The great pyramid was built during the reign of Khufu, 2nd kingof the fourth dynasty (2,720-2,560 BC).
It stands on the Gizaplateau nearby Cairo and is the biggest pyramid in the world. Itmeasures 230 m (756 ft) on each side of its base and originallymeasured 147 m (482 ft) high. Beginning in the 10th century ADthe entire Giza complex served as a source of building materialsfor the construction of Cairo; as a result, all three pyramidswere stripped of their original smooth outer facing of limestone. The core masonry consists of large blocks of local limestonetaken from the nearby quarries and built around and over a rockyknoll. The size of the knoll cannot be determined, since it iscompletely covered by the pyramid. The entrance to the pyramid isin the center of the northern face.
It is located in thethirteenth course of masonry from the base. This entrance has apointed roof formed of massive slabs of local limestone and opensinto a long steeply descending passage. From there a 36 meterslong ascending passage leads to a 35 meters long horizontalpassage that leads to the so called ‘Queen’s chamber’. Thischamber measures 5.
2 by 5. 7 meters and the maximum height of itspointed roof is about 15 meters. The north and south walls eachhave a small hole a few centimeters square about 1 meter from thefloor. These lead into narrow channels that originally opened onthe exterior of the pyramid. At the juncture of the ascendingand horizontal passage is an opening of a shaft which descends toa depth of 60 meters. It opens into the lower part of thedescending passage, close to the unfinished, underground chamber,and is believed to have been an escape shaft for the workmen whofiled the ascending passage with huge stones after the king’sfuneral.
From the horizontal passage the Grand Gallery, which leads tothe king’s chamber, starts. It is 47 meters long and 8. 5 metershigh, and has a corbelled roof. In the center of the floor is asunken ramp about 60 centimeters deep. The Grand Gallery ends ina horizontal granite passage which serves as an antechamber. Itmeasures 8.
4 meters long and 3. 1 meters high, and has slots forthree portcullises. Beyond the antechamber is the so-called’King’s Chamber’ which is lined, roofed and paved with redgranite. It measures 5. 2 by 10. 8 meters and is 5.
8 meters high. Its flat roof is formed of nine monolithic slabs of granite. Thenorthern and southern walls each have an ‘air channel’, one ofwhich is open to the outside. The Pyramid can be seen to haveabout two hundred level courses of squared stones.
The layersall have a different thickness ranging between approximately 50and 145 centimeters. The average block size is about 1 cubicmeter. On the Khufu pyramid, all the casing elements were removed inthe 14th century. The few casing stones which do remain in theGreat Pyramid all lie in the 1. 5 meter thick bottom course andcannot be representative of the stones which would have been usedin the higher parts of the construction. The only examples offace work such as this which remain are those on the pyramids atMeidum, Dashur andGiza.
