Egyptian pyramids: what you need to know. Pyramid of Cheops, Egypt

The pyramid is part of the ritual and burial complex of the earthly ruler: the pharaoh. Therefore, with all the differences, in addition to the general form, all the pyramids also have a common internal structure, which is due to the obligatory presence of the hall in which the pharaoh's sarcophagus was installed and the passages leading to it. Let's see how they are arranged egyptian pyramids inside on the example of the tomb of Cheops - the highest stone structure in the world.

The only entrance, which was provided by the ancient builders, is located on the northern side of the pyramid structure at a height of 12 meters from the ground. Once this entrance was hidden by cladding slabs, but already at the end of the 18th century, the first European scientists who explored this wonder of the world - the French, saw it open, because by that time people and time had already deprived the ancient building of facing slabs.

Inside the pyramid of Cheops there is a passage-corridor, which has an almost square section. The angle of inclination of the corridor, apparently, was not chosen arbitrarily - it coincides with the angle at which the ancient Egyptians could observe the North Star. Therefore, the first researchers had to face certain difficulties - then there were no railings, which are now made for the convenience of tourists, and the feet slid along the polished stone floor slabs. Yes, and with ventilation then it was incomparably worse than today (although even now it is far from ideal). The corridor sometimes narrowed to such an extent that they had to crawl on their haunches. Now, again, for the benefit of tourists, everything has been “corrected”.

Pyramid of Cheops inside

Unlike most other similar structures in Egypt, which have one burial chamber, the most famous pyramidal collos has three of them. One of them - underground - is located below the base of the structure, cut directly into the natural foundation. However, this chamber was not completely finished. Apparently, the plans of the builders have changed, and the other two chambers are already located directly in the above-ground stone body of the giant structure. For a long time, scholars explained this by the fact that the pharaoh wanted the tomb to be ready for a possible funeral ceremony at any stage of construction. And when the builders started building the next chamber, located above, the need for an underground chamber disappeared.

This theory does not explain why all other similar structures have a burial chamber below the base line. Only the pyramids of the pharaohs Snefru and Cheops have burial chambers inside above the base in the thickness of the masonry. A significant number of modern Egyptologists believe that such an arrangement of chambers in the tomb of Cheops was associated with certain religious views of the ancient inhabitants of Egypt. Briefly, this theory is as follows. There are facts that allow us to conclude that Cheops began to be revered as the god Ra during his lifetime.

The pyramid of this pharaoh is called the "Horizon of Khufu", which meant that he, like the god Ra himself, rises every day to the horizon. The sons and successors of Cheops, Djedefra and Chefren, became the first pharaohs whose titles contain the epithet - "son of Ra". That is, Khufu was identified with Ra, so his burial chamber should be located above the ground and closer to the sky - where the real sun is visible. True, it should be noted that in relation to Pharaoh Sneferu, no facts have yet been found that would make it possible to interpret the location of his burial chamber in this way.

But back to what is Cheops pyramid inside. From the corridor leading down to the underground chamber, at approximately ground level, an upward passage begins. From it you can get into a small gallery, and then into a small chamber, called the queen's chamber. One of the underground "junctions" If you don’t turn towards the queen’s room, but go further, then the Great Gallery will begin, having a length of 47 and a height of 8.5 meters. This magnificent gallery is a unique architectural structure. The ancient masters laid the limestone slabs of the false vault in such a way that each subsequent layer overlapped the previous one by 5-6 cm. The limestone slabs framing the walls are polished to a shine and pressed together with amazing accuracy - even the blade of a thin knife could not pass through the joints . Notches are chiselled into the floor, allowing movement without having to hold on to smooth walls.

After the Great Gallery there is a small airlock room leading to a room called the king's chamber. Its dimensions are:

• length - 10.5 m;
• width - 5.2 m;
• height - 5.8 meters.

The lining of the chamber is made of pink granite slabs. Above the ceiling are five unloading chambers, the top of which has a gable roof made of giant granite blocks. They take on the enormous weight of the stone mass, preventing it from crushing the burial chamber of the pharaoh. It should also be noted that the pharaoh's chamber is precisely oriented to the cardinal points.

Near the western wall (the Egyptians' afterlife began in the west) there is a massive sarcophagus carved from a monolithic block of pink granite. The lid of the sarcophagus is missing. Also, no traces of the pharaoh's mummy were found. That is, there is no evidence that the pyramid of Cheops was ever used for an actual funeral. However, no other burial site of Pharaoh Cheops has yet been discovered, just as his mummy has not been found. Nevertheless, Egyptologists have enough reason to say that the pyramids are part of the ritual-burial complex, and not something else.

When the first European explorers discovered the sarcophagus of the pharaoh at the end of the 18th century, they still did not know exactly for whom this, as they thought, tomb was erected, what was the name of the ancient ruler of Egypt. Only later, several hieroglyphs were found above the burial chamber, surrounded by an oval frame. In fairness, it should be noted that some Egyptologists consider this inscription to be a much later forgery, and there are certain grounds for this. The inscription was able to be read thanks to the scientific discoveries of Champollion, who by that time had already deciphered the language of the ancient Egyptians. It turned out that it was the name of the pharaoh, by whose order this main and first wonder of the world was built. The pharaoh's name was Khufu (the Greeks called him Cheops), and he ruled according to modern scientific ideas in the 28th-27th centuries. BC, that is, about 4700 years ago.

Mystery of the channels

Speaking about the structure of the Cheops pyramid, one cannot fail to say that both the queen’s chamber and the king’s chamber are equipped with inclined shafts-channels of a square section, averaging 20x20 cm in size, going up in the north and south direction. Until recently, it was believed that they served as ventilation ducts. However, if two passages extending from the pharaoh's burial chamber pass through the body of the structure and go outside, then two passages from the queen's chamber cannot be ventilation ducts - they end in the masonry itself far from the outer surfaces of the walls (see diagram above).

