Page 163 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

MEDIT£111/ANEAN SEA
A Queens' Pyramids
These three small pyramids
were built for members of
lhe l<ing's fanily, although
lhe actual identity of their
occupants is unkno.Ml.
Entrance >- _..._...,llllj._ A The Sphinx and
SOLAR BOAT MUSEUM
Th1s museum near the Great Pyramid
houses a reconstructed solar boat
that might have been a funerary
barque for Khufu. Discovered in
1954, the boat's 1,200 individual
pieces took archeologists 1 4 years
to put back together.
~ Entrance
The original entrance is
blocked, and a lcmer opening
made by the Caliph Maannun
in AD 820 is ncm used.
·, ....
Pyramid of Khafre
viewed from the
Giza Plateau
Great Gallery >-
Soaring nearly 30 ft (9 m)
high, this is thought to have
been used as a slipway
for the huge blocks that
sealed the passageway.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF PYRAMIDS
It took the ancient Egyptians around 400 years to
progress from the mudbrick mastaba to the smooth- while each king's close fam1ty and royal court
sided pyramid. The last stage, from the stepped
pyramid to the "true,'' or smooth-sided, pyramid took
just 65 years. During this period, each pyramid was a
brave venture into the unknown.
Mastaba
Around 3000 BC, the sandy I [1
mounds of the graves of .. -~------ ~
the upper e<helons of
society were for mall zed
into low, boxlike mastabas.
St• pp• d Pyr am i d
(c. 2665 BC)
A more impressive
memorial was made
by putting six stone
mastabas on top
of each other.
Prototyp• Pyramid
(c. 2605 BC)
The first smooth-sided
pyramid was a<hleved
by filling in the steps
of a pyramid. Ths was
followed by specially
bull t smooth-sided
pyramids.
Al>xond r;a e
THE EAT PYRAMID, Catro
GIZA
EGYPT
UBYA Luxore RED
SEA
A swkl e
SUOAN
lHE SPHINX
...
{ Dating back to 2 500 B C and positioned at the
' entrance to the Pyramid of K hafre, the Sphinx
is the earliest known ancient Egyptian sculpture.
It stands 66 ft (2 0 m) high, with an elongated
body, a royal headdress, and outstretched
paws. It is carved from an outcrop of natural
rock, augmented by shaped blocks around the
base added during one of several renovations. It
was once thought that the nose of the Splinx
was shot off by Napoleon's French army, but in
reality it was lost before the 15th century
lHE GIZA PLATEAU
During the Egyptian 4th dynasty (2613-2498
BC), the Giza Plateau became the royal burial
ground for Memphis, capital of Egypt. In I ess
than 100 years, the ancient Egyptians built
three pyramid complexes to serve as tombs
for their kings. T hese conSisted of the Great
Pyramid, the Pyram1d of Khafre (r 2558-2532),
and the Pyramid of Menkaure (r 2532-2530)
The Sphinx was added to guard the pyramids,
were buried in satellite pyramids and mastaba
tombs nearby. Of these, one of the most
noteworthy is the 6th-dynasty (2345-2181 BC)
tomb of Qar, a high-ranking official in charge of
maintaining the Giza pyramids. His tomb is
\ decorated with fine reliefs.
KHUFU
The second pharaoh of the 4th dynasty, Ktufu
(also known as Cheops) probably came to the
throne in his 20s and re1gned for about 24
years. The Greek historian Herodotus portrayed
Khufu as a cruel and oppressi ve ruler, but this
\ was belied by his posthumous reputation in
Egypt as a wise king. Khufu is generally
accepted as being the builder of the Great
Pyramid-one of the seven wonders of the
andent world. Contrary to popular belief, this
massive monument was not built by slaves, but
by a conscripted workforce, and Its enormous
scale is a testament to the pharaoh's skills in
harnessing the matenal and human resources
of his country. Khufu's tomb was robbed long
before archeologists discovered 1 t, and his
only likeness is a small ivory statue (statue of
K hufu) found at Abydos, to the south of Giza.