- The Giza Pyramids
were built in the
26th century BCE
by the pharaohs
Khufu (fl. 2580 BCE, AKA Cheops),
Khafre (fl. 2570 BCE),
and
Menkaure (fl. 2520 BCE),
all of the 4th Dynasty
of the Old Kingdom of
ancient Egypt.
They were the tombs of
these pharaohs.
Of course, all the
tombs of
the pharaohs of all the
ancient Egyptian dynasties
were looted in
ancient times with singular
exception of the
Tomb of Tutankhamun,
which was largely, but NOT completely, unlooted.
- The Giza Pyramids
are the only surviving wonders of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
This is because
they are essentially big hills of stone
in the
Western Desert of Egypt and
NOT fragile, finicky things.
However, the
casing of white limestone
that gave the sides of the Giza Pyramids
a smooth appearance has mostly been lost due to
quarrying
in the Middle Ages
and later
(see Wikipedia:
Great Pyramid of Giza: Casing;
Wikipedia:
Pyramid of Khafre: History)
or was never completed
(see Wikipedia:
Pyramid of Menkaure: Size and construction) or some combination thereof.
- Image 2 Caption: A map
of the Map of
Giza Necropolis (c.2600--c.2500 BCE)
with the
Giza Pyramids (c.2600--c.2500 BCE)
and the
Great Sphinx of Giza (c.2558--c.2532 BCE).
- The faces of the Giza Pyramids
are aligned with the cardinal directions:
north,
south,
east,
west
(see Wikipedia:
Giza pyramid complex: Astronomy).
Thus, the Giza Pyramids are
astronomical monuments and
objects of interest to
archaeoastronomy.
There may be other astro-alignments built into the
Giza Pyramids
(see
John North 1994,
The Norton History of Astronomy and Cosmology, p. 9;
Wikipedia: Giza Pyramids: Astronomy).
- It must be emphasized the Giza Pyramids
were primarily tombs
for the
pharaohs.
The astro-alignments are just minor
subsidiary features.
- It is a fascinating coincidence---if coincidence it be---that the
building of the Giza Pyramids
in the 26th century BCE
was roughly coincident in time with the construction of the major features of
Stonehenge:
the sarsen stone ring of
standing stones
connected by lintels
and the enclosed horseshoe pattern of
5 huge
sarsen stone
trilithons
(see
Wikipedia:
Stonehenge 3 II (2600 BC to 2400 BC).
- The Giza Pyramids
make you wonder about people who build absurd structures in the middle of the
desert.
Think of---well---Las Vegas---The Luxor,
The Sphere,
etc.
Howsoever, it's a melancholy thought that because the
Giza Pyramids are piles
of rock in the
desert, they may well
still be standing when all other remaining
human
artifacts
are geological strata:
...
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
- See also
Pyramids of Giza
and Great Sphinx Walking Tour - 4KUHD - with Captions | 2:42:17.