Download Name: Date: ______ Class: ______ Famous Pyramids of Egypt

Name: _____________________________
Date: _________
Class: ______
Famous Pyramids of Egypt: Overview
Important Vocabulary:
ka: a soul or spirit that Egyptians believed lived inside of them.
paradise: a place similar to heaven that Egyptians believed they went to after they
died.
mastaba: a flat stone platform placed over a rectangular room built in the ground.
The Step Pyramid
The Ancient Egyptians believed that for the dead pharaoh to complete their journey to
the Underworld and then into paradise, his ka, (soul or spirit) which remained with the
body, had to be looked after.
In order for the ka to survive, the dead pharaoh's body was mummified and buried
with all the things it would need for paradise. In order to protect the pharaoh’s
body and belongings, some pharaohs built pyramids. The first pyramid to be built
was the Step Pyramid, located in a city named Sakkara. It was built for a pharaoh
named Djoser. (pronounced Joe-zer)
The Step Pyramid was originally intended to be a large square mastaba built over an
underground burial chamber but further extensions were added making a six-layered
Step Pyramid 186 feet in height. A mastaba was the earliest form of tomb to be
built in Egypt. They were square platforms that protected the important person who
was buried below with their belongings. They helped protect pharaohs from being
exposed by the sand or from desert animals.
1. Why were pyramids built?
A. They looked like ziggurats.
B. The pharaoh’s ka lived there.
C. They protected the pharaoh’s body and belongings.
D. Egyptians were great at building things.
2. What do we call the first Egyptian pyramid built for a pharaoh named
Djoser?
A. The Great Pyramid
B. The Step Pyramid
C. The Bent Pyramid
D. a mastaba
3. What was a mastaba?
A. A pyramid
B. A desert animal
C. A flat stone platform placed over a rectangular room built in the ground.
D. A soul or spirit
The Bent Pyramid
The age of the first ancient wonders of the world began with the pyramids of a pharaoh
named Sneferu, who built three pyramids and may have had a hand in others. He built two
pyramids at Dashur- one was called the Bent Pyramid because it looks bent if you look at it
from the side.
-The Bent Pyramid
Sneferu's Bent pyramid was originally planned as a true pyramid, but its geometry was
changed at a point just above half its height. His pyramids showed advancement from the
Step Pyramid created by Djoser because it was smooth sided and much more difficult to
build.
4. Who built the Bent Pyramid?
A. Khufu
B. Sneferu
C. Djoser
D. slaves
5. How is the Bent Pyramid different from the Step Pyramid?
A. It was built during the flood season
B. It was built much earlier than the Step Pyramid
C. It was built in Sakkara and the Step Pyramid wasn’t
D. It was smooth sided and more difficult to build
The Great Pyramid
Sneferu wasn’t the only person in his family to build pyramids. His son Khufu continued in
the family tradition of creating pyramids for tombs.
(Khufu's pyramid at Giza)
Some believe that his pyramid at Giza was built by slaves but this is not true. One
hundred thousand (100,000) people worked on it for three months of each year. This was
the time of the Nile's annual flood which made it impossible to farm the land and most of
the population was unemployed. He provided good food and clothing for his workers and
was well liked by many Egyptians because of this.
The 'great' pyramid itself is truly an astonishing work of engineering skill - for over four
thousand years, until the modern era, it was the tallest building in the world.
The sides are oriented to the four cardinal points of the compass and the length of each
side at the base is 755 feet. It was constructed using around 2,300,000 limestone blocks
weighing 5,000 pounds and was a heavy as large truck. There are some blocks that weigh as
much as 32,000 pounds. These blocks were placed at a pace of one block per minute and
they were cut to such precision that you can’t place a piece of paper between any two
blocks. To this day, historians still do not know for sure how this pyramid was built.
6. Who built the Great Pyramid?
A. Khufu
B. Sneferu
C. Djoser
D. slaves
7. When did the pharaoh have people work on the Great Pyramid?
A. During times of war
B. During the flood season
C. During the season when crops were picked
D. All year round
8. Why did the Great Pyramid get the title of “Great”?
A. It was hidden for a long time
B. It was built in 5 years
C. It was the longest building in the world
D. It was the tallest building in the world
8. Complete the statement below.
As time went on, pyramids became ____________________________________
_____________________________________________________________.
9. In the boxes below, draw the pyramids that you just read about.
The Step Pyramid
The Bent Pyramid
The Great Pyramid