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- Great Pyramid of Cheops - Pyramid of Chephren - Pyramid of Mycerinus - The Great Sphinx -


The pyramids are encircled by several small pyramids of the royal family, and hundreds of mastaba tombs of civil and religious functionaries of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, followed by important dignitaries of the Saite Era (XXVI Dynasty) and of the Persian Period (XXVII Dynasty) who wanted to be buried with splendor alongside the majestic pyramids.


Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)

Built: c.2589-2566BC.


Height: 481'.
Base: 775 3/4' each side.
Incline: 51 degrees 50'.
Average stone weights: core two-and-a-half tons, facings four tons. Required 112 men to lift.
Construction material: limestone, basalt and granite.
Excavation/restoration: surveyed in early 1800s by Richard Howard-Vyse, John Perring and Giovanni Caviglia.

Notes: built from 2,300,000 blocks covering 13 acres and requiring the equivalent of 200 million man-loads (80 lbs), or 6,500,000 tons of material. The casing stones (when intact) covered a surface of 22 acres. It is estimated that 84,000 people were employed 80 days annually for 20 years to build the pyramid.
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Pyramid of Chephren (Khafre)

Built: c.2558-2532BC.


Height: 471' (original).
Base: 707 3/4' each side.
Incline: 53 degrees 8'.
Average stone weights: core two to three tons, facings six tons.
Construction material: limestone and red granite.
Excavation/restoration: extensively explored in 1818 by the Italian explorer Giovanni Belzoni. Surveyed shortly after by Richard Howard-Vyse, John Perring and Giovanni Caviglia.
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Pyramid of Mycerinus (Menkaure)

Built: c. 2532-2504BC


Height: 218'.
Base: 356 1/2'.
Incline: 51 degrees.
Average stone weights: N/A.
Construction material: limestone and red granite.
Excavation/restoration: surveyed in early 1800s by Richard Howard-Vyse, John Perring and Giovanni Caviglia.
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The Great Sphinx

Built: undetermined.


Height: 66'.
Length: 240'.
Other: chin to head 30', face 20' wide.
Construction material: soft limestone.
Excavation/restoration: built from inferior rock, the Sphinx has been undergoing restoration since Ptolemaic times. Today it is under constant threat of disintegration and efforts to save the Sphinx are ongoing. Also, sand needs to be continually cleared, otherwise it will become buried within 20 years. Napoleon's expedition was the first to attempt clearing the statue, but this was not actually accomplished until 1925.
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MORE PYRAMIDS



by Anthony C. DiPaolo, M.S.
tony19@ix.netcom.com
Osiris Web Design

Revised: November 12, 2009.
Copyright © 1997 by Anthony C. DiPaolo, M.S. / Osiris Web Design.