Information about the pyramid of Cheops. Egyptian pyramids: what you need to know

Tourists arriving on holiday in Egypt are usually interested in the pyramids much more than other local attractions. Against the background of all existing ancient buildings, the Cheops pyramid is of particular interest.

Find out why it is remarkable and what you need to remember when going on this kind of excursion.

During this tour, you will see three adjacent pyramids of Ancient Egypt at once, namely:

• Cheops;
• Mekerina;
• Khafre.

Among them, the pyramid of Cheops is the highest.

The reminder of the ancient Egyptian civilization is located near the city, which is in the suburbs of Cairo. It is extremely difficult to establish the exact time of the construction of the pyramid: the data of numerous studies are very different from each other. The Egyptians themselves believe that construction work began in 2480 BC. and annually on August 23 this event is celebrated.

According to the assumptions of historians, about 100 thousand workers were simultaneously involved in the construction of the pyramid. During the first decade of hard labor, a road was made for the delivery of stone blocks and the arrangement of underground structures was completed. The monument itself was erected for another 20 years.

The height and overall dimensions of the monument are truly impressive. Initially, the pyramid towered about 147 m, but time did not spare the monument: as a result of the loss of lining and falling asleep with sand, the previously given figure decreased to 137 m.

At the base of the pyramid is a square with a side of 230 m. According to average data, the construction of the monument took more than 2.3 million blocks, each of which weighs an average of 2500 kg.

The price of a trip to the pyramids depends on where you live and how you will get on the tour. Those living in Cairo or Giza will not have any problems with the trip - the distance is short, you can also get there by bus. As for the popular Egyptian resorts, the fastest way to get to the pyramids is from Hurghada - the distance is about 457 km. Taba is a little further - about 495 km. The longest road will be for the residents of Sharm el-Sheikh - about 576 km.

Far? Naturally! And it's good that you learned about this before the trip, and not already upon arrival in Egypt. In general, you will have to spend about a day on a trip to the pyramids and back.

As for the tour, in specialized agencies it is most often referred to as an “excursion to Cairo”, and in addition to the famous pyramids, it includes visits to local museums and various retail shops, mostly sponsored.

The cost of the tour also depends on how exactly you are going to get to the Cheops pyramid. So, tourists are usually taken from Hurghada by bus. Guests of Sharm el-Sheikh and Taba have the opportunity to fly. Average prices are as follows:

• bus tour from Hurghada - $50-70 for an adult and $40-50 for a child ticket;
• by bus from Sharm el-Sheikh - $50-60, by plane - $170-190;
• by bus from Taba - $50-70, by plane - $250-270.

Helpful advice! Do not immediately dismiss the possibility of a flight. To get started, familiarize yourself with the features of the road to the pyramids and back. It is possible that after studying the information presented, you will change your mind.

There are no questions about the flight - I got on the plane, waited a bit, and now you are already at your destination. Tourists who choose bus tours need to know the following:

• Firstly, it is hot in Egypt at any time of the year. To prevent travelers from getting sick during the bus trip, travel agencies carry out transfers mainly at night;
• secondly, it is almost impossible to count on a trip in a comfortable modern bus with powerful air conditioning. Of course, in such vehicles there are air conditioners, but they rarely "cope" with the local climate. During the trip, do not hesitate to ask the driver to increase the power of the air conditioner.

You will arrive in the suburbs of Cairo around 7-8 am. Here you will be asked to get into the caravan and calmly, accompanied by local guards, proceed to your destination. You will reach approximately 10-11 am.

After listening to the stories of the guide, looking at the areas open to tourists, taking the desired number of pictures, you will go back to the hotel and get to your room late at night.

Description of the pyramid

The exterior design of the monument is very interesting and unusual. On the walls you can see a lot of grooves of various sizes. At the right viewing angle, the individual lines add up to an incredibly tall portrait of a man, supposedly one of the deities of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Around the main image there are several pictures and other design elements of a more modest size, namely:

• flying bird;
• interior plans;
• trident;
• texts with beautiful characters, etc.

On the northern part of the monument you can see a beautiful image of a woman and a man with their heads bowed. The painting was made shortly before the installation of the last stone.

The pyramid in question is not a simple stone monument, but a well-thought-out building with an extensive system of corridors. The first of them has a length of about 47 meters - this is the so-called. "big gallery" From here you can get to the Cheops chamber, which has a height of about 6 m and dimensions of 10.5x5.3 m. The room has a granite lining. There are no ornaments.

Here tourists are invited to look at the empty sarcophagus. It was brought here during the construction of the pyramid, because the size of the product would not allow the product to be carried later. There is a similar chamber in almost every pyramid. It was in such rooms that the rulers found their last refuge.

Of the decorations and inscriptions inside the pyramid, it is worth noting only the portrait in the corridor through which you can get into the Queen's chamber. Outwardly, the portrait looks like a photograph taken in stone.

In general, there are 3 chambers in the pyramid. The first burial chamber was cut down in the rocky foundation, but was never completed. A narrow corridor about 120 m long leads to the unfinished chamber. A low (about 175 cm) 35-meter corridor was made to connect the 1st and 2nd chambers. The next burial chamber of the Cheops pyramid is traditionally called the "queen's chamber", although according to the ancient Egyptian custom, the wives of the rulers found their last refuge in their own pyramids of a more modest size.

The history of the "Queen's Chamber" is very interesting. According to legend, in ancient times the pyramid was the main temple of the so-called. Supreme Deity. Special religious rites were held here, shrouded in darkness and secrets. According to legend, an unknown creature lived inside the pyramid, having the body of a man and the face of a lion. And in the hands of this creature were constantly the keys of Eternity. Only people who went through a series of purification procedures could see the "lion-faced" man. Only they received the magical Divine Name from the High Priest. And the person who knew the secret of the name was endowed with great magical power, not inferior to the power of the pyramid itself.

The main ceremony was held in the royal chamber. The initiate was tied to a ritual cross and placed in a large sarcophagus. Staying in it, the candidate fell into the space between the material and divine worlds, where knowledge came to him that was inaccessible to mere mortals.

Inside the pyramid of Cheops vault over the chamber of the pharaoh)

Another corridor branches off from the previously mentioned corridor, leading directly to the pharaoh's chamber.

Pyramid of Cheops - the tomb of the pharaoh

The internal arrangement of the pyramid is not limited to chambers and corridors alone. There are ventilation shafts and additional rooms. For example, in one of these rooms there is a table, and on it lies a book that tells about the developments in the country and the main achievements of civilization during the construction of the monument. The purpose of many other rooms and passages is still unknown.

The purpose of the underground structures located at the foot of the structure is not fully defined either. Some of them were opened in different periods of time. So, for example, archaeologists who studied the pyramid in 1954 found a wooden boat in one of the underground chambers - this is the oldest known ship created by man. Nails were not used to build the boat. Traces of silt found on the ship made it possible to conclude that before the death of the pharaoh, the ship managed to swim along the Nile.

When planning an excursion to the pyramid of Cheops, remember: this is a very exhausting journey. It is recommended to go on such a tour only in relatively cool periods of the year: from October to April. Do not take children if possible. It is unlikely that young tourists will be interested in when the pharaoh ruled and what made him famous. Inside the pyramid, no entertainment awaits them either.

If possible, avoid cooperation with local tour companies: traveler reviews indicate the extreme irresponsibility of such organizations. It is better to pay for the tour at your travel agency. So you will overpay a little, but you can be sure that on occasion you will have someone to file a claim with.

Try to find out as much information about the tour guide as possible. The best informants are the employees and guests of the hotel. The qualification of the guide in such trips is very important. With an inexperienced guide who somehow speaks Russian, you will simply not be interested.

And the last parting word: you should not expect something super-outstanding from a trip to the pyramid of Cheops. Treat the excursion as one of the points of your route. Listen to the guide's stories, see the parts of the building that are open to travelers, take some beautiful photos and add a visit to the Cheops Pyramid to your personal tourist record.

