Discovery of the Cheops pyramid. Ancient pyramid of Cheops, Egypt. Entrance to the pyramid

The Pyramid of Cheops is a rare case in Egyptology when we can be sure who owns the monument. Often the ancient monuments of Egypt were appropriated by later rulers. The technology of appropriation was very simple - the name of the pharaoh-builder (cartouche) was simply lost from the inscriptions in the temple or in the tomb, and another name was knocked out.

This phenomenon was very common. Take, for example, the famous Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Until 1922, when archaeologist Howard Carter dug up, Egyptologists doubted the existence of this ruler. There was almost no written evidence about him; everything was destroyed by subsequent pharaohs.

In the 19th century, archaeologists often used very barbaric research methods. In the Cheops pyramid, gunpowder explosions were used to find hidden rooms. You can still see traces of such methods on the surfaces of structures (see photo on the left).

During this study, small rooms were discovered above the main burial chamber. Explorers rushed there in the hope of finding treasure, but, of course, there was nothing there except dust.

These rooms, only 1 meter in height, had a purely technical purpose. These are unloading chambers; they protect the ceiling of the burial chamber from collapse and relieve mechanical stress. But it was on the walls of these unloading chambers that scientists discovered inscriptions made by ancient builders.

These were block markings. Just as we now put a label on a product, the ancient Egyptian foremen marked the blocks: “This block is for the pyramid of Khufu, produced at that time, laid at that time.” These inscriptions cannot be a fake; they prove that this structure was built by Cheops.

A little about Pharaoh Cheops

In the last paragraph we used the name “Khufu”. This is the official Egyptian name of this pharaoh. Cheops is the Greek interpretation of his name, and not the most common one. Other pronunciations “Cheops” or “Kiops” are more common.

The name “Khufu” is more common in the world. If you are going on an excursion to Giza with a Russian-speaking guide, then there will be no problems, he will be aware of this phonetic difference. But, if you communicate with locals or tourists from other countries, we recommend using the name “Khufu”.

Although Pharaoh Khufu is one of the, it is impossible to write much about him. We know very little about him.

In addition to the fact of the construction of this pyramid, we know that Khufu organized expeditions to develop useful resources in the Sinai Peninsula. That's all. To this day, only two artifacts have survived from Khufu - a giant pyramid 137 meters high and a small ivory figurine only 7.5 centimeters high (pictured on the right).

Pharaoh Cheops remained in people's memory as a tyrant ruler who forced people to work on grandiose construction. We can read about this in the works of the Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt and recorded the stories of the priests.

Surprisingly, his father Pharaoh Snefru remained in people's memory as a very kind ruler, although he built as many as three pyramids (and) and overexerted the country twice as much as Cheops.

During the construction of the most grandiose monument of antiquity, the Pyramid of Cheops, more than one year was spent and a huge number of slaves were involved, many of whom died at the construction site. This was the opinion of the ancient Greeks, among them Herodotus, one of the first historians who described this grandiose structure in detail.

But modern scientists do not agree with this opinion and argue: many free Egyptians wanted to work on construction sites - when agricultural work ended, it was an excellent opportunity to earn extra money (here they provided food, clothing and housing).

For any Egyptian, participating in the construction of a tomb for their ruler was a duty and a matter of honor, since each of them hoped that he would also be touched by a piece of pharaonic immortality: it was believed that the Egyptian ruler had the right not only to life after death, but could also take with him their loved ones (usually they were buried in tombs adjacent to the pyramid).

Ordinary people, however, were not destined to go to the afterlife - the exception was slaves and servants, who were buried with the ruler. But everyone had the right to hope - and therefore, when housework was finished, for many years the Egyptians rushed to Cairo, to the rocky plateau.

The Pyramid of Cheops (or as it was also called, Khufu) is located near Cairo, on the Giza plateau, on the left side of the Nile, and is the largest tomb located there.

For many years now, it has been exciting the minds of researchers and admirers of Egyptian culture, who ask themselves the question: were ancient people able to build such a structure and is the pyramid not the work of representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations who erected it for only one clear purpose?

The fact that this tomb of stunning size almost immediately entered the list of the ancient seven wonders of the world does not surprise anyone: the size of the Cheops pyramid is amazing, and this, despite the fact that over the past millennia it has become smaller, and scientists cannot determine the exact proportions of the Cheops pyramid condition, since its edges and surfaces were dismantled for their needs by more than one generation of Egyptians:

The height of the pyramid is about 138 m (interestingly, in the year it was built, it was eleven meters higher);
The foundation has a square shape, the length of each side is about 230 meters;
The foundation area is about 5.4 hectares (thus, the five largest cathedrals of our planet will fit on it);
The length of the foundation along the perimeter is 922 m.

Construction of the pyramid

If earlier scientists believed that the construction of the Cheops pyramid took the Egyptians about twenty years, in our time, Egyptologists, having studied the records of the priests in more detail, and, taking into account the parameters of the pyramid, as well as the fact that Cheops ruled for about fifty years, refuted this fact and came to I conclude that it took at least thirty, and maybe even forty, years to build it.

Despite the fact that the exact date of construction of this grandiose tomb is unknown, it is believed that it was built by order of Pharaoh Cheops, who allegedly reigned from 2589 to 2566 BC. e., and his nephew and vizier Hemion was responsible for the construction work, using the latest technologies of his time, the solution of which many scientific minds have been struggling for many centuries. He approached the matter with all care and meticulousness.

