Pyramids are one of the oldest of The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only wonder still standing today. There are over 90 pyramids in Egypt, all of which are on the West Bank of the Nile River. This is for a religious reason; this is the side of the Nile River where the sun sets.

Pyramids at Giza

The most famous Pyramid at Giza is the Cheops Pyramid. It is 449 feet tall and the sides are 755 feet long. The Giza Pyramids cover an area larger than ten football fields and are made up of over 2,000,000 limestone blocks. The average weight of a single block is about 2 1/2 tons. That is like two medium size cars. However, some blocks weigh up to 15 tons!
The Giza Pyramids were built during the reign of King Khufu. It took over 400,000 people and almost 30 years to build these pyramids. They were completed in 2580 BC. The Pyramids at Giza were named after three kings: Khufu (Cheops Pyramid), Khafre (Khufu’s son, Chephren Pyramid), and Menkaure (Khufu’s grandson, Myrch Pyramid).

When the pyramids were built, the Egyptians did not have many machines. They only had simple tools. They drove hammers and mallets into chisels. This helped to break off some parts of the pyramid’s blocks. Trowels were also used to build a pyramid. This helped to smooth out the blocks so that they would fit together.

Who Constructed the Pyramids
Did you know the Egyptians built the pyramids without slaves? They used farmers instead. Why wouldn’t the farmers be taking care of their cattle and crops? Why did they help build the pyramids? They helped for two reasons: One, their fields would be flooded because of the annual flood of the Nile River. Two, they were paid. Not in money but in food and clothing. This was valuable to the farmers because they could not live in their houses at the time of the flood. The farmers were usually well treated and they would sit back in the shade and refuse to go back to work until they got their pay.
Inside the Pyramids
When the Pyramids were completed the Egyptians put mummies of pharaohs inside of them. They also filled the pyramids with food, hunting supplies, and treasure for the Afterlife. They mummified the pharaoh’s pets sometimes and put them in with him as well as putting the pharaoh’s servants with him so that they could serve him for eternity in the Afterlife.

How to Build a Pyramid
Step 1: Level out the sand where the pyramid is going to be built. Do this so that the base of the pyramid will be even. This will make the base more stable.
Step 2: Make stone blocks from the Nile River. Do this by gathering clay from the Nile River and shape it with a trowel so that the sides of the blocks will have a flat surface.
Step 3: Bake the shaped blocks in the sun. Do this by placing a block in the sun and letting it sit until the clay hardens.
Step 4: Put the blocks together to form a square base. Do this by taking the blocks and putting them side by side to make one of the pyramid’s layers look like a square. To hold the blocks together, put mud between them and let it dry. Drill holes into the blocks and put pegs into them to hold the blocks together. Do this just in case the dried mud does not hold the blocks together.
Step 5: Build a triangular structure. Do this by making the structure a triangular shape with four sides leading to the top of it.

The ancient Egyptians built their tombs on the west side of the Nile River and their temples on the east. This practice corresponded to the rise and setting of the sun which represented the cycle of life itself. The east signified rebirth and the west signified death. With the tombs on the west or left bank, the spirits of the dead would be ready to journey into the cycle of life. The



Egyptians believed strongly in the afterlife and made complete preparation for this journey.

The three pyramids are actually tombs of three pharaohs of the Old Kingdom. In its most common form, a pyramid is a massive stone or brick structure with a square base and four sloping triangular sides that meet in a point at the top. Pyramids have been built by different peoples at various times in history. Probably the best-known pyramids are those of ancient Egypt, which were built to protect the tombs of rulers or other important persons. Pyramids were also built as platforms for temples by pre-Columbian civilizations in Central and South America. Still other pyramids exist in Sudan, Southwest Asia, and Greece.

In the 26th century BC, as Egyptian civilization was reaching its height, three kings Khufu, his son Khafre, and his grandson Menkure ordered the construction of three huge pyramids that would serve as their tombs. The first of these, the Great Pyramid, is the largest ever built. It stands with the other two pyramids and the Great Sphinx in a cluster near the town of Giza.



The ancient Greeks named the pyramids one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and today they are the only one of those wonders that still exists.