Have a nice holiday!

Table - Cost of transfer to Giza (Cairo)

Video - Pyramid of Cheops Egypt

, vizier and nephew of Cheops. He also bore the title "Manager of all construction sites of the pharaoh." For more than three thousand years (until the construction of the cathedral in Lincoln, England, about 1300), the pyramid was the tallest building on Earth.

It is assumed that the construction, which lasted twenty years, ended around 2540 BC. e. The existing methods of dating the time of the beginning of the construction of the pyramid are divided into historical, astronomical and radiocarbon. In Egypt, the date of the start of the construction of the Cheops pyramid is officially established and celebrated - August 23, 2560 BC. e. This date was obtained using the astronomical method of Kate Spence (University of Cambridge). However, this date should not be considered a true historical event, since her method and the dates obtained with its help have been criticized by many Egyptologists. The existing three other dating methods give different dates - Stephen Hack (University of Nebraska) 2720 BC. e., Juana Antonio Belmonte (University of Astrophysics in Canaris) 2577 BC. e. and Pollux (Baumann University) 2708 BC. e. The radiocarbon method gives a range from 2680 BC. e. until 2850 BC e. Therefore, there is no serious confirmation of the established “birthday” of the pyramid, since Egyptologists cannot agree on exactly what year the construction began.

Statistical data

• Altitude (today): ≈ 138.75 m
• Sidewall Angle (Now): 51° 50"
• Side rib length (original): 230.33 m (calculated) or about 440 royal cubits
• Side rib length (now): about 225 m
• The length of the sides of the base of the pyramid: south - 230.454 m; north - 230.253 m; west - 230.357 m; east - 230.394 m
• Base area (originally): ≈ 53,000 m² (5.3 ha)
• Side surface area of ​​the pyramid (originally): ≈ 85,500 m²
• Base perimeter: 922 m
• The total volume of the pyramid without deducting the cavities inside the pyramid (initially): ≈ 2.58 million m³
• Total volume of the pyramid minus all known cavities (originally): 2.50 million m³
• Average volume of stone blocks: 1.147 m³
• Average weight of stone blocks: 2.5 t
• The heaviest stone block: about 35 tons - is located above the entrance to the "King's Chamber".
• The number of blocks of the average volume does not exceed 1.65 million (2.50 million m³ - 0.6 million m³ of rock base inside the pyramid = 1.9 million m³ / 1.147 m³ = 1.65 million blocks of the specified volume can physically fit in the pyramid, without taking into account the volume of the solution in the interblock seams); reference to a 20-year construction period * 300 working days per year * 10 working hours per day * 60 minutes per hour results in a paving (and delivery to the construction site) speed of about a block of two minutes.
• According to estimates, the total weight of the pyramid is about 4 million tons (1.65 million blocks x 2.5 tons)
• The base of the pyramid rests on a natural rocky elevation with a height in the center of about 12-14 m and, according to the latest data, occupies at least 23% of the original volume of the pyramid

About the pyramid

The pyramid is called "Akhet-Khufu" - "Horizon of Khufu" (or more precisely "Related to the sky - (this is) Khufu"). Consists of blocks of limestone and granite. It was built on a natural limestone hill. After the pyramid has lost several layers of lining, this hill is partially visible on the eastern, northern and southern sides of the pyramid. Despite the fact that the Pyramid of Cheops is the tallest and most voluminous of all Egyptian pyramids, Pharaoh Sneferu built the pyramids in Meidum and Dahshut (the Bent Pyramid and the Pink Pyramid), the total mass of which is estimated at 8.4 million tons.

Initially, the pyramid was lined with white limestone, harder than the main blocks. The top of the pyramid was crowned with a gilded stone - a pyramidion (ancient Egyptian - "Benben"). The cladding shone in the sun with a peach color, as if "a shining miracle, to which the sun god Ra himself seemed to give all his rays." In 1168, the Arabs sacked and burned Cairo. The inhabitants of Cairo removed the lining from the pyramid in order to build new houses.

pyramid structure

The entrance to the pyramid is at a height of 15.63 meters on the north side. The entrance is formed by stone slabs laid in the form of an arch, but this is a structure that was inside the pyramid - the true entrance has not been preserved. The true entrance to the pyramid was most likely closed with a stone plug. A description of such a cork can be found in Strabo, and its appearance can also be imagined based on the surviving slab that closed the upper entrance to the Bent Pyramid of Snefru, the father of Cheops. Today, tourists enter the pyramid through a 17-meter gap, which was made in 820 by the Baghdad caliph Abdullah al-Mamun 10 meters lower. He hoped to find the innumerable treasures of the pharaoh there, but found there only a layer of dust half a cubit thick.

Inside the pyramid of Cheops there are three burial chambers located one above the other.

Funeral "pit"

A descending corridor 105 m long, inclined at 26° 26’46, leads to a horizontal corridor 8.9 m long leading to the chamber 5 . Located below ground level in a rocky limestone base, it was left unfinished. The dimensions of the chamber are 14 × 8.1 m, it is elongated from east to west. The height reaches 3.5 m, the ceiling has a large crack. At the southern wall of the chamber there is a well about 3 m deep, from which a narrow manhole (0.7 × 0.7 m in cross section) stretches southward for 16 m, ending in a dead end. Engineers John Shae Perring and Richard William Howard Vyse cleared the floor of the chamber in the early 19th century and dug a 11.6 m deep well in which they hoped to find a hidden burial chamber. They were based on the evidence of Herodotus, who claimed that the body of Cheops was on an island surrounded by a channel in a hidden underground chamber. Their excavations turned up nothing. Later research showed that the chamber was left unfinished, and it was decided to arrange the burial chambers in the center of the pyramid itself.

Some photographs taken in 1910

Interior

Interior

Interior

Interior

Interior

Interior

Interior

Ascending Corridor and Queen's Chambers

From the first third of the descending passage (after 18 m from the main entrance) upwards at the same angle of 26.5 ° there is an ascending passage to the south ( 6 ) about 40 m long, ending at the bottom of the Great Gallery ( 9 ).

At its beginning, the ascending passage contains 3 large cubic granite "plugs", which, from the outside, from the descending passage, were masked by a block of limestone that fell during the work of al-Ma'mun. Thus, for the previous approximately 3 thousand years, it was believed that there were no other rooms in the Great Pyramid, except for the descending passage and the underground chamber. Al-Ma'mun failed to break through these plugs and simply hollowed out a bypass in the softer limestone to the right of them. This passage is still in use today. There are two main theories about plugs, one of them is that the ascending passage has plugs installed at the beginning of construction and thus this passage was sealed by them from the very beginning. The second asserts that the present narrowing of the walls was caused by an earthquake, and the plugs were previously located within the Great Gallery and were used to seal the passage only after the burial of the pharaoh.

An important mystery of this section of the ascending passage is that in the place where the traffic jams are now located, in a full-size, albeit shortened model of the pyramid passages - the so-called test corridors north of the Great Pyramid - there is a junction of not two, but three corridors at once, the third of which is the vertical tunnel. Since no one has been able to move the traffic jams so far, the question of whether there is a vertical hole above them remains open.

In the middle of the ascending passage, the construction of the walls has a peculiarity: the so-called “frame stones” are installed in three places - that is, the passage, square along the entire length, pierces through three monoliths. The purpose of these stones is unknown. In the area of ​​the frame stones, the passage walls have several small niches.

A horizontal corridor 35 m long and 1.75 m high leads to the second burial chamber from the lower part of the Great Gallery in a southerly direction. . Behind the western wall of the passage there are cavities filled with sand. The second chamber is traditionally called the "Queen's Chamber", although according to the rite, the wives of the pharaohs were buried in separate small pyramids. The "Queen's Chamber", lined with limestone, has 5.74 meters from east to west and 5.23 meters from north to south; its maximum height is 6.22 meters. There is a high niche in the eastern wall of the chamber.

