Giza archaeological sites
Giza archaeological sites
Giza archaeological sites
The world of the pyramids is an apt name for the series of
necropolis which lie along the western bank of the Nile
stretching from the ancient city of Heliopolies almost as far as
Herakleopolis.
Over eighty pyramids, in a continu ous chain fifty kilometers long,
lie to the north and south of Memphis Surrounded by a myriad of
mastabas or oblong tombs with sloping sides and a flattish top, a
great many of the pyramids have smooth sides while a few are
stepped.
Almost at the end of this series of monuments stand the great
pyramids of Giza.
Almost five thousand years ago, The Giza plateau, on the west
bank of the Nile "the region of the dead" became the royal
necropolis of Memphis, the capital of the kings of the 4th
Dynasty.
The Giza sites lies about 15 kilometers west of modern Cairo
and covers an area of about 21,500 ft,.
On the southwest side, a 40 meter "130 ft" cliff descends to
where a channel of the Nile once ran making the borderline
between fertile land and the desert.
The site of Giza is the only one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world to have survived to our day, the others "the king
of Alexandria, the Colossus of Phodes, the Mausoleum of
Halicarnassus, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the statue of
Zeus at Olympia, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, have
long since disappeared,
Giza however still hosts the tombs of three kings of the 4th
Dynasty, "The pyramids of Khufu, khafrae, and Menkaure, and
the Sphinx" the father of terror.
The fascination of these stones and the air of mystery that has
emanated from them since ancient times, has deeply affected the
minds and souls of scientists and archaeologists, writers and
posts, painters and soldiers over the ages.
Not even Napoleon was immune to their seduction. On 21 July
1789, when his soldiers were about to engage in battle with the
Mamluk army whose troops stood arrayed before the hazy
geometry of the pyramids, Napoleon turned to them and,
indicating the monuments exclaimed "Go and think from the top
of these monuments forty centuries are watching you "
soldiers from a top these pyramids, forty centuries look down
upon you"
The three pyramids are located in relation to the four cardinal
points on a diagonal axis from northeast to southwest, so that
none of the pyramids ever blocks the sun of the others.
This perfect alignment has led to theories that the ancient
Egyptians, experts in astronomical measurements, took the
positions of certain stars into consideration in their construction
plans.
According to the archaeologist Robert Bauval, the three large
pyramids of Giza are actually meant to be in an alignment
corresponding to the three stars in the belt of the Orion
constellation.
The pyramids are built mainly of limestone and granite, The
former from the quarries of Tura, across the Nile from Memphis,
and the latter from Aswan.
Unfortunately, in the 13th century local inhabitants began
removing the precious facing from the limestone blocks and
used them to built homes in Cairo.
The pyramids are not isolated constructions, each is part of a
funerary complex made up of a mortuary temple "or upper
temple" to the east of the pyramid, a causeway a sort of
ceremonial route and a valley temple.
The valley temple symbolized the entry of the king into the world
of the gods, it was here in fact that the sacred ritual ceremony
"opening of the Mouth" was performed.
The Valley temple of Khufu has been almost completely
destroyed, but a large portion of Khafrae's is instead well
preserved.
The funeral procession traveled the causeway to the mortuary
temple and the pyramid, carrying the dead king on the sacred
boat toward his place of eternal rest.
In the mortuary temple, the king became a divinity and as such
was venerated.
A common feature of all three pyramids is the burial chamber,
almost exactly aligned with the central axis of the construction.
The Pyramids of Mankaurae and Khufu are each flanked by
three subsidiary pyramids, while that of Khafrae has only one.
