Guided
Tour of Ancient Egypt
by Darlene Bishop, Kent
School District, WA
Original Text
© Darlene Bishop
Pyramids at Giza
The plateau of Giza lies to the west of
Cairo and there sits the last Ancient Wonder of the World, the
great pyramid of Cheops.
The ancient Egyptians built their tombs
on the west side of the Nile River and their temples
on the east. This practice corresponded to the rise and setting
of the sun which represented the cycle of life itself. The east
signified rebirth and the west signified death. With the tombs
on the west or left bank, the spirits of the dead would be ready
to journey into the cycle of life. The Egyptians believed strongly
in the afterlife and made complete preparation for this journey.
The three pyramids are actually tombs of
three pharaohs of the Old Kingdom. The first pyramid, the largest,
was built by King Cheops for his royal body and it took 100,000
men twenty years to complete. There were close to 2 1/2 million
blocks of limestone used each weighing approximately two tons.
It was originally 146 m high and the side of its square base
was 250 m long. In 1954, Kamal al-Mallakh, Director of Antiquities
of the Pyramids Area, discovered two rectangular pits cut into
the rock on the south side of the Cheops Pyramid. Covered by
41 large limestone blocks, each weighing about 18 tons, was the
Cheops wooden boat. This
was one of the most important archaeological finds in Egypt as
this boat is the most ancient vessel found in perfect condition
anywhere in the world. It is over 4500 years old. A second vessel
is currently be excavated. The ships were used by the pharaohs
to enable their soul to travel to heaven in an everlasting trip
within the sun procession.
The second pyramid, the tomb of King Chephren,
appears to be the largest, but actually it was constructed on
a plateau. King Chephren tried to cast his tomb with granite;
however, the job was not completed. You can see evidence of this
attempt on the top third of the pyramid. The Sphinx is believed
to be a valley temple of King Chephren with the body of a lion
and a human head representing King Chephren.
The third pyramid belonged to King Mycerinus.
The complex contained the usual valley temple, causeway and funerary
temple. A sarcophagus and mummy were also found in the tomb as
well as three queen pyramids on the southern side of the structure.
Pyramids were built with great precision.
Each was oriented on the four cardinal points. The funerary temples
were built on the east side of the pyramid with a chamber for
a statue of the deceased king inside. The like image statue was
important as the spirits needed to verify they were in the correct
tomb. The entrances always faced north and a chamber for the
sarcophagus was always on the west side of the pyramid.
