Secrets of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids: Finally Explained!

Consider the great pyramids, one of the original seven wonders of the world, and the only one that still exists today. Did you know that the pyramids of Giza weren't the only pyramids out there? And they weren't even the first ones. First there were the pretty good pyramids, but they didn't catch on. Nah, I made that up :). Back to the story. In ancient Egypt it was believed that kings were chosen by gods to to serve on earth as their mediators in the afterlife. They were expected to become gods themselves. The pyramid complex was built to make sure that the king had everything they might need in the afterlife. The complex included the pyramid, a palace and temples. The tomb in the pyramid where the king was buried was filled with many things they might need, like furniture, food and gold vessels. Actually the first pyramid had been built 80 years before the first pyramid of Giza appeared. Overall there were around 100 of them. Some werent finished though, since the construction took a while. And not every pharaoh lived long enough to see the end of the construction.

Construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza

Now lets talk about the construction itself. The biggest of the pyramids of Giza is as tall as a 40 story building. So how on earth did they manage to build a structure that massive 5000 years ago, long before machines and other equipment appeared? Well, let's figure it out. So Pharaoh Khufu ascended the throne around 25 75 BCE, and his architects started the construction of the oldest and biggest of the pyramids of Giza. He figured that over 2 million limestone blocks had to be used to build the pyramid. Each weighing around two and a half tons, around the weight of a rhino. The architect wanted to finish the construction in 20 years. To make it possible, a stone had to be carried and pushed into place every four minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year except leap year. So obviously a lot of workers were needed to make it happen.

The Workforce Behind the Pyramids

Many believe that it was enslaved people who worked at the pyramid's construction site. But thats not true. Workers came from all over Egypt to contribute to the project. All in all, around 25,000 of them. The Egyptians, were doing all kinds of work, starting with manual labor and crafting tools to administrative work. They all worked around 10 hours a day. They were housed and well fed, and they were overall living a more comfortable life than an average egyptian could afford at that time. Supposedly the builders lived in a nearby temporary city and were a highly organized community with a strong leader.

Aligning the Pyramids with Constellations

The pyramids seemed to be designed to align with the points on a compass and their sides symbolized the rays of the sun. But back at that time, there were no compasses. Ancient Egyptians figured out the directions themselves and with amazing precision. To align the pyramids, they used two constellations. The construction site was arranged on the west bank of the Nile river. This also had a symbolic meaning. Just like the sun sets in the west, life sets in the west as well.

The Second Pyramid and the Sphinx

The second pyramid of Giza was for Khufu's son, Pharaoh Kafir. It's a bit smaller, but this one has the famous noseless statue of the sphinx. Of course, originally it had a nose. I would tell you what happened to it, but it's still a mystery, and no one knows for sure. Sphinxes have the body of a lion and the head of a human. They were considered guardians of important areas. This famous sphinx, also pronounced Sphinx, has the head of pharaoh Kafir and is guarding his pyramid facing the sunrise. The sphinx is one of the biggest and oldest statues in the world. Originally, it not only had a nose, but was also painted. Scientists have discovered traces of the red color of its face. So most likely, the sphinx was painted red. There are also remains of yellow and blue color on its body. The statue definitely wasn't boring till around 1800. The sphinx was buried up to its shoulders until an adventurer with a team of 160 men dug it out. But let's get back to the construction.

Quarrying and Transporting Limestone Blocks

The workers, of course, needed stone blocks. There were two main places where people could get these stones. One source was close to the construction site, but that fossil lined yellow stone was only suitable for the pyramids interior. The limestone blocks for the exterior were hauled from 8 miles away on 30 foot long sleds. Apparently, it wasnt too hard to pull them. The sand mixed with the right amount of water was pretty slick, and ten people could move a sled, even with a rock weighing so much. Surprisingly, cutting off a block of limestone wasnt the biggest problem. When in the ground, it was soft and could be split relatively easy. But after getting exposed to the air, limestone hardens. So the most difficult part was to shape the blocks. That step was crucial because the smallest inaccuracies could lead to the whole pyramid collapsing.

Ramp Systems for Pyramid Construction

Those limestones were mined, carried on a sled shaped, and then what? How could they be put into place? Well, this is still a mystery. Archeologists have discovered the remains of a ramp system that dates back around the time the pyramids were being built. So historians have come to the consensus that most likely the Egyptians designed a unique ramp system to move and pull huge stone blocks. The most common opinion is that there were several ramps around the pyramid, there probably was a central ramp with two staircases on each side of it built over the pyramid stones. The ramp was growing as the pyramid was getting higher. People might have been walking up the stairs, pulling up stones on wooden sleds, but this is just one of the options. Other experts say that the ramps were around the pyramid, and some say that the ramps were inside the pyramid. Maybe. We will never know for sure and itll forever remain a mystery. The exterior limestone of the pyramid was polished with sand and stone until it gleamed. On top. There was a gold and silver capstone which glimmered over Egypt like a second sun.

Interior Layout and Chambers of the Pyramid

So thats how it was 5000 years ago. Now, about the interior. Surprisingly, theres not much inside the pyramid. Most of it is just solid stone with very little open space. But let's take a quick look inside. From the entrance, there are two stairways, one going down and the other going up. They take us to the chambers. There are three of them inside. Now why is that? Apparently, throughout the whole construction, a burial chamber had to be prepared at all times, just in case a pharaoh kicked the bucket before the construction ended. So separate chambers were built one after another as the construction progressed. The last of them was the main one. It's called the king's chamber. It's the one where Khufu is resting. It's the biggest room at the very heart of the pyramid and there's a big passageway leading to it. It was likely used as a kind of elevator to move granite up to build the interior. Granite was also used to make five stories of support beams to ensure that the pyramid didn't collapse. And we can see that it worked since it's been standing for centuries. Unfortunately, none of these chambers have hieroglyphs on the walls. If you want to see the writings, you should go to the decorated tombs near the pyramids.

Conclusion 

Those pieces of art are depiction of ancient Egypt's culture and daily life. The texts allow researchers to study their language and grammar. The treasures that once were in the pyramids have been taken by people. There are also many secret tunnels in the passages inside the pyramids. But even today, no one knows the whole plan of the interior. Scientists have been sending little robots with cameras inside for many years, but theres still a lot we dont know about the pyramids. Now theyre trying to use an x ray to scan the pyramids from the outside without going inside. So yeah, ancient Egyptians did create a mystery no one has been able to crack for 5000 years already.