The Pyramids of Giza, Cairo, Egypt

Pyramids of Giza

Updated On: March 24, 2024 by   Ciaran ConnollyCiaran Connolly

The three pyramids of Giza are the first items on your to-do list in Cairo, Egypt. We can see that right there. And this goes back to the history hidden inside this place and those vast buildings built by the Pharaohs. Pharaohs built those pyramids to carry the bodies of their dead bodies along with their belongings – since they appreciated the afterlife and thought about building massive tombs that would fit them and their things. Let’s travel back to more than 7000 years ago and discover more about the secrets of the Great Pyramids of Giza.

What Are the Pyramids?

Full View of the Pyramids of Giza
Full View of the Pyramids of Giza

Egypt has around a hundred pyramids around its desert, where the western bank of the Nile River is located. This is where the sunset occurs, and the soul moves towards the afterlife, according to the ancient Egyptians (they believed it was the direction of the afterlife). Among those pyramids stand the Great Pyramids of Giza, the oldest of the world’s seven wonders and the last remaining.

Khufu is the largest of them all, and it is named after King Khufu. Khafraa is the middle pyramid. Then goes Mankure, the smallest pyramid, where the queen was buried. In front of the great pyramid stands the gigantic sphinx statue, the protector of the pyramids with the body of a lion and the face of a human being. The great statue has been standing for thousands of years.

There is no way you’ve never heard about the Great Pyramids of Egypt or seen them in pictures, videos, postcards, or even on TV. We all know the pyramids and probably know that pharaohs built them to be their last resting place after death. But have you ever asked yourself about the deep meaning or the symbolism behind the pyramids and why they were created in the first place?! Here are some secrets about the pyramids in ancient Egypt.

The Deep Meaning Behind the Pyramids

“It is believed that there is a more profound symbolism behind the construction of the pyramids than just being burials. The theory is mainly based on the creation story of the ancient Egyptian religion. In the beginning, there was a Nu (the infinite water) from which Benben (the primaeval mound), and upon the sun rose” Atum”, the source of all power, gave birth to all other Gods, then by turn, Gods created lands and humans.

The Benben is where the earth was created, and the God Atum dwelled. The Benben is the stone on the top of a pyramid. As for the shape of the pyramid itself, it is believed to represent the form of the sun’s rays coming down to Earth.

The Pharaohs believed that they were the descendants of the Gods. And since Pharaohs were sons of Gods, they were buried in pyramids to represent the first creation and make their descent to the afterlife in the protection of the sun’s rays.

The Relation between the Pyramids and Astronomy

“Some people believed that aliens built the pyramids. Some others felt that ancient Egyptians travelled to outer space and learned how to make the pyramids. Well, both teams ‘ stories are a bit exaggerated. We don’t know how much the ancient Egyptians knew about the secrets of outer space. But we know they had a thing for astronomy and what lies in outer space. Here is another interesting fact about the pyramids! Let us tell you that ancient Egyptians usually named their pyramids after solar luminescence. For instance, They called the Bent Pyramid in Dahshour” The Southern Shining Pyramid”. 

“Furthermore, most pharaohs created their pyramids with shining and immensely reflective white limestone on the outer layer. The purpose was to give them a glowing appearance when seen from a distance. This was the case with one of the Great Pyramids of Giza, the great Khufu pyramid. The great pyramid was named”Ikhe”, which means”the glorious light”.

It was said that the pyramid was covered with shining limestone so that with the reflection of the sun’s rays, it would look like a gigantic glimmering gem when viewed from a considerable distance. And, if you’re standing on the moon, the pyramid would’ve appeared as a glorious star. You’re probably trying to picture it, right?! Or maybe you wish you lived then to see what it looked like! Unfortunately, due to the weather changes, this layer no longer exists. Also, historians said that Arabs took these stones to build mosques.

Here is another connection between the pyramids and astronomy. Do you know the circumpolar star? It is this dark spot of the night sky around which the sun and the stars revolve (known as the diurnal motion). This spot was known to be the physical entrance to the heavens. Surprised enough?!! We haven’t told you everything yet.

