Resting place of the Pharaohs

 Between pyramids  Most are just rumbles, thus difficult to identify  Pyramids have 4 triangular sides that meet at a point

 Built as a final resting place for a royal pharaoh  Tombs are huge and elaborate  goal was to demonstrate “I’ m a powerful ruler”  Allow the dead to catch a Sun beam & join Re’s daily boat ride

The earliest pyramids are called “Step Pyramids” Over time, construction improved and they became perfectly smooth-A true Pyramid

 10 are located in Giza  The Big 3 are known as “The Giza Pyramids”  Khufu  Khafre (car-free)  Menkaure (Men-ku-ray)

 The first, and largest, was erected for the Pharaoh Khufu.  Known as the “Great Pyramid” (450 feet) covers 13 acres.  100,000 laborers took 20 years to build

 Average stone block weighs 2½ tons  They are perfectly square  Made of limestone  Fit is so perfectly tight, a piece of paper can’t fit in the space between two blocks

 Considered one of the 7 wonders of the world  For many hundreds of years, Khufu was the tallest structure on earth

 Slaves built only a small part of the pyramids (Jews from Exodus)  Peasants certainly played a major part  They were laborers, farmers, and craftsmen working for their “god”  Evidence shows a guild “Friends of Khufu”

1. Blocks were cut at a quarry 2. When the Nile flooded, blocks were floated across stream to a loading pier 3. Placed on wooden sleds

4) The crates were pulled with ropes while sliding on wet clay 5) Probably a combination of ramps and cranes were both used

 g/wnet/pharaohs/ digging.html g/wnet/pharaohs/ digging.html

 A series of passages and chambers  Much is still being learned about them

 A Muslim destroyed the nose when Egyptians were making offerings (not Napoleon's soldiers!)  Pieces of his beard are in the British Museum