The Power Of The Pyramids In Ancient Egypt

Many people recognize the pyramids of Egypt as some of the greatest treasures of the old world. But most people don't wonder where the ancient Egyptians got the idea from. There were many cultures and civilizations before Egypt that could've influenced the idea of massive pyramids, but most think that one civilization in particular, the Sumerians, had the most influence on the pyramids that stand today, because of their pyramid like ziggurats. The Egyptians probably did base the pyramids off of the Sumerian ziggurats, because they had the same basic structure, the ancient Sumerians had lots of influence on Egypt at the time, and they both displayed the same symbols and meanings for their people.

Most pyramids were very big. Pyramids were tombs for kings. They buried all of their kings there. It would take multiple years to build a pyramid. Pyramids had cool designs on the inside walls. They stop building pyramids because they were too easy to rob them. Especially since kings had so much jewelry and robbers would dig them out and take their stuff.

The creation of the pyramids was one of the Egyptians greatest accomplishments. The pyramid of Khufu in particular was their biggest achievement. Construction of the great pyramid started in 2540BCE and finished 20 years later in 2520BCE, it stood 481ft tall and continued to be the tallest man-made structure for over 4,000 years. It was built up of over 2.3 million limestone bricks weighing anywhere between 2 and 15 tons.

Finding a spot first, Egyptians identified a site for the pyramids. They built their pyramids west of the Nile because there region was through to be the realm of the dead and builder wanted the pyramids to be close to the stone quarries form which they can extracted blocks that’s weighed as much as 70 tons.

It took twenty to thirty years to make the Pyramid and it was finished in 2550 B.C.E.(“Mysteries of”). The Pyramid was said to have had 100,000 people or more working on it, but now scientists say that it was only about 30,000 people that worked on it (“Mysteries of”). It was built in 2550 B.C.E. and is still standing to this day, that means that it’s 4,567 years old (National Geographic). Once Pharaoh Khufu was crowned Pharaoh, he started the Great Pyramid project (Bower). The amount of time the Pyramid took to build is impressive because it was completely man made by thousand of people, and it only took about twenty to thirty

The Pyramids originated from a mastaba tomb, which were rectangular tombs built over 5000 years ago. During the reign of Djoser his tomb was advanced into a six-layer pyramid. Also during Snefru’s reign, he built 3 pyramids, they developed a smooth faced pyramid, very similar to the 3 pyramids of Giza. Each pyramid would fix the flaws of the ones before. High-ranking officials would be appointed to oversee the pyramid construction. The port at Giza would bring in food and supplies, such as the limestone blocks which covered the pyramids, these blocks were shipped by boat to the construction site in a number of

The size, outline, and structure of the pyramids uncover the expertise of these old manufacturers. The pyramids were incredible landmarks and tombs for the rulers. The Egyptians trusted that a lord's spirit kept on managing issues of the kingdom even after his passing. To guarantee that they would keep on enjoying the gifts of the divine beings, they safeguarded the pharaoh's body through the embalmment procedure. They fabricated the pyramids to secure the pharaoh's body, the pyramid was an image of expectation, since it would guarantee the pharaoh's union with the divine beings.“The Pyramids.” Egypt: Art and Architecture, St. Petersburg Times. ,

What makes up a pyramid? 12 lines, 5 faces, 4 triangles, 1 base, and 5 vertexes and in the case of the Great Pyramids of Giza about 2.3 million stone blocks that weigh an average of 2.5 to 15 tons. That according to the time it took to build them they would have had to place and set a stone every 2 to 2 and a half minutes. To put that in perspective some weigh as much or more than an armed military cargo truck. So, imagine dragging a cargo truck with nothing but some strong rope and some other people. Now if you're like most people you can lift maybe 100 pounds. However, the average powerlifter can lift 350 to 400 pounds and that's just lift not pack around or drag across acres of land. Now how did the Egyptians build the Great Pyramid of Giza with blocks that weigh up to 15 tons with the technology they had then? It’s clearly very obtuse to think the pyramids were built by the Egyptians and the Egyptians alone. The question is, who helped them?

Most of these statues and pyramids were built by the slave and peasants during that time. These statues and pyramids were built extremely unique to the culture which surrounded them. A big thing which made these magnificent buildings different were their purpose. The Egyptians made their pyramids to burry their rulers once they died, they did this because they believed that their rulers soul would pass onto the afterlife. The Maya built these pyramids in order to pray and make sacrifices to their gods.

These pharaohs were believed to live forever, even after death. The pyramids were supposed to help them in be able to live in the afterlife. The dead pharaohs were mummified and then stored in tombs inside the pyramids. Since the egyptians spent a great deal of time and effort into making these pyramids, it shows how important the afterlife was to them. Building these pyramids was a very important part of their life. Ziggurats, on the other hand, were not used to store dead bodies, they was used for more religious and ceremonial purposes. Other pyramids, like the Aztec stepped pyramid called the Templo Mayor, was used for rituals and was used to perform sacrifices.

Much of the pyramids history is on the inside. One of the many things inside of the pyramids are (sometimes also known as mummies) are the bodies of the pharaohs. When pharaohs died in Ancient Egypt, they were believed to become gods. In order to properly put them at rest, they had to do a proper burial. To do this, people has to take out every organ of the body except for the heart. The heart is told to hold the soul, so they couldn’t remove it. After this, they stuff the body with cloth and sew the skin up. They put chemicals on the body to dry it out, and set for 40 days. The body was then covered in oils, precious stones, and amulets and bound with longs strips of cloth over and over again. A highly decorated mask was set on the face and wrapped again in cloth. This whole process took about 70

The pyramids were built as a tomb for the pharaoh. Their belief was that the top point of the pyramid was the gate for the soul to travel to the afterlife and return to earth if chosen. These tombs were built which line up with certain stars and planets.

Each block would to have been quarried or cut, and then hauled to the work site, and eventually placed in the correct position. The Egyptians had an amazing understanding of math, which helped them plan the erection of the pyramid, but the only driving force behind them was manpower. The actual people who built the pyramids were all voluntary workers; they were not slaves contrary to popular belief.

The pyramids explain an abundance of information on about how the people of ancient egypt saw their pharaohs and queens. Inducing years and years of back-breaking labor to build structures that have people today still in awe. Historians still argue about who actually built the pyramids; due to the fact that they are so gigantic, some believe that the ancient egyptians could not have possibly built the pyramids by themselves based on the size of the pyramids and the lack of technology they were using. However, Mark Lehner, archeologist at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and Harvard Semitic Museum, thinks that the people of ancient egypt built the pyramids to show their respect to the pharaohs and queens who ruled over them. “Every time I go back to Giza my respect increases for those people and that society, that they could do it. You see, to me it 's even more fascinating that they did this. And that by doing this they contributed something to the human career and its overall development.” Mark Lehner 's statement shows that the ancient Egyptian culture admired their leaders more than any other culture did at the time. (pbs.org)

In the deserts of Egypt lie the colossal remains of an ancient civilization. These enormous works of human endeavor are the only member of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World that time has passed down to us. These are, of course, the great pyramids of ancient Egypt. But these imposing structures were not built to impress civilization millennia down the road. The pyramids in fact had a purpose to the ancient Egyptians. While they seem very simple in nature, as they are simply four-sided pyramids with square bases, they had a meaning for those that had them built. Even by today’s standards, the pyramids of ancient Egypt were an impressive feat of engineering, due to their enormous size, both in building materials and finished product.