Wonder of the World No. 5: Pyramids of Egypt

The pyramids of Egypt are the oldest of the wonders of the world, which, moreover, have survived to this day. Of course, one can argue for a long time who created these amazing stone mountains, which seem to last forever: the desert will be replaced by a damp forest, the forest will be replaced by a desert again, and they will still remain towering above the ground, inspiring respect for their creators.

Now they are already talking about the hand of aliens, about the Atlanteans who allegedly helped the ancient builders. Even the dates given are not the ones accepted. But for now these are only hypotheses, and the official version remains the same.

It is believed that the first pyramid was built by egyptian pharaoh Djoser (reigned around 2780-2760 BC). There are legends that the main role in the creation of this huge structure (about 60 meters high) was played by the great figure of those times, Imhotep. (Didn’t we see his free interpretation not so long ago in “The Mummy”?) From a later time, figurines depicting this remarkable architect have been preserved. Apparently, Pharaoh Djoser himself was so pleased with the unprecedented tomb built by Imhotep that he allowed the architect’s name to be carved on the base of his statue - an honor completely unheard of in ancient Egypt. During excavations of the mortuary temple, located near the pyramid of Djoser, scientists found fragments of several statues of the pharaoh and among them a pedestal on which the name of Imhotep was written.

One of the first ancient scientists to report on the pyramids was Herodotus. According to his stories, in order to drag the stone blocks up, an inclined embankment was built. Subsequently it was leveled. Along it, the builders, driven by the sticks of the overseers, pulled heavy stones on ropes, which were installed in place with the help of a wooden lever. How many people died under the weight of a broken block of stone, how many were maimed while laying stones, how many died from backbreaking labor right here, near the still unfinished walls of the pyramid! And this has been going on for twenty long years. When the masonry of the pyramid was completed, its steps were laid with facing blocks. They were brought from quarries located in Upper Egypt, near Aswan. The facing blocks were lifted up along the ledges of the pyramid and laid from top to bottom. Then they were polished. Under the rays of the southern sun they shone with a dazzling brilliance against the background of the cloudless Egyptian sky. Herodotus says that the construction of the pyramid of Khufu lasted about twenty years. Every three months, workers were changed, the number of which reached 100,000 people. The whips of the overseers, the grueling heat, and inhuman labor did their job. After all, there were no machines for lifting two-ton limestone blocks. Everything was done only with the help of living human power. Even if we accept Taking into account that Herodotus made a number of obvious exaggerations and inaccuracies, the figures he cited still give an idea of ​​the enormous scale of work undertaken by Cheops to create a colossal tomb. In the same story, Herodotus mentions an inscription made on the pyramid, which indicated the amount, spent on onions, garlic and radishes for the workers was equal to 1600 talents. “If this is really so,” exclaims Herodotus, “then how much should be spent on iron tools for work, on food and clothing for the workers?”

The pyramids are constantly being explored and very often something interesting is found, which immediately gives rise to new myths and mysteries. Currently, the so-called mines in the Great Pyramid of Cheops are being intensively studied. Interesting hypotheses are put forward by scientists R. Bauval and E. Gilbert in their best-selling book “Secrets of the Pyramids”...

One of the most ancient and yet striking Wonders of the World are the Great Pyramids located in Giza (Egypt). The complex of Gisean buildings represents the greatest architectural monument ever created by man. In total, more than a hundred pyramidal structures were found in Egypt, but most of them did not stand the test of time.

Pyramids of Giza

The Pyramid of Cheops

The largest of the Gisean complex, the Pyramid of Cheops is the largest building structure in the world. Its base is a square with a side of as much as 227.5 meters. The original height of the structure is believed to have been 146 meters, but several of the top stones were destroyed, and today the pyramid is 9 meters lower.

Engineering studies have shown that the largest Gisea architectural monument consists of 2.3 million stone blocks, each of which weighs at least 2.5 tons. The total volume of the structure is 2.34 million cubic meters. The sides of the pyramid are turned to the cardinal directions, with the entrance to the inside being from the north.

