The Great Pyramid of Giza.

Essay by beanie-birdHigh School, 10th gradeA+, September 2003

download word file, 4 pages 3.5

The Great Pyramid of Giza

The greatest accomplishment of all the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World does not need a description by early historians and poets. It does not require conjectures regarding its appearance, size, and shape. This wonder is the oldest of them all and the only surviving one. This great wonder of the ancient world is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is located on the outskirts of today, Cairo, Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile River. It was built by the Egyptian pharaoh, Khufu, of the Fourth Dynasty, around 2585-2560 BC. The main purpose of this monument was to serve as a tomb when he died and a source of transportation to his afterlife. The pyramids were built to protect the embalmed, mummified bodies of the Egypt pharaohs for eternity. To build such a great accomplishment for a pharaoh is a grand achievement of the ancient civilization of Egypt.

The building of the pyramid took a total of less than 30 years. On average, 2.3 million blocks of stone were used to build Khufu's pyramid, weighed 2.5 tons, and the heaviest blocks, used as the ceiling of Khufu's burial chamber, weighed in an estimate of 40-60 tons. The pyramid was most likely constructed by approximately 4,000 craftsmen. The question of exactly who built the pyramids, and how, has long been debated by Egyptologists and historians. Theory has it that the stones were hauled up by ramps using ropes of papyrus twine. The gradually sloping ramps, built out of mud, stone, and wood were used as transportation causeways for moving the large stones to their positions up and around the four sides of the pyramid. The minds of the ancient Egyptians are very impressive considering their advanced engineering skills at such...