Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Bent Pyramid of Dashur


The Bent Pyramid in Dashur was built during the end of the reign of Humi of Dynasty III into the beginning of Sneferu's reign which started the Forth Dynasty.
The uniqueness of this pyramid is in the fact the angle of the wall was changed in mid-construction. It started at 55° up to 154 feet.
The angle then was changed to 43° from there to the top of the pyramid. The total height of the pyramid was almost 344 feet.

Pyramid of Menkura


This third built for Menkura, grandson of Khufu, is much small then the other two on the Giza plateau. It's height is 218 feet, less than half of the other two pyramids.
The base measures 343 feet. Next to the pyramid are three much small pyramids.

Pyramid of Khafre


The second largest pyramid is that of King Khephren, son of Khufu. This originally stood 473 feet high. It appears to be taller than Khufu's pyramid, because it is built on higher ground.
The pyramids base is about 706 feet long. In front of the pyramid is a causeway which leads to a valley temple.
Near the valley temple the famous sphinx was carved out of an outcrop of limestone.

Great Pyramid of Khufu



The Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) is one of the largest structures built by man even today, 4,500 years later. It is estimate that 2.3 million blocks averaging 2.5 tons a piece were used in the building the pyramid.
Weight of the block ranged from 2 to 15 tons. The pyramid sits on 13.5 acres of land and is a height of 480 feet.
The length of its sides are 756 feet. It is estimated to have taken 100,000 men over 25 years to build the pyramid

Pyramids





The great pyramids of Giza are located just south of present day Cairo. The three pyramids were built during the 4th dynasty of Egypt.
They pyramids are those of Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephren), and Menkure (Mycerinus). They were constructed over 4,500 years ago and show us the power and wealth of the pharaoh in the Old Kingdom. Each had a mortuary temple and causeway.
Below is a basic map and lay out of the area on which these three pyramids were built.