Preparation for construction

More than 4 thousand workers were involved in the preliminary work, which took about ten years. It was necessary to find a place for construction, the soil of which would be strong enough to support a structure of this scale - so the decision was made to stop on a rocky site near Cairo.

To level the site, the Egyptians, using stones and sand, built a waterproof square shaft. They cut out channels intersecting at right angles in the shaft, and the construction site began to resemble a large chessboard.

After this, water was released into the trenches, with the help of which the builders determined the height of the water level and made the necessary notches on the side walls of the channels, after which the water was released. The workers cut down all the stones that were above the water level, after which the trenches were filled with stones, thus creating the foundation of the tomb.

Works with stone

The building material for the tomb was obtained from a quarry located on the other side of the Nile. To obtain a block of the required size, the stone was cut from the rock and hewn to the required size - from 0.8 to 1.5 m. Although on average one stone block weighed about 2.5 tons, the Egyptians also made heavier specimens, for example, the heaviest the block that was installed above the entrance to the “Pharaoh’s Room” weighed 35 tons.

Using thick ropes and levers, the builders secured the block on wooden runners and dragged it along a deck of logs to the Nile, loaded it onto a boat and transported it across the river. And then they again dragged it along the logs to the construction site, after which the most difficult stage began: the huge block had to be pulled to the very top platform of the tomb. How exactly they did this and what technologies they used is one of the mysteries of the Cheops pyramid.

One of the versions proposed by scientists implies the following option. Along a 20 m wide brick rise located at an angle, the block lying on skids was pulled upward with the help of ropes and levers, where it was placed in a clearly designated place. The higher the Cheops pyramid became, the longer and steeper the climb became, and the upper platform became smaller - so it became more and more difficult and dangerous to lift the boulders.

The workers had the hardest time when it was necessary to install the “pyramidon” - the topmost block 9 meters high (not preserved to this day). Since the huge boulder had to be lifted almost vertically, the work turned out to be deadly, and many people died at this stage of the work. As a result, the Cheops pyramid, after construction was completed, had more than 200 steps leading up and looked like a huge stepped mountain.

In total, it took the ancient Egyptians at least twenty years to build the body of the pyramid. The work on the “box” was not yet finished - they still had to lay them with stones and make sure that the outer parts of the blocks became more or less smooth. And at the final stage, the Egyptians completely lined the pyramid from the outside with slabs of white limestone polished to a shine - and it sparkled in the sun like a huge shiny crystal.

The slabs have not survived to this day on the pyramid: the inhabitants of Cairo, after the Arabs plundered their capital (1168), used them in the construction of new houses and temples (some of them can be seen on mosques today).

Drawings on the pyramid

Interesting fact: the outer side of the pyramid body is covered with curvilinear grooves of different sizes. If you look at them from a certain angle, you can see the image of a man 150 m high (possibly a portrait of one of the ancient gods). This drawing is not alone: on the northern wall of the tomb one can also distinguish a man and a woman with their heads bowed to each other.

Scientists claim that these Egyptians made the grooves several years before they finished building the pyramid body and installed the top stone. True, the question remains open: why did they do this, because the slabs with which the pyramid was subsequently decorated hid these portraits.

What the Great Pyramid looked like from the inside

A detailed study of the Cheops Pyramid showed that, contrary to popular belief, there are practically no inscriptions or any other decorations inside the tomb, except for a small portrait in the corridor leading to the Queen's Room.

The entrance to the tomb is located on the north side at a height exceeding fifteen meters. After burial, it was closed with a granite plug, so tourists get inside through a gap located about ten meters below - it was cut down by the Caliph of Baghdad Abdullah al-Mamun (820 AD) - the man who first entered the tomb with the aim of robbing it. The attempt failed because he found nothing here except a thick layer of dust.

The Cheops Pyramid is the only pyramid where there are corridors leading both down and up. The main corridor first goes down, then branches into two tunnels - one leads down to the unfinished funeral chamber, the second leads up, first to the Great Gallery, from which you can get to the Queen's Room and the main tomb.

From the central entrance, through a tunnel leading down (its length is 105 meters), you can get into a burial pit located below ground level, the height of which is 14 m, width - 8.1 m, height - 3.5 m. Inside the room, near Egyptologists discovered a well on the southern wall, the depth of which is about three meters (a narrow tunnel stretches from it to the south, leading to a dead end).

Researchers believe that this particular room was originally intended for the crypt of Cheops, but then the pharaoh changed his mind and decided to build a tomb higher for himself, so this room remained unfinished.

You can also get to the unfinished funeral room from the Great Gallery - at its very entrance a narrow, almost vertical shaft 60 meters high begins. Interestingly, in the middle of this tunnel there is a small grotto (most likely of natural origin, since it is located at the point of contact between the stonework of the pyramid and a small hump of limestone), which could accommodate several people.

According to one hypothesis, the architects took this grotto into account when designing the pyramid and initially intended it to evacuate builders or priests who were completing the “sealing” ceremony of the central passage leading to the tomb of the pharaoh.

The Pyramid of Cheops has another mysterious room with an unclear purpose - the “Queen's Chamber” (like the lowest room, this room is not completed, as evidenced by the floor, on which they began to lay tiles, but did not complete the work).

This room can be reached by first going down the corridor 18 meters from the main entrance, and then going up a long tunnel (40 m). This room is the smallest of all, located in the very center of the pyramid, has an almost square shape (5.73 x 5.23 m, height - 6.22 m), and a niche is built into one of its walls.

