Ancient Egyptian pyramids. Report on the topic: “Egyptian pyramids. Funerary culture of Ancient Egypt

Most people simply know that the Egyptian pyramids are large, impressive structures built a long time ago in ancient Egypt. It is also a widely known fact that the pyramids served as monumental tombs in which the pharaohs, the rulers of ancient Egypt, were buried. However, in reality there are much more interesting things and little known facts, which many do not know about these spectacular structures. To expand your knowledge of the Egyptian pyramids, check out the twenty-five facts below that you may not know.

25. The three most famous Egyptian pyramids are those at the Giza Necropolis, but in fact approximately 140 pyramids have been discovered in the area of ​​ancient Egypt.

24. The oldest Egyptian pyramid is considered to be the Pyramid of Djoser, which was built in the Saqqara Necropolis in the 27th century BC.

23. While the Pyramid of Djoser is considered the oldest, the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid of Giza) is the largest. The original height of the pyramid was 146.5 meters, and the current height is 138.8 meters.

22. Until the Lincoln Cathedral was built in England in 1311, the Great Pyramid of Giza held the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world. She held the record for at least 3,871 years!

21. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders Ancient World(Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) and the last one currently existing.

20. Estimates of the number of workers involved in the construction of the pyramids vary greatly, however, it is likely that at least 100,000 people built them.

19. The Pyramids of Giza are guarded by the Great Sphinx, the largest monolithic sculpture in the world. It is believed that the face of the sphinx was given a resemblance to the face of Pharaoh Khafra.

18. All Egyptian pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile River, which is the site of sunset and was associated with the kingdom of the dead in Egyptian mythology.

17. The ancient Egyptians buried their noble citizens in pyramids with funeral gifts that ranged from household items to the most expensive items such as jewelry. They believed that the dead would use them in the afterlife.

16. The earliest known architect of the pyramids was Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian polymath, engineer and physician. He is considered the author of the first major pyramid - the Pyramid of Djoser.

15. While experts generally agree on the hypothesis that the pyramids were built from huge stones cut with copper chisels in quarries, the methods used to move and stack them are still the subject of heated debate and speculation.

14. Another relatively obvious fact is that the methods used to build the pyramids evolved over time. Later pyramids are built differently from the earliest pyramids.

13. After the end of the period of pyramid construction in Ancient Egypt, an outbreak of pyramid construction began in the territory of modern Sudan.

12. In the 12th century, an attempt was made to destroy the pyramids of Giza. Al-Aziz, the Kurdish ruler and second Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, attempted to demolish them, but had to give up because the task was too large-scale. However, he managed to damage Menkaure's Pyramid, where his attempts left a vertical gaping hole in its northern slope.

11. The three pyramids of Giza are precisely aligned in accordance with the Constellation of Orion, which may well have been the builders' intention, since the stars of Orion were associated with Osiris, the god of rebirth and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian mythology.

10. According to estimates, the Great Pyramid of Giza consists of 2,300,000 stone blocks that weigh from 2 to 30 tons, and some of them even weigh more than 50 tons.

9. The pyramids were originally covered with casing stones made of well-polished white limestone. These stones reflected the light of the sun and made the pyramids shine like precious stones.

8. When the casing stones covered the pyramids, they could be seen from the mountains in Israel and maybe even from the moon.

7. Despite the wild heat around the pyramids, the temperature in the pyramids themselves actually remains relatively constant and stays around 20 degrees Celsius.

6. It is quite difficult to calculate exactly, but the weight of the Cheops Pyramid may well be approximately 6 million tons.

5. The Pyramid of Cheops was built facing north. In fact, it is the most carefully north-aligned structure in the world. Despite the fact that it was built thousands of years ago, it still faces north, with only a slight error. However, the error occurred because the North Pole is gradually shifting, meaning that the pyramid was once pointing due north.

4. On average, it took 200 years to build each pyramid. This means that often several pyramids were built at once, rather than just one.

3. One of the reasons why the pyramids are so well preserved is the unique cement mortar used in them. It is stronger than real stone, but we still don't know how they prepared it.