An interesting fact about the Great Pyramids of Giza is that the main burial chamber in the Khufu pyramid has a narrow shaft extending from it to the rest of the pyramid and pointing straight towards the circumpolar star. It’s believed that the Great Pyramid might have been designed to be the bridge where the soul of King Khufu would go directly to the doors of the heavens.

The Pyramids of Giza Complex

Pyramids of Egypt – The Three Great Pyramids of Giza

“Egypt almost has the most significant share of the world’s monuments. From the ancient Egyptian to Coptic civilization, the Islamic world and more. But when someone mentions the word” Egypt” in front of you, there is a big possibility that the first thing that will pop into your mind is the picture of the pyramids. This is mainly because the Great Pyramids of Giza are the face of the Egyptian civilization and the most important of its monuments.

“The Great Pyramids of Giza, also called The Giza Pyramid Complex, is located in the outer area of the capital, Cairo. The spot is also called”The Giza Necropolis” because there is more to the location than just the three pyramids. The place is home to the great pyramids of Giza: Khufu (Cheops) pyramid, Khafre (Chepren) pyramid, and Menkaure (Mykerinos) pyramid. It’s also home to the great sphinx, many cemeteries, an industrial complex and a workers” village. Other important monuments at the Giza necropolis are the small satellite towers known as the valley pyramids,” the queens” Pyramids, and causeways.

Khufu’s Pyramid Complex

The Great Pyramid, King Khufu’s, or Cheops Pyramid, included a valley temple. The valley temple is now lying beneath Nazlet El Samman village. The site where the valley temple is buried has not been excavated yet. Only paving made of basalt and walls of nummulitic limestone has been found. Initially, the valley temple was linked to one of the causeways, but the causeway was destroyed during the construction of Nazlet El-Samman village.

This causeway was reaching the Mortuary Temple of King Khufu. The temple has also been destroyed over time, and basalt pavement remains the only thing. The Mortuary Temple, by turn, was linked to the Great Pyramid. Most noteworthy, the Great Pyramid has three small queen’s pyramids related to it in addition to five boat holes. The boat holes had a ship placed in them. Two holes in the southern part of the pyramid have complete ships; one of these ships has been brought back and put on display.

Who is King Khufu?

Khufu Pyramid, the great pyramids of Giza
Khufu Pyramid, the great pyramids of Giza

King Khufu is the second ruler of the fourth dynasty. The Greeks knew him as Cheops. And, of course, King Khufu was famous for building the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the world’s seven wonders. Most noteworthy, Pharaoh Khufu’s full name was “Khnum-Khufy”, after the God “Khnum”. If we translate the name, it will be “Khnum protect me”. As for his family, King Khufu was the son of the Pharaoh Sneferu and Queen Hetepheres, and it’s said that Khufu had three wives.

Moreover, the pharaoh became a ruler during his twenties. It is said that this was when he started to build the Great Pyramid, especially since it took between 20 and 30 years to finish construction, so it makes sense. It is also said that Hemiunu, Khufu’s nephew, was in charge of the construction project. Believe it or not, around 2,300,000 blocks were moved during the construction of the Great Pyramid, each one weighing around 2.5 tons.

King Khufu wasn’t only remarkable to the cultures and civilizations following the ancient Egyptian civilization. He was also a renowned king during his time. One of the reasons why King Khufu was famous during his time is that he was the first Pharaoh to build a pyramid in the area of Giza. But it’s not just about that. That pyramid, which has survived all the climatic conditions, cultural changes, and various civilizations for thousands of years, is the most significant proof of King Khufu’s competence and skill.

Statue of King Khufu
Statue of King Khufu

His father, pharaoh Senefru, was more famous and remembered than him; it cannot be denied that Khufu had left a unique print in the ancient Egyptian civilization. For instance, King Khufu’s religious practices on the veneration of the dead – known as mortuary or funerary cult – were still performed in the 26th dynasty and even became more common during the Roman era.