Chambre-reine-kheops.jpg

Blueprint of the Queen's Chamber ( 7 )

Niche in the wall of the Queen's Chamber

Corridor at the entrance to the Queen's Hall (1910)

Entrance to the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Niche in the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Ventilation duct in the queen's chamber (1910)

Corridor to ascending tunnel ( 12 )

Granite Plug (1910)

Blocs-bouchons2.jpg

Corridor to the ascending tunnel (left - closing blocks)

Grotto, Grand Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Another branch from the lower part of the Grand Gallery is a narrow almost vertical shaft about 60 m high, leading to the lower part of the descending passage. There is an assumption that it was intended for the evacuation of workers or priests who were completing the "sealing" of the main passage to the "King's Chamber". Approximately in the middle of it is a small, most likely natural extension - the "Grotto" (Grotto) of irregular shape, in which several people could fit from strength. Grotto ( 12 ) is located at the "junction" of the masonry of the pyramid and a small, about 9 meters high, hill on a limestone plateau lying at the base of the Great Pyramid. The walls of the Grotto are partially reinforced with ancient masonry, and since some of its stones are too large, there is an assumption that the Grotto existed on the Giza plateau as an independent structure long before the construction of the pyramids, and the evacuation shaft itself was built taking into account the location of the Grotto. However, taking into account the fact that the shaft was actually hollowed out in the already laid masonry, and not laid out, as evidenced by its irregular circular section, the question arises of how the builders managed to accurately reach the Grotto.

The large gallery continues the ascending passage. Its height is 8.53 m, it is rectangular in cross section, with walls slightly tapering upwards (the so-called “false vault”), a high inclined tunnel 46.6 m long. 1 meter wide and 60 cm deep, and on both side protrusions there are 27 pairs of recesses of unclear purpose. The deepening ends with the so-called. The “Big Step” is a high horizontal ledge, a platform of 1 × 2 meters at the end of the Great Gallery, directly in front of the entrance to the “entrance hall” - the Anterior Chamber. The site has a pair of recesses similar to the ramp recesses, recesses at the corners near the wall (the 28th and last pair of BG recesses). Through the "entrance hall" the manhole leads to the burial chamber "King's Chamber" lined with black granite, where an empty granite sarcophagus is placed. The lid of the sarcophagus is missing. Ventilation shafts have mouths in the "Chamber of the King" on the southern and northern walls at a height of about a meter from the floor level. The mouth of the southern ventilation shaft is badly damaged, the northern one appears undamaged. The floor, ceiling, walls of the chamber do not have any decorations or holes or fasteners of anything related to the time of the construction of the pyramid. The ceiling slabs have all burst along the southern wall and do not fall into the room only due to the pressure of the overlying blocks by the weight.

Above the "King's Chamber" there are five unloading cavities with a total height of 17 m discovered in the 19th century, between which monolithic granite slabs about 2 m thick lie, and above - a gable ceiling of limestone. It is believed that their purpose is to distribute the weight of the overlying layers of the pyramid (about a million tons) in order to protect the "King's Chamber" from pressure. Graffiti has been found in these voids, probably left by workers.

Interior of the Grotto (1910)

Grotto drawing (1910)

Drawing connecting the Grotto with the Grand Gallery (1910)

Tunnel Entrance (1910)

Tunnel Entrance (1910)

Embranchement-grande-galerie.jpg

View of the Grand Gallery from the entrance to the premises

grande-galerie.jpg

Grand Gallery

Grand Gallery (1910)

Thumbnail creation error: File not found

"Big Step"

kheops-chambre-roi.jpg

Drawing of the Pharaoh's Chamber

Chambre-roi-grande-pyramide.jpg

pharaoh's chamber

Pharaoh's Chamber (1910)

Interior of the vestibule in front of the king's chamber (1910)

Channel "ventilation" at the south wall of the king's room (1910)

ventilation ducts

From the “King’s Chamber” and the “Queen’s Chamber” in the north and south directions (at first horizontally, then obliquely upwards) the so-called “ventilation” channels 20-25 cm wide depart. At the same time, the channels of the “King’s Chamber”, known since the 17th century, through, they are open both from below and from above (on the faces of the pyramid), while the lower ends of the channels of the "Queen's Chamber" are separated from the surface of the wall by about 13 cm, they were discovered by tapping in 1872. The upper ends of these channels do not reach the surface of about 12 meters. The upper ends of the channels of the "Queen's Chamber" are closed with stone "Gantenbrink Doors", each with two copper handles. Copper handles were sealed with plaster seals (not preserved, but traces remained). In the southern ventilation shaft, a "door" was discovered in 1993 using a remote-controlled robot "Upuaut II"; the bend of the northern shaft did not allow this robot to detect the same "door" in it. In 2002, using a new modification of the robot, a hole was drilled in the southern "door", but a small cavity 18 centimeters long and another stone "door" were found behind it. What lies next is still unknown. This robot confirmed the presence of a similar "door" at the end of the northern channel, but they did not drill it. A new robot in 2010 was able to insert a serpentine television camera through a drilled hole in the southern “door” and found that the copper “handles” on the other side of the “door” were designed in the form of neat hinges, and separate badges were applied in red ocher on the floor of the “ventilation” shaft. Currently, the most common version is that the purpose of the "ventilation" ducts was of a religious nature and is associated with the Egyptians' ideas about the afterlife journey of the soul. And the “door” at the end of the channel is nothing more than a door to the afterlife. That is why it does not go to the surface of the pyramid.

Tilt angle

It is not possible to accurately determine the original parameters of the pyramid, since its edges and surfaces are currently mostly dismantled and destroyed. This makes it difficult to calculate the exact angle of inclination. In addition, its symmetry itself is not perfect, so deviations in numbers are observed with different measurements.

The study of the geometry of the Great Pyramid does not give an unambiguous answer to the question of the original proportions of this structure. It is assumed that the Egyptians had an idea of ​​\u200b\u200b" Golden section"And the number pi, which were reflected in the proportions of the pyramid: for example, the ratio of height to half the perimeter of the base is 14/22 (height \u003d 280 cubits, and base \u003d 220 cubits, half-perimeter of the base \u003d 2 ×220 cubits; 280/440 = 14/22). For the first time in world history, these values ​​were used in the construction of the pyramid at Meidum. However, for pyramids of later eras, these proportions were not used anywhere else, as, for example, some have height-to-base ratios, such as 6/5 (Pink Pyramid), 4/3 (Chefren's Pyramid) or 7/5 (Broken Pyramid).

Some of the theories consider the pyramid to be an astronomical observatory. It is alleged that the corridors of the pyramid point exactly towards the "polar star" of that time - Tuban, the ventilation corridors of the south side - to the star Sirius, and from the north side - to the star Alnitak.

Side concavity

As in the 18th century, when this phenomenon was discovered, today there is still no satisfactory explanation for this feature of architecture.

pharaoh boats

Near the pyramids, seven pits were found with real ancient Egyptian boats disassembled into parts. The first of these vessels, called "Solar Boats" or "Solar Boats", was discovered in 1954 by Egyptian architect Kamal el-Mallah and archaeologist Zaki Nur. The boat was made of cedar and did not have a single trace of nails for attaching elements. The boat consisted of 1224 parts, they were assembled by the restorer Ahmed Youssef Mustafa only in 1968.

Boat dimensions: length - 43.3 m, width - 5.6 m, and draft - 1.50 m.

