Khufu,
son of Snefru and second ruler of the 4th dynasty moved
the royal necropolis to Giza, north of modern-day Cairo. According to ancient
Greek historian Herodotus, Khufu (aka Cheops) enslaved his people to build his
pyramid. But archaeologists have since disproved his account.
On the Giza Plateau, Khufu's
builders oriented his pyramid almost perfectly north. The largest pyramid
ever built, it incorporates about 2.3 million stone blocks, weighing an
average of 2.5 to 15 tons each. It is estimated that the workers would have had
to set a block every two and a half minutes.
The pyramid has three burial
chambers. The first is underground, carved into bedrock. The second,
aboveground chamber was called the queen's chamber by early explorers. We now
know it was never intended to house one of Khufu's wives but perhaps a sacred
statue of the king himself. The third is the king's chamber, which held a red
granite sarcophagus placed almost exactly at the center of the pyramid.
The king's chamber is accessed via
the 26-foot-high (8-meter-high) Grand Gallery, which was sealed off from
thieves by sliding granite blocking systems.
The Great Pyramid was the
centerpiece of an elaborate complex, which included several small pyramids,
five boat pits, a mortuary temple, a causeway, a valley temple, and many
flat-roofed tombs for officials and some members of the royal family.
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan