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The Great Pyramid
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the
three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now
Cairo, Egypt in Africa, and is the only remaining member of
the Seven Wonders of the World. It is believed to have been
built as a tomb for Fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu
(hellenized as ?e??, Cheops) and constructed over a 20 year
period concluding around 2560 BC. . It is sometimes called
Khufu's Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the main part of a complex
setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in
honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the
Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even
smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the
two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid
for nobles. One of the small pyramids contains the tomb of
queen Hetepheres (discovered in 1925), sister and wife of
Sneferu and the mother of Khufu. There was a town for the
workers of Giza, including a cemetery, bakeries, a beer
factory and a copper smelting complex. More buildings and
complexes are being discovered by The Giza Mapping Project.
A few hundred metres south-west of the Great Pyramid lies the
slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre, one of Khufu's successors
who is also commonly considered the builder of the Great
Sphinx, and a few hundred metres further south-west is the
Pyramid of Menkaure, Khafre's successor, which is about half
as tall.
The generally accepted estimated date of its completion is c.
2560 BC. Although this date contradicts radiocarbon dating
evidence, it is loosely supported by a lack of archaeological
findings for the existence prior to the fourth dynasty of a
civilization with sufficient population or technical ability
in the area.
Khufu's vizier, Hemon, is credited as the architect of the
Great Pyramid
Dating Evidence
Traditionally, the evidence for dating the Great Pyramid by
Egyptologists has been based primarily on fragmented summaries
of early Christian writings gleaned from the work of the
Hellinistic Period Egyptian priest Manethô who compiled the
now lost revisionist Egyptian history Aegyptika. These works,
and to a lesser degree earlier Egyptian sources, mainly the
"Turin Canon" and "Table of Abydos" among others, combine to
form the main body of historical reference for Egyptologists
giving a timeline by popular consensus of rulers known as the
"King's List", found in the reference archive; the Cambridge
Ancient History. As a result, being Egyptologists have
ascribed the pyramid to Khufu, establishing the time he
reigned by default subsequently dates the monument as well as
the confines for its completion of construction.
The Edgar Cayce Foundation, researching claims that the
pyramids were at least 10,000 years old, funded the "David H.
Koch Pyramids Radiocarbon Project" in 1984. The project took
samples of organic material (such as ash and charcoal
deposits) from several locations within the Great Pyramid, and
other pyramids and monuments from the Old Kingdom period (ca.
3rd millennium BC). These samples were subjected to
radiocarbon dating to produce calibrated date-equivalent
estimates of their age. This yielded results averaging 374
years earlier than the estimated historical date accepted by
Egyptologists (2589 ? 2504 BC) but still more recent than
10,000 years ago. An astronomical study by Kate Spence
suggests the pyramid dates to 2467 BC.
A second dating in 1995 with new but similar material obtained
dates ranging between 100-400 years earlier than those
indicated by the historic record. This raised questions
concerning the origin and date of the wood. Massive quantities
of wood were used and burned, so to reconcile the earlier
dates the authors of the study theorized that possibly "old
wood" was used, assuming that wood was harvested from any
source available, including old construction material from all
over Egypt. It is also known, given the poor quality and
relative scarcity of native Egyptian woods, that King Sneferu
(and later Egyptian pharohs) imported fine woods from Lebanon
and other countries such as Nubia for the creation of
decorative furniture, royal boats (as found buried around the
Giza Plateau), or other luxuries generally reserved for
royalty. But as Mark Lehner points out such efforts were not
without "great cost". It is unknown, given the expense,
effort, and value of such woods, if they were ever imported as
an expendable source of industrial fuel, especially on such a
large scale.
Project scientists based their conclusions on the evidence
that some of the material in the 3rd Dynasty pyramid of
Pharaoh Djoser and other monuments had been recycled,
concluding that the construction of the pyramids marked a
major depletion of Egypt's exploitable wood. Dating of more
short-lived material around the pyramid (cloth, small fires,
etc) yielded dates nearer to those indicated by historical
records. As of yet the full data of the study has yet to be
released in which the authors insist more evidence is needed
to settle this issue. In the absence of the "old wood" theory,
the study admits "The 1984 results left us with too little
data to conclude that the historical chronology of the Old
Kingdom was in error by nearly 400 years, but we considered
this at least a possibility."
