The pyramids of Egypt are the last remaining
Wonder of the World. Even in the days of
Ancient Egypt when powerful pharaohs ruled over Egypt the pyramids were
considered a wonder. Today, the ruins of
35 pyramids still stand near the Nile River in Egypt. These pyramids were built to protect the
bodies of Egyptian kings and other royalty but before the pyramids became the
standard for burials, tombs were used for Egypt's early rulers, nobles, and other
high ranking officials. This group of
hierarchy were laid to rest in rectangular, flat-topped mastabas of mud and
brick. These mastabas were about 12 feet
high and were easy targets for tomb robbers.
The first pyramid built was the Step Pyramid of
Saqqara; it stands in the open desert south of Cairo. The Step Pyramid was built for King
Djoser. The people of Egypt willingly
labored to build these monuments for their rulers, believing that, as gods, the
pharaohs had to be properly provided for in their afterlife. The Step Pyramid was built around 2630
B.C. It exhibited a radical new shape
never before used, and it was so new the Egyptians used its silhouettes as the
hieroglyphic for "primeval mound", the first piece of earth to emerge
from the soup of creation (Malek 90).
King Djoser's chief architect for his pyramid
was Imhotep. It is thought that King
Djoser's stone tomb started out having the standard shape of a mastaba. Then, as construction progressed, a concept
evolved. Imhotep began to place one
flat-topped stone structure atop another until he had created six steps by
which the king could ascent to the heavens after death. The Egyptians had a firm belief in an
afterlife and viewed their pharaohs as gods.
These beliefs were a strong force that led to the piling up of stones to
such a monumental scale. The Step
Pyramid rose to a height of 204 feet; later pyramids increased in height as
their designs changed. It was not
sufficient that a pyramid be immense, but it had to be built so solidly that it
would stand forever.
Although the Step Pyramid was the first
pyramid, the Great Pyramid is the best known.
The Great Pyramid was built for King Cheop. It is the largest pyramid of the three at
Giza. The three pyramids built for King
Cheops, King Chephrun, and King Mycerinos stand on the west bank of the Nile
outside Cairo. They are the largest and
best preserved of all Egyptian pyramids.
They were built between 2600 B.C. and 2500 B.C. However, it is hard today to imagine the
manpower involved in building the Great Pyramid (especially in our world of
computers, machinery, and advanced technology.
The ancient Egyptians had no machinery or iron tools to help in the
building of the pyramids. The large limestone
blocks used to build the pyramids were cut with copper chisels and saws. Most of these stones came from nearby
quarries. An interesting fact to note is
that camels were not brought into use until twenty centuries after the pyramids
were built. Human strength was used to
drag the stones from the quarries or from the boats (Casson 76). The stones were then dragged and pushed into
place for the first layer of the Great Pyramid, which was placed on flat level
ground. Next, long ramps were built of
earth and brick moving the blocks up the ramps to form the next layer. After the top layer was finished the workers
covered the pyramid with an outer coating of white casing stone, which gave the
Great Pyramid a brilliant shrine during the day when the sun shone down on
it. The outer coating of white casing
stone were laid so perfectly that from a distance the pyramid appeared to have
been made from a single white stone.
The main difference of the Great Pyramid
compared to other pyramids, besides the fact of its size, is the difference of
the location of the burial chamber. The
Great Pyramid's burial chamber was in the uppermost part of the pyramid. This was something new, burial chambers in
other pyramids were located beneath the pyramid. To reach the burial chamber inside the Great
Pyramid a upward sloping corridor was built.
The ramp for the king's ascent to the polar stars was therefore
lost. A substitute for the ramp was
devised in the form of a northern ventilation shaft, which was a replica of the
lower entrance corridor. King Cheop was
to be positioned facing this northern view.
But what of King Cheop? His body
has never been found. Did he have a
secret chamber built for himself that was so well hidden that it was impossible
to find? Did thieves steal or destroy
King Cheop's body for the jewels and gold hidden within the body wrapping? Answers to these questions have yet to be
found.
It is estimated that it took about 2,300,000
separate blocks, each weighing an average of two and a half tons, to build King
Cheop's Great Pyramid. Some blocks
weighed up to fifteen tons. The base of
the Great Pyramid covered thirteen acres and reached a height of 481 feet. To accomplish the feat of building the Great
Pyramid it took 23 years and a work force of tens of thousands peasant laborers
(Hallibunton 335). The enormous size of
the Great Pyramid can better be visualized with the fact that Saint Paul's
Cathedral and the House of Parliament could be housed within the Great
Pyramid. If the Great Pyramid was sawed
into cubes, measuring a foot in each dimension and placed in a row, they would
extend over a distance almost equal to the circumference of the earth (Edwards
104). It is no wonder the Great Pyramid
is still a Wonder of the World.
All pyramids, no matter their size, design, or
age, share a common curse. Tomb robbers
have plundered the pyramids for centuries stealing gold, gems, beautiful
furniture, clothing, musical instruments, even sacred vases containing a
pharaoh's vital organs. All these items
were common items found inside a burial chamber. Now they have all been lost forever because
of tomb robbers of today and yesterday.
The well known Arabic proverb "Death comes on wings to he who
enters the tomb of the pharaoh" (Casson 81) meant little to the tomb robbers. Others who have heard the warning and chose not
to listen or believe have eventually paid the price. One such person was Lord Carnarvon, who
headed the excavation of King Tutankhamun's tomb. Lord Carnarvon died quite unexpectedly from a
4000 year old fungus he came in contact with inside the tomb of King
Tutankhamun. Shortly after Lord
Carnarvon parished, other members of the excavation party began to meet with
unusual and sometimes unexplainable accidents.
These so called accidents claimed the lives of thirty six members of the
party (Reeves 31). Was it the pharaoh's
curse or just coincidence?
In Las Vegas, Nevada the hotel-casino Luxor was
built. The Luxor was built in the shape
of a pyramid. A replica of the Sphinx
sits in front of the giant pyramid shape casino. When the hotel was being built a report was
given, and the construction workers interviewed were afraid of the pyramid
shaped casino. The workers believed in
the Curse of the Pharaohs. The numerous
accidents had sent other workers to the local hospital emergency room. Other Las Vegas casinos are blaming their
misfortunes on Luxor. It is no wonder
that magic, superstition, and the unknown has followed mankind since the
earlier times of the first mysterious pyramids!
Works Cited
Casson,
Lionel. Ancient Egypt. New York: Time Life. 1965.
Edwards,
I.E.S. The Pyramids of Egypt. New York: Viking Penguin. 1985.
Hallibunton,
Richard. Complete Book of Marvels. New York: Bobbs Merrill. 1960.
Malek,
Jaromin. In the Shadow of the
Pyramid. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma. 1986.
Reeves,
Nicholas. Into the Mummy's Tomb. New York: Scholastic. 1992.
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