Pyramids of Egypt

Rank's #1 in the world
The Pyramids of Egypt has been #1 on my world wonder list since I began that list in 1968.

Why the Pyramids of Egypt are special
The Pyramids of Egypt are far bigger than most people would imagine. They are even more amazing when we consider that they were built nearly 4600 years ago.

Khufu's Pyramid reigns supreme

• Pharaoh Khufu
  His structure is the oldest, biggest and most famous of the great Pyramids of Egypt
• Over 4,500 years old
  Pharaoh Khufu's pyramid was built during his reign, 2589 to 2566 BC.

Mummies
The mummies in all three tombs were removed long ago by sophisticated tomb robbers. They also took priceless buried treasure.

My animated picture illustrates"then and now"
You can see the marked difference in appearance between the way the Pyramids of Egypt looked originally and look today.

• Smooth facade
  When built, they were covered with a smooth limestone surfacing that gave them a sleek finished look.
  
• Stripped facade
  Today they have a rugged exterior because subsequent ancient rulers filched the surface stones from the monuments for use on their own buildings.

Bigger than it seems
Khufu's edifice is the farthest of the three great Pyramids of Egypt in the animated picture. It seems shorter than the middle pyramid (Chephren's) for two reasons.

• Elevation
  The middle pyramid sits higher on the plateau than Khufu's.
  
• Vantage point
  I shot the photo at a spot that is popular with professional photographers. It's ideal for capturing all three pyramids. But that location makes Khufu's structure appear smaller relative to the others because it is the farthest from the camera lens.

Interesting tidbits about Pyramids of Eqypt
Pyramid construction method
Many theories exist on how the Pyramids of Egypt were constructed. Most Egyptologists now believe that a large temporary earth ramp with a gentle incline was built. The giant stone blocks were then dragged up the slope with a combination of pulleys, levers and raw manpower.

Erroneous block count
The number of large stone blocks used to build the Pyramids of Egypt is often overstated. For example, it is commonly written that 2.3 million were used for Khufu's structure. The actual figure is many times smaller when you divide the cubic size of the pyramid by the average cubic size of the stone blocks.

Evolving Pyramid design
Over the course of several centuries, the construction design evolved from the modestly high step pyramid style to the skyscraping, smooth-sided pyramids of Khufu and Chephren at Giza.

Decline
Then, starting with Menkure's pyramid (the nearest one in the picture), size and structural strength gradually began to decline. The primary reasons were weakening economies and fading pharaonic powers.

Alignment
The three great Pyramids of Egypt have a north-south alignment because the polar stars were considered sacred.

Location Map