But sadly, we don’t have much left of King Khufu’s statues; all that was found was found in pieces, besides those that were already lost and never found. There is only one small statue of King Khufu left. The small statue is a three-inch high ivory portrait of the king seen in 1903 in a temple at Abydos (near Sohag in Upper Egypt). Everything known about King Khufu comes from texts found in his cemetery in Giza and other documents from later periods. Those documents include the Westcar Papyrus and Papyrus Westcar, a famous example of the cultural tales in ancient Egypt.

Westcar Papyrus

Rumour has it that the Great Pyramids of Giza were built using slavery.  However, the majority of experienced historians are saying this is not true. Instead, they suggest that the Great Pyramids of Giza were built using conscripted labour, like army recruitment. The theory of slavery mainly comes from Herodotus, the famous Greek historian. When he described King Khufu, Herodotus said that he was a cold-hearted, brutal and evil leader; he also noted that he prostituted his daughter at a point when he needed money. However, the Westcar Papyrus (a famous text in ancient Egyptian culture) has proved all of this wrong.

Though it is said that the Westcar Papyrus was written between the time of the 13th dynasty and the 18th dynasty, it described how great of both a leader and a person King Cheops was (he was the main character of the texts); that kind who ruled in the 4th dynasty. To get a closer look at the Westcar Papyrus, the text consists of 5 stories about miracles done by magicians and priests. All the stories are narrated in King Cheops’s royal palace court by his sons.

The Construction of the Great Pyramid

The Great Pyramid of Khufu was built in the 4th dynasty. The pyramid is currently around 138 meters tall. However, when Hemon, the grand architect, designed the pyramid, it was 280 Egyptian royal cubits tall, which means it was around 146.6 meters. The mass of the pyramid is estimated to be around 6 million tons with an approximate volume of 2 million and half a million cubic meters.

Each base side was 440 royal cubits, with each royal cubit measuring 0.524 meters. That made it the tallest man-created building in ancient history for around 4000 years. The fantastic part about this man-created construction is that it was created with little technology but with lots of innovation and brilliance in the design and the construction process.

It took 20 years to finish it, and hundreds of men worked non-stop each day until 2560 BC. The Greeks believed that the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids through slavery. But now the Egyptologists confirm that those workers were either paid with salaries or a deduction of taxes.

The stones were brought from nearby quarries to construct the inner layers of the pyramid, but the outer layer needed unique smooth rocks that were brought from the South of Egypt through the Nile River. On top, a unique stone covered in gold was put to represent the Benben. Sadly, the pyramid has lost its outer layer over time due to environmental causes and time damage. The layer we can see now is the internal layer.

Interior Design of the Great Pyramid

Let’s take a closer tour inside this great pyramid! The original entrance north of the pyramid is around 17 meters high above the ground. Then, moving to the descending passage, which goes through the pyramid to the bedrock, we continue to the lower chamber, where we can see it’s not finished. Egyptologists believe the chamber was not completed because it was meant to be the original king’s chamber, but he changed and decided to be buried on a higher level.

On the roof of the descending passage, a square hole is initially concealed by a stone. Here, the ascending passage starts as high and wide as the descending passage. It also stops at the same angle – not enough wonders – to the grand gallery.

The roof of the grand gallery consists of slabs of stone placed at a somewhat steeper angle than the gallery floor so that each stone fits into an opening cut in the top of the gallery like a tooth. As for the upper right corner, there’s a short tunnel to one of the chambers, and if we continue at the grand gallery’s start point, we’ll find a horizontal Passage leading to the “Queen’s Chamber”. The Queen’s Chamber is precisely halfway between the north and south faces of the pyramid. Even though there is a chamber for the Queen inside the pyramid, archaeologists suggest it’s not where the queen is buried.

Who is King Khafra?

Khafre, Khefren, Chepren (the pharaoh’s Greek name), or Khafra, is the son of King Khufu and another great pharaoh of the 4th dynasty. Khafre was the successor of pharaoh Djedefre, his brother. Most people know Khafre as the builder of the second pyramid of the Great Pyramids of Giza. Some people believe that the great Sphinx of Giza belongs to King Khufu. However, some others suggest that the Great Sphinx belongs to King Khafra. Modern Egyptologists believe that the Sphinx was built around 2500 BC.