Despite the fact that the second burial pit is called the “queen’s room,” the name is a misnomer, since the wives of Egyptian rulers were always buried in separate small pyramids (there are three such tombs near the tomb of the pharaoh).

Previously, it was not easy to get into the “Queen’s Chamber”, because at the very beginning of the corridor that led to the Great Gallery, three granite blocks were installed, disguised with limestone - so it was previously believed that this room did not exist. Al-Mamunu guessed about its presence and, being unable to remove the blocks, hollowed out a passage in the softer limestone (this passage is still in use today).

It is not known exactly at what stage of construction the plugs were installed, and therefore there are several hypotheses. According to one of them, they were installed even before the funeral, during construction work. Another claims that they were not there at all in this place before, and they appeared here after the earthquake, rolling down from the Great Gallery, where they were installed after the funeral of the ruler.

Another secret of the Cheops pyramid is that exactly where the plugs are located, there are not two, as in other pyramids, but three tunnels - the third is a vertical hole (though no one knows where it leads, since granite blocks with no one has moved the seats yet).

You can get to the tomb of the pharaoh through the Great Gallery, which is almost 50 meters long. It is a continuation of the upward corridor from the main entrance. Its height is 8.5 meters, with the walls narrowing slightly at the top. In front of the tomb of the Egyptian ruler there is a “hallway” - the so-called Antechamber.

From the Antechamber, a hole leads to the “Pharaoh's Chamber,” built from monolithic polished granite blocks, in which there is an empty sarcophagus made from a red piece of Aswan granite. (interesting fact: scientists have not yet found any traces or evidence that there was a burial here).

Apparently, the sarcophagus was brought here even before construction began, since its dimensions did not allow it to be placed here after the completion of construction work. The length of the tomb is 10.5 m, width – 5.4 m, height – 5.8 m.

The biggest mystery of the Cheops pyramid (as well as its feature) is its 20 cm wide shafts, which scientists call ventilation ducts. They start inside the two upper rooms, first go horizontally, and then go out at an angle.

While these channels in the Pharaoh’s room are through, in the “Queen’s Chambers” they begin only at a distance of 13 cm from the wall and do not reach the surface at the same distance (at the same time, at the top they are closed with stones with copper handles, the so-called “Ganterbrink doors”). .

Despite the fact that some researchers suggest that these were ventilation ducts (for example, they were intended to prevent workers from suffocating during work due to the lack of oxygen), most Egyptologists are still inclined to think that these narrow channels had religious significance and were able to prove that they were built taking into account the location of astronomical bodies. The presence of canals may well be related to the Egyptian belief about the gods and souls of the dead who live in the starry sky.

At the foot of the Great Pyramid there are several underground structures - in one of them, archaeologists (1954) found the oldest ship on our planet: a wooden cedar boat disassembled into 1224 parts, the total length of which when assembled was 43.6 meters (apparently , it was on it that the pharaoh had to go to the Kingdom of the Dead).

Is this tomb Cheops?

Over the past few years, Egyptologists have increasingly questioned the fact that this pyramid was actually intended for Cheops. This is evidenced by the fact that there is absolutely no decoration in the burial chamber.

The pharaoh's mummy was not found in the tomb, and the sarcophagus itself, in which it was supposed to be located, was not completed by the builders: it was hewn rather roughly, and the lid was completely missing. These interesting facts enable fans of theories of the alien origin of this grandiose structure to claim that the pyramid was built by representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations, using technologies unknown to science and for a purpose incomprehensible to us.

The first wonder of the world of all time, one of the main structures of our planet, a place full of secrets and mysteries, a point of constant pilgrimage for tourists - the Egyptian pyramids and in particular the Cheops pyramid.

The construction of giant pyramids, of course, was far from easy. Enormous efforts of a large number of people were made to deliver stone blocks to the Giza or Saqqara plateau, and later to the Valley of the Kings, which became the new necropolis of the pharaohs.

At the moment, there are about a hundred discovered pyramids in Egypt, but discoveries continue, and their number is constantly increasing. At different times, one of the 7 wonders of the world meant different pyramids. Some meant all the pyramids of Egypt as a whole, some the pyramids near Memphis, some the three large pyramids of Giza, and most critics recognized exclusively the largest pyramid of Cheops.

Afterlife of Ancient Egypt

One of the central moments in the life of the ancient Egyptians was religion, which shaped the entire culture as a whole. Particular attention was paid to the afterlife, perceived as a clear continuation of earthly life. That is why preparation for life after death began long before death and was set as one of the main life tasks.

According to ancient Egyptian belief, man had several souls. The soul of Ka acted as a double of the Egyptian, whom he was to meet in the afterlife. The soul of Ba contacted the person himself and left his body after death.

Religious life of the Egyptians and the god Anubis

At first, it was believed that only the pharaoh had the right to life after death, but he could bestow this “immortality” on his entourage, who were usually buried next to the tomb of the ruler. Ordinary people were not destined to enter the world of the dead, the only exceptions being slaves and servants, whom the pharaoh “took” with him, and who were depicted on the walls of the great tomb.

But for a comfortable life after death, the deceased had to be provided with everything necessary: food, household utensils, servants, slaves and much more necessary for the average pharaoh. They also tried to preserve the person’s body so that Ba’s soul could later connect with him again. Therefore, in matters of body preservation, embalming and the creation of complex pyramid tombs were born.

