The Great Pyramids of Giza (Egyptian Pyramids) and the Great Sphinx are the legacy of the Old Kingdom. Pyramid of Cheops - a wonder of the world from Giza (Egypt) The Pyramid of Cheops is one of the wonders of the world
Pyramids of Giza - consisting of the Great Pyramids (which includes the wonder of the world ancient world- the pyramid of Cheops), the Great Sphinx, several cemeteries and an ancient village are located in the desert on the Giza plateau near the capital of Egypt - Cairo.
The Giza Plateau is part of the virgin desert, hiding in its endless sands a real miracle: evidence of the greatness of the culture of Ancient Egypt. The pyramids of Giza are a whole complex of ancient buildings, which includes several important monuments of civilization. In addition to the Great Pyramids themselves, it includes the Great Sphinx, several cemeteries, a village and building complex. It is fully included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and the Pyramid of Cheops is the only wonder of the world of the ancient world that has survived to this day.
Pyramids of Giza - view of the complex from above 
Pyramids of Giza - Tomb of Seshemnefer IV
Pyramids of Giza - an ancient wonder of the world
However, one should not assume that only the Pyramids of Giza, about which a lot of materials have already been said, filmed and written, are all that can surprise here. Yes, often tourist excursions cover only these unique structures, but there are a number of other equally interesting objects on the plateau.
If you carefully examine the map of the complex, then here you can find sights and much more ancient ones. For example, the mastabas that appeared in the period of the Early Kingdom are “houses of eternity”, having the shape of a truncated pyramid. These structures with underground burial chambers were built already 3000 BC.
In total, the Giza pyramid complex includes more than 30 objects, the value of which for Egypt and world history is extremely high. No wonder this site was chosen for the creation of the Great Egyptian Museum - an archaeological complex, the area of which will be 50 hectares. Undoubtedly, this point will become another must-see for tourists, despite the long construction and postponement of the opening due to the difficult political situation.
In the meantime, the attention of travelers is attracted, first of all, by the pyramids of Giza. They are rightfully considered a symbol of the country - and not the first thousand years. Already in the period of antiquity, they were popularized by Greek and Roman poets, and Antipater of Sidon in his poem included them in the list of Wonders of the World.
Pyramids of Giza - ancient miracle Sveta 
Pyramids of Giza - entrance to the Pyramid of Cheops
The Pyramid of Cheops
Undoubtedly the most interesting object This place is the pyramid of Cheops. The largest ever created. It is worth noting that it was built "according to the standard" of construction laid down by the father of Khufu (the full name of Cheops is Khnum-Khufu), Snorfu. However, the son of his father surpassed - the original height of the tomb was 146.7 m. And even with the lost top (9.4 m), until 1880, the pyramid was considered the most tall building in the world.
If these figures do not allow you to imagine how majestic the construction is, let's give an example: the height of the 35-storey headquarters of Gazprom is 150.9 m. But this is the 103rd building in Europe in terms of “growth”. And this is with a total area ancient monument, which can accommodate 10 full-fledged football fields.
Unfortunately, today we cannot fully appreciate the original grandeur of the structure - in the Middle Ages, some of the blocks were lost, and the lining of the Tura limestone was almost completely destroyed. A non-original entrance is also used - today you can get inside through a passage cut by robbers in ancient times. The sarcophagus was also damaged, the mortuary temple located nearby was destroyed, and the wall surrounding the pyramid was destroyed. Unfortunately, marauders, wars and local residents who used the giant "tombstone" as a quarry, deprived us of the opportunity to enjoy its pristine grandeur.
Many mysteries are connected with the pyramid of Cheops, which gave rise to all kinds of theories about the connections of ancient civilizations and the unique level of scientific knowledge for thousands of years BC. For example, the base area of a majestic ancient building in Egypt completely coincides with the area of the Mexican Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan. If you multiply the height to the top block by 2 *, you get a figure equal to the perimeter of the base of the building. But the "number of pi" had not yet been invented at that time ... Basically, only assumptions help scientists explain the technologies used to transport and lift 2.2 million 2.5-ton blocks, between which even a paper sheet does not fit.
Pyramid of Khafre
The second largest structure of the Giza pyramid complex is the Pyramid of Khafre or Khafre. Initially, with a height of 143.9 m, it was only 3 m behind the “competitor”, but now it is less than a meter. However, due to the greater inclination of the walls with a smaller footprint, it appears taller. Contributes to this and the location at the highest point of the complex.
The ruins of a mortuary temple (destroyed by local residents in the 18th century), a stone road to the Lower Church, traces of a wall 3.4 m thick, dwellings of builders and not great pyramid where the pharaoh's wife was probably buried. From this building, unfortunately, only the underground part remained.
Pyramid of Menkaure
The lowest of the Great Pyramids is the Pyramid of Menkaure, whose height is “only” 66 m (for comparison, 20-story residential buildings are about the same height). Despite the fact that this building appeared in the era of "decline", a number of features speak of the amazing talents of the builders of that time. For example, when creating a memorial temple, a monolith weighing 200 tons was used - the largest on the plateau. The red granite that lined the top and about a third of the levels from the base gave the pyramid a special beauty. Unfortunately, the granite was removed in the 16th century by the Mamluks.
It is interesting that they tried to destroy this landmark back in the 12th century, when Sultan al-Malik al-Aziz decided to wipe out the weight of the pyramid of Giza. However, after eight months of work, the destruction work was stopped - they required too large financial costs.
Near the Great Pyramids there is a mass of smaller tombs - the wives of Egyptian pharaohs were buried in them. The degree of their preservation is different, but for the most part they are, unfortunately, a very sad sight.
Pyramids of Giza - Great Sphinx of Giza 
Pyramids of Giza - Sphinx
The Great Sphinx of Giza is the oldest sculpture in the world.
Undoubtedly, the main decoration of the Giza pyramid complex is the "Father of Fear" - the Great Sphinx of Giza. This is the oldest monumental sculpture Egypt, erected in 2558-2532. BC. It is considered the oldest sculpture in the world, as well as one of the largest (20 m high and 72 m long). During its appearance, the country was ruled by Khafre, whose face, according to historians, was received by a lion reclining in the sands (forensic experts disagree with them, who believe that the faces of Khavr and the Sphinx cannot belong to the same person).
By the way, one of the most common myths is associated with the Sphinx, according to which the nose of the statue was destroyed during the battle between the Turkish army and Napoleon's troops near the pyramids. However, this is contradicted by historical records, according to which the nose (the width of this detail was 1.5 m) did not exist already in 1737. Most likely, the Mamluks, the British, or simply nature and time could do this.
Already ancient Greek historians noted the special attitude of the Egyptians to the pyramids of Giza, and the Sphinx (which the local peoples worshiped as a deity). In our time, the pyramids of Giza and the entire plateau surrounding them are a monument to a culture that more than five thousand years ago owned a complex script, a harmonious religious system, a well-established social system and unique skills in construction. Despite the fact that more than 200 generations have changed since the construction of the complex, the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians remains a mystery to this day. A secret that can be touched just 5 kilometers from the center of modern Cairo.
