Wonders of the Great Pyramid
Have you ever wondered what makes the Great Pyramid of King Khufu so wonderful? Well, take a moment and close your eyes. Imagine yourself transported way back in time, to circa 2500 BCE, when the greatest masterpiece in the history of architecture was built. You find yourself in the city of Giza, just off the banks of the Nile River and in the midst of the 4th Dynasty, or reign of the ancient Pharaohs. Your eyes gaze upon the pyramid of Khufu in amazement of it’s dimension and perfect symmetry on each of the four sides. The outer surface is made of smooth limestone that reflects the sun, no matter what angle you are looking from. You marvel in amazement and awe. It is no surprise to you that this is one of the seven wonders of the world.
Now that you have witnessed a sense of Khufu’s pyramid from the outside, we will soon take a tour of the chambers contained inside but before we do that, lets discuss some of the pyramid‘s vast history. The pyramids were built by ancient Egyptian workers who were subjects to the King, or Pharaoh. However, the Pharaoh was not merely an earthly human being, but was believed to be a god from an entirely different realm. A worker could perhaps spend his or her entire life building a pyramid, which was essentially the Pharaoh’s tomb or dwelling place before passing into the afterlife.
The Great Pyramid is composed of large blocks with the average weight of about 2.5 metric tons and the greatest being 15 metric tons. Of course you could imagine what a tremendous job it was for the workers to haul these blocks and put them in place. The foundation where the building took place was very flat and even and made of hard bedrock.
The Great Pyramid was built from the ground up, in layers until it reached completion. The exterior, as you know, was made of very fine sanded limestone that had to be transported across the Nile from an exclusive site. Upon completion of the Great Pyramid, it...