10 Interesting Facts about Pyramids at Giza

If you have never visited Egypt, then one of these following facts about Pyramids at Giza should be really interesting for you to read. These facts are also able to be one of your reasons to visit it. Pyramids at Giza are several buildings which was built amazingly. Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It’s the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one to remain largely intact. To get to know more about the pyramids, here are some other facts about Pyramids at Giza you may like.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 1: Khufu

Khufu’s pyramid, known as the great pyramid of Giza, is the oldest and largest, rising at 481 feet (146 meters). Archeologist says it was the tallest structure in the world for about 3, 800 years.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 2: Sphinx

The sphinx is a 73.5-meter (241 ft.) long monument built during the reign of Khafra. The creature is a mythical being commonly found in Greek, Egyptian and even South Asian ancient architecture.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 3: Khafre

Khafre and Menkaure’s pyramids are much smaller and simpler in design than Khufu’s massive structure. When first built, the pyramids were covered in white limestone much of which eroded over the years.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 4: Construction

Contrary to popular depictions, the Egyptian pyramids were not built by large groups of slaves or prisoners, many historians say. Egyptians were employed and archaeologists estimate the workers would have had to set a 2.5 to 15 ton block every two and a half minutes to finish Khufu’s pyramid in about 30 years.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 5: Purposes

Historians say the purpose of the pyramids was to house the king’s body after death. The Giza pyramids have elaborate tunnel systems inside containing gold and other objects Egyptians thought would be useful in the afterlife.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 6: Modern Depictions

Because of their fame, Khufu and his pyramid are object of several modern receptions, similar to kings and queens such as Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamen. Khufu’s historical figure appears in movies, novels and documentations.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 7: Boats

There are three boat-shaped pits around the pyramid, of a size and shape to have held complete boats, though so shallow that any superstructure, if there ever was one, must have been removed or disassembled.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 8: Looting

Although succeeding pyramids were smaller, pyramid building continued until the end of the Middle Kingdom. However, as authors Briar and Hobbs claim, “all the pyramids were robbed” by the New Kingdom, when the construction of royal tombs in a desert valley, now known as the Valley of the Kings began.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 9: Computer Games

Khufu and his pyramid are even thematized in several computer games such as Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, in which the player must enter Khufu’s pyramid and face the god Seth as the final boss.

Facts about Pyramids at Giza 10: Modern Entrance

Today tourists enter the Great Pyramid via the Robbers’ Tunnel dug by workmen employed by Caliph al-Ma’mun around AD 820. The tunnel is cut straight through the masonry of the pyramid for approximately 27 meters (89 ft), then turns sharply left to encounter the blocking stones in the Ascending Passage.

Those following facts about the Pyramids at Giza may have expanded your knowledge about how tall the tower is. It was built to give much fun to the visitors and people who come there. Hope you would find those Pyramids at Giza facts really interesting and useful.