A distinctive feature of the structure is that every single building block fits together so well that even now, after several thousand years, it is impossible to insert even the thinnest blade between them. In addition, the researchers discovered that the mortar used to hold the structural elements together was stronger than any modern material.

Purpose of the pyramids

There are no inscriptions, drawings or decorations in the Cheops pyramid. Inside the building there are three chambers, in the center of one of which there is a granite sarcophagus. At first it was assumed that the structure was a tomb. Many years of research have either confirmed or refuted this assumption.

But neither the remains of the pharaoh, nor any utensils or things that, according to the tradition of that time, were buried with the deceased, were found. True, there is a high probability that the pyramid was simply plundered. However, some details in the hypothesis about the purpose of the structure do not agree with the version about the tomb.

However, we will leave to historians and archaeologists questions about the origin and purpose of the construction of such an amazing complex of buildings, the entrance to which is protected by the Great Sphinx - the largest monolithic sculpture on the planet. For you and me, the Pyramids of Giza, with which many legends are associated, remain one of the most striking and unusual examples of the heights of engineering.

The only one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world that has survived to this day is the Great Pyramid of Giza - the Pyramid of Cheops. In the suburbs of Egypt's capital, Cairo, this ancient monument was designed and built as the tomb of the most famous pharaoh Cheops (Khufu) and is recognized as the tallest structure of its time. It’s hard to believe, but the height of this miracle of art is almost 147 meters (imagine five nine-story buildings stacked on top of each other). Initially, the pyramid occupied an area larger than seven football fields, and the length of one of the sides of its base was over 230 meters.

Construction of the Great Pyramid, by official version Egyptologists, ended in 2540 BC. To create this truly extraordinary miracle, it took the joint efforts of 100 thousand people. According to archaeologists' calculations, the work lasted about 20 years.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

It is generally accepted Hanging Gardens Semiramis, which, according to one of the many versions, was built around 600 BC by order of the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife, the Median princess Amytis. Later, the daughter of King Cyaxares began to be called after the Assyrian queen.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were a four-story building, shaped like a pyramid, the tiers of which, supported by powerful columns, were both balconies and terraces. Hanging unique plants combined with fountains and ponds turned the Babylonian structure into a real oasis.

To supply the gardens with water, a special irrigation system was designed: hundreds of slaves turned wheels with buckets all day long. When Babylon fell into decay, there was no one to do the irrigation, and the unique flora of the hanging gardens died. Frequent earthquakes completed the job - finally destroying the palace. Babylon disappeared from the face of the earth, and with it the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the most beautiful monuments of antiquity, also disappeared into oblivion.

Zeus statue in Olympia

In the 5th century BC, a sports and religious center Ancient Greece There was Olympia, where the god Zeus was most revered. It was to him, the head of the ancient Greek Pantheon, that the Olympians unanimously decided to build a majestic temple. To implement the plan, the Athenian sculptor Phidias, famous for his sculptures, was invited to Olympia. The master faced a difficult task: to create a structure that would surpass all his previous creations in its monumentality. Phidias gave the go-ahead. Work has begun.

It took the sculptor and his apprentices ten years for the Ancient World to see this wonder of the world. The temple was entirely made of marble. Columns made of limestone were installed along its perimeter. On the walls of the temple there were picturesque bas-reliefs depicting Zeus and the twelve labors of Hercules.

The thunder god himself, called “the embodiment of male beauty,” was made of ivory and reached a height of 13 meters. He sat majestically on a throne carved from ebony and covered with chased gold plates, and almost touched the ceiling of the temple.

