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Giza pyramid complex

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Archaeology; Architecture

   The Giza Pyramids, part of the Giza Necropolis
   Enlarge
   The Giza Pyramids, part of the Giza Necropolis

   The Giza Necropolis (coordinates 29°58′33″N, 31°07′49″E) stands on the
   Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient
   monuments is located some eight kilometres (5  mi) inland into the
   desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 20 kilometres
   (12.5 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre.

Great Pyramids of Giza

   This Ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (also
   known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops; coordinates
   29°58′31.3″N, 31°07′52.7″E), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or
   Chephren; coordinates 29°58′42.6″N, 31°08′05.0″E), and the relatively
   modest-size Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinus; coordinates
   29°58′19.8″N, 31°07′43.4″E), along with a number of smaller satellite
   edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids,
   and most noticeably the Great Sphinx. Associated with these royal
   monuments are the tombs of high officials and much later burials and
   monuments (from the New Kingdom onwards), signifying the reverence to
   those buried in the necropolis.
   Giza pyramids, view from south in late 19th century. From left:
   Menkaura pyramid, Khafra pyramid, Great (Khufu) pyramid.
   Enlarge
   Giza pyramids, view from south in late 19th century. From left:
   Menkaura pyramid, Khafra pyramid, Great ( Khufu) pyramid.

   Of the three, only Khafre's pyramid retains part of its original
   polished limestone casing, towards its apex. It is interesting to note
   that this pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu pyramid by
   virtue of its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of
   inclination of its construction – it is, in fact, smaller in both
   height and volume.

   The most active phase of construction here was in the 25th century BC.

   The ancient remains of the Giza necropolis have attracted visitors and
   tourists since classical antiquity, when these Old Kingdom monuments
   were already over 2,000 years old. It was popularised in Hellenistic
   times when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of
   the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it is the only one of the ancient
   Wonders still in existence.

   Due largely to 19th-century images, the pyramids of Giza are generally
   thought of by foreigners as lying in a remote, desert location, even
   though they are located in what is now part of the most populated city
   in Africa . Consequently, urban development reaches right up to the
   perimeter of the antiquities site, to the extent that in the 1990s,
   Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants opened across the road .

   The ancient sites in the Memphis area, including those at Giza,
   together with those at Saqqara, Dahshur, Abu Ruwaysh, and Abusir, were
   collectively declared a World Heritage Site in 1979 .

Major components of the Pyramids

   Map of Giza pyramid complex
   Enlarge
   Map of Giza pyramid complex
     * Pyramid of Khufu ("broken Pyramid")
     * Pyramid of Khafre
     * Pyramid of Menkaure
     * Great Sphinx
     * Khufu ship

Alternative theories

Orion Correlation

   Although hypotheses put forward by Robert Bauval are universally
   regarded by mainstream archaeologists (Lehner 1997) and Egyptologists
   as a form of pseudoscience, Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert (1994)
   proposed that the three main pyramids at Giza form a pattern on the
   ground that is virtually identical to that of the three belt stars of
   the Orion constellation. Using computer software, they wound back the
   Earth's skies to ancient times, and witnessed a 'locking-in' of the
   mirror image between the pyramids and the stars at the same time as
   Orion reached a turning point at the bottom of its precessional shift
   up and down the meridian. This conjunction, they claimed, was exact,
   and it occurred precisely at the date 10,450 BC
   19th-century tourists in front of the Sphinx - view from South-East,
   Great Pyramid in background
   Enlarge
   19th-century tourists in front of the Sphinx - view from South-East,
   Great Pyramid in background

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