On the south side of the pyramid of Cheops, a museum of this boat is open.

kheops-boat-pit.JPG

One of two solar boat pits. Eastern part of the pyramid

Barque solaire-Decouverte2.jpg

The place where the solar boat was discovered

Cairo - Pharaons ships funeral museum outdoors.JPG

Boat museum on the south side of the pyramid

Gizeh Sonnenbarke BW 2.jpg

Cheops solar boat, discovered near the pyramid in 1954

Pyramids of Queens of Cheops

Pyramide Henoutsen 01.JPG

Descent to the Henoutsen burial chamber

Pyramide Henoutsen 02.JPG

Henoutsen burial chamber

Write a review on the article "Pyramid of Cheops"

Literature

• Ionina N. A. 100 great wonders of the world. - Moscow., 1999.
• Vojtech Zamarovsky. Their majesties pyramids. - Moscow., 1986.

see also

Notes

Links

• (English)
• (English)
• (English)

ancient kingdom (2686-2181 BC) 1st transitional period (2181–2040 BC) middle kingdom (2040-1650 BC) 2nd transition period (1650-1570 BC) new kingdom (1570-1070 BC)

pyramids sculptures

An excerpt characterizing the Pyramid of Cheops

What are you talking about the militia? he said to Boris.
- They, Your Grace, in preparation for tomorrow, for death, put on white shirts.
- Ah! .. Wonderful, incomparable people! - said Kutuzov and, closing his eyes, shook his head. - Incredible people! he repeated with a sigh.
- Do you want to smell gunpowder? he said to Pierre. Yes, nice smell. I have the honor to be an admirer of your wife, is she healthy? My retreat is at your service. - And, as is often the case with old people, Kutuzov began to absently look around, as if forgetting everything he needed to say or do.
Obviously, remembering what he was looking for, he lured Andrei Sergeyich Kaisarov, the brother of his adjutant, to him.
- How, how, how are Marina's poems, how are poems, how? That he wrote on Gerakov: “You will be a teacher in the building ... Tell me, tell me,” Kutuzov spoke, obviously intending to laugh. Kaisarov read ... Kutuzov, smiling, nodded his head in time with the verses.
When Pierre moved away from Kutuzov, Dolokhov, moving towards him, took his hand.
“I am very glad to meet you here, Count,” he said to him loudly and not embarrassed by the presence of strangers, with special determination and solemnity. “On the eve of the day on which God knows which of us is destined to remain alive, I am glad to have the opportunity to tell you that I regret the misunderstandings that have been between us, and would like you not to have anything against me. Please forgive me.
Pierre, smiling, looked at Dolokhov, not knowing what to say to him. Dolokhov, with tears in his eyes, hugged and kissed Pierre.
Boris said something to his general, and Count Benigsen turned to Pierre and offered to go with him along the line.
“You will be interested,” he said.
“Yes, very interesting,” said Pierre.
Half an hour later, Kutuzov left for Tatarinov, and Bennigsen, with his retinue, including Pierre, rode along the line.

Benigsen from Gorki went down the high road to the bridge, to which the officer from the mound pointed out to Pierre as the center of the position, and near which rows of mowed grass, smelling of hay, lay on the bank. They drove across the bridge to the village of Borodino, from there they turned left and past a huge number of troops and guns drove to a high mound on which the militias were digging the ground. It was a redoubt, which did not yet have a name, then it was called the Raevsky redoubt, or barrow battery.
Pierre did not pay much attention to this redoubt. He did not know that this place would be more memorable for him than all the places in the Borodino field. Then they drove across the ravine to Semyonovsky, where the soldiers were pulling away the last logs of huts and barns. Then, downhill and uphill, they drove forward through the broken rye, knocked out like hail, along the road to the flushes [a kind of fortification. (Note by L.N. Tolstoy.) ], also then still dug.
Bennigsen stopped at the fleches and began to look ahead at the Shevardinsky redoubt (which had been ours yesterday), on which several horsemen could be seen. The officers said that Napoleon or Murat was there. And everyone looked eagerly at this bunch of riders. Pierre also looked there, trying to guess which of these barely visible people was Napoleon. Finally, the horsemen drove off the mound and disappeared.
Benigsen turned to the general who approached him and began to explain the whole position of our troops. Pierre listened to Benigsen's words, straining all his mental powers to understand the essence of the upcoming battle, but felt with chagrin that his mental abilities were insufficient for this. He didn't understand anything. Bennigsen stopped talking, and noticing the figure of Pierre listening, he suddenly said, turning to him:
- You, I think, are not interested?
“Oh, on the contrary, it’s very interesting,” Pierre repeated, not quite truthfully.
From the flush, they drove even more to the left along the road, winding through a dense, low birch forest. In the middle of it
forest, a brown hare with white legs jumped out in front of them on the road and, frightened by the clatter of a large number of horses, was so confused that it jumped for a long time along the road in front of them, arousing general attention and laughter, and only when several voices shouted at him, rushed to the side and hid in the thicket. Having traveled two versts through the forest, they drove out to a clearing on which stood the troops of Tuchkov's corps, which was supposed to protect the left flank.
Here, on the extreme left flank, Bennigsen spoke a lot and ardently and made, as it seemed to Pierre, an important order from a military point of view. Ahead of the disposition of Tuchkov's troops was an elevation. This elevation was not occupied by troops. Bennigsen loudly criticized this mistake, saying that it was foolish to leave the high ground unoccupied and place troops under it. Some generals expressed the same opinion. One in particular spoke with military vehemence that they were put here to be slaughtered. Bennigsen ordered in his name to move the troops to the heights.
This order on the left flank made Pierre even more doubtful of his ability to understand military affairs. Listening to Bennigsen and the generals who condemned the position of the troops under the mountain, Pierre fully understood them and shared their opinion; but precisely because of this, he could not understand how the one who placed them here under the mountain could make such an obvious and gross mistake.
Pierre did not know that these troops were not sent to defend the position, as Bennigsen thought, but were placed in a hidden place for an ambush, that is, in order to be unnoticed and suddenly strike at the advancing enemy. Bennigsen did not know this and moved the troops forward for special reasons, without telling the commander-in-chief about it.