Phidias' masterpiece did not go unnoticed. For many years, writers and philosophers admired him, classifying the statue of Olympian Zeus among the best creations of mankind. But in 476 there was a fire, during which this wonder of the world was lost.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The initiator and “sponsor” of the latest version of Artemision, the temple of Artemis of Ephesus, was. The construction of this wonder of the world, which began in 323 BC, from limestone and marble, continued for many years. The “highlight” of the temple, its main distinguishing feature, were 127 giant columns installed in nine rows. The interior decoration of Artemision was mesmerizing. There was everything here: marvelous statues made by the best architects of that time, and beautiful paintings by famous artists. And in the center of this splendor stood the statue of the goddess Artemis, the patroness of love relationships and the family hearth.

Artemision, rebuilt by Alexander, lasted six centuries. It was plundered and destroyed by the Goths, and was inundated by numerous floods. Today, the existence of this wonder of the world is evidenced by only one single column, restored from the rubble.

mausoleum in Halicarnassus

Ancient Halicarnassus, where the “father of history” Herodotus was born, was famous for its architectural beauty. White marble temples built in honor of Ares and Aphrodite, the Salmakin fountain, theaters and palaces attracted foreign guests to the city. But the real “pearl” of Halicarnassus, a wonder of the world, was the tomb of the despotic king, which he began to build during his lifetime.

Pytheas and Satyros, the best architects of that time, worked on the tomb, which consisted of three tiers and reached a height of 46 meters. Leochares and Skopas were entrusted with decorating the building - creating marble figures of gods, animals and horsemen.

Egyptian pyramids– the most famous buildings on the ground. And the most ancient, because they are already five thousand years old! It is probably impossible to find a person who has not heard of them. Is it possible that somewhere in the jungles of Polynesia you can meet people so far removed from civilization. However, very few can tell anything about them.

These giant tombs of the fourth dynasty of pharaohs stand on the outskirts of Cairo as if specifically to make it convenient for tourists to travel to them by taxi. But this, of course, is not true. Over five thousand years, the capital of Egypt moved from city to city many, many times, while the pyramids always remained in one place - in the lower reaches of the Nile, where the roads leading to Asia and Europe intersect. So it would be more correct to say that the capital returned to them.

For a very, very long time, the Egyptian pyramids were the tallest buildings on Earth. Only at the end of the nineteenth century, when the Eiffel Tower was built in Paris, did it overtake the Cheops pyramid in height. And yet it remains a formal game of numbers - they are too different from each other.

And if you try to imagine the weight of the pyramid - and it weighs more than six million tons, then this is quite commensurate with the weight of all the buildings in Moscow within Garden Ring. It turns out that an entire city is hidden in one pyramid.

But what is most striking is that all this was built by hand, without mechanisms. Only wooden wedges and sledgehammers helped people cut out huge blocks of limestone, and they dragged them into place using papyrus ropes. The pyramid took twenty years to build, and every three months a hundred thousand workers came to the construction site. History is silent about how many of them survived to the end of this period. Most likely there weren't that many of them.

Why did people build such grandiose structures that required such enormous efforts and sacrifices? It is very difficult for modern people to understand this, although this riddle is not so complicated.

In ancient times, kings were considered direct descendants of the gods, which means their word was law for everyone. Therefore, the ruler, as in the famous fairy tale, could well order his subject: “Go there, I don’t know where, bring that, I don’t know what.”

He had enough money, because both the conquered peoples and his own people paid tribute to him. Perhaps it would be even more correct to say that he had a lot of extra money, because he could no longer eat or drink the excess, and the idea of ​​​​distributing it to those in need simply did not occur to him. There have been no such cases in history.

And in order to show everyone his greatness, the ruler ordered the architect: “Build something that has never been done anywhere in the world, so grandiose that the gods will rejoice. And may this building reach the sky!” This task was difficult, but it did not seem impossible. Indeed, in ancient times, people were sure that the sky was solid and not very high.

Moreover, the gods sit on it, like on a platform, and look down at them, so if you get closer to them, they will definitely see and hear the person.

Great Architect ancient world Imhotep was the one who could figure out how to complete such a task for the pharaoh. He proposed to build a multi-story pyramid out of stone, where each subsequent floor would be smaller than the previous one.