King Khufu's pyramid rests on a base that covers 13 acres (5.3 hectares), and each side of the base is about 756 feet (230 meters) long. The Great Pyramid once rose to a height of 481 feet (147 meters), but the top has been stripped.Originally 471 feet (143 meters) high, Khafre's pyramid was only 10 feet (3 meters) lower than his father's tomb. Menkure's pyramid, much smaller, rose to 218 feet (66 meters). Three small pyramids built for Khufu's queens stand near his pyramid. Also nearby are several temples and rectangular tombs built for other relatives and courtiers.



The Egyptian rulers ordered the pyramids to be built because they feared their remains would be disturbed by grave robbers. They chose a site on the west side of the Nile River because they believed that the home of the dead was toward the setting sun. The burial chambers were placed under the exact centers of the pyramids. Passageways, which were built angling down from the sides and leading to the chambers, were later sealed with heavy stones. The pyramids did not achieve their purpose of protecting the ancient tombs, however. Over the centuries looters broke into most of them and stole the jewels and other treasures that had been buried in them.



The Greek historian Herodotus, writing 2,400 years ago, estimated that 100,000 men labored for 20 years to complete the Great Pyramid. It is also estimated that 2.3 million stone blocks were used to build the pyramid. It was once thought that the blocks weighing an average of 2 1/2 tons each were floated on rafts down the Nile from quarries hundreds of miles away. A more recent theory holds that the blocks were cut from limestone quarries that have been found near the pyramids. Another theory suggests that the blocks were formed in wooden molds at the site. Many authorities believe that the blocks of stone were moved up a circular ramp constructed around the pyramid as it was built up.



Other scholars have studied the relationship between the position of the pyramids and the apparent motion of the sun and other stars. They suggest that the pyramids' design may have been influenced by a religion based on sun worship.



The pyramids of Giza were not the first built in Egypt. Structures of this type appeared during the century preceding Khufu's reign. After burying their dead in sandpits, the early Egyptians placed a mastaba, a solid rectangular structure of brick or stone, over the grave to keep the sand from blowing away. This structure is considered the prototype of the true pyramid. Later King Djoser's architect, Imhotep, designed the step pyramid, which was simply a stack of six mastabas, each smaller than the one below. King Snefru, the father of Khufu, built a smooth-sided pyramid. It is called the bent pyramid because its lower half is steeper than its upper half. At least 80 royal pyramids have been found in Egypt, but none rival the three at Giza. Many of the lesser pyramids have been reduced to rubble. The great pyramids of Egypt still stand. They were built between 2650 and 2500 BC. Except for parts of the Mausoleum and of the temple of Artemis, they are the only one of the seven ancient wonders still standing.



One of its most spectacular features is the enormous sloping Grand Gallery. At the Gallery's top is a low corridor which leads into the King's Chamber, the walls of which are made of polished granite. A large granite sarcophagus is open and no burial goods have ever been found.



To the east of the pyramid, some of the smooth basalt paving of the mortuary temple remains and the causeway which led to the river temple is now buried with the valley temple being under modern buildings. Small pyramids for queens are adjacent to the Great Pyramid, as are boat pits.




In 1954, a large cedar boat was uncovered in one of the pits and then reassembled. It is now on display next to the pyramid. A second boat remains in pieces in another covered pit. The boats may have been provided for the deceased king to travel through the underworld.

The Giza Plateau also is home to two other large pyramids for the subsequent kings, Chephren and Menkaura. As with the Great Pyramid, both of these pyramids have valley temples and mortuary temples connected by causeways. However, next to Chephren's valley temple is the famous 73-metre long Sphinx and its associated temple.

Most Egyptologists believe that the Sphinx was carved from a rocky outcrop at the same time as Chephren's pyramid.



The resources for building enormous pyramids during the rest of the Old Kingdom could not be mustered and the pyramids were both smaller and less well built. The 5th Dynasty pyramid of Unas at Saqqara is famous for its Pyramid Texts - the first funerary texts carved into the walls of any pyramid. The pyramid is located just south of the walled enclosure of the pyramid of Djoser.



There are about 108 pyramids currently known in Egypt, many in a state of great disrepair and almost unrecognisable. Some were built as burial places for kings and others for queens. A pyramid also may have represented a stairway for the king to ascend to the heavens. Another possibility is that it was symbolic of the primeval mound on which the sun god/creator was born.



