BUILDING OF THE GREAT PYRAMID
Khufu's monument is the only one of the seven Wonders of the Ancient world to survive today. built in 2575 B.C.E., it house of the tomb of king Khufu, who for twenty-three years had been King of Upper ad Lower Egypt. Few records survive from his reign, but inscriptions suggest the campaigned both in Nubia to the south and Canaan to the north. Despite this paucity of information, his reputation has endured for millennia. Khufu is remembered as a cruel ruler, determined to achieve two great goals: to ensure the survival of the dynasty beyond his son Khephren; and to ensure hi own immortality, through the building of the great Pyramid, the largest monument of the Ancient World. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, writing some 2,000 years later, claimed Khufu forced his daughter to work as a prostitute to raise funds for his pyramid.
The logistics of constructing such a massive object, 480 feet (146 m) and comprising some 2.3 million blocks of stone, in a relatively short period were astounding. Yet they were obviously overcome. The building simple design, unusual Egypt for not being covered with inscriptions or prayers, has fascinated observers for millennia. In recent years exploration of the structures narrow passageways using robot-mounted cameras has suggested that the Pyramid was aligned with the star Orion in order to allow the King's soul to travel to the stars.
Beside the pyramid was a 141-foot-long (43 m) funeral boat in which the King was carried to his final resting place, and smaller tombs for members of his household - an unprecedented sight at the time.
Khufu's monument is the only one of the seven Wonders of the Ancient world to survive today. built in 2575 B.C.E., it house of the tomb of king Khufu, who for twenty-three years had been King of Upper ad Lower Egypt. Few records survive from his reign, but inscriptions suggest the campaigned both in Nubia to the south and Canaan to the north. Despite this paucity of information, his reputation has endured for millennia. Khufu is remembered as a cruel ruler, determined to achieve two great goals: to ensure the survival of the dynasty beyond his son Khephren; and to ensure hi own immortality, through the building of the great Pyramid, the largest monument of the Ancient World. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, writing some 2,000 years later, claimed Khufu forced his daughter to work as a prostitute to raise funds for his pyramid.
The logistics of constructing such a massive object, 480 feet (146 m) and comprising some 2.3 million blocks of stone, in a relatively short period were astounding. Yet they were obviously overcome. The building simple design, unusual Egypt for not being covered with inscriptions or prayers, has fascinated observers for millennia. In recent years exploration of the structures narrow passageways using robot-mounted cameras has suggested that the Pyramid was aligned with the star Orion in order to allow the King's soul to travel to the stars.
Beside the pyramid was a 141-foot-long (43 m) funeral boat in which the King was carried to his final resting place, and smaller tombs for members of his household - an unprecedented sight at the time.
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