PYRAMIDS & Tombs of Egypt… Function. Structure. architecture Construction By: Rabea Alfahad

Egypt Pyramids There are about eighty pyramids known today from ancient Egypt. The three largest and best-preserved of these were built at Giza at the beginning of the Old Kingdom. The most well-known of these pyramids was built for the pharaoh Khufu. It is known as the 'Great Pyramid'.

The pyramid served: funerary, ritual, and religious or for any special purpose. The Egyptian pyramids were built to serve as tombs for the Pharaoh, his wives and his household. There are some, however, who believe that the pyramids may also have served other purposes. Some mystical sects, for instance, believe that the pyramids generated some sort of energy or power, or even that they served as guidance for alien space ships. It is most likely that pyramids served two functions in Egyptian culture. First, they were meant to serve as the final resting place of a Pharaoh and his household, and second, they were centers of worship for that Pharaoh, who was considered a deity.  Pyramid models also serve different functions. The most common reason for building a pyramid model is to make a replica of the ancient pyramids, either for educational or entertainment purposes. Some people, however, build pyramids because they believe that the pyramid shape helps focus energy and may help in healing, meditation and happiness.

Why are pyramids built in the shape of a triangle? Some archaeologists believe pyramids are shaped like triangles to allow the pharaoh's spirit to climb to the sky or that the sloping sides represent the sun's rays. Another theory is that a pyramid was the easiest shape to build or that it simply represents a burial mound.

Tombs The most famous of the Egyptian pyramids are the three massive tombs of the Fourth Dynasty (c. 2575–2465 B.C.). These monumental pyramids built for the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure housed the royal mummies and their worldly effects thought to protect and be used by the kings in their afterlife.

Tomb Construction… The early Egyptians buried their dead in the ground, interring them in a fetal position in shallow graves dug in the sand. But after the Dynastic period began around 3100 BC and Egypt grew into a powerful, prosperous nation, the Egyptians began to construct more and more elaborate tombs for their dead. There were several basic types of tombs. One was the mastaba, a low, rectangular flat-roofed building, constructed from mud brick or stone, with a shaft inside that led to an underground burial chamber. In areas with steep cliffs, the Egyptians also sometimes carved into the rock to create burial chambers.

Tomb Construction. But their most famous and spectacular Egyptian tombs were the massive pyramids that they began to erect around 2700 BC. The grandest of all, the Great Pyramid of Giza that was erected to house the Pharaoh Khufu around 2550 BC, stands 481 feet tall and required 2.3 million stone blocks, some of them weighing as many as 15 tons. The pyramids weren’t stand-alone structures, but instead were part of a complex surrounded by temples and other buildings.

Tomb architecture All tombs had two essential architectural components that reflected their religious function – a burial chamber and a nearby mortuary chapel. The burial chamber was below ground and housed and protected the body and spirit. The mortuary chapel was above ground and was accessible to visitors who would perform rites and make offerings of food and drink for the dead person. False doors were also placed in these chapels to establish a connection between the worlds of the living and the dead. The design on the door allowed the spirit of the person to move freely between the chapel and the tomb to receive offerings. Differences can be seen in the size, design and complexity of tombs – which included pyramids, mastabas and rock-cut chambers. However, these were mainly due to the wealth and status of the owner, evolving religious beliefs or political circumstances.

Pyramids Structure… * Alignment of the pyramid (perhaps the satellite pyramid G1d is built to help aligning Khufu's pyramid exactly to the north) * The base area and the outer fundament are leveled, the pyramid corners and the edges measured. For the corner stones a special bed is cut, so they can support and absorb the enormous weight of the pyramid that presses down and sidewards. The fundament is layed down with a slight gradient of 2-3° inwards .

Construction Techniques A major problem facing the builders of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids, was that of getting the Large stone blocks to the height they required. the method shown at left, is the only one proven to have been used. The ramps were built on inclined planes of mud brick and rubble. They then dragged the blocks on sledges to the needed height. As the pyramid grew taller, the ramp had to be extended in length, and its base was widened, else it would collapse. It is likely that for the construction of each pyramid, several ramps were probably used.  

The arrangement of the ramps used for building is in much dispute The arrangement of the ramps used for building is in much dispute. Assuming that the step pyramid was built before the outer structure, and then the packing blocks were laid on top, the ramps could have run from one step to another rather than approaching the pyramid face at right angles. Some of the pyramids indicate an accurate understanding of Pi, but the mathematical knowledge of the Egyptians did not include the ability to arrive at this by calculation. It is possible that this could have been arrived at "accidentally" through a means such as counting the revolutions of a drum.  The internal construction of most true pyramids consists of a series of buttress walls surrounding a central core. The walls decrease in height from the center outwards. In other words, the core of the true pyramid is essentially a step pyramid. The internal arrangement added stability to the structure. Packing blocks filled the "steps" formed by the faces of the outermost buttress walls and casting blocks (often Limestone) completed the structure of the true pyramid.

Architects and builders used a different form of construction in the pyramids of the 12th and 13th Dynasties. Mainly because of economy, for it was suitable for relatively modest structures in inferior materials. Solid walls of stone ran from the center, and shorter cross walls formed a series of chambers filled with stone blocks, ruble or mud bricks. An outer casing was usually added, and although quite effective in the short term, it did not even come close to the earlier construction methods. Pyramids which were built with this structural design are quite dilapidated and worn.

Pyramids Structure Crevices or cracks on the plateau are filled and if necessary blocked up with large stones, so the basalt pavement could later be layed on a level surface.  In the center, the rock is left standing but is terraced, so a rock outcropping with steps is left in the middle .

Pyramids Structure. So called headers are used, which are long stones reaching into the rock and tying them together.  The building yard (stone masons workshop, stone storage, repository, building sheds) and quarters for 4240 pyramid workers are erected.  Auxiliary ramps with tracks are built from the quarries and from the harbor to the foot of the pyramid. If the gradient is more than 5° it was worth using Löhner's rope rolls . Egyptologists think, that first the underground passages and chambers were built before the construction of the actual pyramid was started 

Structure… Up to 7 meters height:  The blocks of the lowest 10 layers are the largest - 1m by 2.5m and 1- 1.5m high, weighting 6.5 - 10 tons . They were build up around the rock outcropping until at least 7

Sources… http://www.ehow.com/about_4645657_pyrami...  http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/pyrami... http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/the-story-of-god-with-morgan- freeman/articles/ancient-egyptian-tombs-and-death-rituals/ http://www.touregypt.net/construction/ https://australianmuseum.net.au/tombs-in-ancient-egypt