On this clear August evening on the 25th, Prince Andrei was lying, leaning on his arm, in a broken shed in the village of Knyazkov, on the edge of his regiment. Through the hole in the broken wall, he looked at the strip of thirty-year-old birch trees with the lower branches cut off along the fence, at the arable land with smashed heaps of oats on it, and at the bushes, along which the smoke of fires - soldiers' kitchens - could be seen.
No matter how cramped and no one needs and no matter how heavy his life now seemed to Prince Andrei, he, just like seven years ago in Austerlitz on the eve of the battle, felt agitated and irritated.
Orders for tomorrow's battle were given and received by him. There was nothing more for him to do. But the simplest, clearest and therefore terrible thoughts did not leave him alone. He knew that tomorrow's battle was to be the most terrible of all those in which he participated, and the possibility of death for the first time in his life, without any regard for worldly, without considerations of how it would affect others, but only in relation to himself, to his soul, with liveliness, almost with certainty, simply and terribly, she presented herself to him. And from the height of this idea, everything that had previously tormented and occupied him was suddenly illuminated by a cold white light, without shadows, without perspective, without distinction of outlines. All life seemed to him like a magic lantern, into which he looked for a long time through glass and under artificial light. Now he suddenly saw, without glass, in bright daylight, these badly painted pictures. “Yes, yes, here they are, those false images that agitated and delighted and tormented me,” he said to himself, turning over in his imagination the main pictures of his magic lantern of life, now looking at them in this cold white daylight - a clear thought of death. - Here they are, these roughly painted figures, which seemed to be something beautiful and mysterious. Glory, public good, love for a woman, the fatherland itself - how great these pictures seemed to me, what deep meaning they seemed to be filled with! And it's all so simple, pale and crude in the cold white light of that morning that I feel is rising for me." The three main sorrows of his life in particular caught his attention. His love for a woman, the death of his father and the French invasion that captured half of Russia. “Love! .. This girl, who seemed to me full of mysterious powers. How I loved her! I made poetic plans about love, about happiness with her. O dear boy! he said out loud angrily. - How! I believed in some kind of ideal love, which was supposed to keep her faithful to me during the whole year of my absence! Like the gentle dove of a fable, she must have withered away from me. And all this is much simpler ... All this is terribly simple, disgusting!
My father also built in the Bald Mountains and thought that this was his place, his land, his air, his peasants; and Napoleon came and, not knowing about his existence, like a chip from the road, pushed him, and his Bald Mountains and his whole life fell apart. And Princess Marya says that this is a test sent from above. What is the test for, when it no longer exists and will not exist? never again! He is not! So who is this test for? Fatherland, death of Moscow! And tomorrow he will kill me - and not even a Frenchman, but his own, as yesterday a soldier emptied a gun near my ear, and the French will come, take me by the legs and by the head and throw me into a pit so that I don’t stink under their noses, and new conditions will develop lives that will also be familiar to others, and I will not know about them, and I will not be.
He looked at the strip of birch trees, with their motionless yellowness, greenery and white bark, shining in the sun. "To die so that they would kill me tomorrow, so that I would not be ... so that all this would be, but I would not be." He vividly imagined the absence of himself in this life. And these birch trees with their light and shadow, and these curly clouds, and this smoke of bonfires - everything around was transformed for him and seemed something terrible and threatening. Frost ran down his back. Rising quickly, he went out of the shed and began to walk.
Voices were heard behind the barn.
- Who's there? - called Prince Andrew.
The red-nosed Captain Timokhin, Dolokhov's former company commander, now, due to the loss of officers, the battalion commander, timidly entered the shed. Behind him entered the adjutant and treasurer of the regiment.
Prince Andrei hurriedly got up, listened to what the officers had to convey to him in the service, gave them some more orders and was about to let them go, when a familiar, whispering voice was heard from behind the barn.
– Que diable! [Damn it!] said the voice of a man who had bumped into something.
Prince Andrei, looking out of the barn, saw Pierre coming up to him, who stumbled on a lying pole and almost fell. It was generally unpleasant for Prince Andrei to see people from his own world, especially Pierre, who reminded him of all those difficult moments that he experienced on his last visit to Moscow.
- That's how! - he said. - What fates? That's not waiting.
While he was saying this, there was more than dryness in his eyes and the expression of his whole face - there was hostility, which Pierre immediately noticed. He approached the barn in the most lively state of mind, but, seeing the expression on Prince Andrei's face, he felt embarrassed and awkward.
“I arrived ... so ... you know ... I arrived ... I’m interested,” said Pierre, who had so many times that day meaninglessly repeated this word “interesting”. “I wanted to see the fight.
– Yes, yes, but what do the Masons brothers say about the war? How to prevent it? - said Prince Andrei mockingly. - What about Moscow? What are mine? Have you finally arrived in Moscow? he asked seriously.
- We've arrived. Julie Drubetskaya told me. I went to them and did not find. They left for the suburbs.

