How were they built?
Image Caption: The Great Pyramid of Khufu. N.d. Photograph. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://famouswonders.com/wp-content/gallery/pyramids-of-egypt/infront-of-a-pyramid.jpg>.
There is only one known written explanation of how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids but because it was written so many years after the age of the pyramids, few historians or archaeologists have given it any importance. In 425 B.C., Herodotus of Asia Minor, traveled across Egypt, collecting the verbal history by talking to people who lived there. He stated: The method employed was to build it in steps, or, as some call them, tiers or terraces. When the base was complete, the blocks for the first tier above it were lifted from ground level by contrivances made of short timbers; on this first tier there was another, which raised the blocks a stage higher, then yet another which raised them higher still. Each tier, or story, had its set of levers, or it made be that they used the same one, which, being easy to carry, they shifted up from stage to stage as soon as its load was dropped into place.... The finishing-off of the pyramid was begun at the top and continued downwards, ending with the lowest parts nearest the ground. Pyramids evolved over time. They were not always perfect looking. They started as step pyramids with a flat top, then there was the bent pyramid and the red pyramid. The most famous group of pyramids is The Giza pyramid complex, on the west bank of the Nile. The Great Pyramid of Khufu was one of the largest and most elaborate pyramids ever built.
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Parts of a Pyramid
The Great Pyramid of Khufu has many important features such as:
Image Caption: Plan of The Great Pyramid of Khufu. N.d. Photograph. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3199/5832301101_3e2ebf31e9_z.jpg>. |