Before this, stone was not used for construction in Egypt; houses were built from wood and reeds, coated with clay, and unbaked brick was used for palaces and tombs. And all the buildings had a rectangular shape, like a matchbox. Imhotep proposed placing such “matchboxes” on top of each other, gradually reducing them towards the top.

But here’s what’s interesting: this form turned out to be not at all unique to the ancient world. Around the same time, huge ziggurats were built in a neighboring state - in Mesopotamia. This was the name given to multi-story pyramids made of clay bricks, on top of which a temple was placed. They probably hoped that this way God would better hear the requests addressed to him.

What’s even more remarkable is that very similar stone pyramids with temples on top were also built on the other side of the Earth, in America. And if Egypt and Mesopotamia can still argue about who first invented the pyramid, then the Americans almost certainly came up with it themselves.

Well, in Egypt, where the living God ruled the people, there was no need to build a temple on the top. The pyramids themselves inspired awe in the eyes of the pharaoh, especially since in the time of Herodotus they were dazzling white and absolutely smooth.

Only much later, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, a strong earthquake occurred in those places, and the white cladding crumbled. Ledges appeared on the walls of the pyramids, which today are quite successfully climbed by tourists who do not at all have exalted feelings for the long-vanished pharaohs.

In the suburbs of Cairo, where the Nile Valley smoothly turns into the Libyan Desert, the Great Pyramids of Egypt stand on the Giza Plateau. They are like a mirage, they appear from the hot sands of the desert. In ancient times these amazing buildings were . Centuries have passed, but they are impressive in their size, and their secrets still excite the minds of scientists and researchers.

Pyramids of Giza in Egypt

The Egyptian pyramids are the most famous and tallest in the world. This is the only surviving ancient wonder of the world. They aroused the admiration of great men and mere mortals. The pyramid complex at Giza, guarded by the Great Sphinx, is part of the huge necropolis of this city.

They were built during the time of the Egyptian pharaohs of the IV dynasty, which ruled the ancient state in 2639-2506 BC. Next to the huge structures there are small temples and pyramids in which the wives of the pharaohs, their officials and priests are buried. Scientists are still studying these burials.

Until now, researchers continue to argue about the purpose of these structures. There is a traditional version that says that the huge mounds that rise above the mortal world are the tombs of the pharaohs. Their ashes in such burials were closer to the sky and the sun. Some scientists believe that the Egyptian pyramids are temples where ministers of the cult of the Sun performed religious ceremonies. Other researchers suggest that these were scientific laboratories created for astronomical observations. German archaeologists have put forward another interesting hypothesis. They believe that the pyramids are natural generators of earth energy. Thanks to her, the pharaohs were “charged” and rejuvenated. Pharaohs visited the pyramids as regularly as a modern person goes to a psychologist or massage therapist. Most scientists believe that they were on Earth before the biblical flood. Therefore, all their secrets will have to be unraveled for more than one generation.

Egyptian pyramids: interesting facts

The great ones were built in different time under several pharaohs, who created tombs and monuments for themselves for centuries. The oldest of them is the Pyramid of Djoser. Its construction dates back to 2670. It is located in the city of Saqqara. Its height is 62 meters. The name of the author of this pyramid is known - he was the ancient Egyptian architect Imhotep. He was highly revered in Ancient Egypt, and later, even in myths, he became the main patron of crafts and arts - the son of the god Ptah.

The second largest ancient Egyptian pyramid was built by the son of Cheops, Pharaoh Khafre. It is lower than the nearby tomb of Cheops, its height is 136.4 meters, but since it is located at a higher high point plateau, it competes worthy with the Great Pyramid. At its top, a white basalt lining still remains, which is very reminiscent of a glacier. The internal structure of the pyramid is quite simple - two chambers, two entrances, located on the north side. One of them is located at a height of fifteen meters, and the second is directly below it, at the base of the building.