For several centuries now, the mysteries of Ancient Egypt have been the focus of attention of historians and archaeologists. When it comes to this ancient civilization, first of all, the grandiose pyramids come to mind, many of whose secrets have not yet been revealed. Among such mysteries, which are still far from being solved, is the construction of a great structure - the largest of all the Cheops pyramids that have survived to our time.

Famous and mysterious civilization

Of all the oldest civilizations, the culture of Ancient Egypt is perhaps the most well studied. And the point here is not only in the many historical artifacts and architectural monuments that have survived to this day, but also in the abundance of written sources. Historians and geographers of Antiquity also paid attention to this country and, while describing the culture and religion of the Egyptians, did not ignore the construction of the great pyramids in Ancient Egypt.

And when in the 19th century the Frenchman Champollion was able to decipher the hieroglyphic letter of this ancient people, scientists gained access to a huge amount of information in the form of papyri, stone steles with hieroglyphs and numerous inscriptions on the walls of tombs and temples.

The history of ancient Egyptian civilization goes back almost 40 centuries, and there are many interesting, vibrant and often mysterious pages in it. But the greatest attention is drawn to the Ancient Kingdom, the great pharaohs, the construction of the pyramids and the mysteries associated with them.

When were the pyramids built

The era that Egyptologists call the Old Kingdom lasted from 3000 to 2100 BC. e., just at this time the Egyptian rulers were keen on building pyramids. All the tombs erected earlier or later are much smaller in size and worse in quality, which affected their preservation. It seems that the heirs of the architects of the great pharaohs immediately lost the knowledge of their ancestors. Or were they completely different people who came to replace a race that had disappeared inexplicably?

Pyramids were built during the period and even later, during the Ptolemaic era. But not all pharaohs “ordered” such tombs for themselves. Thus, currently more than a hundred pyramids are known, built over 3 thousand years - from 2630, when the first pyramid was erected, to the 4th century AD. e.

Predecessors of the Great Pyramids

Before the great ones were erected, the history of the construction of these grandiose buildings spanned hundreds of years.

According to the generally accepted version, the pyramids served as tombs in which pharaohs were buried. Long before the construction of these structures, the rulers of Egypt were buried in mastabas - relatively small buildings. But in the 26th century BC. e. The first real pyramids were built, the construction of which began in the era of Pharaoh Djoser. The tomb named after him is located 20 km from Cairo and is very different in appearance from those called great.

It has a stepped shape and gives the impression of several mastabas placed one on top of the other. True, its dimensions are rather large - more than 120 meters around the perimeter and 62 meters in height. This is a grandiose building for its time, but it cannot be compared with the Cheops Pyramid.

By the way, a lot is known about the construction of Djoser’s tomb; even written sources have been preserved that mention the name of the architect - Imhotep. Fifteen hundred years later he became the patron saint of scribes and doctors.

The first of the classical pyramids is the tomb of Pharaoh Snofu, the construction of which was completed in 2589. The limestone blocks of this tomb have a reddish tint, which is why Egyptologists call it “red” or “pink.”

Great Pyramids

This is the name of the three cyclopean tetrahedrons located in Giza, on the left bank of the Nile.

The oldest and largest of them is the pyramid of Khufu, or, as the ancient Greeks called him, Cheops. It is the one that is most often called the Great, which is not surprising, because the length of each of its sides is 230 meters and the height is 146 meters. Now, however, it is a little lower due to destruction and weathering.

The second largest is the tomb of Khafre, the son of Cheops. Its height is 136 meters, although visually it looks taller than Khufu's pyramid because it is built on a hill. Not far from it you can see the famous Sphinx, whose face, according to legend, is a sculptural portrait of Khafre.

The third - the pyramid of Pharaoh Mikerin - is only 66 meters high, and it was built much later. Nevertheless, this pyramid looks very harmonious and is considered the most beautiful of the great ones.

Modern man is accustomed to grandiose structures, but his imagination is also stunned by the great pyramids of Egypt, the history and secrets of construction.

Secrets and riddles

Even in the era of Antiquity, monumental buildings in Giza were included in the list of the main wonders of the world, of which the ancient Greeks numbered only seven. Today it is very difficult to comprehend the intention of the ancient rulers, who spent enormous amounts of money and human resources on the construction of such gigantic tombs. Thousands of people were cut off from the economy for 20-30 years and were engaged in the construction of a tomb for their ruler. Such irrational use of labor is questionable.

