The Great Pyramid of Giza, is the oldest and largest of three pyramids found in Giza pyramid complex, located on the Giza plateau near the modern city of Cairo, Egypt. It is also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.
The other two smaller pyramids includes Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) located at a few hundred meters to the south-west and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) located at a few hundred meters farther south-west.
Left:The great Pyramid of Giza Centre: Pyramid of Khafre To the right: Pyramid of Menkaure
The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex. It is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human.
Photo: The Great Sphinx
Photo: The Great Sphinx
Photo: The Great Sphinx
Photo: The Great Sphinx
The Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed over a twenty-year period during the reign of the king Khufu (c. 2589-2566 BCE). It was the tallest structure made by human hands in the world; a record it held for over 3,000 years and one unlikely to be broken.
The pyramid has a height of 479 feet (146 metres) with a base of 754 feet (230 metres) and is comprised of over two million blocks of stone. Some of these stones are of such immense size and weight such as the granite slabs in the King's Chamber.
The Great pyramid (the tallest) was constructed by Pharaohs Khufu, he started constructing the monument in circa 2550 B.C. ( c. 2589 - 2566 BCE), about 4,500 years ago. The monument reaches the height of 481 feet about 147 meters above the plateau. About 2.3 million stone blocks were used to complete the project, the average weight of each stone was about 2.5 to 15 tons.
Photo: The Great Pyramid of Giza
The two other Pyramids were constructed by Pharaoh's sons (Khufu's son), Pharaoh Khafre and Pharaoh Menkaure. The second pyramid was constructed by Pharaoh Khafre in circa 2520 B.C. at Giza. He included the Sphinx, a mysterious limestone monument with the body of a lion and a pharaoh's head. The Sphinx may stand sentinel for the pharaoh's entire tomb complex.
The third pyramid was constructed by Pharaoh Menkaure in circa 2490 B.C. It is smaller than other two, It has much more murtuary temple.
Photo: Tourists at Giza
Photo: Tourists at Giza
The scientists from the Faculty of Engineering of Cairo and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, applied a physics technique by using ScanPyramids to track particles called muons inside Pyramid. These muons comes from cosmic rays striking atoms in the upper atmosphere. These particles lose energy, slow down and decay if they fall and pass through different materials.
The scientists counted the number of muons passing through the pyramid by using detectors. Stones absorb muons partially, large holes in the pyramid would result in more muons, then absorbed by detectors.
Again Scientists placed their detectors inside the Queen's chamber of the pyramid, they repeated these measurements several times to be sure of their finding. Finally they discover the large number of muons passing through, suggesting there was an empty space or void above the chamber.
There are seven oldest wonders of the Ancient world, but The Great pyramid of Giza is only one that currently exist. Different scientists woldwide plus Egyptian scientists continue with several research about the existence and nature of the monument.
Posted by: Lusubilo A. Mwaijengo
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