Download Pyramids - St John Brebeuf

07/09/2015
1
2
Pyramids
First Pyramids
• Constructed of Limestone
• Called step pyramids
• Most famous - Saqqara Step Pyramid, 3 km west of Memphis
• Buried by sand
• remained hidden until it’s discovery in the 1920’s – sand storm
• only thing found burial chamber was a foot!
3
4
5
Smooth Sided Pyramids
• Appeared after 2600 B.C.
• The earliest ones started as step pyramids
▫ steps filled in with casing stones, to create sloping sides
• Smaller pyramids, constructed for the queen, stood next to the king’s pyramid
• King’s relatives and officials were buried in mastabas
▫ Have sloping sides and flat roofs
•
6
7
8
The Great Pyramid
• Built by King Khufu, in 2467 B.C.
▫ Took 20-30 years to build
• Used 2.3 million limestone blocks, averaging 2.3 tonnes in weight
• largest blocks weighing up to 15 tonnes
• Approx. 147 metres high, 230.4 metres long
• Covers an area of about 5 hectares
• Finished in a casing stones of white, polished limestone
▫ Reflecting the rays of the sun off of it
▫ Fit so well, that when finished pyramid looked like a single white stone
• Pyramidion/ Benbenet (aka. Capstone): topmost stone of pyramid (pyramid shaped)
[same type of stone was placed on top of obelisks)
▫ Brought pyramid to a point
▫ Probably covered in gold would reflect the sun (symbolised pharaoh’s divine solar
identification)
▫ Seen on all true pyramids
•
9
10
11
12
Passage 1
• Passage leads down at 25° angle, cuts into the rock beneath the pyramid
▫ This passage point exactly north
• Levels off and ends in uncompleted chamber
▫ Pyramids usually had the burial chamber beneath pyramid at end of entrance
passage (like those seen in the other 2 pyramids)
• Khufu changed his mind about where he wanted to spend his time
• Has passage built inside the pyramid
•
Passage 2
1
07/09/2015
12
13
14
15
Passage 2
• Second passage cuts off from the main passage
• Passage levels of and leads to a chamber right in the centre of the pyramid
• Called the Queen’s chamber
• Probably intended to be the King’s chamber
• Contains 2 unfinished shafts
▫ The southern shaft once points towards the star Sirius, representing the goddess
Isis
Passage 3
• Seems Khufu changes his mind again
• The final burial chamber is located at the end of the Grand Gallery
▫ continues on an upward angle from the second passage.
• The gallery walls - faced with polished limestone
• The walls are also corbelled (each stone juts out 7.5 cm beyond the stone beneath
it) – forms a vaulted passage
What they found at the end of the passage.
King’s Chamber
• Lined entirely with pink granite blocks
• The walls are completely smooth
▫ no marking and no inscriptions are present
• Two small openings lead to shafts that open to the outside
▫ Thought to be either for ventilation (unlikely), or provided a way out for the king’s
soul; a conduit for the soul’s resurrection (since the soul was expected to join the
stars)
 Southern shaft points directly to the brightest stars in the constellation Orion (on
his belt)
 Northern shaft point directly to the star Thuban (the north star 4500 years ago –
our current north star in Polaris)
• 5 small chambers lie above the king’s chamber – absorb the weight of the tonnes of
stone above
•
16
17
18
Choosing an Appropriate Site
• Site located on west bank of Nile R.
▫ Death was associated with the setting sun
• had to be above flood level of river, but close enough to transport stone blocks
• Also close to
capital
▫ Allowed pharaoh
to keep eye on
progress
19
Prepping the Site
• Removal of sand and gravel down to bedrock
• Would then surround area with low mud wall and fill with water
▫ Depth measurements taken
▫ Markers placed
• Water drained, rock leveled to where markers indicated
20
2
19
20
21
07/09/2015
• Water drained, rock leveled to where markers indicated
• Area filled with rubble to complete base
• Most pyramids had burial tunnels/chambers constructed before pyramid build on top.