The first pyramid in Egypt. Pyramid of Djoser

Speaking about the construction of pyramids in Ancient Egypt in general, it is worth mentioning the beginning of their history. The very first pyramid in Egypt was built about five thousand years ago on the initiative of Pharaoh Djoser. It is in these 5 thousand years that the age of the pyramids in Egypt is estimated. The construction of the Pyramid of Djoser was led by the famous and legendary Imhotep, who was even deified in later centuries.

Pyramid of Djoser

The entire complex of the building being erected occupied an area of 545 by 278 meters. The perimeter was surrounded by a 10-meter wall with 14 gates, only one of which was real. In the center of the complex was the pyramid of Djoser with sides 118 by 140 meters. The height of the Djoser pyramid is 60 meters. Almost at a depth of 30 meters there was a burial chamber, to which corridors with many branches led. The branch rooms contained utensils and sacrifices. Here archaeologists found three bas-reliefs of Pharaoh Djoser himself. Near the eastern wall of Djoser's pyramid, 11 small burial chambers were discovered, intended for the royal family.

Unlike the famous large pyramids of Giza, Djoser's pyramid had a stepped shape, as if intended for the pharaoh's ascension to heaven. Of course, this pyramid is inferior in popularity and size to the Cheops pyramid, but still the contribution of the very first stone pyramid to the culture of Egypt is difficult to overestimate.

The Pyramid of Cheops. History and Brief Description

But still, the most famous for the ordinary population of our planet are the three nearby pyramids of Egypt - Khafre, Mekerin and the largest and tallest pyramid in Egypt - Cheops (Khufu)

Pyramids of Giza

The pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops was built near the city of Giza, currently a suburb of Cairo. At present, it is impossible to say for sure when the Cheops pyramid was built, and research gives a strong scatter. In Egypt, for example, the date of the start of construction of this pyramid is officially celebrated - August 23, 2480 BC.

Pyramid of Cheops and Sphinx

About 100,000 people were simultaneously involved in the construction of the wonder of the world, the Pyramid of Cheops. During the first ten years of work, a road was built along which huge stone blocks were delivered to the river and the underground structures of the pyramid. Work on the construction of the monument itself continued for about 20 years.

The size of the Cheops pyramid in Giza is amazing. The height of the Cheops pyramid initially reached 147 meters. Over time, due to sand filling and loss of lining, it decreased to 137 meters. But even this figure allowed it to remain the tallest human structure in the world for a long time. The pyramid has a square base with a side of 147 meters. To build this giant, it is estimated that 2,300,000 limestone blocks were required, weighing an average of 2.5 tons.

How were the pyramids built in Egypt?

The technology of building pyramids is still controversial in our time. Versions vary from the invention of concrete in Ancient Egypt to the construction of pyramids by aliens. But it is still believed that the pyramids were built by man solely by his own strength. So, to extract stone blocks, they first marked out a shape in the rock, hollowed out grooves and inserted dry wood into them. Later, the tree was doused with water, it expanded, a crack formed in the rock, and the block was separated. Then it was processed into the desired shape with tools and sent along the river to the construction site.

To lift the blocks up, the Egyptians used gently sloping embankments, along which these megaliths were dragged on wooden sleighs. But even with such a backward technology by our standards, the quality of work is surprising - the blocks fit tightly to each other with minimal mismatches.

We can talk for a long time about the pyramids shrouded in myths and legends, their labyrinths and traps, mummies and treasures, but we’ll leave that to Egyptologists. For us, the Cheops Pyramid is one of the greatest structures of mankind throughout its existence and, of course, the only First Wonder of the World that has survived to this day from the depths of centuries.

Scheme of the Cheops pyramid

Video about the pyramids of Egypt

Video about the Cheops pyramid

- Oh Osiris, I don’t want to die!

-Who wants it? - Osiris shrugged.

“But I... I’m still a pharaoh!.. Listen,” Cheops whispered, “I will sacrifice one hundred thousand slaves to you.”

1. Just allow me to immortalize my life alone!
- One hundred thousand? And are you sure that they will all die during construction?
- Rest assured. Such a pyramid as I conceived... - Well, if so... Perpetuate it, I don’t mind.
The Pyramid of Cheops
The Pyramid of Mikerin, which is even smaller, is located 200 meters from the Pyramid of Khafre. Its height is 62 meters, and the length of the sides is 108 meters. But the most famous Egyptian monument in the world after the Pyramid of Cheops is the figure of the Sphinx, vigilantly guarding the city of the dead.
The three pyramids are part of a complex that also consists of several temples, small pyramids, and tombs of priests and officials.
The smaller pyramids further south were probably intended for the wives of rulers and were left unfinished.