The officers wanted to take their leave, but Prince Andrei, as if not wanting to remain eye to eye with his friend, invited them to sit and drink tea. Benches and tea were served. The officers, not without surprise, looked at the fat, huge figure of Pierre and listened to his stories about Moscow and the disposition of our troops, which he managed to travel around. Prince Andrei was silent, and his face was so unpleasant that Pierre turned more to the good-natured battalion commander Timokhin than to Bolkonsky.
“So you understood the entire disposition of the troops?” Prince Andrew interrupted him.
- Yes, that is, how? Pierre said. - As a non-military person, I can’t say that it is completely, but still I understood the general arrangement.
- Eh bien, vous etes plus avance que qui cela soit, [Well, you know more than anyone else.] - said Prince Andrei.
– A! - said Pierre in bewilderment, looking through his glasses at Prince Andrei. - Well, what do you say about the appointment of Kutuzov? - he said.
“I was very pleased with this appointment, that’s all I know,” said Prince Andrei.
- Well, tell me, what is your opinion about Barclay de Tolly? In Moscow, God knows what they said about him. How do you judge him?
“Ask them here,” said Prince Andrei, pointing to the officers.
Pierre, with a condescendingly inquiring smile, with which everyone involuntarily turned to Timokhin, looked at him.
“They saw the light, your excellency, how the brightest acted,” said Timokhin, timidly and constantly looking back at his regimental commander.
- Why is it so? Pierre asked.
- Yes, at least about firewood or fodder, I will report to you. After all, we retreated from Sventsyan, don’t you dare touch the twigs, or the senets there, or something. After all, we're leaving, he gets it, isn't it, Your Excellency? - he turned to his prince, - but don't you dare. In our regiment, two officers were put on trial for such cases. Well, as the brightest did, it just became so about this. The world has been seen...
So why did he forbid it?
Timokhin looked around in embarrassment, not understanding how and what to answer such a question. Pierre turned to Prince Andrei with the same question.
“And in order not to ruin the land that we left to the enemy,” Prince Andrei said angrily and mockingly. – It is very thorough; it is impossible to allow to plunder the region and accustom the troops to looting. Well, in Smolensk, he also correctly judged that the French could get around us and that they had more forces. But he could not understand this, - Prince Andrei suddenly cried out in a thin voice, as if escaping, - but he could not understand that for the first time we fought there for the Russian land, that there was such a spirit in the troops that I had never seen, that we fought off the French for two days in a row, and that this success multiplied our strength tenfold. He ordered a retreat, and all the efforts and losses were in vain. He did not think about betrayal, he tried to do everything as best as possible, he thought everything over; but that doesn't make him any good. He is no good now precisely because he thinks everything over very thoroughly and carefully, as every German should. How can I tell you ... Well, your father has a German footman, and he is an excellent footman and will satisfy all his needs better than you, and let him serve; but if your father is ill at death, you will drive away the footman and with your unaccustomed, clumsy hands you will begin to follow your father and calm him better than a skilled, but a stranger. That's what they did with Barclay. While Russia was healthy, a stranger could serve her, and there was a wonderful minister, but as soon as she was in danger; you need your own person. And in your club they invented that he was a traitor! By being slandered as a traitor, they will only do what later, ashamed of their false criticism, they will suddenly make a hero or a genius out of traitors, which will be even more unfair. He is an honest and very accurate German...
“However, they say he is a skilled commander,” said Pierre.
“I don’t understand what a skilled commander means,” Prince Andrei said with a sneer.
“A skillful commander,” said Pierre, “well, one who foresaw all accidents ... well, guessed the thoughts of the enemy.
“Yes, it’s impossible,” said Prince Andrei, as if about a long-decided matter.
Pierre looked at him in surprise.
“However,” he said, “they say war is like a game of chess.
“Yes,” said Prince Andrei, “with the only slight difference that in chess you can think as much as you like about each step, that you are there outside the conditions of time, and with the difference that a knight is always stronger than a pawn and two pawns are always stronger.” one, and in war one battalion is sometimes stronger than a division, and sometimes weaker than a company. The relative strength of the troops cannot be known to anyone. Believe me,” he said, “that if anything depended on the orders of the headquarters, then I would be there and make orders, but instead I have the honor to serve here in the regiment with these gentlemen, and I think that it’s really from us tomorrow will depend, and not on them ... Success has never depended and will not depend either on position, or on weapons, or even on numbers; and least of all from the position.
- And from what?
“From the feeling that is in me, in him,” he pointed to Timokhin, “in every soldier.
Prince Andrei glanced at Timokhin, who looked at his commander in fright and bewilderment. In contrast to his former restrained silence, Prince Andrei now seemed agitated. He apparently could not refrain from expressing those thoughts that suddenly came to him.
The battle will be won by the one who is determined to win it. Why did we lose the battle near Austerlitz? Our loss was almost equal to that of the French, but we told ourselves very early that we had lost the battle—and we did. And we said this because we had no reason to fight there: we wanted to leave the battlefield as soon as possible. “We lost - well, run like that!” - we ran. If we had not said this before evening, God knows what would have happened. We won't say that tomorrow. You say: our position, the left flank is weak, the right flank is extended,” he continued, “all this is nonsense, there is nothing of it. And what do we have tomorrow? One hundred million of the most varied accidents that will be solved instantly by the fact that they or ours ran or run, that they kill one, kill another; and what is being done now is all fun. The fact is that those with whom you traveled around the position not only do not contribute to the general course of affairs, but interfere with it. They are only concerned with their little interests.
- At a moment like this? Pierre said reproachfully.
“At such a moment,” Prince Andrei repeated, “for them, this is only such a moment in which you can dig under the enemy and get an extra cross or ribbon. For me, this is what tomorrow is: a hundred thousand Russian and a hundred thousand French troops have come together to fight, and the fact is that these two hundred thousand are fighting, and whoever fights more viciously and feels less sorry for himself will win. And if you want, I'll tell you that no matter what happens, no matter what is confused up there, we will win the battle tomorrow. Tomorrow, whatever it is, we will win the battle!
“Here, Your Excellency, the truth, the true truth,” said Timokhin. - Why feel sorry for yourself now! The soldiers in my battalion, believe me, did not begin to drink vodka: not such a day, they say. - Everyone was silent.
The officers got up. Prince Andrei went out with them outside the shed, giving his last orders to the adjutant. When the officers left, Pierre went up to Prince Andrei and just wanted to start a conversation, when the hooves of three horses clattered along the road not far from the barn, and, looking in this direction, Prince Andrei recognized Wolzogen and Clausewitz, accompanied by a Cossack. They drove close, continuing to talk, and Pierre and Andrei involuntarily heard the following phrases:
– Der Krieg muss im Raum verlegt werden. Der Ansicht kann ich nicht genug Preis geben, [The war must be transferred into space. This view I cannot praise enough (German)] - said one.
“O ja,” said another voice, “da der Zweck ist nur den Feind zu schwachen, so kann man gewiss nicht den Verlust der Privatpersonen in Achtung nehmen.” [Oh yes, since the goal is to weaken the enemy, then private casualties cannot be taken into account (German)]
- O ja, [Oh yes (German)] - confirmed the first voice.
- Yes, im Raum verlegen, [transfer to space (German)] - Prince Andrei repeated, angrily snorting his nose, when they drove by. - Im Raum then [In space (German)] I left a father, and a son, and a sister in the Bald Mountains. He doesn't care. That's what I told you - these gentlemen Germans will not win the battle tomorrow, but will only tell how much their strength will be, because in his German head there are only arguments that are not worth a damn, and in his heart there is nothing that alone and you need it for tomorrow - what is in Timokhin. They gave all of Europe to him and came to teach us - glorious teachers! his voice screamed again.
"So you think tomorrow's battle will be won?" Pierre said.
“Yes, yes,” Prince Andrei said absently. “One thing I would do if I had the power,” he began again, “I would not take prisoners. What are prisoners? This is chivalry. The French have ruined my house and are going to ruin Moscow, and have insulted and insult me ​​every second. They are my enemies, they are all criminals, according to my concepts. And Timokhin and the whole army think the same way. They must be executed. If they are my enemies, they cannot be friends, no matter how they talk in Tilsit.
“Yes, yes,” Pierre said, looking at Prince Andrei with shining eyes, “I completely, completely agree with you!”
The question that had been troubling Pierre from Mozhaisk Mountain all that day now seemed to him completely clear and completely resolved. He now understood the whole meaning and significance of this war and the forthcoming battle. Everything that he saw that day, all the significant, stern expressions of faces that he caught a glimpse of, lit up for him with a new light. He understood that latent (latente), as they say in physics, warmth of patriotism, which was in all those people whom he saw, and which explained to him why all these people calmly and, as it were, thoughtlessly prepared for death.
“Do not take prisoners,” continued Prince Andrei. “That alone would change the whole war and make it less brutal. And then we played war - that's what's bad, we are magnanimous and the like. This generosity and sensitivity is like the generosity and sensitivity of a lady, with whom she becomes dizzy when she sees a calf being killed; she is so kind that she cannot see the blood, but she eats this calf with sauce with gusto. They talk to us about the rights of war, about chivalry, about parliamentary work, to spare the unfortunate, and so on. All nonsense. In 1805 I saw chivalry, parliamentarianism: they cheated us, we cheated. They rob other people's houses, let out fake banknotes, and worst of all, they kill my children, my father and talk about the rules of war and generosity towards enemies. Do not take prisoners, but kill and go to your death! Who has come to this the way I did, by the same suffering...
Prince Andrei, who thought that it was all the same to him whether Moscow was taken or not taken the way Smolensk was taken, suddenly stopped in his speech from an unexpected convulsion that seized him by the throat. He walked several times in silence, but his body shone feverishly, and his lip trembled when he began to speak again:
- If there was no generosity in the war, then we would go only when it is worth it to go to certain death, as now. Then there would be no war because Pavel Ivanovich offended Mikhail Ivanovich. And if the war is like now, then the war. And then the intensity of the troops would not be the same as now. Then all these Westphalians and Hessians, who are led by Napoleon, would not have followed him to Russia, and we would not have gone to fight in Austria and Prussia, without knowing why. War is not a courtesy, but the most disgusting thing in life, and one must understand this and not play war. This terrible necessity must be taken strictly and seriously. It's all about this: put aside lies, and war is war, not a toy. Otherwise, war is the favorite pastime of idle and frivolous people ... The military estate is the most honorable. And what is war, what is needed for success in military affairs, what are the morals of a military society? The purpose of the war is murder, the weapons of war are espionage, treason and encouragement, the ruin of the inhabitants, robbing them or stealing for the food of the army; deceit and lies, called stratagems; morals of the military class - lack of freedom, that is, discipline, idleness, ignorance, cruelty, debauchery, drunkenness. And despite that - this is the highest class, revered by all. All kings, except for the Chinese, wear a military uniform, and the one who killed the most people is given a big reward ... They will converge, like tomorrow, to kill each other, they will kill, maim tens of thousands of people, and then they will serve thanksgiving prayers for having beaten there are many people (of which the number is still being added), and they proclaim victory, believing that the more people are beaten, the greater the merit. How God watches and listens to them from there! - Prince Andrei shouted in a thin, squeaky voice. “Ah, my soul, lately it has become hard for me to live. I see that I began to understand too much. And it’s not good for a person to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ... Well, not for long! he added. “However, you are sleeping, and I have a pen, go to Gorki,” Prince Andrei suddenly said.

The Pyramid of Cheops (Egypt. Achet-Chufu) is a monument from among the Seven Wonders of the World, which, according to Wikipedia, remains indestructible to this day. The pyramid belongs to the Giza plateau, including and.

Where is

The Pyramid of Cheops, Egypt, is located in the province, 30 km from Cairo, in the historic town of Giza, along El-Haram Street. The address includes only the name of the district and the street, since Al-Haram is a whole area of ​​burial tombs and historical monuments. On the map, the tomb of Cheops is located next to the Great Sphinx and two smaller pyramids - Hebren and Menkaure.

How to get there

There are several ways to get to the Giza plateau and the Cheops pyramid. If you are resting in the district of Hurghada or Sharm el-Sheikh, the easiest way is to take a sightseeing bus from almost every hotel. You can get there on your own.

From anywhere in Egypt need to go to cairo. The most convenient way to do this is by bus, the schedule of which will allow you not to stay overnight in Giza, but to have time to see the sights one day. When you arrive in Cairo, get off the metro and go to the Giza station, then change to bus number 900 or number 997. This shuttle will take you to Al Haram in 15 minutes. You have to walk to the pyramid. This path is laid through no less interesting sights, so you will pass 2 km without noticing fatigue.

Origin story

The history of the creation of the pharaoh's pyramid to this day remains shrouded in secrets and mysteries. It was previously believed that the construction of the pyramid of Cheops took the ancient Egyptians about 20 years, however, modern scientists give a different conclusion. After studying the rock art and records that have survived from the time of the pharaoh, the researchers say that the pharaoh ruled in ancient Egypt for about 50 years, of which at least 40 lasted the construction of the tomb. Thus, when asked how many years the pyramid has existed, scientists give an approximate figure of 4 thousand years.