Since the time the great pyramids were built, the mysteries of construction have never ceased to attract the attention of scientists.

Maybe construction great pyramid pursued a completely different goal? Three chambers were discovered in the Cheops pyramid, which Egyptologists called funerary, but in none of them were mummies of the dead or objects that necessarily accompanied a person to the kingdom of Osiris found. There are also no decorations or drawings on the walls of the burial chambers; more precisely, there is only one small portrait in the corridor on the wall.

The sarcophagus discovered in the pyramid of Khafre is also empty, although many statues were found inside this tomb, but there are no things that were placed in tombs according to Egyptian customs.

Egyptologists believe that the pyramids were plundered. Perhaps, but it is not entirely clear why the robbers also needed the mummies of the buried pharaohs.

There are many mysteries associated with these cyclopean structures in Giza, but the very first question that arises in the mind of a person who saw them with his own eyes: how was the construction of the great pyramids of Ancient Egypt?

Amazing facts

Cyclopean structures demonstrate the phenomenal knowledge of the ancient Egyptians in astronomy and geodesy. The faces of the Cheops Pyramid, for example, are precisely oriented to the south, north, west and east, and the diagonal coincides with the direction of the meridian. Moreover, this accuracy is higher than that of the observatory in Paris.

And such a geometrically ideal figure has enormous dimensions, and is even made up of separate blocks!

Therefore, the knowledge of the ancients in the field of construction art is even more impressive. The pyramids are built from giant stone monoliths weighing up to 15 tons. Granite blocks that line the walls of the main burial chamber Khufu's pyramids weighed 60 tons each. How did such colossuses rise if this camera is at a height of 43 meters? And some stone blocks of Khafre’s tomb generally weigh 150 tons.

The construction of the great pyramid of Cheops required the ancient architects to process, drag and raise more than 2 million such blocks to a very significant height. Even modern technology does not make this task easy.

A completely natural surprise arises: why did the Egyptians need to drag such colossuses to a height of several tens of meters? Wouldn't it be easier to build a pyramid of smaller stones? After all, they were able to somehow “cut out” these blocks from a solid rock mass, so why didn’t they make their task easier by sawing them into pieces?

Besides this, there is another mystery. The blocks were not just laid in rows, but were processed so carefully and pressed tightly together that in some places the gap between the slabs is less than 0.5 millimeters.

After its construction, the pyramid was still covered with stone slabs, which, however, had long been stolen by enterprising locals to build houses.

How were ancient architects able to solve this incredibly difficult problem? There are many theories, but they all have their shortcomings and weaknesses.

Herodotus' version

The famous historian of Antiquity Herodotus visited Egypt and saw the Egyptian pyramids. The construction, described by the ancient Greek scientist, looked like this.

Hundreds of people on drags dragged the stone block to the pyramid under construction, and then, using a wooden gate and a system of levers, lifted it to the first platform, equipped at the lower level of the structure. Then the next lifting mechanism came into play. And so, moving from one site to another, the blocks were raised to the required height.

It’s hard to even imagine how much effort the great Egyptian pyramids required. Their construction (photo, according to Herodotus, see below) was indeed an extremely difficult task.

For a long time, most Egyptologists adhered to this version, although it raised doubts. It is difficult to imagine such wooden lifts that could withstand a weight of tens of tons. And dragging millions of multi-ton blocks on drag nets seems difficult.

Can Herodotus be trusted? Firstly, he did not witness the construction of the great pyramids, since he lived much later, although he may have been able to observe how smaller tombs were erected.

Secondly, the famous scientist of Antiquity often sinned against the truth in his writings, trusting the stories of travelers or ancient manuscripts.

"Ramp" theory

In the 20th century, a version proposed by the French researcher Jacques Philippe Louer became popular among Egyptologists. He suggested that the stone blocks were moved not on drags, but on rollers along a special embankment-ramp, which gradually became higher and, accordingly, longer.

The construction of the great pyramid (photo image below), thus, also required enormous ingenuity.