2. How was the Cheops pyramid built?

Its height is 146.6 m, which approximately corresponds to a fifty-story skyscraper. The base area is 230x230 m. In such a space, five of the largest cathedrals in the world could easily fit simultaneously: St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London, as well as the Florence and Milan cathedrals. From the building stone used for the construction of the Cheops pyramid, it would be possible to build all the churches in Germany created in our millennium. The young pharaoh Cheops gave the order to build the pyramid immediately after the death of his father Snofru. Like all previous pharaohs since the time of Djoser (approximately 2609 -2590 BC), Cheops wanted to be buried after his death in a pyramid.
The ivory statue of Pharaoh Cheops is the only surviving image of the pharaoh. On the head of Cheops is the crown of the Ancient Egyptian kingdom, in his hand is a ceremonial fan.
Like his predecessors, he believed that his pyramid should surpass all other pyramids in size, splendor and luxury. But before the first of the more than two million blocks that made up the pyramid was cut from a quarry on the east bank of the Nile, complex preparatory work was carried out. First, it was necessary to find a suitable site for the construction of the pyramid. The weight of the huge structure is 6,400,000 tons, so the soil had to be strong enough so that the pyramid would not sink into the ground under its own weight. The construction site was chosen south of the modern Egyptian capital Cairo, on a ledge of a plateau in the desert seven kilometers west of the village of Giza. This strong rocky platform was able to support the weight of the pyramid.
First, the surface of the site was leveled. To do this, a waterproof rampart of sand and stones was built around it. In the resulting square, a dense network of small channels intersecting at right angles was cut out, so that the site looked like a huge chessboard. The channels were filled with water, the height of the water level was marked on the side walls, and then the water was drained. The stonemasons cut down everything that protruded above the surface of the water, and the channels were again filled with stone. The base of the pyramid was ready.
Over 4,000 people - artists, architects, stonemasons and other artisans - carried out these preparatory work for about ten years. Only after this could the construction of the pyramid itself begin. According to the Greek historian Herodotus (490 - 425 BC), construction continued for another twenty years, about 100,000 people worked on the construction of the huge tomb of Cheops. Only on radishes, onions and garlic, which were added to the food of construction workers, 1600 talents were spent, i.e. approximately $20 million. Data on the number of workers are questioned by many modern researchers. In their opinion, there would simply not be enough space on the construction site for so many people: more than 8,000 people would not be able to work productively without interfering with each other.
Herodotus, who visited Egypt in 425 BC, wrote: “The method used was to build in steps, or as some call it, in rows or terraces. When the foundation was completed, the blocks for the next row above the foundation were raised from the main level with devices made from short wooden levers; on this first row there was another one that raised the blocks one level higher, so step by step the blocks were raised more and more. Higher and higher. Each row or level had its own set of mechanisms of the same type, which easily moved loads from level to level. The completion of the pyramid began at the top with the highest level, continued down, and ended with the lowest levels closest to the ground."
At the time of the construction of the pyramid, Egypt was a rich country. Every year from the end of June to November, the Nile overflowed its banks and flooded the adjacent fields with its waters, leaving on them a thick layer of silt that turned the dry desert sand into fertile soil. Therefore, in favorable years it was possible to harvest up to three harvests a year - grain, fruits and vegetables. So, from June to November, the peasants could not work in their fields. And they were glad when every year in mid-June the pharaoh’s scribe appeared in their village, compiling lists of those willing to work on the construction of the pyramid.

3. Who worked on the construction of the pyramid?
Almost everyone wanted this work, which means it was not forced labor, but voluntary labor. This was explained by two reasons: each participant in construction received housing, clothing, food and a modest salary during work. Four months later, when the waters of the Nile receded from the fields, the peasants returned to their villages.

In addition, every Egyptian considered it his natural duty and a matter of honor to participate in the construction of the pyramid for the pharaoh. After all, everyone who contributed to the accomplishment of this grandiose task hoped that a piece of the immortality of the god-like pharaoh would touch him too. Therefore, at the end of June, endless streams of peasants flocked to Giza. There they were housed in temporary barracks and grouped into groups of eight. Work could begin. Having sailed on boats to the other side of the Nile, the men headed to the quarry. There they cut down a block of stone, trimmed it using sledgehammers, wedges, saws and drills and obtained a block of the required dimensions - with sides from 80 cm to 1.45 m. Using ropes and levers, each group installed its block on wooden runners and on them she dragged him along the log flooring to the bank of the Nile. The sailboat transported workers and a block weighing up to 7.5 tons to the other side.

4. What job was the most dangerous?
The stone was dragged along roads lined with logs to the construction site. Here came the hardest work, since cranes and other lifting devices had not yet been invented. Along an inclined entrance 20 m wide, built of bricks from Nile silt, runners with a stone block were pulled with the help of ropes and levers to the upper platform of the pyramid under construction. There, workers laid the block in the place indicated by the architect with millimeter precision. The higher the pyramid rose, the longer and steeper the entrance became and the smaller the upper working platform became. Therefore, the work became more and more difficult.
Then came the turn of the most dangerous work: laying the “pyramidon” - an upper block nine meters high, dragged upward along an inclined entrance. We don’t know how many people died doing just this work. So, twenty years later, the construction of the pyramid body was completed, which consists of 128 layers of stone and is four meters higher than Strasbourg Cathedral. By this time, the pyramid looked much the same as it looks now: it was a stepped mountain. However, the work did not end there: the steps were filled with stones, so that the surface of the pyramid became, although not completely smooth, but without protrusions. To complete the work, the four triangular outer edges of the pyramid were lined with slabs of dazzling white limestone. The edges of the slabs were fitted so precisely that it was impossible to insert even a knife blade between them. Even from a distance of several meters, the pyramid gave the impression of a giant monolith. The outer slabs were polished to a mirror finish using the hardest grinding stones. According to eyewitnesses, in the sun or moonlight, the tomb of Cheops sparkled mysteriously, like a huge crystal glowing from within.