Measurements
• Used specialized surveying tools (merkhet and bay)
▫ Allowed workers to lay out straight lines and right angles
▫ Also allowed them to lay out the sides and corners in accordance with astronomical
alignments
•
Star Alignment
• Pyramid is aligned to the stars in a ceremony called pedj shes
• Used Great Bear and Orion constellations to align foundations with north, south, east
and west
▫ Sides of the pyramids face these 4 directions with an error margin of less than half
a degree
▫ Entrances face north within 1/10th of a degree
 Determined north by observing the movements of stars and the point around
which those stars revolved
• southern shaft of king’s chamber is directed exactly at brightest star (Al Nitak) on
Orion’s belt (associated with Osiris)
• Was believed the pharaoh’s soul would be transported into northern sky among the
stars (symbolizing the gods), to become a celestial being itself
▫ Pyramid was supposed to enable that journey to be among the “Imperishable
Ones” (stars that never rise or set bellow the horizon – called circumpolar)
22
23
24
Sun Alignment
• East and West sides are aligned more precisely than those of north and south
▫ Could suggest solar alignment instead of celestial alignment
• At time the pyramids were build Egyptians began to display a growing religious
devotion to the sun
▫ Rising and setting seen as perpetual birth and death
▫ Perhaps this is why all the pyramids are built on the west bank of the Nile
• Shape of pyramid often said to echo solar symbols (rays of sun)
▫ Perhaps functioning as ramps to the heavens
• Two ships excavated in front of Great Pyramid
▫ Purpose of ships is unknown
▫ Could have been a means of transportation to next world
 Was believed the dead travel dangerous waters to reach their destination
 At night the dead pharaoh joins the sun god Ra in his boat to the underworld b/w
sunset and sunrise
• The Sphinx in front of the pyramids could show a solar connection
▫ The lion is traditionally seen as a sun symbol
▫ A human head on an animal symbolic of royal intelligence and power
• During spring and fall equinox as the sun passes over the head of the Sphinx, it rests
directly b/w the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre
▫ Creates an ahket which is a sun symbol representing the horizon from which the
sun rises and sets
•
•
Quarrying and Finishing the Stone
3
07/09/2015
24
25
Quarrying and Finishing the Stone
• Limestone quarried from Giza or from Tura Quarries across Nile R.
• Quartz from Aswan
• Not much evidence of tools used
▫ Some form of tempered copper alloy pick, or axe used to quarry stone
• method of stone finishing remains a mystery
▫ Possible that copper saws and drills were used
 Sand poured in between cutting edge and stone, to give necessary “bite”
• Stones floated down Nile in boats
Ramps
• Original idea was of a single ramp that kept being built up as pyramid rose
▫ Ramp would need to maintain 7% incline to be functional
▫ ramp like this would have eventually been 1 mile long (highly improbable)
• Another Possible Method:
▫ use of a linear ramp at the beginning of construction
▫ Then the use of exterior ramps as the sides of the pyramid get higher
▫ The exterior ramps were build along the sides of the pyramid, from step to step
▫ to move the blocks, sledges and rollers were used; water used to ease movement
▫ To position blocks, wood and bronze levers were used
• Newest Method:
▫ Linear ramp used to about 1/3rd of
pyramids height
▫ then spiral interior ramps were used
 ramps are still inside the walls
of pyramid, unseen to human eyes
•
26
27
28
Slave Labour
• slave labour was not used in creation of the pyramids
• Just think about it?
▫ Skilled labour would be essential
▫ precision of measurements, alignments and stone cutting could not have been
done by unskilled labourers
• Built out of loyalty to pharaohs
• About 10,000 men used to build the Great Pyramid
▫ Had good housing at foot of pyramid during the build
▫ Received burials in stone tombs near pyramid as thanks for contribution
29
30
31
Tombs
• By time of New Kingdom, pharaoh’s realized building a huge tomb was a mistake
▫ Why come to this realization?
 Basically a huge advertisement to grave robbers (Hey! Dead guy here with tons of
expensive things)
• Chose instead to build elaborate tombs cut into walls of secluded valley (Valley of the
Kings and Valley of the Queens)
• Tombs featured:
▫ High corridors with brightly painted inscriptions from religious texts
▫ Side burial chambers stuffed with elaborate royal grave goods
4
07/09/2015
▫ Side burial chambers stuffed with elaborate royal grave goods
▫ Large burial chambers
 Walls covered in scenes from deceased persons life, to convince gods he/she lived
a good life in accordance with Ma’at
 Ceiling often painted with map of the heavens
▫ Often topped with small brick pyramids
•
32
5