Pyramids of Giza opening hours and cost of visiting:
*Change of opening hours in the month of Ramadan and the cost - check on the official website
* approximate exchange rate 1$ = 18.2 LE
Opening hours:
daily from 8:00 to 17:00
Price:
Entrance to the Giza Pyramids area and access to the following monuments:
Khafre Valley Temple, Pyramid of Hetefer, Pyramid of Meretti, Pyramid of Khenut-sen, Tomb of Idu, Tomb of Kar, Tomb of Sheshemner, Tomb of Sennedem-Ib, Tomb of Pa-sen, Tomb of Ka-em-ankh, Tomb of Nen-seder-ka.
Egyptians: 2LE
Foreign guests: 50 LE
*Tickets for Pyramid of Khufu, Pyramid of Khafre and sound and light show must be purchased separately.
Pyramid of Khufu:
Egyptians: LE 20
Foreign guests: 100 LE
*Please note that Khufu Pyramid is closed from 11:00 to 13:00.
Only 150 tickets are sold in the morning and another 150 after 13:00
Pyramid of Khafre:
Egyptians: 2 LE
Foreign guests: 25 LE
Address: Al Haram, Nazlet El Semman, Al Haram, Giza Governorate, Egypt
Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only the pyramids of Giza have withstood the vicissitudes of time. "Fifty centuries look down on you from the top of these monuments!" exclaimed Napoleon; “A joke on history,” one of the visitors objected. The Great Pyramid of Cheops has generated more scientific and amateur speculation than any other monument on earth. For millions of people, the pyramids at Giza embody antiquity and mystery. Overwhelmed with expectations, you may find reality disappointing.
From afar, they look like small triangles, and as you get closer, they look more like time-worn mountains, whose gigantic mass can appear strangely two-dimensional when you look at them from below. The pyramids are not in the middle of a lifeless desert, as it might seem, if you look at a postcard with their image, they are located directly on the outskirts of the city of Giza. During the day, crowds of touts and tourists dispel any sense of mysticism that the surrounding sounds and light create after dark. You can feel the grandeur of the pyramids at sunset and at dawn of the day or late at night.
As the plans of the territory show, the orientation of the pyramids is not accidental. Their entrances are oriented according to the North Star (or rather, according to its position 4500 years ago), the inner burial chambers are facing west, towards the Land of the Dead, and the outer mortuary temples are directed east towards the rising sun. The three pyramids are also said to symbolize the three stars in Orion's belt. In much worse condition are the roads leading to the so-called "temples of the valley" and various secondary pyramids and mastaba tombs.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities is renovating the entire area, which continues to surprise. In particular, recently in Great Pyramid a possibly secret chamber has been discovered, which, according to some experts, can contain the same amazing treasures as in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Also discovered was a previously unknown small pyramid near the southeast corner of the Cheops pyramid with the oldest pyramidion (keystone) ever found, and tunnels under the spectator seats opposite the Sphinx, the age and purpose of which are still unknown.
Visiting the Pyramids of Giza
The pyramids can be reached directly from the eleven-kilometer Sharia al-Ahram (Pyramid Avenue), built by Khedive Ismail for the wife of Napoleon III, Empress Eugenia. Getting there is quite easy, however, due to heavy traffic, the trip may seem long. Taxi drivers often charge more than £20, although £15 for a one-way trip from the city is quite reasonable. The cheapest way is to take the bus number 355 or 357 (2 pounds) or the regular city bus number 900 (25 piastres).
Buses leave from the back of the Ramses station or from. You can also take minibus 183 from Midan Ataba (75 piastres) or a shuttle bus from Ramesses or Abdel Munim Riyadh (75 piastres, drivers who can take you to the pyramids shout "Al-Ahram, Al-Ahram!"). Bus number 30 from Midan Ramses also goes almost to the pyramids. If you want to visit the pyramids of Giza in one day and also get into, then the easiest way is to go on an organized tour.
Opposite the Mena House is the tourist office (daily 8:00-17:00). You can get to the territory of the pyramids in certain time(daily: in winter 8:00-16:00, in summer 8:00-17:00); the ticket price (40 pounds, students 20 pounds) includes admission to the grounds, the Sphinx and the temple of Khafre in the valley, but, to tell the truth, tickets are not checked very hard. Separate tickets must be purchased in order to enter the Great Pyramid of Cheops (100 pounds), the Solar Boat Museum (35 pounds), the Pyramid of Khafre (20 pounds) and the Pyramid of Menkaure.
If you are going to look at these separately and at another time, then it can be more expensive (it all depends on your bargaining skills!). Beware of crooks pretending to be controllers and "special guides" who tell you things like "The Cheops Pyramid is very old"! Ignore them or, if necessary, threaten to call the tourist police. Also, don't pay attention to barkers with camels and horses who will assure you that their stables are "state".
Such problems should soon disappear with the implementation of the Giza Plateau Conservation Project, which plans to create an Imax cinema, cultural centers, it is also planned to make more objects available. At the same time, the plateau will be cut off from the village of Nazlat al-Samman, which will save tourists from barkers and crooks.
Expect to spend half a day here, so it's best to arrive early in the morning before the heat sets in and, above all, before the main crowd arrives to visit the pyramids ( tourist buses start arriving at 10:30). Or you can arrive by the end of the afternoon - by 17:00 most of the tourist groups have already left, and a new stream of people who want to see the local night performance "Light and Shadow" has not yet arrived. Every evening there are three hour-long shows, accompanied by rather silly melodramatic commentary in various languages.
For a schedule that changes each season, check out Egypt Today Magazine. The cost of a place is 60 pounds and another 35 pounds for a video camera. The Arabic version costs £11, although foreigners are not allowed to buy tickets for it. Hundreds of Egyptians enjoy the performance for free from fairly advantageous locations, such as behind the Muslim cemetery, taking care not to take seats on the terrace facing the Sphinx (because wheelchair access is possible here). Bring a sweater as it gets cold at night - even in summer! Behind the spectator seats is a row of stables offering rental horses and camels, which are usually no better than those offered by the Bedouin Nagama barkers around the pyramids.
They usually charge £50 for a short camel ride. Barkers who offer trips for £10 an hour should be beware - they have a habit of taking tourists deep into the desert and then announcing that £10 was just the way here and the return trip will cost £50 an hour. Since the area itself is small enough to be explored on foot, horseback riding is more of an attraction rather than a time saver, on top of that, arguing with these people can ruin your trip. But if you want to ride a horse or a camel, you should contact a well-known operator, such as AA or KG.
In Baedeker's time, it was mandatory for visitors to climb the Great Pyramid, with two Bedouins holding the tourist's hands and a third pushing from below. Climbing the pyramids is now prohibited and certainly very dangerous, although attempts are still being made. It is perfectly safe to enter the pyramids, but people suffering from claustrophobia or asthma should forget about it. It is quite difficult to pass all three inner shafts of the Great Pyramid - the whole next day your legs will ache.
Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)
The oldest and largest of the Giza pyramids belongs to the 4th dynasty pharaoh Khufu, better known as Cheops, who probably ruled between 2589-2566 BC. The ancient Egyptians called it the "Place of Glory of Khufu". The original pyramid was 140 meters high and 230 meters long on the side of the base, but its upper blocks were removed and the height decreased by three meters. The pyramid is composed of approximately 2,300,000 blocks with an average weight of 2.5 tons (although some weigh almost 15 tons!). This gigantic mass ensures its stability, as most of the pressure is transferred inwards towards the center, or down, onto the rocky base underneath.