5. What's inside the Cheops pyramid?
The Cheops Pyramid is not made entirely of stone. Inside it there is an extensive system of passages, which through a large passage 47 m long, the so-called large gallery, leads to the pharaoh's chamber - a room 10.5 m long, 5.3 m wide and 5.8 m high. It is entirely lined with granite, but not decorated with any ornament. There is a large empty granite sarcophagus without a lid. The sarcophagus was brought here during construction, since it does not go into any of the passages of the pyramid. Such chambers of the pharaohs are found in almost all Egyptian pyramids; they served as the last refuge of the pharaoh.
There are no inscriptions or decorations inside the Cheops pyramid, with the exception of a small portrait in the passage leading to the Queen's chamber. This image resembles a photograph on a stone. On the outer walls of the pyramid there are numerous curvilinear grooves of large and small sizes, in which, at a certain lighting angle, one can discern an image 150 meters high - a portrait of a man, apparently one of the deities of Ancient Egypt. This image is surrounded by other images (the trident of the Atlanteans and Scythians, a bird-plane, plans of stone buildings, pyramid rooms), texts, individual letters, large signs resembling a flower bud, etc. On the north side of the pyramid there is a portrait of a man and a woman with their heads bowed towards each other. These enormous images were painted just a few years before the main pyramid was completed and installed in 2630 BC. top stone.
Inside the Cheops pyramid there are three burial chambers, located one above the other. The construction of the first chamber was not completed. It is carved into the bedrock. To get into it, you need to overcome 120 m of a narrow descending corridor. The first burial chamber is connected to the second by a horizontal corridor 35 m long and 1.75 m high. The second chamber is called the “queen’s chamber,” although according to the ritual the wives of the pharaohs were buried in separate small pyramids.
The queen's chamber is surrounded by legends. A legend is associated with it, according to which the pyramid was the main temple of a certain Supreme Deity, a place where ancient secret religious rites were held. Somewhere in the depths of the pyramid lives an unknown creature with the face of a lion, who holds in his hands the seven keys of Eternity. No one can see it except those who have undergone special rites of preparation and purification. Only to them did the Great Priest reveal the secret Divine Name. A person who possesses the secret of a name becomes equal in magical power to the pyramid itself. The main sacrament of initiation took place in the royal chamber. There, the candidate, tied to a special cross, was placed in a huge sarcophagus. The person accepting initiation was, as it were, in the gap between the material world and the divine world, inaccessible to human consciousness.
From the beginning of the horizontal corridor, another one goes up, about 50 m long and more than 8 m high. At the end of it there is a horizontal passage leading to the pharaoh’s burial chamber, trimmed with granite, in which the sarcophagus is placed. In addition to the burial chambers, voids and ventilation shafts were discovered in the pyramid. However, the purpose of many rooms and various void channels is not fully understood. One of these rooms is a room where on a table there is an open book about the history and achievements of the country during the period of completion of the pyramid.
The purpose of the underground structures at the foot of the Cheops pyramid is also unclear. Some of them were opened at different times. In one of the underground structures in 1954, archaeologists found the oldest ship on Earth - a wooden boat called solar, 43.6 m long, disassembled into 1224 parts. It was built of cedar without a single nail and, as evidenced by the traces of silt preserved on it, before the death of Cheops it was still floating on the Nile.

6. How was the pharaoh buried?
After death, the carefully embalmed body of the ruler was placed in the burial chamber of the pyramid. The internal organs of the deceased were placed in special hermetic vessels, the so-called canopies, which were placed next to the sarcophagus in the burial chamber. So, the mortal remains of the pharaoh found their last earthly refuge in the pyramid, and the “ka” of the deceased left the tomb. “Ka,” according to Egyptian ideas, was considered something like a person’s double, his “second self,” which left the body at the moment of death and could move freely between the earthly and the afterlife. Having left the burial chamber, the “ka” rushed to the top of the pyramid along its outer lining, which was so smooth that no mortal could move along it. The father of the pharaohs, the sun god Ra, was already there in his solar boat, in which the deceased pharaoh began his journey to immortality.
Recently, some scientists have expressed doubt that the Great Pyramid was really the tomb of Pharaoh Cheops. They put forward three arguments in favor of this assumption:
The burial chamber, contrary to the customs of that time, does not have any decorations.
The sarcophagus in which the body of the deceased pharaoh was supposed to rest was only roughly hewn, i.e. not completely ready; the cover is missing.
And finally, two narrow passages through which air from outside penetrates into the burial chamber through small holes in the body of the pyramid. But the dead do not need air - here is another weighty argument in favor of the fact that the Cheops pyramid was not a burial place.
7. Who was the first to penetrate the Cheops pyramid?
The entrance to the Cheops pyramid was originally located on the north side, at the level of the 13th row of granite slabs. It is now closed. You can get inside the pyramid through a hole left by ancient robbers.
For more than 3,500 years, the interior of the Great Pyramid was not disturbed by anyone: all the entrances to it were carefully walled up, and the tomb itself, according to the Egyptians, was guarded by spirits ready to kill anyone who tried to penetrate it.
That is why the robbers appeared here much later. The first person to penetrate inside the Cheops pyramid was Caliph Abdallah al-Mamun (813-833 AD), son of Harun al-Rashid. He dug a tunnel to the burial chamber in the hope of finding treasure there, as in other tombs of the pharaohs. But he found nothing except the droppings of the bats that lived there, the layer of which on the floor and walls reached 28 cm. After this, the interest of robbers and treasure hunters in the Cheops pyramid disappeared. But they were replaced by other robbers. In 1168 after R. Chr. part of Cairo was burned and completely destroyed by the Arabs, who did not want it to fall into the hands of the crusaders. When the Egyptians later began rebuilding their city, they removed the shiny white slabs that covered the outside of the pyramid and used them to build new houses. Even now these slabs can be seen in many mosques in the old part of the city. All that remains of the former pyramid is the stepped building - this is how it now appears before the admiring eyes of tourists. Along with the cladding, the pyramid also lost its top, the pyramidon, and the upper layers of masonry. Therefore, now its height is no longer 144.6 m, but 137.2 m. Today, the top of the pyramid is a square with sides of approximately 10 m. This site in 1842 became the venue for unusual festivities. The Prussian king Frederick William IV, known for his love of art, sent an expedition to the Nile Valley led by archaeologist Richard Lepsius to acquire ancient Egyptian art objects and other exhibits for the Egyptian Museum being created in Berlin (it was opened in 1855).