But this version also has its drawbacks. Firstly, one cannot help but pay attention to the fact that this method did not make the work of thousands of workers dragging blocks of stone easier at all, because the blocks had to be dragged up the mountain, into which the embankment gradually turned. And this is extremely difficult.

Secondly, the slope of the ramp should be no more than 10˚, therefore its length will be more than a kilometer. To build such a mound requires no less labor than the construction of the tomb itself.

Even if it was not one ramp, but several, built from one tier of the pyramid to another, it is still a colossal work with a dubious result. Especially when you consider that several hundred people are needed to move each block, and there is practically no place to place them on narrow platforms and embankments.

In 1978, admirers from Japan attempted to build a pyramid only 11 meters high using drag and mound. They were never able to complete the construction, having invited modern technology to help.

It seems that people with the technology that was in ancient times cannot do this. Or were they not people? Who built the great pyramids at Giza?

Aliens or Atlanteans?

The version that the great pyramids were built by representatives of another race, despite its fantastic nature, has completely rational grounds.

Firstly, it is doubtful that people who lived in the Bronze Age owned the tools and technologies that allowed them to process such an array of wild stone and put it together into a geometrically perfect structure weighing more than one million tons.

Secondly, the assertion that the great pyramids were built in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. uh, debatable. It was expressed by the same Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century. BC. and described the Egyptian pyramids, the construction of which was completed almost 2 thousand years before his visit. In his writings, he simply retold what the priests told him.

There are suggestions that these Cyclopean structures were erected much earlier, perhaps 8-12 thousand years ago, or maybe as many as 80. These assumptions are based on the fact that, apparently, the pyramids, the sphinx and the temples around them survived the era of floods. This is evidenced by traces of erosion that were found on the lower part of the sphinx statue and the lower tiers of the pyramids.

Thirdly, the great pyramids are clearly objects related in one way or another to astronomy and space. Moreover, this purpose is more important than the function of the tombs. Suffice it to remember that there are no burials in them, although there are what Egyptologists call sarcophagi.

The theory of the alien origin of the pyramids was popularized by the Swiss Erich von Däniken in the 60s. However, all his evidence is rather a figment of the writer’s imagination than the result of serious research.

If we assume that aliens organized the construction of the great pyramid, the photo should look something like the picture below.

The Atlantean version has no less fans. According to this theory, the pyramids, long before the emergence of the ancient Egyptian civilization, were built by representatives of some other race, who had either super-advanced technology or the ability to move colossal blocks of stone through the air by force of will. Just like Master Yoda from the famous movie "Star Wars".

It is almost impossible to prove, as well as refute, these theories using scientific methods. But perhaps there is a less fantastic answer to the question of who built the great pyramids? Why couldn’t the ancient Egyptians, who had a variety of knowledge in other areas, do this? There is one that removes the veil of secrecy surrounding the construction of the Great Pyramid.

Concrete version

If moving and processing multi-ton stone blocks is so labor-intensive, couldn't ancient builders have used an easier method of pouring concrete?

This point of view is actively defended and proven by several famous scientists, from different specialties.

The French chemist Joseph Davidovich, having made a chemical analysis of the material of the blocks from which the Cheops pyramid was built, suggested that it was not natural stone, but concrete of a complex composition. It is made on the basis of ground rock, and is the so-called Davidovich’s conclusions were confirmed by a number of American researchers.

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.G. Fomenko, having examined the blocks from which the Cheops pyramid was built, believes that the “concrete version” is the most plausible. The builders simply ground up the abundant stone, added binding admixtures, such as lime, lifted the concrete base in baskets to the construction site and loaded it into formwork and diluted it with water. When the mixture hardened, the formwork was dismantled and moved to another place.

Over the decades, the concrete became so compressed that it became indistinguishable from natural stone.

It turns out that concrete blocks, not stone, were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid? It would seem that this version is quite logical and explains many of the mysteries of the construction of ancient pyramids, including the difficulties of transportation and the quality of processing of the blocks. But it has its weaknesses, and it raises no fewer questions than other theories.

Firstly, it is very difficult to imagine how ancient builders were able to grind more than 6 million tons of rock without the use of technology. After all, this is exactly the weight of the Cheops pyramid.