Like his father, Khufu, we don’t know much about Khafra. Like his father, Herodotus, the Greek historian, described Khafra as a brutal ruler who closed the temples after his father, Khufu, had closed them. But apart from all these stories, there is one significant fact: King Khafra has provided us with a great masterpiece in art and architecture. The Pyramid of Khafr has the following pyramid, but who was buried in it is unknown.

Statue of King Khafre
Statue of King Khafre

Khafre’s Pyramid Complex

The Pyramid of Khafre, also known as the Pyramid of Chephren or Chefren, is the second-tallest man and the second-largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza. The pyramid was constructed as a burial for King Khafra.  The pyramid complex contains a valley temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, the Sphinx temple, which is more likely to be built by Khafre, and the pharaoh’s pyramid. In the year 1860, the famous Egyptologist Auguste Mariette found many statues of Khafre in a well inside the valley temple of King Khafra. Some other statues were found during another excavation in 1909 and 1910.

The complex also included five pits for boats and a connected pyramid with a serdab (a room or tomb for the Ka’ soul’ statue of the dead person to be placed). Some historians believe that the pyramid was robbed during the 18th dynasty. It’s also said that Ramses II took the stones covering the pyramid to build a temple in Heliopolis.

Pyramid of Khafre, the great pyramids of Giza
Pyramid of Khafre, the great pyramids of Giza

Khafre’s Pyramid

The pyramid’s base is around 215.5 meters long, while the height measures around 1366. Meters. The pyramid is built of limestone bricks; each weighs more than 2 tons. Khara’s pyramid has an angle that differs from that of Khufu’s; the pyramid of Khafra has a steeper angle. An interesting fact about the pyramid of Khafra is that it was standing on a 10-meter bedrock, making it look taller than the pyramid of his father, Khufu, even though it’s smaller in terms of volume and height.

In 1646, the Astronomy professor at the University of Oxford, John Greaves, described Khafra’s pyramid in his Pyramidographia (a description of the pyramids). Greaves said that even though the blocks used in building the pyramid weren’t as large as those used in Khufu’s Pyramid, they were softer and finer except for the southern part.

The pyramid has two entrances, both leading to the burial chamber, and both are located on the northern face of it. One of the entrances is at ground level, while the other entrance is around eleven and a half meters higher than the ground level. No one knows why the pyramid has two entrances, mainly since both are found on the northern side. Only theories and logical analyses of why it has two entrances are available. Furthermore, the ground-level passageway is primarily carved off the bedrock going down, running horizontally, and going up to associate the passageway with the main burial chamber.

A theory suggests that the pyramid has two entrances because the plan was for the pyramid to be larger than his father’s pyramid. Another theory suggests that maybe the plan was changed during the construction, so the place of the entrance was changed.

The first time the pyramid was scouted during modern times was explicitly on 2 March 1818 by Giovanni Battista Belzoni, an Italian explorer. The scouting took place when the entrance of the pyramid was found. Belzoni’s hopes weren’t met when he couldn’t find a burial, only a coffin and its broken cover on the floor. The Pharaoh’s sarcophagus was engraved with a solid granite brick and was partially drowned on the floor. Inside the sarcophagus, Giovanni found the bones of an animal. The bones are suggestively the bones of a bull. He also found a bit on the floor and a canopic chest placed in it. However, as mentioned before, no one found evidence of whether King Khafra was buried in the pyramid.

Khafre’s Temples

Those temples in King Khafre’s complex remain in a better condition than those of King Khufu’s. Moreover, there is a colossal causeway that extends four-hundred and ninety-four meters, moving past the Sphinx temple to link the valley temple to the mortuary temple created of big red granite blocks with the floors paved in alabaster as well as the interior walls of some the chambers.

In the eastern direction of the pyramid, the mortuary temple is located. However, the valley temple is in a better condition than the mortuary temple. Now, the mortuary temple mainly remains in ruins, even though it has enough pieces surviving for us to understand the original plan of its construction.