Since 1993, attempts have been made to understand, using various technical devices, for what purpose they were intended. German engineers have designed a special robot capable of crawling through such narrow shafts. But both in the southern shaft and in the northern one, the robot ran into a barrier, which is a kind of slab with two protrusions (handles?) similar to metal (copper?). An attempt was made to drill through one of the partitions, but the video camera that the robot pushed into the drilled hole showed that the small space behind the slab ended again with a new stone partition.

It was decided to continue the research by preparing new technical equipment, but the events in Egypt that occurred at the beginning of 2011 postpone them indefinitely.

In the light of new data, a scientific hypothesis has spread that these mines performed some ritual tasks related to the religious ideas of the ancients. There is also a simpler hypothesis that initially these were actually ventilation ducts. But as the building rose higher and higher, it was decided to build a third burial chamber - the king's chamber. And the builders blocked the passages leading from the queen's chamber as unnecessary. This hypothesis is indirectly confirmed by the fact that the entrances to the mines from the side of the queen's chamber were walled up and were found only after her thorough examination.

The internal structure of the pyramid of Cheops from an engineering and construction point of view, the most difficult of all such structures of ancient Egypt. All other Egyptian pyramids inside look about the same as the great pyramidal structure of Cheops, but in general, inside the pyramids of other pharaohs, they have a simpler device, with the exception of the tomb of Pharaoh Djoser in Saqqara, which has an extensive system of underground passages and rooms at its base.

It will also be interesting to see.

Daria Nessel | Dec 21, 2016

The Pyramid of Cheops (Pyramid of Khufu) is one of the most famous and the only one that has survived to this day, which everyone who comes to Cairo can see. Its age dates back to about 2500 BC. For about fifty hundred years it has been rising, surprising and striking with its size, in the burning Egyptian desert. This unique complex has been studied for more than one century. More than one generation of Egyptologists and archaeologists “broke many spears” with disputes about its purpose and methods of construction. Thanks to the pyramid of Khufu (whom the Greeks called Cheops), the science of pyramidology appeared. Adherents of non-traditional teachings, magicians of all times also put forward their conjectures describing the genesis of this grandiose creation.

Versions about the methods of building the pyramid of Cheops

The Pyramid of Cheops was built by the architect and chief Hemiun, a cousin or nephew of the supreme ruler himself. The methods used by the Egyptians in its construction were forgotten and lost due to wars, civil strife, adverse weather conditions that hit Ancient Egypt, when there were no memories left of the former wealth and power.

There are many interpretations explaining how the pyramid of Cheops was built. The first was proposed by Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century BC. and left a detailed description of what he saw. According to him, more than 100,000 slaves were involved in the construction, many of whom died in this hard work. With the help of levers made of wood, they raised huge basalt blanks to the desired level. This option does not stand up to criticism, since it is problematic to imagine such levers that can withstand an almost three-ton stone and lift it to a height of more than 140 meters (the inhabitants of the Nile Valley at that time did not know what a wheel and a block were).

Another version is the use of an embankment built around the building as it grows. If we adhere to this point of view, then the amount of excavation work performed will also require a huge amount of labor.

Meanwhile, the most recent archaeological finds indicate that there was a settlement near the construction site, where about 4,500 people lived permanently, constantly employed in the construction of the tomb. These people were not slaves, they ate well and had good dwellings. It is assumed that up to 20,000 Egyptians were involved in temporary work after the completion of agricultural work.

The third is the use of a spiral outer ramp around the entire perimeter. But its use did not explain how the inner chamber was made, where the pharaoh's sarcophagus is located, located 50 m above the base, and where one relatively narrow corridor leads.

Pyramid of Khufu - the sparkling crystal of Egypt

The Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt is a geometric body with a square base with a perimeter of 922 m, with a height from the base of 146 m (original, now - 138 m). The angle of inclination of its geometrically ideal faces was 51 degrees. It is lined with limestone blocks of 2.5 tons.

In the center there are three rooms made of five-ton polished granite blocks, one of which contains the pharaoh's sarcophagus. The purpose of the two smaller chambers located above it is unknown. According to the latest assumptions, they serve as a shock absorber that does not allow crushing the “king's chambers”. Everything in the cavity of the building, except for the tunnel leading to the rooms and down below the base, as well as two ventilation shafts, is completely filled with monoliths.

Until 1168, the tomb of Khufu was lined with polished elements of soft material, which made it look like a crystal sparkling under the rays of the sun. Later, the lining was used by the Cairo to restore their city after the invasion of the Arabs. The total weight of the monument resting on a cut rock foundation is over 5 million tons. Even with today's cutting-edge technology and technique, it's hard to imagine a way to solidly construct this marvel of architecture.

Theories for the creation of the pyramid of Cheops

French architect Jean Pierre Ruden became interested in Khufu's pyramid in 1999 and devoted 10 years of his hard work to it. As a professional designer, he wanted to understand what techniques were used by people almost 5,000 years ago when building it. The result of his examination was the conclusion: the ancient Egyptians used an internal ramp during construction, which grew along with the pyramid and repeated its perimeter, with an inclination angle of not more than 7 degrees (a steeper rise makes it impossible to move stone parallelepipeds on wooden rolls and skids).

Jean Pierre explained the impeccable execution of geometric proportions by the fact that at first the front polished blocks were laid along the marked lines, then two more inner rows of already unpolished, but correctly marked slabs were leveled along them, and then the empty space was filled with roughly sawn limestone. His theory explained how the granite parallelepipeds of the pharaoh's burial chamber were raised and installed at a height of 50 meters.

