises by removing the cladding and breaking stones from the walls to build their homes.

The Egyptian pyramids were built by the pharaohs who ruled from the XXVII century BC. NS. and later. They were intended for the repose of the rulers. The huge scale of the tombs (some - up to almost 150 m) were supposed to testify to the greatness of the buried pharaohs, here were also things that the ruler loved during his lifetime and which would be useful to him in the afterlife.

For the construction, stone blocks of various sizes were used, which were hollowed out of the rocks, and later brick began to serve as the material for the walls. Stone blocks were turned and adjusted so that a knife blade could not slip between them. The blocks were stacked on top of each other with an offset of several centimeters, which formed a stepped surface of the structure. Almost all Egyptian pyramids have a square base, the sides of which are oriented strictly to the cardinal points.

Since the pyramids performed the same function, that is, they served as the burial place of the pharaohs, then inside the structure and decoration they are similar. The main component is the burial hall, where the ruler's sarcophagus was installed. The entrance was not arranged at ground level, but several meters higher, and was masked by facing slabs. From the entrance to the inner hall there were staircases and passages-corridors, which sometimes narrow so much that one can only walk along them squatting or crawling.

In most necropolises, burial chambers (chambers) are located below ground level. Ventilation was carried out through narrow shafts, channels, which permeate the walls. Rock paintings and ancient religious texts are found on the walls of many pyramids - in fact, from them scientists get some information about the construction and owners of burials.

The main mysteries of the pyramids

List begins unsolved mysteries from the form of necropolises. Why was the pyramid shape chosen, which is translated from Greek as "polyhedron"? Why were the faces located clearly on the cardinal points? How did the huge stone blocks move from the mining site and how were they raised to great heights? Were the buildings erected by aliens or people who own a magic crystal?

Scientists even argue over the question of who built such tall monumental structures that have stood for millennia. Some believe that they were built by slaves who died in the hundreds of thousands each building. However, new discoveries by archaeologists and anthropologists convince that the builders were free people who received good nutrition and medical care. They made such conclusions based on the composition of the bones, the structure of the skeletons and the cured injuries of the buried builders.

All the deaths and deaths of people involved in the study of the Egyptian pyramids were attributed to mystical coincidences, which provoked rumors and talk about the curse of the pharaohs. There is no scientific evidence for this. Perhaps the rumors were started to scare off thieves and looters who want to find valuable things and jewelry in the graves.

To the mysterious interesting facts can be attributed to the tight timing of the construction of the Egyptian pyramids. According to calculations, large necropolises with that level of technology should have been built in at least a century. How, for example, was the Cheops pyramid built in just 20 years?

Great Pyramids

This is the name of the burial complex near the city of Giza, consisting of three large pyramids, a huge statue of the Sphinx and small satellite pyramids, probably intended for the wives of the rulers.

The original height of the Cheops pyramid was 146 m, the side length was 230 m. It was built in 20 years in the XXVI century BC. NS. The largest of the Egyptian landmarks has not one, but three burial halls. One is below ground level and two are above the baseline. Intertwining passageways lead to the burial chambers. On them you can go to the chamber of the pharaoh (king), to the chamber of the queen and to the lower hall. The pharaoh's chamber is a pink granite chamber with dimensions of 10x5 m. A granite sarcophagus without a lid is installed in it. None of the scientists' reports contained information about the mummies found, so it is not known whether Cheops was buried here. By the way, the mummy of Cheops was not found in other tombs either.

It still remains a mystery whether the Cheops pyramid was used for its intended purpose, and if so, then apparently it was plundered by marauders in the past centuries. The name of the ruler, by whose order and project this tomb was built, was learned from the drawings and hieroglyphs above the burial chamber. All other Egyptian pyramids, with the exception of Djoser, have a simpler engineering structure.

Two other necropolises in Giza, built for the heirs of Cheops, are somewhat more modest in size:

Tourists come to Giza from all over Egypt, because this city is actually a suburb of Cairo, and all transport interchanges lead to it. Travelers from Russia usually travel to Giza with excursion groups from Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada. The trip is long, 6-8 hours one way, so the tour is usually designed for 2 days.