The temple is the first temple that included the five essential main elements of mortuary temples: an entrance hall, a columned court, five spots for statues of the pharaoh, five storage chambers, and an inner sanctuary. The temple housed around 50 statues of King Khafre, but unfortunately, these statues were taken and probably recycled by King Ramsis II.

As for the Sphinx temple, it is not entirely known which temple belongs to which king. However, it has many similarities regarding Khafre’s mortuary temple structure. This supports the theory that King Khafre is the builder of the Sphinx and its temple. With its twenty-four statue columns standing in the hall of the Sphinx Temple, the two sanctuaries and its symmetric design, some experts assume there is a symbolism behind the temple’s construction.

Who Is King Mankaure?

Menkaure, also known as Menkaura, is another excellent pharaoh from the 4th dynasty and the builder of the smallest of the great pyramids of Giza. Menkaure is also well known for his Hellenized names; the Greek historian Herodotus named him Mykerinos, and Manetho named him Menkheres. Greatness runs in Mankaure’s family; he was the son of King Khafra and grandson of King Khufu. Some experts were confused about whether Mankaura was the throne successor of his father or not, but some archaeological evidence suggests that he was his father’s successor.

Of course, we know Mankaure as his name is connected to the great pyramids of Giza, but not everybody knows more about him. The pharaoh is famous for his pyramid and his stunning statue triads, which portray the king with his two wives, Rekhetre and Khamerenebty.

“No one knows for sure how long Mankaure’s reign last. Manetho, the historian, believes that his reign lasted for around sixty-three years, but many experts believe that is a bit of an exaggeration. Unfortunately, the Turin Royal Canon (a papyrus that should tell how many years the pharaoh ruled) was damaged so that no one could know. However, the remaining pieces with the construction process helped experts know it’s around”…+ 8 years of rulership”. So now some Egyptologists believe it is maybe 18 years while others believe they were around 22 years of rulership.

Attempts of Destruction

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It’s so sad to say that the Arabs tried to destroy the pyramids. When Egypt was approaching the end of the twelfth century, the second Ayyubid Sultan Al-Malek Al-Aziz Othman Ben Yusuf and the son and successor of the great Saladin the Ayyubid tried to destroy the great pyramids of Giza. The Sultan started with the smallest pyramid, Mankaure’s pyramid. So he hired workmen to do the job, who had worked on the destruction process for eight months, but their attempts barely worked. They concluded that the destruction might be even more expensive than the construction process.

During the demolition attempts, the workmen tried to use wedges and levers to remove the stones. Some others used ropes to remove the stones from their places. But all of this would only end up by removing one or two blocks a day. They would drown in the sand even when the stones fell from their places. Removing the blocks from under the sand also needed effort. After all these trials, they only succeeded in causing some damage to the pyramid’s north face. When you go there, you will see a large vertical opening in the middle of the north direction of the pyramid. That’s the damage they were able to cause.

The fact that someone thought of destroying such a unique piece of art is shocking. But the same stories of destruction are stories of pride. How the pyramids stood through different attempts for damage and demolition proves their greatness. This is not only about a high and gigantic building; we have a lot of that now in the 21st century, but it’s also about a genius creation that survives for thousands of years through all-natural and man-caused conditions.

Pyramid of Menkaure, the great pyramids of Giza
Pyramid of Menkaure, the great pyramids of Giza

Mankaure’s Complex

Like its neighbour pyramid complexes, Mankaure’s complex includes a mortuary temple, a valley temple, a causeway, and the pharaoh’s pyramid. The pyramid has three queen’s pyramids connected to it. Unfortunately, Mankaure’s pyramid is the only one out of the three great pyramids of Giza to be left now without any of the glowy limestones that have been covering it for a long time. The valley and mortuary temples were home to many of King Mankaure’s statues.

“These statues included a breathtaking diad for the king and Khamerernebty II, his principal wife. This statue is being displayed now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. There are also statues found in the court of the valley temple portraying the kind being circled by different Gods. It’s believed that neither the valley nor the mortuary temple was completed before the king’s death. During excavation, the excavators found writings in the mortuary temple that say” made it as his monument for his father”. Most noteworthy, the valley temple was believed to be reconstructed again by the end of the 6th dynasty as the flood destroyed it.

