The pyramids of Egypt are one of the most admired and studied monuments on the planet. Built with huge blocks of stone 4,000 years ago, these works are a source of uncertainty for many archaeologists who wonder how they were built back then. The three pyramids of Giza: Cheops, Khafren and Menkaure, are the best known and are located near Cairo.
If you want to know what are the pyramids of Egypt called and how many there are, continue reading that oneHOWTO article in which we explain it to you.
The first pyramids
How many pyramids are there in Egypt? They have come to discover 120 pyramids located along the Nile River, where the Egyptians developed their civilization.
In 2,700 BC, the Egyptians built tombs known as mastabas from adobe made with the mud that they extracted from the Nile. It was in these constructions where the Egyptian eminences were buried, but they were not yet considered pyramids.
The best known first pyramid built around this time was the step pyramid of Saqqara on the occasion of the death of Pharaoh Dyeser. It was built by the architect Imhotep and is considered the oldest pyramid. Below you can see an image of this monument.
Another of the Egyptian pyramids is that it was built by the will of King Seneferu, and was baptized with the name of a rhomboid pyramid, located in Dahshur. This construction is considered the middle point between the step pyramid and the classical pyramid.
Find out which are the main Egyptian gods.
What are the pyramids of Egypt called
The classical pyramids They are the most famous and visited today in Cairo, a city with more than 24 million inhabitants. The cradle of civilizations is famous especially for the pyramids of Giza:
Cheops pyramid
The pyramid of Cheops is the biggest the pyramids of Giza, despite the fact that the pyramids of Khafre seem to be the largest as it was built on higher ground. Being the largest, this work is known as the Great Pyramid Cheops, and it was built as a tomb for Pharaoh Jufu of Dynasty IV. However, this pharaoh is also known by his Greek name Khufu. The Pyramid of Cheops is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that still stands.
Pyramid of Khafre
Another of the pyramids of Giza in the XXVI century BC The pyramid of Khafre is more than 140 meters high and is part of a funerary complex that has a funerary temple along with a paved road related to the Temple of the Valley.
Pyramid of Menkaure
It is the smallest of the pyramids of Giza. It was built for Pharaoh Menkaure, considered to be the possible son of Khafre. It is 65.6 meters high and is considered one of the most beautiful pyramids in Egypt as it is covered with pink granite. In addition, this material, now worn by time, made this monument shine, giving it a unique beauty.
The pyramid of Menkaure was known as the Divine Pyramid, and it was part of the funerary complex that formed with the three pyramids of the queens, the valley temple, a funerary temple and the road that joined both temples.
How the pyramids of Egypt were built
There are many doubts that exist today around the construction of the pyramids of Egypt, mainly due to the fact that they had to move stone blocks of more than two tons, a weight impossible to support without the help of cranes like the ones that are currently use. So how were the pyramids of Egypt built? At that time the Egyptians had to figure out how to move the huge blocks of stone through the arid desert.
More than 20 thousand slaves were in charge of carrying out this arduous task for 23 years. Recently it was discovered that the element that could facilitate the mobilization of the materials of the pyramids was water. Dutch physicists discovered that the Egyptians moistened the sand to make it easier for the sleds to slide on the surface. In this way they cut the weight of the load in half.
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