This theory would be recognized as reliable and final if there were voids in the thickness of the Cheops pyramid that remained after the cessation of construction and testified to the presence of internal ramps. But so far there is no such confirmation.

All experts agree that some parts of the pyramid of Khufu are made at a high technological level, unrealizable 4000 years ago. So, for example, the granite pieces of the structure are cut out of the rock with such precision that even a knife blade cannot be pushed into the gap between them.

The very fact of Khufu's burial raises many questions: the granite sarcophagus for his mummy was not completed, made without proper care, and no traces of the burial were found. The presence of 15 and 35 tons of granite stones in the masonry also cannot be explained. Such inconsistencies have given rise to theories about the divine origin of the pyramid at Giza. Since the end of the 19th century, the pyramid of Cheops has become a place of pilgrimage for followers of various esoteric movements and those who are fond of magic, proclaiming it to be the habitat of spirits and demons.

Edgar Cayce, the most famous of all occultists (1877-1945), proclaimed that it was created by the Atlanteans 10,000 BC to escape the global flood, and that the lost wisdom of a highly developed civilization is contained there.

The beginning of the space age gave birth to a fabrication about the involvement of aliens in its construction. The most popular author of one of these conclusions, Swiss Erich von Daniken, hypothesized that the Cheops pyramid was designed by aliens to store the bodies of representatives of foreign civilizations who died on Earth; and the god Ra, who was worshiped by the local population, is an alien, and all the myths and religion of this period are just a distorted reflection of reality. Careful geometric and astronomical research has led to unexpected discoveries that can be attributed either to random coincidences or patterns:

• the base to height ratio is approximately 3.14 (pi);
• the direction of the corridor and ventilation shafts coincides with the location in the sky of the Polar Star, the stars Sirius and Alnitak.

The latter led to the theory that the pyramid of Cheops was nothing more than an astronomical observatory.

In the 60s and 70s of the 20th century. a new surge of interest in this object occurred due to the experiment of the Czech Karel Dribal, who placed a blunt razor inside a cardboard copy (15 cm) of the pyramid, and after a few days the initial sharpness returned to it.

When they removed fragments of stones near the pyramid of Khufu, they noticed a closed triangular chamber, consisting of heavy limestone slabs. It was in 1955. Lifting the plate with the image of Jephedra, they found a huge boat, consisting of 1224 parts. It was a large boat made of Lebanese cedar. She consisted of 2 cabins, could float on water with 10 oars. Fragments of acacia needed repair. The rook was assembled for 10 years. In 1971, it was exhibited at the Solar Boat Museum.

There was also a second chamber, which was not opened for a long time. But in 1987 another smaller boat was found by radar. She is poorly preserved. In 2008, they allocated money for excavations, in 2011 its details were raised up.

The world-famous Egyptian pyramid of Cheops inside is like a “Russian nesting doll” and consists of three pyramids of three pharaohs. The veil of mystery is lifted over one of the seven wonders of the world. Every creation of human hands has a meaning.

“Everything that arises must have some reason for its occurrence, for it is absolutely impossible to arise without a cause.” So said the ancient Greek philosopher and sage Plato in the 4th century BC. e. in his book Timaeus.

All mysteries are overcome by knowledge. Knowledge can be acquired or created. As a “tool for creation”, let's take our common sense, the logic of thinking and the knowledge of ancient people who used the ideas about the world at that distant time.

“What is comprehended with the help of reflection and reasoning is obvious, and there is an eternally identical being; but what is subject to opinion ... arises and perishes, but never really exists. (IV century BC, Plato, "Timaeus").

Russian nesting doll

What does it say that the pyramid of Cheops is a kind of “Russian nesting doll”, containing two more pyramids inside, one inside the other? To confirm the conclusion about the trinity of the pyramid of Cheops, let's start with the facts and consider the scheme of the pyramid in section.

Firstly, there are three burial chambers in the pyramid of Cheops. Three! From this fact it follows that the pyramid at different times had three owners (three pharaohs). And each had its own separate burial chamber. After all, few of the living people come up with the idea of ​​​​preparing a tomb for themselves in three “copies”. In addition (as can be seen from the size of the pyramids), their construction is quite laborious for our time. Besides? archaeologists have already established that the pharaohs built pyramids-tombs for their wives separately and much smaller.

Egyptian historians have established that long before the construction of the pyramids in ancient Egypt in the 4th millennium BC. and earlier pharaohs were buried in structures called mastabas. Below in the picture is the appearance of the ancient crypt (mastaba) of Shepseskaf in Saqqara. It consists of underground and ground parts.

The pharaoh's mummy was located deep underground in an underground hall. In the ground part there was a prayer room with a statue of the pharaoh. In this statue after death (according to the ancient Egyptian priests) the soul of the deceased pharaoh moved. The halls in the mastaba above ground could be interconnected (or isolated from each other). Above these underground halls, a low, trapezoid, truncated pyramid was built from stone blocks.

Under the pyramid of Cheops there is an underground passage (4) at the end of which is a vast unfinished underground hall (5). From the hall there is also an exit (12) upward, which was made according to the theory of burial for the passage of the soul of the pharaoh to the above-ground part of the mastaba.

According to the plan of the section of the pyramid of Cheops, it can be concluded that if there is an underground hall (5) and there is a passage upward from it (12), then the upper prayer room of the mastaba should be in the center and slightly lower than the middle burial chamber (7). Unless, of course, by the beginning of the construction of his pyramid over the mastaba by the second pharaoh, these premises were not littered with stone, destroyed and survived to this day.