In his book Voyages of the Pyramid Builders, Boston University
geology professor Robert Schoch details key anomalies in both
radiocarbon studies; most notably that samples taken in 1984
from the upper courses of the Great Pyramid gave upper dates
of 3809 B.C. (± 160yrs), nearly 1400yrs before the time of
Khufu, while the lower courses provided dates ranging from
3090-2723 B.C (± 100-400yrs) which correspond much more
closely to the time Khufu is believed to have reigned. Given
that the data imply the pyramid was built (impossibly) from
the top down, Dr. Schoch argues that if the information
provided by the study is correct, it makes sense if it is
assumed the pyramid was built and rebuilt in several stages
suggesting later Pharaohs such as Khufu were only inheritors
of an existing monument, not the original builders, and merely
rebuilt or repaired previously constructed sections.
Alternative Theories on the Creation of the Great Pyramid
In common with many other monumental structures from
antiquity, the Great Pyramid has over time been the subject of
a great number of speculative or alternative theories, which
put forward a variety of explanations about its origins,
dating, construction and purpose. In support of these claims
such accounts either rely upon novel reinterpretations of the
available data from fields such as archaeology, history and
astronomy, or appeal to biblical, mythological, mystical,
numerological, astrological and other esoteric sources of
knowledge, or some combination of these.
Such ideas have been part of popular culture since at least
the turn of the 20th century and can be traced back among
others to such figures as the early-twentieth century American
psychic Edgar Cayce, whose 'psychic channeling' of 'Ra Ta'
purports to have conveyed that the pyramids were built by
refugees from Atlantis, and even to his predecessor Ignatius
L. Donnelly. In recent years, some of the more
widely-publicized writers of alternative theories include
Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, John Anthony West, and Boston
University geology professor Robert M. Schoch.
A theme found in some of the alternative theories put forward
concerning the Giza pyramids and many other megalithic sites
around the world, is the suggestion that these are not the
products of the civilizations and cultures known to
conventional history, but are instead the much older remnants
of some hitherto unknown advanced ancient culture. This
progenitor civilization is supposed to have been destroyed in
antiquity by some devastating catastrophe brought about by the
end of the last ice age, according to most of these accounts
sometime around 10,000 BC. For the Great Pyramid of Giza in
particular, it is maintained (depending on the theorist) that
either it was ordained and built by this now-vanished
civilization, or else that its construction was somehow
influenced by knowledge (now lost) acquired from this
civilization. The latter point of view is more common among
recent theorists such as Hancock and Bauval, who believe that
the Great Pyramid incorporates star shafts 'locked in' to
Orion's Belt and Sirius at around 2450 BC, though they argue
the Giza ground-plan was laid out in 10,450 BC.
The a priori existence of such a civilization is postulated by
such theorists who believe this is the only reasonable
explanation for how the most advanced of ancient cultures,
such as Egypt and Sumer, were able to reach such high levels
of unequaled technological advancement with what they claim is
little or no precedent. This precedent they argue exists in
the form of megalithic ruins found all over the globe
discovered at the beginnings of history but too complex, they
argue, to have been constructed by the cultures they are
ascribed to by the mainstream. As another of these theorists
John Anthony West writes in reference to Egypt in particular:
"How does a complex civilization spring full blown into being?
Look at a 1905 automobile and compare it to a modern one.
There is no mistaking the process of 'development'. But in
Egypt there are no parallels. Everything is right there from
the start."
