It is amazing to hear how many people dream of seeing the pyramids. While they are worthy of a visit … a journey? After having spent a couple of weeks along the Nile, if not for a visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum – literally next door to the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the wonders of further south near Luxor are where I would set my sights upon. But the pyramids are impressive – especially when you consider their age – and worth a visit if you are in Cairo. Coming to Egypt, I recommend you visit the Memphis necropolis at Saqqara and Dashur first, however, to give you a little sense of how the pyramids developed from much simpler burial tombs and where they went after the Great Pyramid era ended with the end of the Fourth Dynasty.

PYRAMIDS AND THE AFTERLIFE

The Pyramids represent the epitome of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. Ancient Egypt always worried about death and the afterlife. Those worries met head-on here for the Pyramids are simply large tombs reflecting beliefs of the time and the chance for one king to outdo another.

In 2575 BC, the Old Kingdom but before this seminal event King Djoser (2650-2620 BC) set the stage for what was to come. His step-pyramid south in Saqqara represented the next stage in tomb building from the earlier mastaba tombs. The earliest tombs were simple tombs built into the ground or cliffs. This led to the mastaba, a rectangular building surrounding the tomb. Then, putting one block mastaba onto another led to the development of the pyramid.

AFTERLIFE

Death and the afterlife featured prominently in the lives of ancient Egyptians. At first bodies simply lay placed in pit graves on mats surrounded by items that might help them in their next journey. To provide better protection from animals and grave robbers, the mastaba came into being. In Arabic, mastaba means bench. Benches were a feature of village homes, so the name became applied to these mudbrick walled, north-south oriented structures. The mastaba was brick-lined with roofing beams covering the tombs. Interconnected rooms, rooms originally filled with offerings and funerary equipment completed the mastaba. Into these mastabas the kings of the first two dynasties lay interred in search of protection in their resurrection. The kings lie buried near their capital out in the desert around Abydos.

Djoser’s architect, Imhotep, simply put one mastaba atop another, each progressively getting smaller. It was a small step in the future to fill in the gaps between the steps, especially since the sides of the pyramid were meant to reflect the rays of the sun. The rays of the sun and the sun god Amun-Ra figured dramatically in the mythology of the afterlife.

Fourth Dynasty – Sneferu

From the period of the initial unification of Egypt under the kingship of Narmer – 2950 BC – until the advent of the Fourth Dynasty, the Early Dynastic Period (2950-2575BC) was all about consolidating power over the country. This work became taken up by the kings of the first three dynasties. With the Third Dynasty, the move towards true pyramids rolled forth. After Djoser, both Sekhemkhet and Huni built pyramids like Djoser. The Third Dynasty came to an end with the death of Huni in 2613 BC, His successor, Sneferu, who may have been a son of Huni by way of one of his minor wives.

Sneferu built three pyramids in Dashur just south of Saqarra – the Bent Pyramid, the Red Pyramid and the Meidum Pyramid further south closer to Faiyum. The Meidum Pyramid collapsed a bit onto itself; the Bent Pyramid stayed upright, but at the expense of symmetry; but the Red Pyramid was Egypt’s first true pyramid – it ranks as the third largest in Egypt. Sneferu’s final resting place lies yet to be discovered due to tomb robbers in antiquity.

KHUFU

Sneferu’s son Khufu (2545-2525 BC) succeeded him and here the pyramids – and the Old Kingdom – reached their heights. Some Egyptologists are not sure if Khufu was Sneferu’s real or adopted son. He did reign for at least 25+ years with his reign marked by many building projects throughout the country, not just here at Giza.

Like many of the kings from the era, not much is known about him, nor his sons and grandson who continued the pyramid craze here at Giza (Khufu’s immediate successor, Djedefra, built his pyramid-tomb further north in the Abu Rawash funerary complex), little is known of the man himself. Most of what we know comes from Herodotus writing over 2,000 years later. Khufu’s name shows up on buildings and statues from Elephantine Island (Aswan) in the south, to Wadi Maghareh in the Sinai (Where an inscription shows Khufu doing what every good Egyptian king does – smites his enemies), to the Red Sea Coast.