It is known that architect was the nephew of the ruler, Hemion, who worked for a long time on the creation of the project and the drawing, relying on strong mathematical knowledge. Carefulness and scrupulousness was reflected in the unimaginable durability of the building, thereby leading all scientists of our time to a dead end.

Appearance

The pyramid was erected on a limestone rock, the foot of the building was framed by a low pulpit, which has not been preserved since those times. Limestone blocks were used as a material, which could be polished. After that, the pyramid was faced twice. The weight of the middle block reached 2.5 tons, the constructed blocks from the Nile were pulled with a dozen ropes, after which the most laborious part of the work began - lifting the block to the foundation. There are theories that the lifting was also carried out with the help of ropes and at an angle laid out from wooden beams. During the attack on Cairo by the Arabs in the XII century, the modern capital was burned to the ground. Then the Egyptians began to remove the cladding for the construction and restoration of their houses.

Statistical data

The height of the pyramid of Cheopsan today is 139 meters. According to some reports, the pyramid was originally 2 meters higher, such a difference in meters appeared due to the gradual subsidence of the foundation into the sand.

The dimensions of the Cheops pyramid in meters: the perimeter is 922 m, the area is 5.3 hectares, the length of the side rib is 930 m. The weight exceeds 4 million tons, and the volume is 2.58 million m³.

Side concavity

If you watch the pyramid for more than one hour, you can notice how, in the light of the sun, the uneven sides of the pyramid appear. This discovery was made in the 18th century to the present day. remains the secret of the pyramid of Cheops. Scientist S. Edwards claims that the pyramid acquired such a disproportionate appearance over time, gradually sinking into the sand.

Tilt angle

The geometry of the pharaoh's tomb is a complex riddle, the answer to which cannot be unambiguous. One of these questions is the angle of inclination of the pyramid of Cheops. Having approximate data on the length and height of the sides, a whole galaxy of scientists from all over the world concluded that the angle exceeds 51 degrees. The question of the existence of the Golden Section theory at this time remains interesting. Since the value for the sekedah (Egyptian unit of measure) was chosen a number close in value to the number pi. Another riddle of geometry remains the location of corridors and passages, which, according to Egyptologists, give reasons for the name of the pyramid as an astronomical observatory.

Internal structure

Now the entrance to the pyramid is located in the north of the building in the form of an arch of stone slabs. Tourists overcome a corridor of 17 meters, built in 820, to see what is inside the pyramid of Cheops. It is known that the original entrance has not survived, as it was closed in antiquity with a stone slab. What is the reason for the transfer of the entrance remains unknown. The internal structure of the Cheops pyramid includes 3 burial chambers, which are located one above the other.

Funeral "pit"

In his writings, Herodotus described in detail the pyramid that was being built during his lifetime. According to him, the 105-meter corridor leading to the base of the building is the road to the chamber in which the body of the deceased pharaoh Cheops. Thus, engineers in the 19th century cleared a passage under the ground. But the sarcophagus was not there, and scientists concluded that the chamber remained completely unfinished. From this, a theory was deduced that the chamber for the ruler should indeed have been placed at the bottom of the foundation, but in the end, it was moved to the center.

Ascending Corridor and Queen's Chambers

At 18 meters from the entrance there is a corridor with an approximate height of 40 meters, which leads to the Grand Gallery. At the beginning of this corridor there are three "plugs" made of granite, which block the passage to further corners of the building. Previously, it was believed that no rooms, except for the descending corridor, were built in the pyramid. However, Al-Mamun was able to pave the way around these traffic jams. It was believed that they served as an obstacle to the entrance to the King's chamber. The ascending corridor has a mysterious design - the square corridor is riddled with "frame stones", with small niches in the wall.

A 35 m horizontal corridor leads to the 2nd chamber of the Great Gallery. The walls here are made of huge blocks, on which false seams are marked, giving the impression that the blocks are half the size. This chamber was called the "Queen's Chamber". It is lined with the same limestone and includes a high niche on one of the walls.

Grotto, Grand Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

From the Grand Gallery there is another way - a vertical shaft 60 meters high. It is believed that its purpose was an evacuation exit for workers who were completing work on the "King's Chamber". In the middle of the room is the "Grotto", intended for several people. The walls here are made of stone, and the shaft was already laid in the existing structure.

The King's Chamber has two relief cavities 17 m above it, which, presumably, were formed in order to distribute the pressure of the blocks above the King's Chamber. The weight of limestone blocks above the chamber reaches 1 million tons.

ventilation ducts

The "King's Chamber" and "The Queen's Chamber" have two ventilation outlets each, which have a through construction form. There are many versions about their purpose, but the most famous is the version of the afterlife movement of souls, according to which the soul of the deceased King rises up the canal.

Research History

A detailed study of the pyramid of Cheopsan began in the 19th century by a group of Egyptologists who, from studying the external proportions and location of the pyramid, moved on to unraveling the mysteries of the internal structure.

Recent Research

Scientists, puzzled by the question of the ideal fit of the blocks in size, put forward the theory that the formation of limestone was carried out right on the spot, without stopping the construction of the pyramid. Only this fact can explain the coincidence of all mathematical calculations.

Schematic of the pyramid of Cheops

One of the most mysterious on the Giza plateau is the Pyramid of Cheops. Interesting facts, legends and conjectures attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

• The area of ​​the pyramid is equal to the area of ​​10 football fields;
• The construction took about 2.2 million blocks;
• The usual understanding that the pyramid is the tomb of the King was refuted by scientists who say that the pyramid was never used as a tomb and had a different purpose;
• There are also theories that the pyramid is a special calendar. Careful construction has led to the fact that orientation in space along the pyramid will be more accurate than the usual compass.

Video

After lengthy research, scientists have not found the answer to the mystery of the Cheops pyramid, but the process of excavation and study of the details does not stop, keeping the hope that someday people will still be able to understand the mysteries of the pyramid.

What to see nearby

The Pyramid of Cheops is not the only attraction in the area. Arriving on a tour, you can get acquainted with other no less interesting buildings.

• pharaoh boats– 7 real boats were found near the pyramid during excavations. They are made from a single piece of cedar and have no marks for fasteners or nails. After the reconstruction, the dimensions of the boats were established, the length of which is about 43 meters, the width is 6 meters. There is a museum next to the pyramid, which houses all the samples.
• Pyramids of Queens of Cheops- in the east of the pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops there are 3 pyramids of a much smaller size. They were meant for the wives, queens of the pharaoh. The first - Queen Meritites I - is now almost wiped off the ground, since 2/3 of its building has sunk into the sand. The tomb of the pharaoh's mother, Hetepheres I, who died during the reign of Cheops, is also located here.
4 ratings, average: 4,50 out of 5)


✓Tripster is the largest online tour booking service in Russia.

✓Travelata.ru - search for the most profitable tours among 120 reliable tour operators.

✓Aviasales.ru - search and compare prices for air tickets among 100 agencies and 728 airlines.

✓Hotellook.ru is a search engine for hotels around the world. Compares prices across many booking systems, finding the best.

✓Airbnb.ru is the world's most popular service for renting accommodation from hosts (often it comes out more convenient and cheaper than a hotel). Follow this link and get $25 as a gift for your first booking.

✓Sravni.ru - online travel insurance, including for a visa.

✓Kiwitaxi.ru - international car transfer booking service. 70 countries and 400 airports.

The pyramid of Cheops inside, like a Russian nesting doll, consists of three pyramids of three pharaohs. What does it say that the pyramid of Cheops is like a Russian nesting doll, containing two more pyramids inside, one inside the other? Let's think, understand the facts and on this basis create new knowledge.

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." (IV century BC, Plato, "Timaeus").

Secrets are overcome by knowledge. Knowledge can be acquired or created.

As a "tool for creation" let's take common sense, the logic of thinking and the knowledge of people who used ideas about the world at that distant time.