This conclusion (about the presence of internal mastaba halls in the center of the Cheops pyramid) is confirmed by the observations of French researchers - Gilles Dormayon and Jean-Yves Verdhart. In August 2004, while examining the floor in the middle burial chamber (7) with sensitive gravitational instruments, they discovered an unknown void below the floor at a depth of about four meters of impressive size, about the purpose of which at that time they had no versions.

According to the plan of the pyramid section, a narrow inclined almost vertical shaft (12) goes up from the underground burial pit (5). This passage should be connected to the above-ground prayer room of the mastaba. At the exit from the mine, at ground level under the base of the pyramid, there is a small grotto (expansion up to 5 meters in length). Apparently, in ancient times, when digging this grotto, they were already looking for a passage to the inner halls of the mastaba. It has been established that its walls consist of more ancient masonry that does not belong to the pyramid of Cheops. The passage ascending from the underground hall and the ancient masonry are nothing but the property of the first mastaba. From the expansion in the shaft (12) to the center of the pyramid, there should be a passage to the ground halls of the mastaba. This passage was most likely walled up by the builders of the second inner pyramid.

In appearance and according to archaeologists, the underground burial chamber (5) remained unfinished. In what condition are the prayer rooms in the upper above-ground part of the mastaba (which is the first of three in the pyramid of Cheops) and it remains to be seen by opening a passage in them.

The height of the first internal truncated pyramid (mastaba) according to the scheme of the section of the pyramid should be no more than 15 meters.

The presence of an unfinished burial structure (mastaba), located in the most advantageous place (on top of a stone plateau in the town of Giza), served as an excuse for the second (before Cheops) unknown pharaoh to use this mastaba to build his pyramid over it.

In favor of the fact that the plateau in Giza was previously "settled" by ancient mastabas, the fact of the presence of the "Sphinx" there also speaks. The purpose of the Sphinx is to have a tomb (mastaba) in the form of a sculpture of a lion. The age of the "Sphinx" (the deity in which, according to the theory, the soul of the pharaoh should move) is estimated much older than the pyramids (about 5 - 10 thousand years).

In Egypt, by the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, the Egyptian priests had a new worldview about the place of residence of the soul after death.

In this regard, the burials of the pharaohs in mastabas were replaced by more majestic structures - stepped pyramids, and later to "smooth" hewn pyramids. According to the ideas of the priests, after death, the soul of a person flew to life on the stars related to their souls. “The one who lives the time measured out to him properly will return to the abode of the star of his name.” Plato, Timaeus.

The burial chamber (7) belonging to the second inner pyramid (on the plan of the cross section) is located above the prayer part of the first mastaba. The corridor ascending to it (6) is laid along the wall of the mastaba, and the horizontal corridor (8) along its roof. Thus, these two corridors to the chamber (7) show the approximate overall dimensions of the first ancient internal truncated trapezoidal mastaba pyramid.

Second and third pyramids

This can be judged by the length of the two outgoing from the chamber (7) in opposite directions, the so-called (in modern terms) "ventilation ducts". These channels (one to the north and the other to the south) in a section of 20 by 25 cm, approximately 10-12 meters do not reach the border of the outer walls of the third pyramid.

The modern name of the channels "air ducts", of course, is incorrect. The deceased pharaoh did not need ventilation ducts. The canals had a completely different purpose. Channels - a path that points to the sky, oriented with great accuracy (up to a degree) to the stars, where, according to the ideas of the ancient Egyptians, the soul of the pharaoh will settle after death.

The northern channel was oriented to the star "Kokhab" in the constellation "Ursa Minor". At that time, due to the precession (shift of the Earth's axis), "Kochab" was the "Polar Star", around which the sky revolved. It was assumed that after death the pharaoh becomes one of the stars in her environment in the northern part of the sky.

The southern channel was aimed at the star "Sirius". In Egyptian mythology, "Sirius" was associated with the name of the goddess Sopdet (protector and patroness of all the dead).

At the time when the second pyramid was built, both channels from the burial room (7) reached the edge of the outer walls and were open to the sky. The burial chamber of the second inner pyramid of the pharaoh may also have been unfinished (judging by the lack of its interior design).

It is possible that the top of the second pyramid was not completed to the end (for example, there was a war, the pharaoh was killed, died prematurely from illness, an accident, etc.). But, in any case, the second pyramid was erected no lower than the height of the channels ("air ducts") emanating from the burial chamber (7) to the outer walls.

The second inner pyramid reveals itself not only with tightly closed channels and its own separate burial chamber, but most of all it is revealed to the outside by the bricked-up central entrance (1) to the pyramid of Cheops.

Obviously, it immediately catches the eye that the entrance, tightly walled up with huge granite blocks, is buried in the body of the third pyramid (approximately the same 10-12 meters as the channels from the second burial chamber).

During the construction of the third pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops, there was no point in lengthening this external entrance to the second pyramid. Therefore, after an increase along the perimeter of the walls at the third pyramid, the entrance turned out to be “drowned” inside.

The entrance gates of all buildings are always made out of several structures, and not buried in the depths of the structure. Approximately the same entrance, but taken out, is also at the pyramid of Khafre.

Cheops - the third owner of the pyramid

Archaeologists and historians, according to the decoding of hieroglyphs, found that the pyramid of Cheops was built not by slaves (as was previously thought), but by civilian builders, who, of course, had to be well paid for hard work. And since the volume of construction was huge, it was more profitable for Cheops to take an unfinished pyramid than to build a new one from scratch. The favorable location of the unfinished second pyramid, which was located at the very top of the plateau, also mattered.

Cheops began the construction of the third pyramid by dismantling the central part of the second pyramid. In the resulting "crater" at a height of about 40 meters from the ground, an antechamber (11) and a third burial chamber of the pharaoh (10) were built. The passage to the third burial chamber only needed to be extended. The ascending tunnel (6) was continued in the form of a large 8-meter high cone-shaped gallery (9).