Until recently, it was believed that there were only three chambers in the pyramid: one at the base and two in the superstructure. Experts believe that the project changed twice: the underground chamber was left in favor of the middle one, which was then preferred to the upper one. The chambers were looted long before archaeologists got to them; the only item left was Khufu's sarcophagus. However, in April 1993, a group of scientists using a remote-controlled robot accidentally discovered a door with handles, which supposedly hides the fourth chamber, and where the robbers had not been. There may be a mummy and treasures of Cheops himself.
The head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zavi Hawas, claims that there is no chamber here, that the “door” is a device for smoothing the inner surface of the mine. From the “King’s Chamber” and “Queen’s Chamber” in the north and south directions (first horizontally, then obliquely upwards) the so-called “ventilation” channels 20-25 centimeters wide depart. At the same time, the channels of the "Chamber of the King", known since the 17th century, are through, they are open both from below and from above (on the faces of the pyramid), while the lower ends of the channels of the "Chamber of the Queen" are separated from the surface of the wall by about 13 centimeters, they were discovered when tapping in 1872.
The upper ends of these channels do not reach the surface. The end of the southern channel is closed by stone doors, discovered in 1993 using the Upuaut II remote-controlled robot. In 2002, with the help of a new modification of the robot, the door was drilled, but a small cavity and another door were found behind it. What lies next is still unknown, but the truth will not be revealed until the research is completed.
Inside the Great Pyramid
To maintain the necessary humidity inside the pyramid, the number of visitors who can simultaneously enter the pyramid is limited to 150 people in the morning and 150 in the evening. Therefore, it is better to buy tickets (100 pounds, students 50 pounds, filming is not allowed) in advance. In the morning, tour groups tend to buy them all before anyone else shows up; it's usually easier to buy tickets for a visit in the afternoon, especially if you can be at the box office when they go on sale - at 13.00.
You enter the pyramid through an entrance made by the treasure-hunting caliph Mamun in 820; it is somewhat lower than the original entrance on the north side (now blocked). After going down (hunching over), you will reach the junction of the ascending and descending corridor. The latter leads to an unfinished chamber under the pyramid, it is better not to go there or leave it for last.
Everyone is heading up the ascending corridor (the height of the corridor is 1.6 meters). As the medieval Arab chroniclers write, the robbers who made their way into the pyramid, walking along this corridor, soon stumbled upon an “idol of spotted granite”, crowned with a snake that “grabbed and strangled anyone who approached”, but the current visitors are simply hindered by the angle of inclination of the passage itself (1: 2), which goes 36 meters to the next connection.
To the right of it is a mine, which, according to ancient authors, is a well connected to the Nile. To date, it is known that it leads to an underground chamber, it is believed that it served as an exit for workers. Directly in front of you is a horizontal passage 35 meters long and 1.75 meters high, leading to a chamber of badly finished limestone with a pointed roof, which the Arabs called the "Queen's Chamber".
Petrie believed that this was a serdab, or the place where the statue of the pharaoh was kept, and the eccentric Davidson saw in it a symbol of the supreme futility of Judaism. In any case, there is no evidence that a queen was ever buried here. Holes were made in the northern and southern walls in 1872 in order to find the ventilation shafts of the chamber. A robot with a sensor was passed through one of them and found a "secret chamber" at the end of a passage 65 meters long, only twenty centimeters high and the same width. The channel is directed to the Dog Star Sirius (symbolizing the goddess Isis).
Most visitors go to the Grand Gallery, the finest part of the pyramid. It is made of Mukattam limestone and is so perfect that a knife blade cannot be inserted between the blocks; the shaft, 47 meters long, narrows to an arched roof 8.5 meters high (Davidson believed that its length in “pyramid inches” corresponds to the number of years between the Crucifixion and the start of the First World War). Slots in the walls probably held beams that were used to lift the sarcophagus, or granite blocks designed to close holes along a steep ascending passage (which now has wooden steps).
Although Grand gallery now and is not inhabited by giant bats, which nineteenth-century travelers have reported, is hot and suffocating enough to cause some discomfort, so you'll be happy to reach the horizontal hall chamber at its upper end, where slots have been made to insert plug-blocks designed to seal off the entrance to the supposed burial chamber.
The pharaoh's chamber is 95 meters from the top of the pyramid and half that distance from the outer walls. Built from red granite blocks, the rectangular chamber is large enough to fit a double-decker bus. Its dimensions (5.2 × 10.8 × 5.8 meters) caused a lot of abstract calculations and strange prophecies. By order of Hitler, a copy of the chamber was built under the stadium in which the Fuhrer consulted with himself before Nazi meetings.
At one end of the chamber is a huge sarcophagus without a lid made of Aswan granite, on which there are traces of saws and drills with diamond teeth. On the north and south wall, at knee level, you will see two air shafts leading to outside world. The shafts are oriented towards the stars of Orion's Belt and Alpha Draconis (representing respectively Osiris and the hippo goddess Rer).
Above the ceiling, there are five unloading chambers that take the weight of the pyramid away from the burial chamber. Each of them consists of 43 granite monoliths from 40 to 70 tons. These chambers could only be reached by stairs from the Grand Gallery and then by a passageway where Colonel Wise found Khufu's name written in red (the only inscription found inside the pyramids of Giza), but the main body of visitors does not usually go here. On your way back, don't forget to take a look at the 100-meter downward corridor that leads to a roughly hewn, unfinished chamber under the pyramid. There is nothing special, but the nerve-wracking descent is worthy of Indiana Jones.
Little known tombs
To the east of the Great Pyramid one can recognize the foundations of Khufu's mortuary temple and several blocks of the road that once connected it to the temple in the valley (now buried under the village of Nazlat al-Samman). Nearby are three ruined pyramids of Queens, each with a small chapel.
The northern and southern pyramids belong to Merites and Hensutsen, respectively the main wife (and sister) of Khufu and the supposed mother of Khafre. The middle one may belong to the mother of Rejedef, the third ruler of the dynasty. Between them and the Great Pyramid, the remains of a fourth secondary pyramid, including its capstone, have recently been discovered, but the purpose of this pyramid is still unknown.
In the northeast of the pyramid of Queen Merites there is a mine where the sarcophagus of Queen Hetepheres, the wife of Pharaoh III of the Sneferu dynasty, was found, placed here after the looting of the original burial in Dashur. To the east of it are the tomb of Kara and his son Idu with life-size statues of the dead and many reliefs.
To the east of the pyramid of Queen Khensutsen are the tombs of the son of Cheops Khufu-Zaef and the wife of Khafre (also daughter of Hetepheres) Meresankh. It is the best preserved of all the tombs on the Giza Plateau, with statues in niches and reliefs that show scenes of daily life, with much of the color preserved. To get to these tombs, contact the watchman's house near the Hetepheres mine, naturally, the watchman will appreciate the baksheesh for the work done.