Powerful, surrounded by mystery... - this is how the Cheops pyramid stood for 4500 years

Achet-Chufu
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"Horizon of Khufu" Characteristics Location Giza Customer Pharaoh Cheops (Χέωψ or Σοῦφις) Construction time IV Dynasty 2600 BC e. Type pyramid Base size 230 Height (original) 146,60 Height (today) 138,75 Incline 51° 50" Pyramids of Queens 3 Pyramid of Cheops at Wikimedia Commons

Age of the pyramid

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

Existing methods for dating the start of construction of the pyramid are divided into historical, astronomical and radiocarbon. In Egypt, the date for the start of construction of the Cheops Pyramid was officially established (2009) and celebrated - August 23, 2560 BC. e. This date was obtained using the astronomical method of Kate Spence (University of Cambridge). However, this method and the dates obtained with it have been 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). Radiocarbon dating gives a range from 2680 BC. e. to 2850 BC e. Therefore, there is no serious confirmation of the established “birthday” of the pyramid, since Egyptologists cannot agree on exactly what year construction began.

First mention of the pyramid

The complete absence of mention of the pyramid in 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 built under a despot pharaoh named Cheops (Greek: Cheops). Koufou), who ruled for 50 years, that 100 thousand people were employed in construction. 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 about the middle pyramid of the Giza plateau that it was built by the daughter of Cheops, who sold herself, and that each building stone corresponded to the man to whom she was given.

Appearance

The pyramid is called "Akhet-Khufu" - "Horizon of Khufu" (or more accurately "Related to the firmament - (it is) 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 eastern, northern and southern sides of the pyramid. Despite the fact that the Cheops pyramid is the tallest and most voluminous of all the Egyptian pyramids, Pharaoh Sneferu built the pyramids in Meidum and Dakhshut (Broken Pyramid and Pink Pyramid), the total mass of which is estimated at 8.4 million tons.

Initially, the pyramid was lined with white limestone, which was harder than the main blocks. The top of the pyramid was crowned with a gilded stone - pyramidion (ancient Egyptian - “Benben”). The cladding shone in the sun with a peach color, like “a shining miracle to which the Sun God Ra himself seemed to give 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

Height (today): ≈ 136.5 m
Side angle (current): 51° 50"
Side rib length (original): 230.33 m (calculated) or about 440 royal cubits
Side fin length (current): approx. 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
Foundation area (initially): ≈ 53,000 m2 (5.3 ha)
Lateral surface area of the pyramid (initially): ≈ 85,500 m2
Base perimeter: 922 m
Total volume of the pyramid without deducting the cavities inside the pyramid (initially): ≈ 2.58 million m3
Total volume of the pyramid minus all known cavities (initially): 2.50 million m 3
Average volume of stone blocks: 1,147 m3
Average weight of stone blocks: 2.5 tons
The heaviest stone block: about 35 tons - is located above the entrance to the “King’s Chamber”.
The number of blocks of average volume does not exceed 1.65 million (2.50 million m³ - 0.6 million m³ of rock base inside the pyramid = 1.9 million m 3 /1.147 m 3 = 1.65 million blocks of the specified volume can physically fit in the pyramid , without taking into account the volume of mortar in interblock joints); referring to a 20-year construction period * 300 working days per year * 10 working hours per day * 60 minutes per hour leads to a speed of laying (and delivery to the construction site) of about a block of two minutes.
According to estimates, 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 rocky elevation about 12-14 m high in the center and, according to the latest data, occupies at least 23% of the original volume of the pyramid
The number of layers (tiers) of stone blocks is 210 (at the time of construction). Now there are 203 layers.

Concavity of the sides

When 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 specially done during construction. As Vito Maragioglio and Celeste Rinaldi note, the pyramid of Mycerinus no longer has such concave sides. I.E.S. Edwards explains this feature by saying that the central part of each side was simply pressed inward over time by 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 architectural feature.

Tilt angle

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

A study of the geometry of the Great Pyramid does not provide a clear answer to the question of the original proportions of this structure. It is assumed that the Egyptians had an idea about the “Golden ratio" and the number pi, which were reflected in the proportions of the pyramid: thus, the ratio of the height to half the perimeter of the base is 14/22 (height = 280 cubits, and the base = 220 cubits, semi-perimeter of the base = 2 ×220 cubits; 280/440 = 14/22). For the first time in world history, these quantities were used in the construction of the pyramid at Meidum. However, for pyramids of later eras, these proportions were not used anywhere else, as, for example, some have height-to-base ratios, such as 6/5 (Pink Pyramid), 4/3 (Pyramid of Khafre) 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 “pole star” of that time - Thuban, the ventilation corridors on the south side point to the star Sirius, and on the north side to the star Alnitak.