The Pyramid

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Mankaure’s pyramid is the smallest and the last of the three great pyramids of Giza. Just like the three other pyramids, the pyramid of King Menkaure is constructed to be a burial to the kind following the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Thepyramid’s name was”Netjer-er-Menkaur”, translated in English to”Menkaure is Divine”.

The pyramid’s original height was around 65.5 meters, but now, only 61 meters are left. Experts do not know for sure how long Menkaure’s reign was. As a result, they also do not know the exact date of the pyramid’s construction. Some of them believe it was completed around the 26th century BC. Furthermore, the pyramid has three subsidiary satellite pyramids, each of which has its temple. The pyramid in the south is the most complete and has more similarities to Mankaure’s pyramid than the others.

During his visit to Egypt, Major General Richard Howard Vyse, a British soldier and Egyptologist discovered a man like a wooden coffin in the upper antechamber of the pyramid in July 1837. The wooden coffin had human bones and had inscriptions with King Mankaure’s name. Later on, when the experts used the carbon dating method on the bones to determine their age, it turned out their age was less than 2,000 years. Experts have two theories regarding this point: some believe those human bones are from a different site and were brought and left in the coffin, or maybe someone accessed the pyramid during the Roman period.

As he made further discoveries, Vyse found a sarcophagus made of black basalt deeper inside the pyramid. This sarcophagus was said to be stunning, especially with its beautifully carved details. The beautiful sarcophagus had the bones of a young woman. It was one of a few sarcophagi surviving from the Old Kingdom till the modern period. Unfortunately, the sarcophagus is now lying under the deep waters of the Mediterranean Sea. While moving it from the pyramid to the British Museum, the ship Beatrice, which was transporting it, got lost in 1838. Luckily, the wooden manlike coffin cover and other materials found in the pyramid made it to the British Museum as they were transported by another ship.

The Great Sphinx

Known for being the guardian of the Pyramids, the Great Sphinx is the world’s largest and oldest sculpture and the most mysterious of them all. It stood there for thousands of years and witnessed different civilizations. No one is certain when the Sphinx was built, for what reason, and by whom or for whom. However, it had and still has excellent fame worldwide. The statue is made of limestone. Portraying a mythic creature with a lion’s body and a man’s face. The Sphinx of Giza is located towards the west bank of the Nile and faces from west to east.

The Sphinx, also known as the Sphinx of Giza or Abu Al Hawl, is widely believed to represent King Khafre, the builder of the middle pyramid. It’s strongly believed that the Sphinx was carved during the Old Kingdom. However, its original name is one of the secrets connected to it. No one knows what the builders called it back then, and it’s not even mentioned in any inscriptions about the Old Kingdom. There are also no inscriptions describing the method of its construction or the purpose of it.

The Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza

Through time, the sphinx was referred to with different names. For instance, during the New Kingdom, people called the solar God “Hor-em-akhet”, meaning “Horus of the Horizon”. As a part of its significance, the pharaoh Thutmose IV mentioned him in his “Dream Stele”. It’s also said that the pharaoh built a massive wall around the gigantic statue to protect it.

“The Sphinx was abandoned, and the necropolis of Giza was abandoned more than once. The sphinx was buried under the sand. King Thutmose IV was known to be the first one to excavate the site of the Giza necropolis and dig out parts of the Sphinx. That’s when he placed his”Dream Stele”, in which he said about the great statue:

“The royal son, Thothmos, arrived while walking at midday and seating himself under the shadow of this mighty god. He was overcome by slumber and slept when Ra was at the summit [of heaven]. He found that the Majesty of this august god spoke to him with his mouth, as a father speaks to his son, saying: Look upon me, contemplate me, O my son Thothmos; I am thy father, Harmakhis-Khopri-Ra-Tum; I bestow upon thee the sovereignty over my domain, the supremacy over the living … Behold my actual condition that thou mayest protect all my perfect limbs. The sand of the desert whereon I am laid has covered me. Save me, causing all that is in my heart to be executed.”“The royal son, Thothmos, arrived while walking at midday and seating himself under the shadow of this mighty god. He was overcome by slumber and slept when Ra was at the summit [of heaven]. He found that the Majesty of this august god spoke to him with his mouth, as a father speaks to his son, saying: Look upon me, contemplate me, O my son Thothmos; I am thy father, Harmakhis-Khopri-Ra-Tum; I bestow upon thee the sovereignty over my domain, the supremacy over the living … Behold my actual condition that thou mayest protect all my perfect limbs. The sand of the desert whereon I am laid has covered me. Save me, causing all that is in my heart to be executed.”