A religious alternative theory commonly known today as
"pyramidology", first put forward by John Taylor in 1859 with
the book The Great Pyramid: Why Was It Built and Who Built It?
and championed by early Great Pyramid explorer Charles Piazzi
Smyth (1819-1900), claims that the Pyramid is somehow the
product of divine Christian revelation, planned by Hebrew
prophets who influenced pharaoh Khufu at least 700 years
before the birth of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham. Expanding on
these ideas, 20th century believers, most notably Adam
Rutherford, David Davidson, televangelist Dr. Gene Scott,
Larry Pahl, and Peter Lemesurier, maintain that the Pyramid
passage systems, largely based on Charles Piazzi Smyth's
calculations, when measured with the arbitrary 'Pyramid inch',
or 'Sacred Cubit', contain a prophetic timeline which reveals
the date of creation by Yahweh the Hebrew God of the Bible,
the building of the Pyramid, the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, and
the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ among other
religious and world events.
Beyond these writers and the devout followers of the concept,
there is virtually no support for pyramidology in either the
mainstream or alternative communities. The existence of the
'pyramid inch', of which pyramidology draws its sole support,
was summarily discredited early on by Egyptologist Sir
Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), who found the measurements and
calculations of Smith and his use of the 'pyramid inch' to be
inaccurate to such a degree as to categorically reject the
theory altogether; a conclusion fully supported by the
scientific community to this day. Initially a supporter of
pyramidology, Petrie states: ""there is no authentic example,
that will bear examination, of the use or existence of any
such measure as a ?Pyramid inch,? or of a cubit of 25.025
British inches." Despite the authoritative evidence to the
contrary, pyramidologists then and now remain unwavered in
their belief, a phenomenon which even in the late 1800's
prompted Petrie to coin the term 'pyramidiot'. Petrie
summarized his contention by concluding: "It is useless to
state the real truth of the matter, as it has no effect on
those who are subject to this type of hallucination. They can
but be left with the flat earth believers and other such
people to whom a theory is dearer than a fact."
Layout
Papyrus documents and existing cubit measuring rods give us
the units of measure used to specify the plan of the pyramid
and so it is thought that, at construction, the Great Pyramid
was 280 Egyptian royal cubits tall (146.6 meters or 480.9
feet), but with erosion and the theft of its topmost stone
(the pyramidion) its current height is 138.8 m. Each base side
was 440 royal cubits, with each royal cubit measuring 0.524 m
(20.6 inches). Thus, the base was originally almost 231 m on a
side and covered approximately 53,000 square metres with a
slope angle of 51°50'40" (seked = 5½).
Today each side of the pyramid has an approximate length of
about 230.4 meters (755.8 feet). The reduction in size and
area of the structure into its current rough-hewn appearance
is due to the absence of its original polished casing stones,
some of which measured up to two and a half metres thick and
weighed more than 15 tonnes.
In the 14th century (1301 AD), a massive earthquake loosened
many of the outer casing stones, which were then carted away
by Bahri Sultan An-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din al-Hasan in 1356 in
order to build mosques and fortresses in nearby Cairo; the
stones can still be seen as parts of these structures to this
day. Later explorers reported massive piles of rubble at the
base of the pyramids left over from the continuing collapse of
the casing stones which were subsequently cleared away during
continuing excavations of the site. Nevertheless, many of the
casing stones around the base of the Great Pyramid can be seen
to this day in situ displaying the same workmanship and
precision as has been reported for centuries.
The first precision measurements of the pyramid were done by
Sir Flinders Petrie in 1880?82 and published as "The Pyramids
and Temples of Gizeh". Almost all reports are based on his
measurements. Petrie found the pyramid is oriented 4' west of
North and the second pyramid is similarly oriented. Petrie
also found a different orientation in the core and in the
casing (193 cm ± 25 cm ( ? 5 ft 16 in ± 10")). Petrie
suggested a redetermination of north was made after the
construction of the core, but a mistake was made, and the
casing was built with a different orientation. This deviation
from the north in the core, corresponding to the position of
the stars b-Ursae Minoris and z-Ursae Majoris about 3,000
years ago, takes into account the precession of the axis of
the Earth. A study by egyptologist Kate Spence shows how the
changes in orientation of 8 pyramids corresponds with changes
of position of those stars through time. This would date the
start of the construction of the pyramid at 2467 BC.