The cone-shaped form of the gallery is not similar to the initial part of the ascending narrow passage. This indicates that the tunnel was not made at the same time and according to different external conditions.

After the third pyramid of Cheops was expanded on the sides, adding 10-12 meters on each side, the outgoing channels at the second pyramid from the chamber (7) turned out to be closed, respectively.

If the burial chamber (7) turned out to be empty, then the builders of the third pyramid had no reason to lengthen the old channels. From the outside, the channels were laid with new rows of wall blocks of the third pyramid, and from the inside, in the chamber (7), the outgoing channels were also walled up. In the burial chamber (7), the walled canals were discovered by treasure hunters (researchers) when they tapped the walls only in 1872.

In September 2010, English and German researchers launched a caterpillar robot into one of the narrow “air ducts” from the second burial chamber (7). Having risen to the end, he rested against a limestone slab 13 cm thick, drilled through it, inserted a video camera into the hole, and on the other side of the slab at a distance of 18 cm, the robot saw another stone barrier. Resting on a dead end, the search for scientists ended in nothing. The stone barrier is nothing but the blocks of the third pyramid.

The builders of the third pyramid of Cheops from the third burial chamber of the pharaoh laid new channels (10) for the "flight of the soul" to the stars.

If you carefully look at the section of the pyramid, then two pairs of channels (to the north and south) from the second and third chambers are not parallel! This is one of the "keys" to unraveling the mystery of the pyramid of Cheops.

The channels of the upper third chamber relative to the channels of the second chamber are rotated clockwise by 5 degrees. The northern pair of channels has inclinations of 32° and 37° (5° difference). The southern pair of channels, oriented towards the star Sirius, has inclinations of 45° and 39° (a difference of 6°). Here, an increase of 1 degree can be attributed to the own movement of the planet "Sirius" in its orbit. The discrepancy in the angles of inclination of the channels by 5 degrees is not accidental. Egyptian priests and builders very accurately recorded the position of the stars in the sky and clearly laid the direction of the channels to the stars (with an accuracy of minutes and seconds).

Then what's the matter

And the point here is that the axis of rotation of the Earth every 72 years is shifted by 1 degree, and every 25,920 years the axis of the Earth, rotating at an angle, like a "spinning top", makes a full circle of 360 degrees. This astronomical phenomenon is called precession. Plato called the total time of rotation of the Earth's axis in 25,920 years - "The Great Year".

When the Earth's axis shifts by 1 degree in 72 years, the angle of view towards all the stars (including the Sun) also changes by 1 degree. If the displacement of each pair of channels differs by 5 degrees, then it can be easily calculated that between the construction of the second pyramid (of an unknown pharaoh) and the third pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops, the difference is 5 x 72 = 360 years.

Egyptian historians say that Pharaoh Cheops (another pronunciation is Khufu) ruled in 2540-2560 BC. Counting "degree" years ago, we can say exactly when the second inner pyramid was built. Thus, the second pyramid was built in 2800-2820 BC.

In the pyramid of Cheops, in the only place under the ceiling (on powerful vaulted granite slabs like a roof over the third burial chamber) there is a nominal hieroglyph made by the workers who left their mark: "Builders, friends of Pharaoh Khufu." No other mention of the name of Cheops (Khufu) or the belonging of other pharaohs to the pyramid has yet been found.

Most likely, the third pyramid of Cheops was completed and used for its intended purpose. Otherwise, the pyramid of Cheops would not have been “sealed”. That is, a cork from several granite cubes would not be lowered into the ascending passage (6) from above and from the inside along an inclined plane. With these stone cubes, the pyramid was tightly closed for everyone for more than three thousand years (until 820 AD).

The ancient Egyptian name of the pyramid of Cheops is read in hieroglyphs as - "Horizon of Khufu". The name is literal. The angle of inclination of the side face of the pyramid is 51° 50'. This is the angle at which the Sun rose exactly at noon on the days of the autumn-spring equinox. The sun at noon, like a golden "crown", crowned the pyramid. Throughout the year, the Sun (the ancient Egyptian God - Ra) walks in the sky in the summer above, in the winter below (just like the pharaoh in his possessions) and always the Sun (pharaoh) returns to his "home". Therefore, the angle of inclination of the walls of the pyramid indicates the path to the house of the “God of the Sun”, to the “house of the pyramid” of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) - “the son of the God of the Sun”.

The sides of the walls are arranged at the angle of view of the Sun, not only in this pyramid. In the pyramid of Khafre, the angle of inclination of the sides of the walls is slightly more than 52-53 degrees (it is known that it was built later). In the pyramid of Menkaure, the slope of the faces is 51 ° 20′25 ″ (less than that of Cheops). Until now, historians did not know whether it was built earlier than the pyramid of Cheops or later. Now, given the open "degree time" of the Earth's precession, the smaller angle of inclination of the walls indicates that the Mycerinus pyramid was built not later, but earlier. In relation to the "degree age scale", the difference in the slope of the walls in 30 minutes corresponds to 36 years. In later Egyptian pyramids, for example, the pyramid of Pharaoh Khafre, respectively, the slope of the faces should be greater.

In Sudan (see the picture) there are many pyramids, the angle of inclination of the faces of which is much steeper. Sudan is south of Egypt and the Sun on the day of the spring-autumn equinox is higher above the horizon there. This explains the great steepness of the walls of the Sudanese pyramids.

