Little Blue Birdie's Diary

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Dear Diary,

After visiting Bodhgaya, we were very happy and feeling rather fresh in thought. All the Buddhists in our group were very happy that they could visit Bodhgaya. When we were discussing our next destination, one of our members popped out with the idea of visiting one of the seven wonders of the world. So, we decided to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

The pyramids are situated in the City of Giza, a necropolis (burial site) of ancient Memphis and today part of Greater Cairo, Egypt. The greatest of them was built by the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty around the year 2560 BC, to serve as a tomb when he dies. The tradition of pyramid building had started in ancient Egypt as a further development of the idea of a mastaba or 'platform' covering the royal tomb.

Later, several stacked mastabas were used. Early pyramids, such as the step pyramid of King Zoser at Saqqara, built by the famous Egyptian architect, Imhotep, illustrates this connection.

This great pyramid is believed to have been built over a 20-year period. First, the site had been prepared, and blocks of stone had been transported and placed there. An outer casing (which disappeared over the years) had then been used to smoothen the surface.

Although it is not very clear how the blocks were put in place, several theories have been proposed. One involves the construction of a straight or spiral ramp that was raised as construction proceeded. This ramp, coated with mud and water, eased the displacement of the blocks which were pushed (or pulled) into place.

Throughout history, the Pyramids of Giza have stimulated the imagination of humans. They were referred to as 'The Granaries of Joseph' and 'The Mountains of Pharaoh.'

When Napoleon invaded Egypt, his pride was expressed through his famous quote: "Soldiers! from the top of these pyramids, 40 centuries are looking at us." Today, this great pyramid is enclosed, together with the other pyramids and the Sphinx, in the tourist region of the Giza plateau.

We also saw the mysterious Sun Boat, which was housed in the museum. According to our guide bird, this had been discovered in 1954 near the south side of the pyramid. The boat is believed to have been used to carry the body of Khufu in his last journey on Earth before being buried inside the pyramid.

The Great Pyramid had been 145.75 m high when it was built. Over the years, it had lost 10 m off its top. We were astonished to hear that this had been the world's tallest structure for more than 43 centuries, to be surpassed in height only in the 19th century AD. Each side of the pyramid is carefully oriented with one of the cardinal points of the compass; North, South, East and West. The horizontal cross-section of the pyramid is square at any level, with each side measuring 229m in length.

The structure consists of approximately two million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons. On the northern face is the pyramid's entrance. A number of corridors, galleries, and escape shafts either led to the king's burial chamber, or were intended to serve other functions. The king's chamber is located at the heart of the pyramid and is only accessible through the Great Gallery and an ascending corridor.

The king's sarcophagus (coffin) is made of red granite, as are the interior walls of the king's chamber. Most impressive is the sharp-edged stone over the doorway which is over 3m long, 2.4m high and 1.3m thick.

All the interior stones fit so well, you will be astonished to hear that a card won't fit between them. The sarcophagus is oriented in accordance with the compass directions, and is only about one cm smaller in dimension than the chamber entrance. So, we can assume that it might have been introduced as the structure was progressing.

Scientific and historic evidence still supports the conclusion that, like many smaller pyramids in the region, the Great Pyramids were built by the ancient Egyptian civilization off the West Bank of the Nile as tombs for their kings.

I'll be back with more details of the great monuments of the world.

Bye.

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