The Pyramid of Mikerin was built in 2504 BC. It is much smaller than the two great pyramids. Height - 66 meters. Scientists believe that the small size is due to the fact that Mikerin was not the legal heir to the throne. However, when he finally gained power, the structure began to have a more monumental appearance. Unlike the pyramids of Cheops and Khafre, its cladding was made of huge blocks of pink granite, which were brought to Giza from Aswan along the Nile. And downstream it was built. According to the surviving records of contemporaries, despite its more modest size, this structure was considered the most beautiful in Egypt.

Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt

Much later, similar structures were built in other areas of the country, which Egypt is proud of today. Giza, whose pyramids are known all over the world, gained great fame thanks to one of them - Cheops. It has become a real wonder of the world, which can still be seen in our time. The three tallest structures are rightfully considered the great Egyptian pyramids - the pyramids of Cheops, Mikerin and Khafre. But we should not forget that in this ancient city there are many small structures that keep no less secrets than the more monumental ones.

The Pyramid of Cheops in Giza was built a long time ago. It is still unknown exactly how long it took to build it. This great pyramid of Giza is believed to have stood since the time when the country was ruled by Cheops, the pharaoh of the 4th dynasty. The enormous interest in the history of its construction continues today. Myths about the pyramid There are many theories about the origin of this grandiose structure. Some of them are based on information received from Egyptologists, others have a somewhat exotic, fairy-tale touch. There is even a version that this structure was erected by aliens or some vanished civilization that lived in these places even before the appearance of the pharaohs. And they built it using unknown technical capabilities. According to such theories, the age of this pyramid at Giza is significantly higher than that indicated by modern scientists.

It is quite difficult to accurately measure the parameters of the Cheops pyramid in our time, since it has suffered greatly over its long history. Today, for example, the stone that crowned the structure is no longer there; the facing slabs have been destroyed. According to data obtained using modern measuring instruments, initially great pyramid of giza had a height of 146.5 meters. The length of one side is 232.5 meters. The sides have a slope of 51 degrees 50 minutes. Weight - 6,400,000 tons. The internal structure of the famous one is quite interesting.

Anyone who enters this majestic structure can visit four spacious rooms. These are the chambers of the king and queen, a large gallery and an underground chamber. Researchers discovered four shafts inside the pyramid. At first there was an assumption that they were necessary for ventilation of rooms, but later a bolder version arose, according to which the mines are channels to the stars.

Two of them are aimed at the North Star, the third - at the star Sirius, the fourth - at Orion. Since ancient times, people have sought to climb to the top of the Cheops pyramid, where there is a small area measuring ten square meters. There was a belief that there you could come into contact with eternity. Many famous Russians have visited this mysterious place. Among them is Emperor Nicholas II. And today many tourists come to Giza who want to see this miracle with their own eyes. Those who are interested in the history of Egypt can read about.

Sphinx - guardian of the pyramids of Giza

The Pyramids of Giza are guarded by the Great Sphinx, the oldest sculpture that has survived to this day. This is a lion with the head of a man. The history of the creation of this figure is no less mysterious than the history of the pyramids. There are many versions of the appearance of the Sphinx, but the most common of them says that the sculpture was built by Khafre in memory of his father, Pharaoh Cheops.

There is an opinion that the Sphinx was created much earlier, and under the pharaoh it was dug out of the sand during construction great pyramid. Some discrepancy with the first version is that the face of the Sphinx has Negroid features, while all images of Cheops that have survived to this day do not have such features.

Many legends are associated with the Sphinx's lack of a nose. The most common theory is that this mythical animal lost its nose to Napoleon's cannons during the battle between the Turks and the French in 1798. But this is fiction, because there are images from 1737 in which the Sphinx no longer had a nose. Therefore, this sculpture is a big mystery for scientists around the world who study civilization. Ancient Egypt. Many of the finds are stored in.
Nowadays, the pyramids in Giza are one of the world's main attractions, which are fraught with a great many secrets and mysteries. It is not at all surprising that the Egyptian pyramids are under the protection of UNESCO. Every year millions of tourists come to Egypt to see them and feel the extraordinary spirit of ancient times.

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