In 820 AD Caliph Abu Jafar al-Mamun of Baghdad, in search of the innumerable treasures of the pharaoh at the base of the pyramid of Cheops, made a horizontal gap (2), which is currently used by tourists to enter the pyramid. The break was broken through to the beginning of the ascending corridor (6), where they ran into granite cubes, which went around to the right and thus penetrated the pyramid. But, according to historians, they did not find anything but “dust in half a palm” inside. If there was anything of value in the pyramid, then the caliph's servants took it. And what was left, everything was taken out for the subsequent time - 1200 years.

Judging by the appearance of the gallery (9), 28 pairs of ritual statues stood along its walls in rectangular recesses. However, the exact purpose of the recesses is not known. Two facts speak about the fact that there were statues. The first - the eight-meter height of the gallery made it possible to install statues. The second - on the walls there were large round peeling imprints from the solution with which the statues were attached to the walls.

I will disappoint those who were determined to find “miracles” in the construction of the Egyptian pyramids.

More than a hundred pyramids have been discovered in Egypt today, and they are all different from each other. The pyramids have different angles of inclination of the faces oriented to the Sun (because they were built at different times), there is a pyramid with a “broken side” at a double angle, there are stone and brick pyramids, smoothly lined and stepped, there are with a base that is not square, but rectangular shape, for example, Pharaoh Djoser.

There is no unity even among the neighboring pyramids in Giza. The Pyramid of Menkaure (the smallest of the three) at the base is not oriented strictly to the cardinal points. The exact orientation of the sides is not given importance. In the main pyramid of Cheops, the third (topmost) burial chamber is located not in the geometric center of the pyramid and not even on the axis of the pyramid. In the pyramids of Khafre and Mykerin, the burial chambers are also not in the center. If the pyramids had some kind of secret secret, law or knowledge, the "golden section" and so on, then all the pyramids would have uniformity. But there is nothing like that in the pyramids. Below in the pictures are Egyptian pyramids of various shapes.

Former Egyptian minister of archeology and current chief expert on ancient Egyptian pyramids, Zahi Hawass, says: “Like any practitioner, I decided to test the assertion that food does not spoil in the pyramid. Divided a kilo of meat in half. I left one part in the office, and the other in the pyramid of Cheops. The part in the pyramid deteriorated even faster than in the office.”

What else can you look for in the pyramid of Cheops

Perhaps you can find the above-ground prayer room of the first pyramid - the mastaba. It would be worth drilling down several holes in the floor of the second (7) burial chamber until an internal cavity is found at the bottom.

Then from the grotto (12) find a walled passage to the halls (or lay it). For the pyramid, this will not have any damage, since there was originally a connecting entrance from the underground burial chamber to the mastaba's aboveground room. And you just have to find it. After the discovery of the interior of the mastaba, perhaps it will become known about the pharaoh - the owner of the first truncated trapezoidal mastaba pyramid.

Of great interest on the plateau in Giza is the mastaba-Sphinx. The stone body of the ancient Sphinx, located from west to east. Funeral burials were also made from west to east. Presumably, the Sphinx is an integral part of the elevated structure (mastaba) - the tomb of an unknown pharaoh.

Searches in this direction would expand the boundaries of knowledge of the history of ancient Egypt. It is possible that even an earlier civilization, for example, the Atlanteans, whom the Egyptians deified, considering them to be progenitors, and referred to their ancient ancestors, as to the predecessor gods.

An identification study by American forensic scientists concluded that the face of the Sphinx does not look like the faces of the statues of the Egyptian pharaohs, but has distinct Negroid features. That is, the ancient ancestors of the Egyptians, including the legendary Atlanteans, had Negroid facial features and African origin.

It should be noted here that the Egyptian legend about the ancestors of the Atlanteans is indirect evidence of proximity to Egypt.

Probably, the burial chamber and the mummy of the ancient pharaoh of Negro origin is under the front paws of the Sphinx, as the American psychic Edgar Cayce said about this. In this case, there should be a passage upward from the underground hall - the path for the resettlement of the “soul” of the pharaoh and subsequent life in the body of the Sphinx statue (according to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians).

The Sphinx is a lion (a symbol of royal power) with a human head and the face of a pharaoh. It is possible that the face of the discovered mummy of the pharaoh (after plastic restoration) will turn out to be like “two drops of water” similar to the face of the Sphinx.

By analogy with the construction (of the later pyramids over the early ones), we can say that many other Egyptian pyramids had more than one owner. In this regard, confusion is revealed with the time of the life of the pharaohs and the time of the construction of their pyramids.

For example, Pharaoh Mikerin ruled later than Cheops, but his pyramid, according to the angle of the walls, in accordance with the calculations for the “years of precession”, was started 36 years earlier than the pyramid of Cheops. How can this be? The answer to this question is that the pyramid began to be built earlier (before Mykerin), but it was completed later, when the angle of inclination of the lower walls that had been started could no longer be changed.

On one of the side walls of the Menkaure pyramid there is a large vertical gap. Getting to the treasures of the pharaoh in the burial chamber inside the pyramid, the robbers dismantled part of the wall from top to bottom. In the thus formed "vertical section" of the section of the inner blocks of the pyramid, the following was revealed - with a certain, clearly defined boundary, the upper blocks were not stacked tightly and not as neatly as the lower ones. This confirms that the pyramid was being completed and that later builders did not carefully monitor the quality of laying the internal blocks.

At the same time, judging by the two underground halls under the pyramid of Menkaure (which belong to the tombs of the pharaohs during the construction of the mastabas), the funerary structure was begun many centuries earlier. Such a confusion of times suggests that inside the pyramid of Menkaure, as well as in the pyramid of Cheops, there should have been ground-based prayer rooms of the original mastaba belonging to the more ancient burial of the pharaoh. And in the body of the pyramid there should also be a chamber-tomb of the later burial of Pharaoh Mykerin.

