What makes the pyramids unique

The ben-ben stone represented the rays of the Sun, and ancient Egyptians believed that pharaohs who died reached heaven on sunbeams.

The shape of a pyramid allows weight to be distributed evenly throughout the structure. Most of the weight in a pyramid is on the bottom and it decreases the higher you go. This allowed ancient civilizations to create huge structures of stone that were very sturdy. The most famous Egyptian pyramids are located at Giza near Cairo. The pyramids at Giza are some of the largest structures ever built. The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the tallest pyramid in the world. It's also the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still in existence.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu is built of over 1. Its four sides face north, south, east and west precisely. It was originally feet tall, but today it stands only feet. The missing 33 feet were high-quality casing stones that were removed long ago to build houses and mosques in Cairo.

You may have noticed some of these missing outer stones in the photograph of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. No one knows for sure exactly how the pyramids were built.

Without modern machines and building techniques, the ancient Egyptians managed to create architectural masterpieces that still baffle scientists today. One thing is certain, however: it had to take a tremendous amount of manpower to create the pyramids. Some experts believe the pyramids could have been built with as few as 20,, workers. Other experts, however, argue that it might have taken over , workers! Ready to get geometric? Find a friend or family member to help you check out one or more of the following activities:.

Hi Reese. We're not sure exactly what you're asking. Egypt is close to the equator, so it has day and night the sun fully rises and sets daily --unlike winter months near the Arctic or Antarctic Circles. How about Wonder Who Was Cleopatra?

There are all kinds of great articles but here's a fun one: Do Red and Yellow make you hungry? Great question, Nesak! There are still monarchies in the world today. Thanks for stopping by, Sophia Fleet!

You're right--the pyramids aren't perfect anymore. We believe the wind and other weather play a part in wearing them down. Hi, Gavin! It is possible to go into a pyramid, and these pyramids were created thousands of years ago to be tombs for the pharaohs and their families. Great question, Michael! The pyramids were built thousands of years ago as tombs for the pharaohs and their families.

Hi, Adam! Thank you for asking. Hi, Richard! We hope you have fun exploring this Wonder! You can also keep researching about pyramids at your library and online! Hi, Wonder Friend! Thanks for stopping by Wonderopolis!

It's fun to learn the history behind pyramids! We are so glad that you enjoyed this Wonder. Enjoy, Wonder Friend! We will always do our best to respond to each comment from our Wonder Friends like you , Paige! Have a Happy Thursday! Thank you for suggesting it! Thanks so much, Paige! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts about the building of the pyramids, Emmy!

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He "showed" that the Great Pyramid of Giza is located exactly at the intersection of the longest line of longitude and longest line of latitude. But, of course, this is not true. The longest line of latitude is the equator, and all lines of longitude are, by definition, of equal length. In fact, t he pyramid lies at 30 degrees north and 31 degrees east. In the 12th century, Sultan Al-Aziz Uthman, son of Saladin and ruler of Egypt, planned to destroy the pyramids at Giza, starting with the pyramid of Menkaure.

After eight months, and great expense, his workers had made very little progress and he was forced to give up. Building a pyramid on the scale of the Great Pyramid of Giza is no small undertaking understatement of the year. But how long did they take to build? In fact, according to some estimates, it took just 23 years to build the Great Pyramid of Giza.

To put that into perspective, Notre Dame took nearly years to complete. Whenever people think about ancient Egypt, hieroglyphics are one of the things that are assumed to be present in, or inside, the pyramids. However, this is not the case — at least not for a long time.

Most of the internal areas accessible to the general public of the pyramids are completely devoid of them. However, this all changed in , when researchers finally found some in a secret chamber, thanks to a little help from a robot.

To build a structure as large as the Great Pyramid of Giza in as short as a few decades must have taken a lot of labor. While estimates vary, most modern Egyptologists believe the work was done by a core group of no more than 10, to 20, experienced workers and support staff.

Though this may have expanded to as many as 50, for some projects and periods. That is still a lot. Especially considering that the population of ancient Egypt was probably not much more than 1. For the ancient Egyptians , the afterlife was a paradise where one could "live" forever — as long as you go there, of course. For this reason, they believed that the dead would need some of their most prized possessions on the other side. They buried the dead with more than just the bare essentials needed in the afterlife, like food and drink.

If they were wealthy enough, jewelry and other valuables were also included — just in case. In the s, a pilot named P. Groves claimed that the Great Pyramid actually has eight, not four sides. He noticed indentations on each side that are very subtle from the ground and only become readily visible from the air.

In , Egyptologist Flinders Petrie had also noted that the sides of the pyramid, are "very distinctly hollowed" and that "each side has a sort of groove especially down the middle of the face". In fact, a laser scanning survey in confirmed the existence of the grooves, but they have been attributed to damaged and removed stones.

Under certain lighting conditions, the faces can in fact appear to be split. This has led to speculation that the pyramid was intentionally built with eight sides, but there is no evidence for this.

In the Great Pyramid of Giza, a shaft exists that a few have argued is aligned to the former polar star "Alpha Draconis" aka Thuban. That shaft was presumably a design feature of the pyramid during its construction, and its purpose is hotly debated.

This is because they were only roughly oriented, and large stones blocked the shaft's exit. The pyramids continue to reveal their secrets to visitors today, and researchers continue to uncover special things about the pyramids.

The Egyptians built the pyramids as tombs for their kings, or pharaohs. Egyptian beliefs held that when the pharaoh died, his spirit remained vital in the afterlife. Part of his spirit, known as ka, needed an earthly home. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. The Pharaoh in Egyptian Society During the third and fourth dynasties of the Old Kingdom, Egypt enjoyed tremendous economic prosperity and stability.

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How long did it take to build the Great Pyramid? How Did Egyptians Build the Pyramids? Ancient Ramp Find Deepens Mystery Researchers in Egypt discovered a 4,year-old ramp system used to haul alabaster stones out of a quarry, and reports have suggested that it could provide clues as to how Egyptians built the pyramids. Ancient Egypt For almost 30 centuries—from its unification around B. Tutankhamun King Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen ruled Egypt as pharaoh for 10 years until his death at age 19, around B.