Where Did the Sphinx’s Nose and Beard Go?!

If you’re interested in ancient Egyptian history, you probably heard many stories about how the great Sphinx lost his nose. Well, just like many mysteries and secrets around the statue and the three great pyramids, no one knows how the Sphinx lost his nose. Let’s surprise you more?! The Sphinx did not just lose his nose, but he also lost his beard.

The nose measures around one meter wide. According to different examinations of the statue’s face, it turned out that the nose was broken due to the usage of chisels or rods that were pounded on it. One of those rods was pounded under the nostril,, and another was pounded down from the bridge.

Al Maqrizi, an Arab historian, wrote in the 15th century suggesting that the nose was lost due to a religious rejection of the statue. Al Maqrizi said that “Muhammad Sa’im Al Dahr”, a Sufi Muslim, tried to break the nose in 1378 AD. Sa’im Al Dahr did that after he saw local farmers proposing offerings to the Great Sphinx in hopes of increasing the harvest of their crops. That’s when he got angry and destroyed the nose.

“Most noteworthy, MuhammadSa’imm Al Dahr was hanged later for the acts of destroying public properties. Furthermore, Al Maqrizi described him as the”talisman of the Nile” in his descriptions of the Great Sphinx. A talisman is an item that holds a great fortune, magic or luck within it. In other words, the common people believed that the Sphinx could affect the flood cycle.”Most noteworthy, Muhammad Sa’im Al Dahr was hanged later for the acts of destroying public properties. Furthermore, Al Maqrizi described him as the “talisman of the Nile” in his descriptions of the Great Sphinx. A talisman is an item that holds a great fortune, magic or luck within it. In other words, the ordinary people believed that the Sphinx could affect the flood cycle.

The story of Sa’im Al Dahr wasn’t the only story about the Sphinx’s nose. There is a more famous story. Through time, people believed that Napoleon and his soldiers were the ones who destroyed the nose of the great statue using cannonballs. But this story is proven wrong, as Dane Frederic Louis Norden, a Danish explorer, drew sketches of the Sphinx without the nose in 1738 and published them in 1757. The sketches were drawn and published before the birth of Napoleon, as he was born in 1769.

There are many other variants of the nose story. Some say that the British troops destroyed it. Some others believe the Mamluks did. Other people think the Turks destroyed it. But only the Sphinx himself knows what happened to his nose!

The nose was not the only thing the great statue lost. He also lost his beard at some point. But the beard has a different story. The Egyptologist Vassil Dobrev had a critical theory regarding the beard of the Sphinx; he believed the beard was attached to the statue after it was primarily built. The theory suggests that if the beard were initially created with the creation of the Sphinx, it would have destroyed the chin of the Sphinx when it fell. However, there is no visible damage to the chin, which supports the theory that the chin is not original.

“Another interesting fact about the pyramid is that it had marks of red pigment on its face. There are also yellow and blue pigment marks around the rest of the body. The American archaeologist Mark Lehner said that the great monument”“was once decked out in gaudy comic book colours”.”Another interesting fact about the pyramid is that it had marks of red pigment on its face. There are also yellow and blue pigment marks around the rest of the body. The American archaeologist Mark Lehner said that the great monument “was once decked out in gaudy comic book colours”.

Equally important, the name “the Sphinx” we all know the statue for was not used before 2000 years ago. The name “sphinx” is connected to this beast from Greek mythology, which had the body of a lion, the head of a woman, and the wings of an eagle, who killed every person who couldn’t solve her mystery. Even though the Egyptian Sphinx did not have wings.