Internal structure

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

Funeral "pit"

A 105 m long descending corridor running at an inclination of 26° 26'46 leads to an 8.9 m long horizontal corridor leading to the chamber 5 . Situated below ground level in a limestone bedrock, it remained unfinished. The dimensions of the chamber are 14x8.1 m, it extends 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 cross-section) stretches in a southern direction for 16 m, ending in a dead end. At the beginning of the 19th century, engineers John Shae Perring and Richard William Howard Vyse cleared the floor of the chamber and dug a well 11.6 m deep, in which they hoped to discover a hidden burial chamber. They were based on the testimony of Herodotus, who claimed that the body of Cheops was located on an island surrounded by a canal in a hidden underground chamber. Their excavations came to nothing. Later studies showed that the chamber was abandoned unfinished, and it was decided to build the burial chambers in the center of the pyramid itself.

Several photographs taken in 1910

Ascending Corridor and Queen's Chambers

From the first third of the descending passage (18 m from the main entrance) upward at the same angle of 26.5°, an ascending passage goes south ( 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 work of al-Mamun. Thus, for the previous approximately 3 thousand years, it was believed that there were no rooms in the Great Pyramid other than the descending passage and the underground chamber. Al-Mamun failed to break through these plugs and simply hollowed out a bypass to the right of them in the softer limestone. This passage is still in use today. There are two main theories about the traffic jams, one of them is based on the fact that the ascending passage has traffic jams installed at the beginning of construction and thus this passage was sealed by them from the very beginning. The second argues that the current narrowing of the walls was caused by an earthquake, and the plugs were previously located 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 traffic jams are now located, in the full-size, albeit shortened model of the pyramid 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 a vertical tunnel. Since no one has yet been able to move the plugs, the question of whether there is a vertical hole above them remains open.

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

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 southerly direction. The walls of this horizontal corridor are made of very large limestone blocks, on which false “seams” are applied, imitating masonry from 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 ritual, the wives of the pharaohs were buried in separate small pyramids. The Queen's Chamber, lined 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, Grand Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Another branch 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 to evacuate workers or priests who were completing the “sealing” of the main passage to the “King’s Chamber.” Approximately in the middle there is a small, most likely natural extension - the “Grotto” (Grotto) of irregular shape, in which several people could fit at most. Grotto ( 12 ) is located at the “junction” of the masonry of the pyramid and a small, about 9 meters high, hill on the limestone plateau lying at the base of the Great Pyramid. The walls of the Grotto are partially reinforced by ancient masonry, 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, taking into account the fact that the shaft 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 accurately reach the Grotto.

The large gallery continues the ascending passage. Its height is 8.53 m, it is rectangular in cross-section, with walls slightly tapering upward (the so-called “false vault”), a high inclined tunnel 46.6 m long. In the middle of the Great Gallery along almost the entire length there is a square recess with a regular cross-section measuring 1 meter wide and 60 cm deep, and on both side protrusions there are 27 pairs of recesses of unknown purpose. The recess ends with the so-called. “Big step” - a high horizontal ledge, a 1x2 meter platform at the end of the Great Gallery, immediately before the hole into the “hallway” - the Antechamber. The platform has a pair of ramp recesses similar to those in the corners near the wall (the 28th and last pair of BG recesses). Through the “hallway” a hole leads into the funeral “Tsar’s Chamber” lined with black granite, where an empty granite sarcophagus is located. The sarcophagus lid is missing. Ventilation shafts have mouths in the “King's Chamber” on the southern and northern walls at a height of about a meter from the floor level. The mouth of the southern ventilation shaft is severely damaged, the northern one appears intact. The floor, ceiling, and walls of the chamber do not have any decorations or holes or fastening elements of anything dating back to the construction of the pyramid. The ceiling slabs have all burst along the southern wall and are not falling into the room only due to the pressure of the weight of the overlying blocks.

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

Ventilation ducts

So-called “ventilation” channels 20-25 cm wide extend from the “Tsar’s Chamber” and “Queen’s Chamber” in the northern and southern directions (first horizontally, then obliquely upward). At the same time, the channels of the “Tsar’s Chamber,” known since the 17th century, through, they are open both below and above (on the edges 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 by about 12 meters. The upper ends of the channels of the Queen's Chamber are closed by stone Gantenbrink Doors, each with two copper handles. The copper handles were sealed with plaster seals (not preserved, but traces remain). In the southern ventilation shaft, a “door” was discovered in 1993 with the help of a remote-controlled robot “Upout II”; the bend of the northern shaft did not allow this robot to detect the same “door” in it. In 2002, using a new modification of the robot, a hole was drilled in the southern “door,” but behind it a small cavity 18 centimeters long and another stone “door” were discovered. What lies next is still unknown. This robot confirmed the presence of a similar “door” at the end of the northern channel, but they did not drill it. In 2010, a new robot was able to insert a serpentine television camera into a drilled hole in the southern “door” and discovered that the copper “handles” on that side of the “door” were designed in the form of neat hinges, and individual red ocher icons were painted on the floor of the “ventilation” shaft. Currently, the most common version is that the purpose of the “ventilation” ducts was of a religious nature and is associated with the Egyptian ideas about the afterlife journey of the soul. And the “door” at the end of the channel is nothing more than a door to the afterlife. That is why it does not reach the surface of the pyramid.