Herodotus writes

Herodotus leaves us with the picture of a tyrant, forcing 100,000 men to provide labor for three months a year to build his pyramid complex. He has Khufu “being in want of money, he sent his own daughter to a brothel and ordered her to obtain from those who came a certain amount of money. But she not only obtained the sum appointed by her father, but she also formed a design for herself privately to leave behind her a memorial. She requested each man who came in to her to give her one stone for her building project. And of these stones, they told me, the pyramid was built which stands in front of the great pyramid in the middle of the three …”

Continuing on in his Historiae, he wrote “After Khéops (his name for Khufu) was dead his brother Khéphrên succeeded to the royal throne. This king followed in the same manner as the other … during which (time) they say (regarding the period of time Khufu and Khafre) that there was nothing but evil for the Egyptians, and the temples were kept closed and not opened during all that Time. … These kings the Egyptians are not willing to say their names (because of their hate for them).” The pyramids must have been the result of slavery.

Khufu today?

The picture of Khufu has slowly changed in recent years. Views from the First Intermediate Period (Lamentation Texts) do view the pyramids as vast vanity projects, but do not give negative impressions of Khufu or his successors themselves. That said, the pyramid simply represents a projection of the absolute power of the king. And while Khufu organized the biggest building project of the ancient world, the only image of the great king to survive remains a thumb-sized statue made of ivory. The little statue depicts Khufu, but may date from much later, possibly the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664-525 BC).

KHAFRA

Khafra succeeded his brother Djedefra to the throne. His brother’s reign lasted about a decade or a little more. Khafra ruled for about twenty-five years, For his tomb, he returned to the Giza plateau erecting a pyramid almost as big as his father’s. Very little is known of Khafra like his father, though a larger number of statues of Khafra have survived. Herodotus described him as a tyrant like his father. Only with his son Menkaura did peace and piety return to Egypt.

During the reigns of both Djedefra and Khafra did a close association between the sun god and pyramid building merge. To guard his pyramid, a rock knoll standing next to the valley temple linking up with the mortuary temple at the base of the pyramid became chiseled into the Great Sphinx symbolizing Khafra’s unification with the sun god.

MENKAURA

The resource toll on the Old Kingdom by the time of Menkaura’s reign proved unsustainable. He still put up a pyramid, but it only reached a height of 216 feet (482 feet for Khufu and 474 for Khafra) with a volume only one tenth of his grandfather’s. Little known of his reign except according to Herodotus, Menkaura alleviated the suffering Egypt’s people had suffered during the building of the great pyramids. His sarcophagus became re-discovered in 1837. The sarcophagus went down with the ship transporting it to the British Museum off Malta. It is now thought the sarcophagus was a replacement made during the Saite period – Twenty-Sixth Dynasty 664-525 BC, two thousand years after Menkaura’s death.

Known more maybe by the Greek name – Mycerinius – used by Herodotus, Matthew Arnold, a 19th century English poet, wrote a poem relating to the story regarding Menkaura and an oracle prediction retold supposedly by Herodotus. The oracle had predicted he would only live for another six years after he buried his only daughter.

HERODOTUS AGAIN

Herodotus writes more about Menkaura: “The king deemed this unjust, and sent back to the oracle a message of reproach, blaming the god: why must he die so soon who was pious, whereas his father and his uncle had lived long, who shut up the temples, and regarded not the gods, and destroyed men? But a second utterance from the place of divination declared to him that his good deeds were the very cause of shortening his life; for he had done what was contrary to fate; Egypt should have been afflicted for a hundred and fifty years, whereof the two kings before him had been aware, but not Mycerinus.

Hearing this, he knew that his doom was fixed. Therefore, he caused many lamps to be made and would light these at nightfall and drink and make merry; by day or night he never ceased from reveling, roaming to the marsh country and the groves and wherever he heard of the likeliest places of pleasure. Thus, he planned, that by turning night into day he might make his six years into twelve and so prove the oracle false.”

“MYCERINIUS”

“Not by the justice that my father spurn’d,

Not for the thousands whom my father slew,

Altars unfed and temples overturn’d,

Cold hearts and thankless tongues, where thanks are due;

Fell this dread voice from lips that cannot lie,

Stern sentence of the Powers of Destiny.

“I will unfold my sentence and my crime.

My crime—that, rapt in reverential awe,

I sate obedient, in the fiery prime

Of youth, self-govern’d, at the feet of Law;

Ennobling this dull pomp, the life of kings,

By contemplation of diviner things.