“People have referred to the statue with different names throughout history but have never disagreed on its greatness. Arab Medieval writers called it”balhi” or” bilha”. While modern Arabs call it” Abu Al Haw” or” Abu Al Hu”, which is translated in English as”The Father of Terror” or” The Terrifying One”.

The Workers’ Village

All the work was done in building the three great pyramids, the temples, the causeways, the Sphinx, and everything else, which required thousands and thousands of workers, very skilled and dedicated workers. And the presence of this many workers also required other resources like food, water, etc. For example, bakers, carpenters, and workers who carried water around the site were also needed.

Many things are mysterious when it comes to the pyramids and the ways of their construction. The exact number of workers is also enigmatic. That’s a massive project, and it needed tens of thousands of workers for years.

“When he visited Egypt in 450 BC, the Greek historian Herodotus talked much to the Egyptian priests about the pyramids. The priests told Herodotus,” The Great Pyramid had taken 400,000 men 20 years to build, working in three-month shifts 100,000 men at a time.” However, experts found much evidence from the tombs on the site proving that it took around 30 years to build every pyramid and 10,000 workmen who worked in three-month shifts to complete the pyramids.

Mark Lehner is a famous American archaeologist who actually spent 30 years of his life excavating and discovering the pyramids. During his excavation, Mark and his team found a massive wall made of stone around the pyramids’ complex. The team discovered a whole worker’s village outside of the wall, located precisely towards the southeastern direction of both Khafre and Mankaure complexes.

Sleeping spots, bakeries, breweries, kitchens, a hospital, and a cemetery were found during the village excavation process. Some human bones were found to show some damage related to accidents during construction. Lehner said the construction might have taken 30 to 50 years. Evidence also indicates that the workers’ village dates back to the 4th dynasty and precisely during the construction of Khafre and Mankaure’s pyramids.

The Cemeteries around the Pyramids

Since it required thousands of workers to live near the pyramids during construction, there had to be cemeteries for those who weren’t royal, like the workmen and the carpenters. There were also cemeteries for the dynasty royals’ families, sons, and wives. The royal cemeteries are mainly located in cemeteries G 700, G 1200, and G 4000. Some expansion happened to these cemeteries during the 4th and 5th dynasties.

In 1990, tombs of the workmen who built the pyramids complexes were found near the pyramids. Another burial was discovered in 2009. The dead bodies weren’t mummified as mummification wasn’t for everyone, only for those who could afford it. But beer and bread were found in the workmen’s tombs and were put with them to help them in the afterlife. All of this proves the theory that the pyramid wasn’t constructed by slavery. Those men were paid or worked for their taxes to be deducted.

Night at the Pyramids

Sure, the pyramids have a great historical value that a person would love to keep digging more into its mysteries. But there is another side you need to know about. We all know the pyramids as a place we can visit in the morning and spend the daytime there riding horses and camels, taking tours around the monuments, and, of course, taking pictures.

But have you ever imagined how great it would be to visit the great pyramids of Giza at night?! It is possible, yes!! The good news is that Egypt organizes many events and performances at the pyramids at night. This includes the famous sound and light show where the Great Sphinx tells magnificent historical stories.

If you’re fortunate enough to visit Cairo or stay there when one of the significant events takes place, you better seize the opportunity and go. You better not miss something like this! Do you want to miss the chance to enjoy the view of the three pyramids and the sphinx under the moon and the stars?! The Sphinx stood there with his head high up in the sky, telling the stories he had witnessed throughout history. That’d be a fantastic experience!

The Pyramids of Giza at night
The Pyramids of Giza at night

It would take us forever to write or read about the secrets of the great pyramids of Giza, and we’ll never unravel all of them. But the more we know, the more fascinated and curious we’ll be. The ancient Egyptians had one of the grandest civilizations in history that the world is still learning from up till now. And the pyramids are one of the most important faces of this great civilization. With all the known and unknown symbolism, the greatness and the mysteries lying behind them, the great pyramids of Giza will remain an artistic masterpiece and a world great wonder no matter how many years pass.

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