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FIRST
PYRAMID…..
•
AROUND 2630 BC, KING DJOSER ASKED
IMHOTEP, A ARCHITECT, PRIEST AND
HEALER, TO DESIGN A FUNERARY
MONUMENT FOR HIM.
•
THE RESULT WAS THE FIRST MAJOR STONE
BUILDING: THE STEP-PYRAMID AT
SAQQARA, NEAR MEMPHIS.
JUST A MONUMENT??
• ARE THE PYRAMIDS JUST A MONUMENT CREATED FOR AND BY KINGS, SO THAT THEY WOULD BE
REMEMBERED?
• OR
• ARE THEY SOMETHING MORE?
WHY A PYRAMID?
• BURIAL CUSTOMS OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
DEVELOPED OVER TIME.
• STARTED WITH A SHALLOW PIT GRAVE TOPPED
WITH A MOUND OF ROUGH STONES BUILT OVER
IT AS A MEMORIAL OR LANDMARK.
• THE WEALTHY ELITE DEVELOPED THIS INTO A
MORE IMPRESSIVE TYPE OF TOMB, CALLED A
MASTABA. THIS WAS ORIGINALLY SINGLE
STOREY STRUCTURE MADE OF MUD BRICKS.
DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES….
• MASTABA TOMBS EVOLVED TO CONTAIN AN
UNDERGROUND BURIAL CHAMBER. THE
UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS WERE GRADUALLY
CUT DEEPER UNTIL THEY PASSED INTO THE
BEDROCK.
• THESE WERE FURTHER DEVELOPED INTO
EXTENSIVE SUBTERRANEAN COMPLEXES,
REACHED BY A STAIRWAY, AND CONTAINING
MANY OTHER ROOMS.
• KING HOR-AHA OF THE FIRST DYNASTY BUILT A
MASSIVE UNDERGROUND MASTABA TOMB
COMPLEX IN HONOUR OF HIS MOTHER.
• THE DJOSER STEP PYRAMID IS THE NEXT STEP IN
THIS SEQUENCE.
• IT BEGAN AS A FLAT-ROOFED MASTABA TOMB. IT
CONSISTED OF THREE PARTS: THE CHAPEL, THE
PASSAGE, AND THE SEPULCHRAL VAULT.
• THE MONUMENT WAS EXPANDED IN A SERIES OF
STAGES THAT RESULTED IN ITS PRESENT
APPEARANCE IF A PYRAMID CONSISTING OF 6
STEPS, DECREASING IN SIZE.
• THE HEIGHT OF THIS MONUMENT IS 62M.
• THE CHAMBERS THAT WERE BUILT
UNDERGROUND WERE HIDDEN IN A MAZE OF
TUNNELS WHICH WERE DESIGNED TO
DISCOURAGE TOMB ROBBERS. THE TUNNELS
TOTAL NEARLY 6KM IN LENGTH AND CONNECT TO
A CENTRAL SHAFT 7M SQUARE AND 28M DEEP.
• THE CHAMBERS PROVIDED ROOM FOR THE
KING’S BURIAL, THE BURIAL OF MEMBERS OF THE
ROYAL FAMILY AND THE STORAGE OF GRAVE
GOODS AND OFFERINGS.
THE BIGGEST… THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA
• BUILT FOR EGYPTIAN PHARAOH KHUFU.
• BELIEVED TO HAVE TAKEN 10 – 20 YEARS
AROUND 2560BC.
• IT WAS ORIGINALLY 146.5M TALL. THE TALLEST
STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD FOR OVER 3,800
YEARS.
• ORIGINALLY THE PYRAMID WAS COVERED IN CASING STONES THAT FORMED A SMOOTH OUTER SURFACE.
WHAT WE SEE TODAY IS THE UNDERLYING CORE STRUCTURE. SOME CAN BE SEEN AROUND THE BASE.
• EACH BASE SIDE WAS 440 CUBITS, 230.4M LONG.
• THE MASS OF THE PYRAMID IS 5.9 MILLION TONNES.
• THE VOLUME OF THE PYRAMID IS ESTIMATED AT 2,500,000 CUBIC METERS.
EXTREMELY DEDICATED……
• BASED ON THESE ESTIMATES, BUILDING THIS IN 20 YEARS WOULD INVOLVE INSTALLING APPROXIMATELY
800 TONNES OF STONE EVERY DAY.
• SINCE IT CONTAINS AN ESTIMATED 2.3 MILLION BLOCKS, COMPLETING THE BUILDING IN 20 YEARS
WOULD INVOLVE MOVING AN AVERAGE OF MORE THAN 12 OF THE BLOCKS INTO PLACE EACH HOUR, DAY
AND NIGHT.
SEVEN WONDERS OF
THE ANCIENT WORLD.
THE PYRAMID AT GIZA IS THE ONLY WONDER
OF THE ANCIENT WORLD THAT IS STILL HERE
TODAY.
LINK TO THE GODS
WHY WOULD THOUSANDS OF MEN WORK DAY
AND NIGHT TO CREATE A MONUMENT LIKE
THIS??
•
THEY BELIEVED THAT THEIR KING OR
PHARAOH WAS A LIVING GOD WHO LINKED
THEIR LIVES WITH THOSE OF IMMORTALS.
•
NOT JUST A SYMBOL OF REGAL POWER
BUT A VISIBLE LINK BETWEEN EARTH AND
HEAVEN.
THE SUN
THE SHAPE OF THE PYRAMID IS THOUGHT TO BE REPRESENTATIVE OF
THE DESCENDING RAYS OF THE SUN.
MOST WERE ALSO FACED WITH POLISHED, HIGHLY REFLECTIVE WHITE
LIMESTONE, IN ORDER TO GIVE THEM A BRILLIANT APPEARANCE FROM A
DISTANCE.
ALL EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS WERE BUILT ON THE WEST BANK OF THE NILE,
WHICH AS THE SITE OF THE SETTING SUN WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
REALM OF THE DEAD IN EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.
STILL BEING FOUND
•
AS RECENTLY AS 2008, THEY ARE STILL
FINDING PYRAMIDS.
•
SOME PYRAMIDS ARE IN SUCH A BAD
STATE THAT THEY APPEAR TO BE MOUNDS
OF RUBBLE DUE TO POOR PRESERVATION
OR BECAUSE THEY ARE SIMPLY BURIED IN
SAND.
•
•
HTTP://WWW.DISCOVERINGEGYPT.COM/INDEX.HTM
•
HTTP://WWW.HISTORY.COM/TOPICS/ANCIENT-HISTORY/THE-EGYPTIAN-PYRAMIDS/VIDEOS/MANKIND-THE-STORY-OF-ALL-OFUS-BUILDING-THE-PYRAMIDS?M=528E394DA93AE&S=UNDEFINED&F=1&FREE=FALSE
•
VIDEO SHOWING POSSIBLE CONSTRUCTION METHODS:
HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?INDEX=5&LIST=UUQNBHBBC8D_A_NFRGHVPE7W&V=UUPY71S9AVO&SRC_VID=ZFYFWX
QKNJM&FEATURE=IV&ANNOTATION_ID=ANNOTATION_98966
HTTP://WWW.HISTORY.COM/TOPICS/ANCIENT-HISTORY/THE-EGYPTIAN-PYRAMIDS/VIDEOS/DECONSTRUCTING-HISTORY-THEGREAT-PYRAMID?M=528E394DA93AE&S=UNDEFINED&F=1&FREE=FALSE