Secondly, the possibility of using wooden formwork in Egypt, where wood has always been highly valued, is questionable. Even the boats of the pharaohs were made from papyrus.

Thirdly, the ancient architects undoubtedly could have thought of making concrete. But the question arises: where did this knowledge go? A few centuries after the construction of the great pyramid, not a trace remained of them. Tombs of this type were still being erected, but they were all only a pitiful semblance of those that stand on the plateau at Giza. And to this day, what remains of the pyramids of a later period are most often shapeless piles of stones.

Consequently, it is impossible to say with certainty how the great pyramids were built, the secrets of which have not yet been revealed.

Not only Ancient Egypt, but also other civilizations of the past keep many mysteries, which makes getting to know their history incredible an exciting journey to the past.

One of the seven wonders of the world is the pyramids of ancient Egypt, which will be briefly discussed in this article. The age of these unique structures is about 4500 years. The most famous pyramids, which are especially popular among tourists and researchers, are located on the opposite bank of the Nile from the Egyptian capital - in the ancient cemetery in Giza. Scientists claim that more than a hundred pyramids were built in those days, but only a small part of them has survived to this day, which is today an important landmark of Egypt. These mysterious structures had a special purpose as the tombs of pharaohs and their wives. The pyramids were built using masonry, some of them were lined.
The earliest structure is considered to be the tomb of King Djoser, built according to the design of the ancient Egyptian architect Imhotep. This pyramid has a peculiar, stepped shape.

The Pyramid of Cheops is rightfully considered the most famous. Until the mid-19th century, this building was considered the largest in the whole world. Its height is 147 meters, all sides are completely symmetrical, and the construction area is more than 50 thousand square meters. But for all its greatness, and despite the impressive dimensions of the Cheops pyramid itself, its interior spaces constitute no more than 5 percent of the total area. The name of the architect who designed such a monumental structure is also known - his name was Hemuin.
The second largest is the Pyramid of Khafre. She's tall smaller than a pyramid Cheops is only a few meters away, but is located on a higher and steeper hill. Moreover, near the pyramid there is a statue of the Great Sphinx. Many Egyptologists believe (although this has not been proven) that the face of the Sphinx is a stone portrait of Khafre. In addition, this pyramid is distinguished from others by the fact that only two chambers were found in it, which rightfully allows it to be considered the most compact structure in the world. The free space in this tomb is less than one hundredth of a percent of the total volume. In this case, some researchers pay attention to the records of the ancient Greek historian Diodorus, who in his collections reports that Khafre was hated by his contemporaries so much that his real tomb had to be made not in a pyramid, but in a secret place.

Among the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, there are also those that differ from the classical idea of ​​them. They are distinguished by their unusual shape. For example, the pyramid at Medum, built for Pharaoh Huni. Initially, this building had a stepped form and consisted of seven steps, but today only three are visible. This happened as a result of natural processes.

In Dahshur there is a so-called broken pyramid, which has an irregular shape. At a height of 45 meters, the walls of this building change their level of inclination. Like all other pyramids, it has an entrance on the north side, but there is another distinguishing fact, in addition to its unusual shape, is the presence of a second entrance from the west. Exists a large number of opinions about the reasons for the irregular shape of this pyramid. Perhaps, due to the sudden death of the pharaoh, the tomb had to be urgently completed. Either it was deformed due to violations of construction technology or an earthquake.
Pyramid burials were popular until the New Kingdom. From this moment on, the tombs of the pharaohs began to be made in rocks. Pyramids began to be used exclusively as a decorative element in the burials of rich and noble people.

The first pyramid, which gave rise to all Egyptian pyramid construction, is located at Saqqara, about 17 km south of Giza. It was built in 2667-2648 BC for Djoser, the first pharaoh of the third dynasty.

History of the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser

The invention of masonry dates back to the beginning of Djoser's reign. The Pyramid of Djoser is considered the oldest stone structure on Earth, its prototype was the mastabas of the pharaohs of the first dynasty, built of unbaked brick. At first it was also a mastaba made of stone, but then it went through five stages in its development.

