The Pyramid of Giza

aerial view

     The Great Pyramid of Giza stands on the northern edge of the Giza Plateau, located about 10 miles west of Cairo, Egypt. This is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to exist until today.

    

the base

        The Great Pyramid is composed of over 2 ½ million blocks of limestone which weigh from 2 to 70 tons each.  Its base covers over 13 acres and its volume is around 90,000,000 cubic feet. It is 454 feet high which is equivalent to a modern 48-story building. There are 203 courses or steps to its summit.

Next to the Great Pyramid stands 2 additional large pyramids, the Cheops and the Khufu.

Cheops and Khufu on the left side

      



There is an entrance which is leads to a passage. The passage then leads to chambers inside the pyramid itself.

the map

the entrance

The only item ever found in pyramid is the coffer in the King's Chamber.  It is a lidless box cut from a solid block of granite.  It's dimensions are 6 feet 6 inches long, 2 feet 3 inches wide, and 3 feet deep.  It may have once had a sliding lid since there is a ridge along the top edge of the coffer.  It is chipped at one corner.

the coffer in the King's Chamber

Did you know that...?

the Great Pyramid's top is flat, and not pointed, as pyramids should be!

It has a truncated summit which is coarse and uneven and measures about 30 square feet. Most pyramids were crowned with a top-stone that completed their structure. This pyramid does not currently have one and it appears that it never did.

the unfinished summit