The great structures are accessible only during working hours, usually until 5 pm, in the month of Ramadan - until 3 pm. It is not recommended to go inside for asthmatics, as well as for people suffering from claustrophobia, nervous and cardiovascular diseases. You must definitely take with you on the excursion drinking water and hats. The excursion fee consists of several parts:

1. Entrance to the complex.
2. The entrance to the inside of the pyramid of Cheops or Khafre.
3. Entrance to the Museum of the Solar Boat, on which the body of the pharaoh was transported across the Nile.

Against the background of the Egyptian pyramids, many people like to take photos, sitting on camels. You can bargain with camel owners.

Djoser's pyramid

The first pyramid in the world is in Saqqara, near Memphis - the former capital Ancient Egypt. Today, the pyramid of Djoser is not as attractive to tourists as the necropolis of Cheops, but at one time it was the largest in the country and the most complex in terms of engineering design.

The burial complex included chapels, courtyards, and storage facilities. The six-step pyramid itself has not a square base, but a rectangular one, with sides 125x110 m. The height of the structure itself is 60 m, there are 12 burial chambers inside it, where Djoser himself and his family members were supposedly buried. The mummy of the pharaoh was not found during excavations. The entire territory of the complex of 15 hectares was surrounded by a stone wall 10 m high. At present, part of the wall and other buildings have been restored, and the pyramid, whose age is approaching 4700 years, has been preserved quite well.

Egyptian pyramids - the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. The largest of them - the pyramids of Cheops, Khafre and Mikerin in El-Giza in ancient times were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The construction of the pyramid, in which the Greeks and Romans already saw a monument to the unprecedented pride of kings and cruelty that condemned the entire Egyptian people to senseless construction, was the most important cult act and was supposed to express, as you can see, the mystical identity of the country and its ruler.

The people worked on the construction of the pyramids in the part of the year free from agricultural work. There are preserved texts testifying to the attention and care that the kings themselves (albeit of later times) devoted to the construction of their tomb and its builders. It is also known about the special cult honors that were given to the pyramid itself.

Description of the most famous pyramids (briefly)

The Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu), the Great Pyramid, is the face of the Egyptian pyramids and the largest structure of antiquity, giving rise to many secrets and legends around itself. It took two decades to build the pyramid. Dynasty IV construction time 2600 BC NS. Located in Giza. The original height is 146.60 m., Today it is 138.75 m. The size of the base is 230 m. It was the largest structure in the world for over 4,000 years.

The pyramid has not one, but three burial halls. One is below ground level and two are above the baseline. Intertwining passageways lead to the burial chambers. It is possible to walk along them to the chamber of the pharaoh, to the chamber of his wife and to the lower hall. The pharaoh's chamber is a pink granite chamber, measuring 10 x 5 m. A granite sarcophagus without a lid is installed in it. Not a single report of the researchers mentioned the found mummies, therefore it is not known whether Cheops was buried here. It should be noted that the mummy of Cheops was not found in other tombs either.

After the Great Wall of China, it is she who is the largest structure that has ever been erected in the entire history of mankind.

The second most important is the pyramid of Chephren, the son of Cheops. It was found during archaeological excavations in 1860. The tomb of this ancient Egyptian king is "guarded" by the famous Sphinx, which looks like a lion lying on the sand, whose face may have been given the features of Khafre himself. Near the pyramid of Khafre, there is a separate pyramid for his wife, a temple, a port and a fence wall.

The estimated time of the construction of the pyramid is the middle of the XXVI century BC. NS. It was built on a 10-meter plateau, so it seems higher than the Cheops pyramid, but this is not entirely true. The original height is 143.9 m, today it is 136.4 m. The dimensions of the base are 210.5 m. The pyramid was decorated with a pink granite pyramidion, which is now lost. We have no information as to whether the granite was adorned with limestone, gypsum, or gold.

The third great pyramid is the Pyramid of Mikerin (also known as the "Pyramid of Menkaure"). She is the smallest of them, and was built later than others. Time of construction of the 4th dynasty (approximately 2540-2520 BC) The initial height is 65.55 m, nowadays - 62 m.The dimensions of the base are 102.2 × 104.6 m.According to eyewitnesses, the pyramid Menkaura was the most beautiful of all the pyramids. Sculpture during the reign of Menkaur was characterized by the highest quality of artistic performance. In addition, the Mikerin pyramid marked the end of the era of the great pyramids. All subsequent structures were small in size.

One of the largest in Egypt is the step pyramid of Djoser. Time of construction III Dynasty (about 2650 BC). It is located in the village of Sakkara, and was built for Pharaoh Djoser by Imhotep himself. The original height is 62.5 m, nowadays it is 62 m. The size of the pyramid is 125 m × 115 m. This is the first pyramid in Egypt, in addition to all it is very well preserved.

Initially, Imhotep was going to create an ordinary stone mastaba (rectangular tomb). Only in the process of construction did it turn into the first step pyramid. The meaning of the steps was, as it is believed, symbolic - the deceased pharaoh was supposed to climb to heaven along them.

The burial complex included chapels, courtyards, and storage facilities. The base of the six-step pyramid itself is not square, but rectangular. There are 12 burial chambers inside the structure, where Djoser himself and his family members could probably have been buried. The mummy of the pharaoh was not found during excavations. The entire territory of the complex of 15 hectares was surrounded by a 10-meter stone wall. Now part of the wall and other buildings have been restored.

The most unusual pyramid in Medum. Time of construction III Dynasty (about 2680 BC) Located 100 km south of the capital of Egypt, was built for Pharaoh Huni, the last ruler of the III dynasty, but it was completed by his son Sneferu. It originally had eight steps, but today only the last three are visible. The original height is 93.5 m, today it is 65 m.The base is 144 m.

Its unusual forms were first reported by Al-Maqrizi in the 15th century. The pyramid had a stepped shape. In his essays, Al-Maqrizi described a pyramid consisting of 5 steps, and also that it had serious damage from erosion and from the removal of masonry by local residents.

Pink Pyramid or Northern Pyramid. Dynasty IV construction time (from about 2640 to 2620 BC) The original height is 109.5 m, today it is 104 m.The base is 220 m.The northern pyramid of Pharaoh Sneferu in Dakhshur, at the time its construction in the XXVI century BC. NS. was the tallest structure in the world. Now it is the third highest pyramid in Egypt, after Khufu and Khafre in Giza.

It is unusual in that it has a pink hue thanks to a special stone that was used in the construction. Researchers believe that this pyramid was also erected by the already mentioned Pharaoh Sneferu. The Pink Pyramid was not always pink. Previously, its walls were covered with white limestone. However, in our time, white limestone is almost completely absent, since even in the Middle Ages, a significant part of it was removed for the construction of houses in Cairo, as a result of which pinkish limestone was exposed.

Not far from Rozova is the Broken ("cut" or "diamond-shaped") pyramid. Dynasty IV (XXVI century BC) Initial height - 104.7 m, nowadays - 101.1 m. The base is 189.4 m. It got its name because of its irregular shape. It was built in three stages, at each of which different angles of inclination were given to it. It differs from other Egyptian pyramids in that the pyramid has an entrance not only on the north side, which was the standard, but also a second entrance, which is open higher on the west side.

Explaining the non-standard shape of the pyramid, the German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt (1863-1938) put forward his "increment theory". According to her, the king died suddenly and the angle of inclination of the sides of the pyramid was sharply changed from 54 ° 31 min. up to 43 ° 21 min., for the fastest completion of work.

What is known about the Egyptian pyramids

Building pyramids

The slabs weighing at least 2.5 tons, from which the pyramids were built, were cut out of stone in a nearby quarry and transported to the construction site by dragging using ramps, blocks and levers. There is an opinion, recognized by the scientific community as marginal, that concrete was used during the construction of the pyramid, that is, the slabs were made directly at the construction site. At the tops of the pyramids, traces of wooden forms have been preserved to this day, erased at the base by numerous sandstorms. So that as a result of the compression-expansion process, the walls of the pyramids did not crack, individual blocks were separated by thin layers of mortar. The slope of the outer walls is exactly 45 °. The surface was covered with blocks of polished white limestone. After the fall, the local residents stretched out the limestone for their needs.

What is encrypted in the pyramids

What is the secret of the Egyptian pyramids? Why, for almost 5 millennia, they do not cease to excite the imagination of everyone who saw them? What assumptions were not put forward about this: they were built by aliens, they encrypted the astronomical, magical knowledge of the ancient priests, they contain a prediction of the future. Digital magic was great to such an extent popular that by measuring it across the board and adding up the results, amateurs could predict anything.

Why were the pyramids built?