To the west of the Great Pyramid lie dozens of mastabas from Dynasties IV and V, where archaeologists have discovered a 4,600-year-old mummified princess whose emptied body was covered in a thin layer of plaster, a previously unknown method of mummification. There are many tombs here that were closed to the public until 1995, since they were discovered in the nineteenth century.
In general, they are less interesting than those located on the east side of the Great Pyramid, but Neferbauptah's tomb, almost parallel to the west side of Khafre's pyramid, in the fifth block from the right and in the second row on the north side, contains preserved dinosaur remains. If you would like to visit any of these tombs, contact the caretaker's office to the north. Be careful near deep mines - they may not have barriers.
Solar Boat Museum
South of the Great Pyramid, across the road from another group of mastabas, is a controlled humidity pavilion (daily: winter 9:00-16:00, summer 9:00-17:00, £35, students £20). It contains a 43-meter boat found in one of the five ditches dug around Khufu's pyramid (another boat was discovered using X-rays and video cameras, but currently remains unexcavated).
When the lime blocks of the roof of the moat were removed during excavations in 1954, a faint smell of cedar rose. After that, the restorer Hagg Ahmed Yousef spent 14 years restoring this graceful vessel from 1200 pieces of wood, which originally held together sycamore nails and half grass ropes.
Archaeologists call these vessels "solar boats" (or barges), but their purpose remains unclear. Of the many hypotheses, one can mention, for example, the following: they are intended to carry the pharaoh through underworld(as shown in the tombs of the XVII-IX dynasties in Thebes) or accompany the sun god on his daily journey through the sky.
The Middle or Second Pyramid appears to be taller than Khufu's because it is located on a higher site and its top is better preserved and its sides are steeper. The pyramid was built by Khafre (known to posterity as Khafre), the son of Khufu; Initially, its base had a length of 214.8 meters, and the approximate weight is estimated at 4,883,000 tons. As with Khufu's pyramid, the original rock-cut burial chamber was not finished and the upper chamber was subsequently built.
Classical writers such as Pliny believed that the pyramid had no entrance, but when Belzoni found and opened the sealed portal on its north side in 1818, he discovered that Arab grave robbers had already somehow entered here about a thousand years ago. They were not afraid of the legend of an idol "with evil sparkling eyes", which should kill those who got inside. In March 1993, several tourists were injured by an explosion at the Khafre pyramid, which was probably caused by a bomb.
Inside the pyramid (£20, students £10, no visitors yet, filming not allowed) you can walk down one of the two entrance corridors leading down and then up into a long horizontal passageway leading to Khafre's burial chamber, where Belzoni celebrated his discovery by writing his name on the wall in old English Gothic script (this exuberant circus strongman-turned-explorer later found the tomb of Seti I in Do line of Kings and died searching for the sources of the Niger River).
The sarcophagus of Khafre, who ruled from 2558-2533 BC, is mounted in the granite floor of the burial chamber. A square cavity near the south wall may indicate the location of a box with a lid, where the insides of the pharaoh were located.
Burial complex of Khafre and the Sphinx
The funerary complex of the pyramid of Khafre is the best preserved and is a typical example of a construction from the time of the Old Kingdom. When the pharaoh died, his body was transported across the Nile to a temple in the valley near the river, where the priests embalmed him. After this process was completed, the mourners gathered here to purify themselves before accompanying his mummy on the way to the burial temple, where further rituals were performed prior to burial in the pyramid. After that, the priests ensured the life of his "ka" in the funeral temple - on strictly defined days they brought food and fumigated the mummy with incense.
The funeral temple of Khafre consists of a hall with columns, a central courtyard, pantries with niches and a sanctuary. Much of the outer granite cladding has been plundered over the centuries, and there is most likely no access to the inside. Among the remaining blocks there is a monster 13.4 meters long and weighing 163 thousand kilograms. Near the temple are objects that look like boat ditches, although nothing was found during further excavations except for fragments of pottery. From here you can trace the base of the road that goes 400 meters down the hill to his temple in the valley near the Sphinx.
The temple in the valley was covered with sand before its discovery by Mariette in 1852, which explains its fairly good state of preservation. Constructed of limestone and lined with trimmed Aswan granite, the temple faces east and opens onto the waterfront. Behind the narrow front chamber you will see a T-shaped hall, whose gigantic architraves are supported by square pillars, in front of them are the diorite statues of Khafre. Contrary to popular theory, some scholars believe that the mummification took place in Memphis or in the funeral temple of Khafre, and this building served for the “Opening of the Mouth” ceremony, during which the “ka” entered the body of the deceased.
Accessed through the valley temple, this legendary monument is carved out of exposed layers of soft limestone, which is believed to have been left behind after the surrounding harder stone was used to build the Great Pyramid. However, because the base stone was too soft to work directly on, it was overlaid with a harder stone before finishing. Traditional archeology claims that the idea of creating a figure with a lion's body and a human head belongs to Khafre.
The head is often identified with that of Khafre (crowned with a royal beard and ureus), although it may represent some guardian deity. It is said that thousands of years after the building of the great monument, Thutmose IV had a dream that if he cleaned the sand that swallowed the Sphinx, it would make him the ruler.
The prophecy was fulfilled, as it is said on the stele, which he placed between the paws of the statue. All these claims remained valid until 1991, when two American geologists stated that the Sphinx was at least 2600 years older than hitherto believed: its base stone was badly worn and eroded by water, possibly created during the Nabtian pluvial period (3000-1200 BC). The director of the High Council of Antiquities, Zavi Hawas, dismisses this argument, citing the Getty Institute's analysis of the Sphinx's foundation. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that erosion was caused by the action of mineral salts in the plateau and/or wind.
The controversy delighted the lone Egyptologist John West, who had long proclaimed that Egyptian civilization was the heir to an older, lost culture, the mythical Atlantis. The name "Sphinx" was indeed given by the ancient Greeks after the name of the legendary creature that asked riddles to travelers passing by and killed those who answered incorrectly. The Arabs called him Abu el-Khol (awe-inspiring or terrible). During training shootings of the Mamluks and Napoleonic troops, the Sphinx lost most of its beard, which is now in, and during the Second World War it was covered with sand for protection.
The first modern renovations did more harm than good, as the porous limestone "breathes" unlike the cement that was used to seal the cracks. The deterioration of the Sphinx is affected by fumes of harmful chemicals from sewage and bonfires of the nearby village of Nazlat el-Samman. During a new restoration project (1989-1998), ten thousand limestone blocks were manually carved to restore the paws, legs and thighs of the beast. The missing nose and beard were not intentionally replaced.
There are three tunnels inside the Sphinx, one under the head, one at the tail and one on the north side. Their purpose is unknown, and none of them lead anywhere. Other tunnels were dug near the Sphinx, but again, no one knows who built them and what they were intended for. One suggestion is that they were dug by the ancient Egyptians in more recent times in an attempt to find buried treasure. During the performances of Light and Shadow, the Sphinx is assigned the role of a narrator.
Perched on a gentle slope that turns into a rolling desert, the smallest of the pyramids of Giza speaks of waning power and devotion. Started by Khafre's successor Menkaur (whom the Greeks called Mykerin), it was completed with unprecedented haste by his son Shepseskaf, who apparently had less power than his predecessors and depended on the priests.
