The Pyramids and the Sphinx

Throughout history, people have tried to understand the pyramids. Early Christians thought that they were places where priests watched the stars. In the 19th century, some people believed that the measurements of the Great Pyramid were devised by God, and that from them they could predict the future! But by then, scholars could read ancient Egyptian writing and they had started to dig up ancient sites. They pyramids were finally known as the last resting places of Egypt's ancient kings.

Napoleon's Nightmare

Napoleon Bonaparte, the Emperor of France, led an invasion of Egypt in 1798. Legend has it that he ventured into the Great Pyramid alone, only to emerge pale, shaken, and gasping for air. What secrets did he encounter in the darkness? We may never know . . .

Pyramid Construction

Building the Old Kingdom pyramids was a gigantic task. The Great Pyramid at Giza contains about 625 million tons of stone. The individual blocks weigh between two and 15 tons. To complete this pyramid during Khufu's Reign, the blocks must have been produced at a rate of one every two minutes each day for 23 years! Some scholars believe this theory to be untrue, while others argue for its possibility. The stonemasons who quarried, shaped and smoothed the blocks must have formed a highly skilled workforce. Many of the blocks were quarried close to the pyramid site. Granite from Aswan and fine limestone from Tura were brought by barge to the edge of the desert. The blocks were then lashed on to sledges. They were dragged over wooden rollers, which had to be kept damp to prevent friction. Mud-brick ramps were probably used to get the stones up to where they were needed. Some believe that this pyramid at Giza was built by slaves, but this is not true. One hundred thousand people worked on it for three months of each year. This was the time of the Nile's annual flood which made it impossible to farm the land; most of the population was unemployed. The Pharaoh provided food and clothing for his workers and was kindly remembered in folktales for many centuries.

Inside each Old Kingdom pyramid is a series of stepped buttress walls around a central core. Packing blocks were used to fill in the steps. Then the casting stones were added. These walls were fitted closely to form the smooth outer walls. The casing stones were mainly pale Tura limestone so the pyramids would originally have looked white. The capstones at the very top of a pyramid was covered in gold.

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