How the Egyptians managed the complex organisation of labour and the physical movement of large stone blocks is still a matter for debate. Pyramid construction may have involved ramps being erected around the pyramid. Blocks of stone would have been pulled up on sledges and the ramps dismantled later. It is believed that most of the labour for the construction of the pyramids would have come from farmers who were available during the inundation season when the Nile River flooded and farmland was underwater. It would also have been an ideal time for the transportation by boat of large stone blocks from their quarries to the pyramid sites.



The earliest pyramid was the Step Pyramid of king Djoser of the Old Kingdom's 3rd Dynasty over 4,600 years ago. The pyramid (at right) was the largest structure ever erected at Saqqara the necropolis that overlooked the ancient capital of Memphis. Its construction was initially in the form of a low mastaba tomb upon which extra levels were gradually added to give it a step-like appearance.



Underneath Djoser's pyramid was a complex system of corridors with a burial chamber lined with Aswan pink granite about 28 metres underground. The entrance was sealed with a three-tonne granite plug. The pyramid's outside would have been cased with fine limestone, but this was removed long ago. Nearby were the Mortuary Temple, a Great Court and various other structures.


The first true pyramid was developed for King Sneferu during the 4th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. It is referred to as the Red Pyramid, because of its colour, or the North Pyramid because of its position at Dashur south of Cairo. It was about 105 metres high with its sides measuring 220 metres.



During theMiddle Kingdom, kings again built themselves pyramids, but being largely of mud-brick, they have not survived very well. Elaborate interior designs failed to stop ancient tomb robbers from breaking in and stealing the burial goods.

The time of large pyramids had passed, although small pyramids were used in some New Kingdom private burials as superstructures for funerary chapels. Restored examples exist at Deir el-Medina, the village of the workmen who constructed the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.



Pyramids were also built south of Egypt in ancient Nubia (the northern part of today's Sudan), where there are actually more than in Egypt. Although being influenced by the Egyptian pyramids, the pyramids in Nubia had their own style and were built on a smaller scale and with steeper sides. In the case of the Nubian pyramids, the tombs of owners were usually underground with the pyramid built on top. The last pyramid was built in Nubia in the 4th century AD.

hi TJ....
IT IS SO COOL TOPIC ABOUT PYRAMIDS AS I KNOW ABOUT PYRAMIDS A LITTLE NOT MUCH BUT , YOU REFRESHED MY MEMORY AND ADD TO IT BY THIS ARTICLE , IT IS REALLY UNBELIEVABLE TO SEE THOSE PYRAMIDS AND TO KNOW IT WAS JUST BUILT BY BARE HANDS , AND I SAW DR. ZAHY HAWAS SAID THAT THEY FOUND SOME DOCUMENTS AND IT WAS ABOUT THE BUILDERS OF THE PYRAMIDS AND AFTER TRANSLATING IT THEY KNEW THAT SOME WORKERS EXCUSED FROM THEIR WORK AT BUILDING PYRAMIDS BECAUSE THEY HAVE A HEADECH , AND ALOT OF SUCH EXCUSES WAS FOUND WHICH DENY THAT PYRAMIDS WAS BUILT BY SLAVES.
HAVE YOU SAW THAT TIME WHEN THEY WERE TRYING TO ENTER THE ROBOT IN A TUNNEL WAS EXECLUSIVELY DISCOVERED IN KHUFU'S PYRAMID , IT WAS REALLY BREATH TAKING ALTHOUGH THEY DIDNT FIND ANY THING JUST A WALL BLOCKED THE WAY OF THE ROBOT BUT WAS REALLY A VERY NICE AND MAKES YOUR HAIR STANDS UP . REALLY PYRAMIDS ARE SO OBVIOUS FOR THE EYE BUT THEY ARE FULL OF SECRETS THAT WAS NOT REVEALED YET . SEE YOU SOON

Wowwwwwwwww.Unbelievable...This is just mindblowing..Thank you TJ..Lopa

Read the article,a suddenness that the people built Pyramids were farmer ,and they had paid.I thought builder were slaves,like the GreatWall and other ancient buildings.

Thank you.appreciate your words.
as for me,I can't imagine what a grand view there.a tour of Pyramids is my strong desire. of course,i have confidence that day is not too far.

i think that the Egyptian Pyramids are rather a wonder,so great,i'm dreaming that i can have a trip to them in the future!