Herodotus tells the legend that the oracle gave Mikerin only six years of life, therefore, in order to deceive fate, he had fun around the clock, doubling his annual number of impressions. Another story tells that the pyramid was actually built by Rodofis, a Thracian courtier, who demanded the price of one block from each visitor (it is estimated that the structure consists of 200,000 blocks).
Since the lower part of the pyramid is lined with Aswan granite, it is sometimes called the Red Pyramid (this name is also applied to one of them). The relative shortage of facing blocks is due to the activities of the twelfth century sultan, whose courtiers persuaded him to try to destroy the pyramid, after eight months this project was prudently stopped.
Medieval Arab chroniclers often attributed all the pyramids of Giza to a single ruler, who boasted: “I, Surid, the king, built these pyramids in sixty-one years. Let whoever comes after me try to destroy them for six hundred. It is easier to destroy than to build. I dressed them in silk, let him try to cover them with mats.”
The inside of the pyramid is unusual: the unfinished chamber is located in the superstructure, and the burial chamber is underground. Here Weiss discovered a basalt sarcophagus, later lost at sea on the way to, as well as human remains, which he considered to belong to Menkaure. Now they are considered a replacement for the times of the XXVI dynasty and are in the British Museum.
The complex also includes three minor pyramids, a relatively complete burial temple and a road to the temple in the valley (currently it is filled up). To the northwest of the last temple is the sarcophagus-shaped tomb of Queen Khentkaves, an intriguing figure that appears to have been a bridge linking the transition from the 4th to the 5th dynasty. It is believed that after the death of Shepseskaf, the last pharaoh of the IV dynasty, whose wife was Khentkaves, the queen may have married a priest of the sun god and gave birth to several kings who were buried in Saqqara or (where she built another pyramid).
The best view of the pyramids opens from a point to the south of the pyramid of Menkaure. Most tourists stop (along with horse and camel drivers and trinket sellers) along the paved road 400 meters west of the pyramid. This place is especially popular at the end of the day when the sun is in the right direction. In the morning, however, it is better to take photos from the southeast, although there is often haze in the early morning. best view of all pyramids close to each other opens from the ridge south of the Pyramid of Menkaure.
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Almost everyone has heard about the seven wonders of the world. It includes architectural sights that were created in different time and really amazed the world. Few of these amazing structures have survived to our time. And although all seven wonders of the world are widely known, there are many little-known facts associated with them.
1. List of "miracles"
The "wonders" list was originally designed to showcase the most impressive sights and structures in the world. Although there have been many such lists over the years, the original one was known as the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". These seven wonders were based on guidebooks used by Greek travelers.
2. Geographic restrictions
All seven wonders were located around the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia (due to the limited distances people could travel at that time). These include the Colossus of Rhodes, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
3. Sun, Moon and five planets
Probably the number "seven" was chosen because the Greeks thought it represented perfection. However, some scientists have suggested that the number seven also reflects the fact that there were 5 known planets at the time, and if you add the Sun and Moon to them, you get seven.
4. Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The existence of one of the seven ancient wonders is in question. Because the Hanging Gardens in Babylon would have been very difficult to irrigate, and there are no direct references to them in ancient literature, many modern scholars consider the stories about it great place just a fantasy.
5. Great Pyramid of Giza
The only ancient wonder that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is also known as the Pyramid of Cheops.
6. Taj Mahal
Second most famous list miracles includes those created in the Middle Ages. Unlike ancient wonders, today there is no consensus on what to include in this list. The most common medieval wonders are the catacombs of Kom el-Shukaf, the Colosseum, the Great Chinese Wall, Saint Sophie Cathedral, leaning tower of pisa, Nanjing Porcelain Tower and Stonehenge. Also sometimes they include the Cairo Citadel, the Abbey of Cluny, the Cathedral of Ili and the Taj Mahal.
7. Originally from the 19th century
However, it is unlikely that these lists actually originated in the Middle Ages, since the notion of the "medieval world" only appeared during the Enlightenment, and the concept of the Middle Ages did not become popular until the 16th century. It is assumed that most of the "medieval" lists were created by writers in the 19th and 20th centuries.
8. "7 Wonders" by ASCE
Modern lists of "miracles" also exist. One of the most popular of these was compiled by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1994. It included "the greatest civil engineering achievements of the 20th century" such as the Eurotunnel, the CN Tower, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Itaipu Dam, the Delta and Zuiderzee Projects, and Panama Canal.
9. CNN's 7 Wonders
To make things even more confusing, the list of "Seven natural wonders light" from CNN is as follows: aurora, grand canyon, Great Barrier Reef, Rio de Janeiro Harbor, Mount Everest, Paricutin Volcano and Victoria Falls.
10. New7Wonders of Nature Global Survey
New7Wonders of Nature is a 2007-2011 project to compile a list of the 7 wonders of nature from a global survey. Those who want to see them all need to head to all of the following locations: Iguazu Falls, Hạlong Bay, Jeju Islands, Puerto Princesa Underground River, Table Mountain, Komodo Island, and the Amazon Rainforest.
11. "7 Wonders" from CEDAM International
In 1989, diving organization CEDAM International published its list of "The Seven Wonders of underwater world". It includes the Palau reefs, the Belize Barrier Reef, the Great Barrier Reef, deep sea cracks, the Galapagos Islands, Lake Baikal, the Red Sea.
12. 7 Wonders by Deborah Cadbury
The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World is a popular book by British author Deborah Cadbury. The list became the standard for engineering achievements in the 19th and 20th centuries. It includes the steamship Great Eastern, the Bell Rock lighthouse, the Brooklyn Bridge, the London sewer system, the First Transcontinental Railway, Panama Canal and Hoover Dam.
13. "7 Wonders" from the magazine "Astronomy"
In 1999, the magazine Astronomy decided that it was not necessary to be limited only to the Earth and presented a list of "Seven Wonders of the Solar System". The list included Saturn's moon Enceladus, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, the asteroid belt, the Sun's surface, Earth's oceans, Saturn's rings, and Mount Olympus on Mars.
14. The eighth wonder of the world
Interestingly, miracles can even be people. Wrestler Andre the Giant has often been touted as the eighth wonder of the world due to his enormous height of 224 cm and weight of 240 kg.
15. "7 Wonders" from Uncle Scrooge
As you can see, the list of miracles can be quite controversial. Some lists even have people or concepts. Even fictional characters such as King Kong were advertised to "come see the eighth wonder of the world."
It is quite possible to call wonders of the world and.
The pyramids at Giza have long been recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Colossal structures store in themselves age-old secrets. The secrets of millennia are kept under the gigantic stone massif, which are incomprehensible to our consciousness to this day. This - greatest monuments world history.
The three main pyramids - Khufu (Pyramid of Cheops), Khafri (Pyramid of Khafre) and Menkaure (Pyramid of Menkaure) are best preserved and have become famous all over the world. The majestic tombs of the ancient pharaohs inspire respect. Egypt is the land of the pyramids. A total of 118 structures were found, most of which are in ruins. Some have survived a little better, and thanks to them we will learn more and more historical details of the kingdom of Ancient Egypt.