The "curtain" of the centuries-old mystery over the secret of the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops is lifted. It remains to enter the open door.
This requires permission from the Egyptian authorities, which they give to research scientists with great reluctance.
The secret loses its attractive power when it is revealed.

But, despite this, the interest of tourists in the majestic buildings of the ancient world, which have survived to this day, does not disappear.

How the pyramid of Cheops was built

Another confirmation of the trinity of the pyramid of Cheops. In 2009, French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin, and later with the support of Egyptologist Bob Brier of the American University of Long Island, observed how roads were built in the mountains, put forward a similar erroneous assumption. about the construction technology of the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops. The fact that stone blocks were dragged to the pyramid, around its walls along inclined ramps and corridors, as if along a serpentine mountain road. This is a long and laborious journey. Following this, Jean-Pierre Houdin began to look for evidence for his hypothesis.

In support of his assumption, he accepted the research of a group of engineers from the French Academy of Sciences, who in 1986 scanned the interior of the Cheops pyramid for several months in order to find hidden cavities inside it. French researchers found wide bands around the perimeter of the pyramid at different heights with a density lower, by about 15% (see the Cheops pyramid gravimetry picture above). Areas with a density of 1.85 to 2.3 tons per 1 cubic meter are highlighted in different colors.

The French scientists could not explain why there are rarefied bands along the walls of the pyramid, and therefore the results of the study in the subsequent scientific world did not receive any discussion.

In June 2012, engineer Vladimir Garmatyuk uncovered the “secret” of the Cheops pyramid in Russia. Obvious evidence is given that the pyramid, like a kind of “Russian matryoshka” inside, consists of three pyramids of three pharaohs of different times. When it became known that inside the pyramid of Cheops (the third from the beginning of construction) there is an older (360 years earlier) second pyramid (see the picture - a recessed entrance to the second closed pyramid).

And there is an even more ancient first truncated pyramid (a mastaba that reveals itself in the underground hall under the pyramid and other signs), then the strips of material with a lower density inside the pyramid of Cheops found their explanation. The stripes show and confirm the separation of the bodies of the second and third pyramids.

How and how to explain it

The outer layer of the pyramid for the strength of the structure was laid out from hewn tightly packed blocks. Hence the high density of the outer layer of the walls. Whereas the inner rows of the pyramids consist of roughly fitted unhewn blocks. Therefore, the density of the inner rows of the pyramid is less.

See, for example, the picture below - the "insides" of the pyramid of Pepi II from South Saqqara. Outside the pyramid are tightly packed hewn blocks, and inside are ordinary stones mined from a horizontal cleavage of layered limestone deposits.

It is possible that the same thing happened inside the pyramid of Cheops (of course, not in the central part, where the burial chambers of the pharaohs are located) as a filler of the volume, a mound of stones, rubble and sand, delivered to the pyramid in baskets, was used. After all, this significantly reduced the cost and accelerated the construction of the pyramids. A mound of stones easily explains the same vast spaces rarefied in density that were discovered in 2017 by French and Japanese physicists when studying the interior of the pyramid with muon telescopes.

With an accurate measurement of the plane of the side faces of the pyramid of Cheops, it is noticeable that they have some concavity inward (to a depth of one meter). Indeed, for 4.5 thousand years since the construction of the pyramid, there have been many earthquakes, which over and over again gradually shook its contents. And because of this, the walls (since there is loose material inside the pyramid), due to their lower density, somewhat fell inward.

According to the gravimetry of the pyramid of Cheops (white) stripes along the perimeter of the walls of the second pyramid have a density of 1.85-2.05 tons per cubic meter. This just says that there is a mound of stone.

The third (outer visible today) pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops increased the second (inner) pyramid on the sides and in height by 10-12 meters. The inner unhewn blocks of the third pyramid are laid along the dense, hewn outer walls of the second pyramid. Therefore, French researchers of gravimetry in 1986 recorded a difference in the density of the material inside the pyramid, it is this (density difference) that creates the appearance of a "serpentine". This circumstance was noted by French researchers, but they could not explain.

Other arguments by Jean-Per Houdin and Bob Bryer, given to prove the assumption of a "serpentine" construction of the pyramid, each separately has its own explanation. Researchers in 2009 did not yet know that the Cheops pyramid consists of three different pyramids. For example, longitudinal stripes of stone blocks of the same color on the faces of the pyramid of Cheops, interpreted by them as “dusty roads” from transporting blocks, are explained by the uniform color of the stones mined in the quarry from one layer of rock.

The third pyramid was built up with stone blocks evenly in height and perimeter on the walls of the second pyramid, like “cream on a cake”. The stone was mined in one place, and therefore there is a similarity of blocks in color. In what order the stone blocks were mined, in such a sequence they were laid into the walls. When they took the blocks in another place, their color was somewhat different.

Or their other argument is a small pothole-depression on the edge near the top of the pyramid, which they called the transport corridor. The pothole may have been made after the pyramid was built, for example, as an unsuccessful attempt to get inside. Or the pothole could be made like:

• the guardhouse of the guards for giving a signal,

as a guard post for religious, ascetic, cult or other purposes.

The fact that the Cheops pyramid consists of three different pyramids, separated by hundreds of years of construction time, means that it was built by more than one generation of people, and there was no such great construction “in one breath”.

This significantly alleviates the troublesome problem of the complexity of building a pyramid, but does not cancel and does not in any way reduce the grandeur of the undoubtedly greatest building of the ancient Egyptian civilization in the history of mankind.

Pyramid of Cheops short message will tell you a lot of useful information about the only wonder of the world that has survived to this day.

Information about the pyramid of Cheops

How old is the pyramid of Cheops?