For four millennia it was the world's tallest building,
unsurpassed until the 160 metre tall spire of Lincoln
Cathedral was completed c. 1300. The accuracy of the pyramid's
workmanship is such that the four sides of the base have a
mean error of only 58 mm in length, and 1 minute in angle from
a perfect square. The base is horizontal and flat to within 15
mm. The sides of the square are closely aligned to the four
cardinal compass points to within 3 minutes of arc and is
based not on magnetic north, but true north. The design
dimensions, as confirmed by Petrie's survey and all those
following this, are assumed to have been 280 cubits in height
by 4x440 cubits around originally, and as these proportions
equate to 2 x Pi to an accuracy of better than 0.05%, this was
and is considered to have been the deliberate design
proportion, by Professors Flinders Petrie, I.E.S Edwards and
Verner amongst many other Egyptologists. Other proportions of
the King's Chamber supported this conclusion, and discussion
continues as to the probable methods of implementation, in
light of information regarding 'seked' slope angle techniques
and geometrical problems concerning pyramids from the Rhind
Papyrus.
The pyramid was constructed of cut and dressed blocks of
limestone, basalt or granite. The core was made mainly of
rough blocks of low quality limestone taken from a quarry at
the south of Khufu?s Great Pyramid. These blocks weighed from
two to four tonnes on average, with the heaviest used at the
base of the pyramid. An estimated 2.4 million blocks were used
in the construction. High quality limestone was used for the
outer casing, with some of the blocks weighing up to 15
tonnes. This limestone came from Tura, about 14 km away on the
other side of the Nile. Granite quarried nearly 800 km away in
Aswan with blocks weighing as much as 60-80 tonnes, was used
for the King's Chamber and relieving chambers.
The total mass of the pyramid is estimated at 5.9 million
tonnes with a volume (including an internal hillock) believed
to be 2,600,000 cubic metres. The pyramid is the largest in
Egypt and the tallest in the world. It is surpassed only by
the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Puebla, Mexico, which,
although much lower in height, occupies a greater volume.
At completion, the Great Pyramid was surfaced by white 'casing
stones' ? slant-faced, but flat-topped, blocks of highly
polished white limestone. These caused the monument to shine
brightly in the sun, making it visible from a considerable
distance. Visibly all that remains is the underlying
step-pyramid core structure seen today, but several of the
casing stones can still be found around the base. The casing
stones of the Great Pyramid and Khafre's Pyramid (constructed
directly beside it) were cut to such optical precision as to
be off true plane over their entire surface area by only 0.5
mm. They were fitted together so perfectly that the tip of a
knife cannot be inserted between the joints even to this day.
The passages inside the pyramid are all extremely straight and
precise, such that the longest of them, referred to as the
descending passage, which is 107 m long, deviates from being
truly straight by less than 6 mm, while one of the shorter
passages with a length of just over 15 m deviates from being
truly straight by a mere 0.5 mm.
The Great Pyramid differs in its internal arrangement from the
other pyramids in the area. The greater number of passages and
chambers, the high finish of parts of the work, and the
accuracy of construction all distinguish it. The walls
throughout the pyramid are totally bare and uninscribed, but
there are inscriptions ? or to be more precise, graffiti ?
believed to have been made by the workers on the stones before
they were assembled. All the five relieving chambers are
inscribed. The most famous inscription is one of the few that
mentions the name of Khufu; it says "year 17 of Khufu's
reign". Although alternative theorists have suggested
otherwise, given its precarious location it is hard to believe
it could have been inscribed after construction; even Graham
Hancock accepted this, after Dr Hawass let him examine the
inscription. Another inscription refers to "the friends of
Khufu", and probably was the name of one of the gangs of
workers. Though this doesn't offer indisputable proof Khufu
originated the construction of the Great Pyramid or when
building began, it does appear however to clear any doubt he
at least took part in some phase of its construction (or later
repairs to an existing building) during his reign.
There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. These
are arranged centrally, on the vertical axis of the pyramid.
The lowest chamber (the "unfinished chamber") is cut into the
bedrock upon which the pyramid was built. This chamber is the
largest of the three, but totally unfinished, only rough-cut
into the rock.