The word "pyramid" comes from the ancient Greek "pyuramis" - fire, because the Greeks believed that the pyramid was shaped like a tongue of flame. Even in geometry textbooks for the 16th century, the pyramid was called the "fiery body". There are versions that the prototype of the pyramid is a mountain of wheat. The ancient Egyptians had a funeral cake that had a pyramidal shape, and a number of scholars refer to the fact that the pyramids, being a symbol of death, could be identified with this cake. The Egyptians themselves called the pyramids "Purama".
The ancient pyramids are unique in that they have an ideal geometric shape. How the architects of the IV dynasty of the Egyptian pharaohs (2613-2439 BC) achieved this is still unclear. The angle of the walls with respect to the horizon is 53°, and the edges are perfectly aligned with respect to the cardinal points.
The pyramid of Cheops is the largest. Its original height was 146 meters. However, they began to build on a 9-meter rock, which is now at its base. Over time, the facing plates of the pyramid crumbled (this happened as a result of a strong earthquake) and the "growth" of the pyramid dropped to 138 meters. The length of each side is exactly 230 meters. According to mathematicians, the pyramid of Cheops consists of approximately 2.5 million stone blocks, each of which weighs 2.5 tons. Another mystery of the builders is how they managed to achieve such a perfect fit of each block. Incredible measurement accuracy comes to the point that the error in the size of the side of the pyramid is thousandths of a centimeter. Even modern technologies this is not possible. Unfortunately, facing slabs, which were polished pieces of fine-grained sandstone, did not reach us.
Initially, the entrance to the pyramid was on the north side, at the level of the thirteenth step. However, over time it was walled up. Now, in order to get inside, they use a manhole, which was made by ancient marauders.
In the view of many Egyptologists, the pyramid is a monolith, in which there are several large chambers and an extensive system of corridors. But this opinion is refuted by many scientists, who quite reasonably assume the presence of many other rooms, since only 1% of the entire structure is available for research. In addition, the Egyptian authorities themselves are not inclined to reveal all the secrets and mysteries of the great structures of antiquity. All finds pass first of all through their hands, and only then the world community becomes aware of them.
According to Herodotus, more than 100,000 slaves were gathered for the construction of the pyramids. However, having conducted more detailed historical research, modern Egyptologists tend to assume that the people who participated in the construction of the structure were simply serving a kind of "labor service" to the sovereign. This conclusion was made after a detailed study of the camp in which the builders lived. It was located a few kilometers from Giza, it had several bakeries, a smokehouse and even a brewery.
Massive burials of cattle bones were found in the vicinity, which indicates that the builders did not starve, they were taken care of and even monitored their health. The skeletons found indicate that almost every worker during construction received one or another work injury, which was well healed. This speaks of the high level of medicine that existed in Egypt even then. There is an assumption that groups of builders even had a certain competition among themselves.
The mechanism by which the pyramids were built remains a mystery to this day. The most common version was about the systems of blocks and counterweights, with the help of which huge pieces of stone were lifted up. However, it has been proven that such a system really existed, but it began to work after the construction of the main structure, when facing slabs were delivered upstairs.
There is another version that the builders created an embankment along which they lifted the blocks up. However, the version does not stand up to scrutiny. After all, in order for the embankment to be used effectively, its angle of inclination should be no more than 7 degrees. Consequently, the embankment itself had to stretch for two or three kilometers. It would take several years to build such a "ramp". And then it needed to be removed.
The French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin suggested that inside the pyramid itself there was a spiral ramp along which the blocks were pushed up. An ultrasound examination of the structure showed that there are indeed voids inside. Perhaps the inner ramp still exists today. But in order to find it, you will need to drill through the wall of the structure, which, of course, no one will allow an architect to do.
In 2006, a number of scientists, after discovering a human hair in the thickness of one of the blocks, leaned towards the version that the stone blocks were man-made. Perhaps this is an ancient type of concrete, which consists of limestone with salt, ash and lime. In this case, it becomes clear why the blocks fit so well together.
However, the main mystery is the purpose of the pyramids. Maybe these are just huge tombs for conceited pharaohs? Or messages to descendants, where the secret knowledge of ancestors is encrypted?
It is also known that the pyramids were built not only in ancient Egypt. The Tibetan pyramids, for example, are ten times larger than the Egyptian ones. Mayan pyramids are not inferior to them in age. And at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle, another pyramid was found. Thus, it can be assumed that this is just part of a planetary plan that will soon come to fruition.
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Wonders of the world. Pyramids of Giza
"Everything in the world is afraid of time, and time is afraid of the pyramids."
Arabic proverb
The greatest monuments of architecture
The most famous architectural wonder of the world is the pyramid complex of Giza in Egypt. The largest pyramids of this complex - the Great Pyramid of Cheops, the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure. They were built in the period from 2540 BC. e. to 2450 BC e. on the left west bank Nile in the city of El Giza. To this day, these pyramids amaze with their magnificence, power, and are a reflection of human strength and courage.
The first pyramid builder
The pyramids were built as the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. They were supposed to testify to the power and greatness of the country and the ruler. The rulers doomed the people of Egypt to exhausting construction, which entailed many casualties, claiming thousands of lives. About 2600 B.C. e. architect Imhotep designed step pyramid for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser, the founder of the III dynasty. This pyramid is considered the most ancient. Initially, Imhotep planned to build an ordinary mastaba, but already in the process of construction it turned into a six-step pyramid.
El Giza is located 8 km from Cairo on the west bank of the Nile. On the outskirts of El Giza, large and small pyramids rise out of the desert.
The Sphinx is located there.
solar boat was built of cedar without a single nail.
This pyramid also differed from previous tombs in the building material - stone was used for the first time. After his death, Pharaoh Djoser was placed in a tomb erected for him, but later his mummy was stolen.
solar boat
In 1954, archaeologist Kamal al-Malakh found a wooden solar boat on the south side of the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Why it was created is unknown. Judging by the traces of silt found on it, shortly before the death of the pharaoh, she sailed along the Nile. According to the Egyptians, on such a boat, the pharaoh after death could travel through the sky with the sun god Ra, which is why the boat is called “solar”.
sacred pyramid
The supreme deity of the ancient Egyptians was the sun god Ra, he was revered as the king and father of the gods. The pharaohs who worshiped him built pyramids in order to ascend to heaven after death and gain eternal life. They believed that their souls would rush to the top of the pyramid, where the god Ra would be waiting for them on his solar ship.
The funeral mask of Tutankhamen is made of pure gold, decorated with lapis lazuli and colored faience.
The vulture and cobra crowning the headdress are considered symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The pyramid of Menkaure, the grandson of Cheops, is 66 m high. Three small pyramids next to it were erected for three women - members of the pharaoh's family.
Pyramid of Khafre, son of Cheops. The pyramid is several meters lower than the pyramid of Cheops, but due to its location it seems higher.
The Great Pyramid of Cheops is one of the oldest heritages of architecture, one of the seven wonders of the world.
Research scientists
Based on the study of astronomers, the location of the pyramids corresponds to the position of the stars in the sky.
Some scientists note the similarity of their location with the constellation Orion. The four corners of the Great Pyramid of Cheops are called the four cardinal points. The entrance to it, in accordance with religious prescriptions, is located on the north side.