The largest pyramid of the Egyptian complex - Giza is a real embodiment of royal ambitions. Its author was the vizier and pharaoh's nephew Hemion, who was also an architect. The construction was built in 2540 BC. And construction began much earlier, around 2560 BC.

To build the Great Pyramid in Giza, it took more than 2 million huge stones to be delivered. The weight of the blocks reached tens of tons. Blocks of granite were delivered from a quarry located 1000 km from the construction site. The place of construction was also chosen not in vain. So that Cheops, having a weight of 6.4 million tons, did not sit down under its own weight, it was decided to build it on rocky solid soil in Giza. Scientists from all over the world still cannot understand how the stones were transported and how the Cheops pyramid was built.

How was the pyramid of Cheops built?

In our time, the technology of building pyramids is controversial. To get a stone block, the future shape was first outlined in the rock. Then small ditches were hollowed out and dry wood was inserted into them. The tree was poured with water until it expanded and formed a crack in the rock. That was the only way to separate the block. Then it was processed with tools to the desired shape and sent to the construction site along the river.

To raise the block up, the ancient Egyptians used gentle embankments. On them, with wooden sledges, the megalith was dragged to the desired height. After the construction of the pyramid, they were engaged in interior decoration: painting the walls, filling the royal tomb, and so on. It is noteworthy that initially the pyramid of Cheops was completely covered with even white facing material, which was delivered from the other side of the Nile.

Description of the pyramid of Cheops

The Pyramid of Cheops has the shape of a regular quadrangular pyramid. The base of the building occupies an area of ​​53 thousand m 2. The length of the base is 230 m, the side edge is 230 m, the area of ​​the side surface is 85.5 thousand m 2 . The original height of the Cheops pyramid was 147 m (like a 50-story building), and today it is 138 m. For thousands of years, earthquakes have brought down the stone top of the structure. The smooth facing stone of the outer walls crumbled.

The entrance to the pyramid is located on the north side. Initially, it was at a height of 16 m, sealed with a granite plug. Modern tourists get inland through a huge gap 10 m below, which was left by the Arabs in 1820 (Caliph Abdullah al-Mamun tried to find treasures).

Inside Cheops there are 3 tombs, one above the other. At the base of the rock is the lowest, underground chamber. Above it are the burial chambers of the queen and the pharaoh. The Grand Gallery, rising up, leads to them. The pyramid is equipped with a complex system of shafts and corridors, the plan of which has not yet been fully studied. It has many secret doors and other design features.

• It is believed that the Great Pyramid served as an astronomical observatory for the ancient Egyptians. Its ventilation ducts and corridors accurately point to stars such as Thuban, Sirius and Alnitak.
• In Egypt, the date of the start of the construction of the pyramid of Cheops is officially celebrated on August 23, 2480 BC. e.
• The top of the pyramid was previously crowned with a gilded pyramidal stone.
• Near the pyramid, archaeologists have found pits with ancient Egyptian cedar boats, made without the use of fasteners and nails. She was dismantled into 1224 parts for better transportation. The restorer Ahmed Yussuf Mustafa spent 14 years collecting it back.

We hope that the Cheops pyramid report helped you learn a lot of useful information about this ancient Egyptian structure. And you can add a short story about the Cheops pyramid through the comment form below.

The Pyramid of Cheops is one of the seven wonders of the world and the only one that has survived to this day. Cheops is the ancient Greek name of the Egyptian pharaoh, for whom the pyramid was erected as a tomb. in 2580 BC. The ancient Egyptian name for this pharaoh was Chufu. The pyramid is called Akhet-Khufu" which means "Horizon of Khufu". Became an architect Hemiun who was the nephew of Cheops. Construction took twenty years.

Location of the pyramid of Cheops

The first of the seven wonders of the world located southwest of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. The Pyramid of Cheops is one of the pyramids of the Giza Necropolis. Giza is a rocky plateau on which a large necropolis was built during the 4th Dynasty. The structure of the necropolis included several cemeteries, rock tombs, temples, a village of builders and Sphinx. The three great pyramids of Giza are worn names of pharaohsCheops, Khafre and Menkaure.

Description and dimensions

The pyramid has a square base. The sides of the pyramid were originally 230 meters and the height 150 meters. Currently, due to erosion, the size of the pyramid has slightly decreased. This pyramid is the largest of all the pyramids ever built on Earth, regardless of civilization and time. The total weight of the Cheops pyramid is estimated at about 6.25 million tons. The burial chamber is located below ground level and a 105-meter inclined corridor leads to it. Chamber size 14*8.1 meters, height 3.5 meters.

Construction work and materials

The stones of the Cheops pyramid are composed of basalt, limestone or granite. They were originally covered with a top layer of polished Tura limestone, which, however, for the most part has not survived to this day. The pyramid is built from cuboid stone blocks of various sizes, each of which weighs an average of 2.5 tons. In total, to create such an impressive structure, it took near2.3 million stone blocks. The work was carried out without any complicated mechanisms.

Inside, the pyramid is very different from its sister pyramids at Giza, as well as from other pyramids in Egypt. P Iramid of Cheops is the only pyramid with three burial chambers. In addition, this Egyptian pyramid has ventilation duct around which many myths have formed.

Side concavity

The pyramid has four sides that look perfectly straight, but in fact each of them is divided from top to bottom into two equal parts. Therefore, the pyramid of Cheops has eight sides. But this feature is very weakly expressed and is visible only at a time when the sun's rays illuminate both sides from the north and south. At these moments it can be seen that these one half of the side of the pyramid is in the shade, and the other in the sun.

Today the pyramid of Cheops is included in UNESCO heritage list and attracts the attention of tourists and archaeologists from all over the world. It is still fraught with a lot of secrets and mysteries. There are narrow tunnels inside the pyramid, the purpose of which is still unknown..