First, the pharaoh's architect Imhotep built a large mastaba, similar to the previously built tomb of Djoser in Upper Egypt. This time the mastaba was made not of brick, but of stone blocks. Subsequently, during the reign of the pharaoh, it was expanded in four directions, and then made oblong. The decision to expand the building a fourth time resulted in a tomb unlike any built before. Imhotep built three more mastabas, placing them on top of each other, each smaller than the previous one. This is how the first pyramid appeared, which became the prototype of all Egyptian pyramids.

However, Djoser wanted to make the pyramid even larger; he ordered to enlarge its base and make six terraces on its top. The pyramid was faced with limestone, which was brought from the opposite bank of the Nile, from the hills of Tura.

Design Features

To create Djoser's step pyramid, several independent layers of masonry were used, they rested on a central base of. All the pyramids that appeared in the future - Khafre, Khufu and other pharaohs who reigned later - were built in a similar way. However, unlike later pyramids, here the stone blocks are inclined inward at an angle of 74° in order to give the structure greater strength. In the pyramids built later, the layers of masonry are arranged horizontally.

Djoser's tomb was located under the foundation, it was carved into the rock, and a square shaft led to it. The entrance to the mine was located far outside the pyramid, to the north of it. A massive ten-meter wall was built around the pyramid, and inside it was a square on which several temples and

It still remains a mystery how the pyramids were built in Egypt in those distant times. Neither the method of building the pyramids nor who acted as the labor force has been revealed.

The pyramids located in Egypt attract people to the country's resorts great amount tourists. Everyone wants to see the “seventh wonder of the world” with their own eyes. Without them, it is impossible to form an idea of ​​Egypt as a country as a whole. In terms of popularity, a trip to the pyramids can be comparable to diving in Egypt, for which lovers of the underwater world of the Red Sea go to the Red Sea.

As a rule, pyramids in Egypt are associated with the pyramids located in Giza - a place near Cairo, but you should know that these are far from the only pyramids found in Egypt. It is in Giza that the three most famous pyramids of Egypt are located - the pyramids of Cheops, Khafre and Mikerin. Currently, there are about 118 pyramids in Egypt. Many of them have not retained their original appearance and appear to people in the form of hills or shapeless piles of stones.

In Egypt you can see two types of pyramids:

• stepped;
• correct form.

Step pyramids are the most ancient representatives of the pyramids in all of Egypt.

The first mention of pyramids in Egypt was made in the 5th century BC thanks to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. Traveling around the outskirts of Egypt and seeing the pyramids on the Giza plateau, Herodotus immediately called them “the seventh wonder of the world.” Herodotus created a legend that the famous Great Sphinx, located near the pyramids of Giza, is the guardian of the peace of the buried pharaohs.

Internal structure of the pyramids in Egypt

The pyramids in Egypt are one of the stages of the funeral - ritual process for the burial of the pharaohs. The construction of pyramids during Ancient Egypt followed strict construction rules:

• next to each pyramid there were always two temples - one very close, and the second a little lower, so that its foot was washed by the waters of the Nile;
• the pyramids and temples were connected by alleys.

Unfortunately, the pyramids of Giza have not preserved their temples to this day. Only one temple remained - the lower temple of Khafre - considered for a very long time to be the temple of the Great Sphinx. Inside each pyramid in Egypt, a chamber was created to store a sarcophagus with a mummy with passages cut into it. Some cells contained religious texts.

In the 20th century, scientists found that all pyramids in Egypt are structures with correct mathematical proportions.
They were built in several stages:

• leveling the site for the construction of the pyramid (about 10 years);
• construction of the tomb (sometimes the tomb was enlarged compared to the original construction project).

There is still debate about how the stone blocks were delivered to the very top of the pyramid.

What pyramids can you see in Egypt?

Pyramids of the 3rd dynasty pharaohs

The most famous pyramids in Egypt, built during the reign of the pharaohs of the III dynasty, are the pyramid of Khaba and the pyramid of Djoser.

Pyramids of the pharaohs of the 4th dynasty

Great Pyramids in Egypt

Every evening, near the pyramids, a light and music show takes place, accompanied by stories about the history of the construction of the pyramids in different languages ​​(including Russian).