Great Pyramid of Cheops
The Great Pyramid of Cheops is almost a monolithic structure, with the exception of burial chambers, corridors leading to them and narrow ventilation shafts, as well as unloading chambers above the so-called "king's chamber".
Its length is 10.5 m, width - 5.3 m and height - 5.8 m. It is made of granite and has no decorations. This chamber contains a huge empty granite sarcophagus without a lid. Another burial chamber, located below, is traditionally called the "Queen's Chamber".
- Pyramidon
- air duct
- Unloading chambers
- "King's Chamber"
- "Queen's Chamber"
- Grand gallery
- Entrance to the pyramid
- granite blocks
- Road made of beams
- Block cladding
Movement of stones
During the construction of the Great Pyramid of Cheops, granite monoliths and limestone blocks were used. Most of the stone was mined in quarries near Cairo and floated on barges during the high water period, when the water extended to the edge of the desert. Heavy stones unloaded onto the pier were transferred to wooden sleds, which were dragged by numerous workers to the construction site with the help of ropes.
It took about 50 people to move one medium-sized block (weighing up to 2.5 tons) in this way. The main building device was a ramp, an inclined plane that lined up on opposite sides of the pyramids. With the help of such ramps, the blocks were raised.
Masonry
From hard rocks, stonemasons made blocks using bronze or copper saws, heavy hammers and dolerite balls. Using quartz sand, the sides of the blocks were polished. Stone blocks were adjusted so that even a knife blade could not pass between them.
Initially, the pyramid was lined with white limestone, harder than the main blocks. The top of the pyramid was crowned with a gilded stone - a pyramidon. In the XII century, Cairo was sacked, the inhabitants of the city removed the lining from the pyramid in order to build new houses for themselves.
Temple of the Lost
The Temple of the Dead was located to the east of the main pyramid.
It consisted of two parts: external (with entrance gates and a courtyard surrounded by columns) and internal (with niches for statues of the pharaoh).
From the Temple of the Dead, a long road led to the Nile.
Here, on the bank of the river, there was a temple with a mooring for ships, in which the deceased was embalmed.
The ruins of the Temple of the Dead were discovered in 1939.
Life after death
The Egyptians believed that the soul after the death of the body continues to live as long as it is in its "home" - in the body. Therefore, they attached great importance to the preservation of the body after death - mummification. After death, the body of the ruler was carefully embalmed, preparing him for life in the afterlife, the insides, the brain were removed and wrapped in linen bandages.
Embalming
wrapping
The insides of the deceased were placed in tightly sealed vessels (canopes).
Couple of pharaohs with procession
SARCOPHAGUS
This is a coffin-shaped stone box in which the mummy was placed. The covering of the sarcophagus, made of gypsum, repeated the figure of the deceased.
Who are the pharaohs?
Pharaoh in earthly existence personified the god Horus. It was believed that after ruling on earth, he would return to the gods. Power completely belonged to the pharaoh. He conducted state affairs, resolved military issues, disposed of the state treasury, was the chief priest, the Supreme Judge. The Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was responsible even for the fertility of the land, so the pharaoh always went to collect the first harvest. The Egyptian pharaoh was crowned with a crown, which symbolized the strength and power of the ruler.
Who built the pyramids?
The pyramids were built by the peasants of Egypt, who, during the annual floods of the Nile, were free from agricultural work. They worked in quarries, participated in the movement of stones. For their work, the peasants received housing, clothing, food and a modest salary. Skilled craftsmen (architects, masons) worked at the construction site throughout the year. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus claimed that the construction of the Great Pyramid of Cheops lasted 20 years, however, according to modern scientists, less than 10 years were enough to build the pyramid.
pyramid builders
Sphinx
The Sphinx was built by Pharaoh Khafre. This monumental sculpture represents a lion with a human head lying on the sand. The task of the Sphinx is to guard the burial place of the pharaoh. The headdress of the Sphinx is similar to the headdress of the pharaohs. Once upon a time, the Sphinx even wore a regal pharaoh's beard.
FACTS & GLOSSARY
The rulers of ancient Egypt built about 60 pyramids. The most famous of them are the pyramids of Giza: the Great Pyramid of Cheops, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure.
The largest of them is the Great Pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops.
Its height: 137 m (originally 146 m).
Side edge length: 230.4 m.
Volume of stone mass: 2.5 million m³.
Weight: Approx. 7 million tons
Number of stone blocks: 2.3 million
Average weight of a stone block: 2.5 tons (there are blocks weighing 15 tons).
The exits from the mines of the Great Pyramid of Cheops are oriented towards the constellations Orion, Sirius, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, which undoubtedly has a secret meaning.
The Great Pyramid of Cheops has a large base area, which could easily accommodate five of the largest cathedrals in the world at the same time: St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London, as well as Florence and Milan Cathedrals.
Mastaba- a rectangular burial building with sloping walls and a flat top with an underground burial chamber. Mastabas appeared during the period of the first dynasties as special "houses after life".
dolerite- volcanic rock.
Pharaoh's crown. After the unification, Egypt was considered a dual kingdom, it had two crowns: White - a symbol of power over Upper Egypt, Red - a symbol of power over Lower Egypt. As rulers of "both countries", the pharaohs wore a double crown on solemn occasions.
On the inner walls of the pyramid, you can see images of gods and Egyptian hieroglyphs.
In addition, the collection of religious texts "The Book of the Dead" was placed in the tomb.
Pyramid Mystery
For more than 3,500 years, no one has penetrated into the Great Pyramid of Cheops: all the entrances to it were carefully walled up.
The first to enter the pyramid in 831 was the Baghdad caliph al-Mamun. He decided to look for treasures in this pyramid. However, he ignored the warnings. local residents who claimed that "the pyramid is guarded by spirits" who kill the robbers. However, the caliph did not find any treasures in the Great Pyramid of Cheops, perhaps because the tomb of Cheops was plundered even before him by the ancient Egyptians.
pora.zavantag.com Of the seven wonders of the world, the Egyptian pyramids are the oldest. In contrast
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Of the seven wonders of the world, the Egyptian pyramids are the oldest. Unlike other miracles, they have survived to this day. Almost five thousand years ago, the founder of the III dynasty, Pharaoh Djoser, having barely ascended the throne, ordered the construction of his tomb to begin. It was entrusted to the architect Imhoten, who created the first step pyramid - the mother of pyramids. Its height is 60 meters, length - 120 m, width - 109 m. Unlike the previous tombs, the pyramid of Djoser was built not from wood and brick, but from large limestone blocks.
The largest pyramid was erected for the burial of Pharaoh Cheops at the beginning of the 27th century BC. e. Its height is 146.6 m, the length of each side is 233 m. It is built from carefully hewn and tightly fitted limestone blocks weighing from 2.5 to 30 tons. According to scientists, it took 2,300,000 such blocks to build the pyramid. To get around the pyramid around the perimeter you need to walk 1 km. It was built over 30 years, and about 100 thousand slaves, peasants and artisans were employed in its construction. The Egyptians, speaking of the pyramid of Djoser, emphasized that there are several mastabas in it, and mastaba in Arabic means "bedroom".
"Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (605-526 BC), in order to fight against the main enemy - Assyria, whose troops twice destroyed the capital of the state of Babylon, entered into a military alliance with Knakxar, the king of Media.
Having won, they divided the territory of Assyria among themselves. Their military alliance was strengthened by the marriage of Nebuchadnezzar II to the daughter of the Median king Semiramis.
Dusty and noisy Babylon, located on a bare sandy plain, did not please the queen, who grew up in the mountainous and green Media. To comfort her, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the construction of " hanging gardens". In architectural terms, the "hanging gardens" were a pyramid, consisting of four tiers - platforms, they were supported by columns up to 25 meters high. The lower tier had the shape of an irregular quadrangle, largest side which was 42 meters, the smallest - 34 meters.
In 331 BC. the troops of A. Macedonian captured Babylon. The famous commander made the city the capital of his vast empire. It was here, in the shade of the hanging gardens, that he died in 339 BC. After the death of Alexander, Babylon gradually falls into decay.
The gardens were in disrepair. Powerful floods destroyed the brick foundation of the columns, the platforms collapsed to the ground. So perished from the wonders of the world.
Zeus Olympian
IN northwestern part of Hellas was located the city of Olympia, the fame of which spread far beyond the borders of the country. According to legend, it was here that Zeus entered into a fight with his father, the bloodthirsty and treacherous Cronus, who devoured his children, since the oracle predicted his death at the hands of his son. Saved by his mother, the matured Zeus won and forced Kron to jump off his brothers and sisters.
In honor of this victory, the Olympic Games were established, first held in 776 BC. More than two centuries passed, and in 456 BC. in Olympia there was a temple dedicated to Zeus, which became main shrine cities. The temple was decorated with a statue of a god 12 meters 40 cm high, the grandeur and beauty of which so impressed the imagination of contemporaries that it was recognized as a wonder of the world.
The creator of Olympian Zeus is the famous sculpture of Phidias. The writings of ancient historians, archaeological finds brought to us the sculptural image of the ancient Greek deity.
Phidias depicted Zeus sitting on a throne. An olive wreath adorned the head of the god of thunder, a beard framed his face with wavy strands, a cloak fell from his left shoulder, covering part of his legs. The figure of Zeus is made of wood, and details of ivory and gold were attached to this base with the help of bronze and iron nails, as well as special hooks. The face, hands and other marked parts of the body were made of ivory, hair and beard, wreath, cloak and sandals were made of gold, eyes were made of precious stones.
The throne was made according to some sources from cedar, according to others - from ebony and covered with gold and ivory. The legs of the throne were decorated with figures of the dancing Nike, the goddess of Victory. The armrests of the throne were supported by sphinxes, and its back was decorated with Harites - the goddess of beauty, the daughter of Zeus and Hera.
Pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops and the history of the Egyptian pyramids
In front of the pedestal depicting the scene of the birth of Aphrodite, a small pool was arranged, lined with blue Eleusinian stone and white marble.
At the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th century AD. the statue of Zeus was transported to Constantinople, as the Byzantine emperors collected all the best works of art in their capital. In the 5th century AD the palace of Emperor Theodosius burned down, only a few burnt bone plates and pieces of molten gold remained from Olympian Zeus.
faros lighthouse
In the winter of 332 BC. e. the troops of A. Macedon captured Egypt, and a year later, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, not far from the Nile Delta, a city was founded, named after the winner Alexandria. For centuries, Alexandria has been one of the largest cities, the center of science, culture and trade.
With the development of shipping and maritime trade, the need for a lighthouse was felt more and more acutely, which, among the underwater rocks and shoals, would indicate to ships a safe route to the harbor of Alexandria. Under Ptolemy I (3rd century BC), on the eastern tip of the island of Pharos, which lies in the sea at a distance of 7 stadia (1290 meters) from Alexandria, a lighthouse was built - a majestic structure recognized as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World".
The height of the lighthouse was 135 m, its light was visible at a distance of up to 60 km (according to other evidence - 100 km). Bottom part The lighthouse was a tetrahedral prism 60 meters high with a square base, the side length of which was 30 meters (area 600 sq. m.). Various inventory was stored in the interior, and a flat roof, decorated in the corners with huge statues of Triton, served as the base of the middle part of the lighthouse. It was a 40-meter octagonal prism-tower lined with white marble.
Temple of Artemis of Ephesus
The temple was built in 450 BC. in the city of Ephesus in honor of Artemis, the fleet-footed goddess of hunting, the patroness of forests and forest dwellers.
The temple was a rectangular building made of stone and wood, surrounded on all sides by a double colonnade of 127 columns. Information about the decoration of the temple has not been preserved. The method of building the temple, which was erected on swampy soil, is unique.
In 356 BC the temple was set on fire by an ambitious resident of Ephesus, Herostratus, who dreamed of becoming famous at any cost: he hoped that by destroying one of the most wonderful creations of that time, he would forever remain in history. But by decision of the Ionian cities, his name was consigned to oblivion and was preserved for us only in the notes of the ancient Greek historian Theopomnes (4th century BC)
Mausoleum in Galinarnassus
In 32 BC King Mausolus died in the city of Galinarnassus (Asia Minor). According to the custom of those times, the corpse of the king was burned, and the ashes were placed in a funeral urn. One of the legends that has come down to us says that the widow of King Artemisia decided to build a magnificent tomb and thereby perpetuate the memory of her husband.
According to another historical version, the construction of the tomb was started during the life of Mausolus, Artemisia only completed it.
The tomb of Mausolus, called by the Romans a mausoleum, was a majestic and extraordinary building, built of brick and lined inside and out with white marble. Its height reached 60 meters.
The first floor, where the urn with the ashes of Mausolus rested, looked like a huge cube 20 meters high and 5,000 square meters. sq. m. The second floor was surrounded from the outside by a magnificent colonnade. The next floor was made in the form of a multi-stage pyramid, it was crowned with the figures of Mausolus and Artemisia, driving a quadriga - four horses harnessed to a chariot.
One of the wonders of the world - the mausoleum in Galinarnas - stood for almost 2 thousand years. It was finally destroyed in 1522.
The Colossus of Rhodes
In 304 BC The troops of the ruler of Asia Minor and Syria, Demetrius Pollornet, suddenly attacked the island of Rhodes. However, the staunch resistance, the courageous struggle of the Rhodians forced the enemy to retreat. In honor of the victory, the inhabitants of the island decided to erect a statue of the god Helios, the patron saint of Rhodes.
The construction of the monument was entrusted to the famous sculpture Hares, a student of the famous Lysippus. 12 years of hard work have passed, and a majestic picture has opened up to the admiring glances of the inhabitants of the island. At the entrance to the harbor on a white marble hill stood a giant bronze figure of the sun god.
His head was decorated with a crown in the form of diverging rays, with his left hand he supported a flowing cloak, and with his right palm, bent at the elbow, he covered his eyes, peering into the sea.
The fame of the Colossus of Rhodes spread throughout the Mediterranean. Many travelers from other countries came to admire the magnificent work of art. Compared to other wonders of the world, the Colossus of Rhodes lived a short life: 50 years after its birth, it was destroyed by an earthquake.
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