“My father loved injustice, and lived long;

Crown’d with grey hairs he died, and full of sway.

I loved the good he scorn’d, and hated wrong—

The Gods declare my recompense to-day.

I look’d for life more lasting, rule more high;

And when six years are measured, lo, I die!”

The poem goes on to tell of the king’s feelings toward the outcome of the oracle and his response, ending with:

“So six long years he reell’d, night and day.

And when the mirth wax’d loudest, with dull sound

Sometimes from the grove’s centre echoes came,

To tell his wondering people of their king;

In the still night, across the steaming flats,

Mix’d with the murmur of the moving Nile.”

THE PYRAMIDS

THE GREAT PYRAMID OF KHUFU

Twenty-years with ten thousand men working hard led to the biggest of all pyramids, over 3,800 years old. Estimations put the number of blocks involved with the pyramid at 2.3 million weighing in at 6 million tonnes. Each side measured at 755.6 feet – 230.3 meters – in length. The original height was 481 feet – 146.6 meters – but that reduced to 454.4 feet – 138.5 meters – over time as the limestone casing disappeared for other uses.

The purpose of the structure lay beyond a simple tomb. It also served to demonstrate the status of the king and his family as well as a place where offerings for the deceased could come. Thus, eternal life could be gained in the afterlife by the king. Sizes of tombs remained highly regulated by decree. Pyramidal tombs could only go to kings and queens. Three chambers exist within the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber remained unfinished. Above ground within the structure lie the Queen’s and King’s Chamber containing granite sarcophagi.

OUTSIDE

Outside the pyramid, two mortuary temples became erected, one near the Nile and another close to the pyramid’s base. Both temples connected to each other by a causeway (aside: a similar causeway almost finished which will link the pyramids to the Grand Egyptian Museum lying to the northwest). Constructed before the custom of inscribing pyramids with funerary texts by over 200 years, there are no official inscriptions or decorations within the tombs. While the blocks of the pyramids still remain in place – except for the limestone casing – the blocks from the mortuary temples and surrounding mastabas and tombs have found other uses in other building projects over the succeeding centuries.

On the east side of the Great Pyramid lay three small pyramids built for Khufu’s mother Hetepheres and two of his wives, Meritites I and Henutsen. Family and high officials of Khufu lie buried to the east and west side of the pyramid in mastabas. Three boat pits became discovered on the east side in 1954 with the cartouche of Khufu’s son Djedefra on blocks covering the pits. The first boat sits reconstructed within a special boat house within the Grand Egyptian Museum.

The pyramid sits even more impressive atop a plateau cut into the bedrock. Mos of the blocks came from a quarry just to the south. The white limestone casing came from across the Nile in quarries south of where the Citadel stands above Cairo today. Granite stones used came from as far away as Aswan 560 miles to the south. Thes stones made up the ceiling of the King’s chamber.

Workforce

While Herodotus thought the pyramids resulted from slave labor, evidence shows the construction came about through the efforts of thousands of conscript laborers. They lived in a community nearby to the south. Estimates put the average workforce at a little over 13,000 with a peak workforce including those working to support the projects at about 40,000.

Within a society where the king ruled as the sole arbiter between man and the gods, serving to maintain maat – order – to continue prosperity and stability up and down the country, people willingly labored to honor the compact between them and their divine ruler. Pyramid building formed a kind of social security for those employed, especially during the months of inundation with fields underwater. That said, life at the project was hard for the workers. When officials showed up at villages to draft men for the work, popular not a word probably used.

The overseer of the project was Hemiunu, a nephew of Khufu and grandson of Snefru. His mastaba lies to the west of the Great Pyramid. Inside the mastaba, a prime statue of the royal became discovered in 1912 damaged by earlier tomb robbers but since restored and displayed in the Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim, Germany. In addition to the pyramid, he was responsible for the construction of the cemeteries on the west and east sides.

Casing

White limestone encased the pyramids. The casings, by and large, removed with time for other building uses. A tall capstone – pyramidion – no longer tops the Great Pyramid, probably already lost in ancient times. Other stones – smaller at the top – also gained other uses over the centuries with the pyramid losing its upper 26 feet – 8 meters – making up about 1,000 tonnes. Bounding stones underneath were dressed and attached to the casing stones with mortar.