The middle chamber, or Queen's Chamber, is the smallest,
measuring approximately 5.74 by 5.23 metres, and 4.57 metres
in height. Its eastern wall has a large angular doorway or
niche, and two narrow shafts, about 20 cm wide, extending from
the chamber towards the outer surface of the pyramid. These
shafts were explored using a robot, Upuaut 2, created by the
German engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink. Upuaut 2 discovered that
these shafts were blocked by limestone "doors" with eroded
copper "handles". During Pyramids Live: Secret Chambers
Revealed, National Geographic filmed the drilling of a small
hole in the southern door only to find another larger door
behind it. The northern passage (which was harder to navigate
due to twists and turns) was also found to have a door.
Egyptologist Mark Lehner believes that the Queen's chamber was
intended as a serdab?a structure found in several other
Egyptian pyramids?and that the niche would have contained a
statue of the interred. The Ancient Egyptians believed that
the statue would serve as a "back up" vessel for the Ka of the
Pharaoh, should the original mummified body be destroyed. The
true purpose of the chamber, however, remains uncertain.
At the end of the lengthy series of entrance ways leading into
the pyramid interior is the structure's main chamber, the
King's Chamber. This chamber was originally 10 x 20 x 11.2
cubits, or about 5.25 m x 10.5 m x 6 m, comprising a double
10x10 cubit square, and a height equal to half the double
square's diagonal. This is consistent with then-available
geometric methods for determining the Golden Ratio phi, which
can be derived from other dimensions of the pyramid, such that
if phi had been the design objective, then pi automatically
follows to 'square the circle'. Given that pre-hellenistic
Egyptians did not have a similar geometric way to determine pi
as accurately, it is unlikely that it was preferred over phi
as a design objective, especially as phi has been found in
other pre-hellenistic Egyptian monuments. (Alexander Badawi.
Ancient Egyptian Architectural Design. Berkeley: 1965)
The other main features of the Great Pyramid consist of the
Grand Gallery, the sarcophagus found in the King's Chamber,
both ascending and descending passages, and the lowest part of
the structure mentioned above, what is dubbed the "unfinished
chamber".
The Grand Gallery (49 m x 3 m x 11 m) features an ingenious
corbel halloed design and several cut "sockets" spaced at
regular intervals along the length of each side of its raised
base with a "trench" running along its center length at floor
level. What purpose these sockets served is unknown. The Red
Pyramid of Dashur also exhibits grand galleries of similar
design.
The sarcophagus of the King's chamber was hollowed out of a
single piece of Red Aswan granite and has been found to be too
large to fit through the passageway leading to the King's
chamber. Whether the sarcophagus was ever intended to house a
body is unknown, but it is too short to accommodate a medium
height individual without the bending of the knees (a
technique not practised in Egyptian burial) and no lid was
ever found.
The "unfinished chamber" lies 90 ft below ground level and is
rough-hewn, lacking the precision of the other chambers. This
chamber is dismissed by Egyptologists as being nothing more
than a simple change in plans in that it was intended to be
the original burial chamber but later King Khufu changed his
mind wanting it to be higher up in the pyramid. Considering
the extreme precision and planning given to every other phase
of the Great Pyramid's construction, this conclusion seems
surprising.
Two French amateur Egyptologists, Gilles Dormion and Jean-Yves
Verd'hurt, claimed in August 2004 that they had discovered a
previously unknown chamber inside the pyramid underneath the
Queen's Chamber using ground-penetrating radar and
architectural analysis. They believe the chamber to be
unviolated and could contain the king's remains. They believe
the King's Chamber, the chamber generally assumed to be
Khufu's original resting place, was not constructed to be a
burial chamber.
Khufu's Burial Chamber has two "air shafts" in it, that ascend
out of the Pyramid and point directly to the star Thuban, and
the star Alnitak, in the Orion constellation. These air shafts
coming out of the King's Chamber were supposedly used as
Ventilation shafts, so that the King's spirit could rise up
and out into the stars. Each of these air shafts are about 13
cm in diameter.
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