Even the debate about whether the pyramids are in fact the tombs of the pharaohs does not stop today. Some of the researchers believe that these are temples where the sun god Amon-Ra was ordained as servants of the cult, while others believe that the pyramid is a huge scientific laboratory of the ancients. Someone claims that the pyramids are huge natural generators of earthly energy, in which the pharaohs were “charged” with this energy for a long time, even rejuvenated and prepared for state activity. And then they were buried near the pyramids, in small rooms, perhaps near the funeral temples.

The pyramids delighted many of the greats of this world:, Cleopatra,. The latter, in order to inspire his grenadiers during the Egyptian campaign, first exclaimed: "The pyramids are looking at you", and then instantly calculated in his mind that from two and a half million boulders of the Cheops pyramid it would be possible to build a wall around France three meters high.

Interesting facts about the Egyptian pyramids

All Egyptian pyramids were erected on the western bank of the Nile River, which is the place of sunset and was associated with the kingdom of the dead in Egyptian mythology.

The sides of the pyramids are curved by one meter, so that they could accumulate solar energy. Thanks to this, the pyramids could reach thousands of degrees and emit an incomprehensible rumble from such an intensity.

Despite the intense heat that reigns around the pyramids, the temperature in them in reality remains relatively constant and keeps around 20 ° C.

The Egyptian pyramids also have this feature. The stone blocks are positioned so that there are no gaps between them, even the thinnest blade will not get through.

The Great Pyramid is made up of 2.3 million blocks that are perfectly aligned and fit together. The blocks weigh from 2 to 30 tons, and some of them even reach over 50 tons.

Although many people associate pyramids with hieroglyphs, in Great pyramid Giza did not find any inscriptions or hieroglyphs.

Estimates of the number of workers involved in the construction of the pyramids vary widely, however, it is quite possible that at least 100 thousand people built them.

Three large pyramids on the Giza plateau copy the "Orion Belt" from the constellation Orion on Earth. The Pyramid of Cheops and the similarly sized pyramid of Khafre take the places of the two brightest stars in the Orion belt, Al-Nitak and Al-Nilam, and the smaller Menkaur pyramid is offset from the axis of the two neighboring ones, just like the third and smallest star of the belt, Mintaka.

Buildings similar to the Egyptian pyramids can also be found in Sudan, where the tradition was later adopted.

Each side of the pyramid is located in the direction of one side of the world.

It was calculated that large necropolises with that level of technology should have been built in at least a century. How, for example, the pyramid of Cheops was erected in just 20 years?

In the 12th century, an attempt was made to destroy the pyramids of Giza. Al-Azis, the Kurdish ruler and second sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty, tried to demolish them, but he was forced to retreat because the task was too large-scale. And yet, he was able to damage the Pyramid of Mikerin, where, due to his attempts, a vertical gaping hole remained in its northern slope.

The pyramids are one of the many evidences in favor of the existence in those ancient times of a certain developed civilization. Meanwhile, that era fits into the time frame of the existence of the legendary Atlantis, although no one undertakes to assert that the civilization that built the early pyramids was in fact the civilization of the Atlanteans.

Information for tourists

The Great Pyramids Complex of Giza is open to the public from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm every day, except during the winter months (opening hours until 4:30 pm) and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when access closes at 3:00 pm.

Some of the travelers believe that if the pyramids are in the open air and are not a museum in the literal sense of the word, then here you can behave freely, climb onto these structures. It should be remembered: it is strictly forbidden to do so - in the interests of your own safety!

Before entering the pyramids, you need to objectively assess your psychological state and physical health. For those who are afraid of closed spaces (claustrophobia), it is better to skip this part of the tour. Due to the fact that the inside of the tombs is usually dry, hot and a little dusty, it is not recommended to enter here for asthmatics, hypertensive patients and those suffering from other diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous system.

How much does an excursion to the zone of the Egyptian pyramids cost a tourist? There are several components to cost. Entrance ticket it will cost you 60 Egyptian pounds, which is approximately equal to 8 euros. Want to visit the Cheops pyramid? For this you will have to pay 100 pounds or 13 euros. Inspection from the inside of the Khafre pyramid is largely cheaper - 20 pounds or 2.60 euros.

You will have to pay separately for visiting the Sun Boat Museum, which is located south of the Cheops pyramid (40 pounds or 5 euros). Taking photographs in the pyramid zone is allowed, but for the right to take photographs you will have to pay 1 euro. Visits to other pyramids on the territory of Giza - for example, the mother and wife of Pharaoh Khafre - are not paid.