Entrances and shafts

The entrance shaft lies at the 19th layer of masonry. Tourists enter the Great Pyramid lower down between the 6th and 7th layers through the Robbers’ Tunnel. This tunnel probably created not long after the pyramid became sealed. It subsequently became used by tomb robbers before resealing during the years of the Ramessesides

From the original entrance, a corridor descended through the masonry into the bedrock to end in the Subterranean Chamber. This may have existed as an initial burial chamber but later abandoned. Connecting to the descending corridor is an ascending passage which leads to the lower end of the Grand Gallery. Going up the Grand Gallery takes you to the King’s Chamber rising 69 feet – 21 meters – with walls of polished limestone. An antechamber provided the last defenses against intruders. It held three slots for portcullis stones lowered by ropes from above. It was through the spaces above that looters punched a hole to gain access to the king’s Chamber beyond. Later, all the portcullis stones were broken and mostly removed.

INSIDE

The King’s Chamber lies faced with granite. Again, like all Fourth Dynasty burial chambers, no inscriptions or decorations stand mounted on the walls. A sarcophagus made of granite became rediscovered in the early Middle Ages, broken into with the contents removed. It remains in place today, too large to fit around corners of the corridors.

Air shafts come off both the queen’s and King’s Chambers. These were not to allow air to enter, but to allow the ka of the king or queen to continue to move out into the world. Ventilation systems were installed in both air shafts leading to the King’s Chambers in 1992.

Granite blocked lined chambers exist above the King’s Chamber intended to safeguard the King’s Chamber in case of a roof collapse.

Mortuary Temple

On the east side was where the mortuary temple existed. Today, almost completely gone, this temple linked with a valley temple by way of a causeway of which not much remains either.

PYRAMID OF KHAFRA

This pyramid is only slightly shorter and smaller than that of his father Khufu. In some ways, because some of the cladding still present on the top, this pyramid looks a little more dramatic and polished. Like Khufu’s, this pyramid used a rock outcropping as the bedrock core. Built up on the southeast corner, the northwest was cut out of 33 feet – 10 meters – of rock. While the upper part of the casing is still present, the capstone – pyramidon – and part of the apex is missing.

Like all other pyramids, this one became robbed by the time of the New Kingdom when the Valley of the Kings represented a new way to entomb the royals. There are two entrances to the burial chamber which this time are cut out of bedrock. Air shafts also occur leading off the burial chamber for the same spiritual purposes as in the Great Pyramid.

The mortuary temple on the east side exists only enough to give an idea of the temple’s original plan. A causeway leading to a valley temple is in much better shape than the valley temple. Over fifty life-sized statues of Khafara which became recycled – probably by Ramses II. The valley temple contained 23 statues of the king. The interior of granite still remains preserved as opposed to the exterior weathered limestone.

THE GREAT SPHINX

The Great Sphinx probably was part of the Khafra complex. Next to the valley mortuary temple of Khafra lies another temple devoted to the Sphinx itself. The face of the Sphinx resembles that of Khufu, Djedera of Khafra. Standing 240 feet long – 73 meters and 66 feet – 20 meters –tall at the top of the head, with destruction of the nose being to unknown causes. Carved as a monolith from the bedrock. With the deconstruction of the northern perimeter wall of the valley mortuary temple of Khafra, the temple of the sphinx occurred afterwards.

Drifting sands of time eventually buried the Sphinx up to its shoulders. Those sands became dug out on several occasions with the first documented attempt happening around 1400 BC during the reign of Thutmose IV. He arranged to install a large granite slab known as the Dream Stele placed between the front paws of the Sphinx.

More sand became cleared again in the 1st century AD in honor of Emperor Nero with a monumental stairway added leading down to the front of the paws. That stairway faced removal from 1931-1932 during excavation work by Èmile Baraize. More sand was removed in 166 AD only for the wind to blow more with the fall of Roman power. It was not until Giovanni Battista Caviglia in 1817 that the Sphinx’s chest became bared again. A questionable repair of the headdress occurred in 1931. Renovations to the stone base took place in both the 1980 and 1990s.

PYRAMID OF MENKAURA

Smallest of the three main pyramids, Menkaura’s also stands a lilted lower today than originally by fifteen feet – 4.75. The granite used came again from the red granite quarries of Aswan. The limestone casing originally did not extend beyond 16 to 18 layers of granite because of the death of the king. A few of the limestone casings on the bottom still visible. Like with Khafara, the burial chamber lies below the pyramid in the bedrock. the pyramid suffered thoroughly from tomb robbers by the time of the New Kingdom.

There is a mortuary temple at the east base of the pyramid and ruins of a causeway leading down to a valley temple like with the other two pyramids. The temple completion took place during the reign of Shepseskaf, Menkaura’s son. Other stelae suggest the cult of the king until at least two centuries after his death during the Sixth Dynasty.

Like with the Great Pyramid, there are three other small pyramids lying here on the south side of Menkaura’s. These three were probably built for wives of Menkaura though two were never completed beyond the step pyramidal stage.

In 1196, the sone of Saladin, Al-Aziz Uthman tried to demolish the pyramids starting here. Over eight months, all that was accomplished became a big gash on the north side of the pyramid.

VISITING

There is a 700 Egyptian pound entrance fee. Like most other historical complexes, you pass through metal detectors initially. From the entrance, if you are not on a tour, it is a long trek over to the pyramids. Our day trip consisted of a visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum for the morning and early afternoon with the pyramids and the Sphinx undertaken in mid-afternoon. Throw in a stop for a camel ride of about ten paces and that left about 45 minutes to wander at the base of the pyramids and another 30 minutes at the Sphinx. There is a lot more to see in the mastabas of the royals and the Pyramid Builders’ cemetery. You can also go inside the Great Pyramid. The other two alternate in being open or not. And there are extra costs and extra lines involved.

For the great Pyramid, figure on an extra 600 Egyptian pounds and a long line to go inside the pyramid. Passage through the corridors can become cramped and very hot. There is not a lot to see. If you do it, go early in the morning before the site gets too crowded. This is Fourth Dynasty, so do not expect ornamentation inside. It does not begin to compare with the wonders seen in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings.

OTHER PYRAMIDS

Entry into whichever of the other two pyramids open comes to another 100 Egyptian pounds. You get a very similar experience for a quarter of the price of the Great Pyramid. It is still very busy. A lot of people want to take advantage of the cheaper price. Too many people and too many selfies simply diminish the experience.

One note to ponder. If you have a car, drive south to Dashur and visit the Red Pyramid. If you already have a “Pyramids” general entry, you can enter this one without extra monies and a lot less crowds. Additionally, you can enter the Bent Pyramid, as well, both with a simple general entry ticket – or a ticket to Dashur alone runs only 60 Egyptian pounds meaning the main cost is for a cab from wherever you are staying around Cairo. And of course, you can visit inside pyramids at Saqqara. Those of the Sixth Dynasty show inscriptions from the Pyramid Texts missing in the Fourth Century pyramids. You can also go inside the Step Pyramid of Djoser though that does cost an extra 100 Egyptian pounds though it is nowhere as claustrophobic as other pyramids.

scammers

The worst group of scammers we met in Egypt were here at the base of the Pyramids and also where the hosts of camels are located by the viewpoint of the pyramids. They try and give you and gift, talking about how neat it is you are visiting Egypt. Oh, by the way, they have lots of daughters they need to take care of. Yes, they can make change. Let’s just see what is inside your wallet. Simply, try to ignore them. Maybe not speak in English if you can. If asked where you are from, say something like “Iceland”. Walk away and do not let them take your picture. It will cost you. They are simply the worst part of an otherwise amazing experience

FURTHER

Don’t let people tell you it’s not worth going inside the Pyramids — Walk My World

The Dahshur Pyramids: is this the greatest adventure in Egypt? — Walk My World

King Khufu And The Great Pyramid | Cheops

Inside the Pyramids of Giza: A Complete Visitor’s Guide

Herodotus on Cheops (Khufu) | Ancient Egypt Online

BBC – History – Historic Figures: Khafra (Khephren) (c.2558 BC – c.2532 BC)

Djedefre (Son of Ra) – Khufu’s Son & Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh

Menkaure | History | Research Starters | EBSCO Research

Mycerinus | The Poetry Foundation

Toby Wilkinson’s The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt is a great place to begin.

Egyptian Mythology – A traveler’s Guide from Aswan to Alexandria by Garry J. Shaw is a good place to make heads or tails of the complex world of gods and goddesses.