“What is comprehended with the help of reflection and reasoning, obviously, is the eternally identical being; but what is subject to opinion ... arises and perishes, but never really exists. (4th century BC, Plato, "Timaeus").

To confirm the conclusion put forward above, let's start with the facts and consider the scheme of the Cheops pyramid in the context (what is).

There are three burial chambers in the pyramid of Cheops

Three! It follows from this fact that the pyramid at different times had three owners (three pharaohs), and therefore each had its own separate burial chamber. 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 a rather laborious task for our time. Also, archaeologists have found 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. e. and earlier, pharaohs were buried in structures called mastabas. The ancient crypt of the pharaoh (mastaba) consists of underground and ground parts. The pharaoh's mummy was located deep underground in an underground hall. In the ground part, above the hall, a low, trapezoidal truncated pyramid was built from stone blocks. Inside it 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). Under the pyramid of Cheops there is an underground passage (4), at the end of which there is a vast unfinished underground hall (5) with an exit (12). According to the theory of burial, for the passage of the soul of the pharaoh to the ground part of the premises 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 an exit from it upward (12), then the upper prayer room of the mastaba should be in the center and slightly below 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 filled up, destroyed and preserved.

The conclusion about the presence of a mastaba on a plateau in the center of the pyramid of Cheops is also confirmed by the facts of research by French scientists - Gilles Dormayon and Jean-Yves Verdhart. In August 2004, while examining the floor in the middle burial chamber (7) with sensitive gravitational instruments, they found an impressive void below the floor at a depth of about four meters.

According to the plan of the pyramid section, a narrow inclined-vertical shaft (12), built for the passage of the pharaoh's soul, 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 of the mine, at ground level, under the base of the pyramid, there is a small grotto (expansion up to 5 meters in length), the walls of which consist of ancient masonry that does not belong to the pyramid. The passage ascending from the underground hall and the ancient masonry are nothing more than belonging to the first mastaba. From the grotto (12) to the center of the pyramid there should be a passage to the ground hall (s) of the mastaba. This passage was probably walled up by the builders of the second pyramid.

According to the appearance and the statement of archaeologists, the underground burial chamber (5) remained unfinished. It is possible that the upper above-ground part of the mastaba with the prayer room remained unfinished (which is to be clarified by opening the passage).

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

The presence of an unfinished burial structure 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 the mastaba to build a 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 age of the Sphinx (the deity in which the soul of the pharaoh should have moved) is estimated much older than the pyramids - about 5-10 thousand years.

In Egypt, by the beginning of the III millennium BC. e. burials of pharaohs in mastabas were replaced by more majestic structures - stepped pyramids, and later to "smooth" pyramids. The Egyptian priests also had a new worldview about the place of residence of souls after death. According to them, after death, the soul flew to life in the stars. “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 corridors to the chamber (7) show the approximate contours of the ancient first internal truncated trapezoidal mastaba pyramid.

Further

The second inner pyramid is ten meters on each side smaller than the current outer third pyramid of Cheops. This can be judged by the length of the two outgoing from the chamber (7) in opposite directions of the so-called (in modern terms) "ventilation ducts". These channels, in a section of 20 by 25 cm, do not reach the border of the outer walls of the pyramid by about ten meters. Calling these channels air ducts, of course, is not correct. The deceased pharaoh did not need any ventilation ducts. The canals had a different purpose. This is one of the "keys" to unraveling the mystery of the pyramid of Cheops. Channels - a path that points to the sky, oriented with great accuracy (up to a degree) to those stars where, according to the ideas of the ancient Egyptians, the soul of the pharaoh will settle after death. At the time when the second pyramid was built, the channels from the burial room (7) reached the edge of the outer walls and were open to the sky.

The second burial chamber of the pharaoh was probably also not completed (judging by the lack of its interior design). This suggests that the entire 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 had already been built to a level not lower than the height of the channels emanating from the burial chamber (7) to the outer walls.

The second inner pyramid reveals itself not only as tightly closed channels and its own separate burial chamber, but also as a bricked-up central entrance (1) to the pyramid. It is striking that the entrance walled up with huge granite blocks is buried in the body of the pyramid (approximately the same ten meters as the shortened channels from the second burial chamber).

During the construction of the third pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops, this entrance was not extended to the boundaries of the outer wall, and therefore, after increasing the perimeter of the walls, the entrance turned out to be “drowned” inside. The entrance gates of buildings are always made to be somewhat outside structures, and not buried in the depths of the structure.

Pharaoh Cheops (Khufu) was the third builder and owner of the pyramid-tomb

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 the pharaoh to take an old or unfinished pyramid than to build a new one from scratch. In this case, the advantageous location of the second pyramid, at the very top of the plateau, also mattered.

The construction of the third pyramid began with the dismantling of the central part of the unfinished second pyramid. In the resulting "crater" at a height of about 40 meters from the ground, an ancestral chamber (11) and the third burial chamber of the pharaoh itself (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, which is not similar to the initial part of the ascending passage, indicates that the passage was made not at one time, but at different times according to different projects.

After the third pyramid of Cheops was “expanded in the hips”, adding about 10 meters on each side, the old outgoing channels for the “exit of the soul” from the chamber (7) turned out to be closed, respectively. If the burial chamber (7) was empty, then the builders of the third pyramid made no sense to lengthen the old channels. The channels were laid with new rows of wall blocks.

In September 2002, English scientists-researchers launched a caterpillar robot into one of the narrow channels - "air ducts" from the middle 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. These are the blocks of the wall of the third pyramid.

From the third burial chamber of Pharaoh Cheops, new channels (10) were laid for the “flight of the soul” to the stars. If you look closely at the section of the pyramid, then the channels from the second and third chambers are almost parallel, but not quite! During the construction of the pyramids, the channels were aimed at the same stars. The channels from the upper third chamber, relative to the channels of the second, are slightly rotated clockwise by 3-5 degrees. This discrepancy in degrees is not an accident. Egyptian priests and builders very meticulously recorded the position of the stars in the sky and the direction of the channels to them. Then what's the matter?

The axis of rotation of the Earth every 72 years is shifted by 1 degree, and every 25920 years the axis of the Earth, rotating with an inclination, like a "spinning top", makes a full circle of 360 degrees. This astronomical phenomenon is called precession. The ancient Egyptian priests knew about the declination of the Earth's axis and its swing around the poles. The rotation time of the Earth's axis in 25920 years Plato called the "Great Year".

When the Earth's axis shifts by one degree in 72 years, then the angle of view towards the required star also changes by 1 degree (including the angle of view to the Sun). If the displacement of a pair of channels differs by about 3-5 degrees, then we can calculate that the difference between the construction of the second pyramid and the third pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops (Khufu) is 216-360 years.

Egyptian historians say that Pharaoh Khufu ruled from 2540-2560 BC. e. By measuring "degree" years ago, we can say when the second inner pyramid was built.

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

Most likely, the third pyramid of Cheops was completed and used for its intended purpose. Otherwise, a cork from several granite cubes would not have been lowered into the ascending passage (6) from the inside along an inclined plane. Thus, the pyramid was tightly closed to everyone for three thousand years (until 820 AD).

The ancient Egyptian name of the pyramid of Cheops is read by hieroglyphs - "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 across the sky: in summer - above, in 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 house of the “God - the Sun” and the horizon of the “house - pyramid” of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) - “the son of the Sun God”.

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 Mykerin pyramid, the slope of the faces is 51 ° 20′25 ″ (less than that of Cheops). Historians did not know whether it was built earlier than the pyramid of Cheops or later. But, given the "degree time" (smaller angle of inclination of the walls) and if the builders were not mistaken, then this fact indicates that the Mycerinus pyramid was built earlier. In relation to the "degree age scale", a slope difference of 30 minutes corresponds to 36 years. In later Egyptian pyramids, respectively, the slope of the faces is higher.

There are also many pyramids in Sudan, the angle of which is much steeper. Sudan is south of Egypt, and the Sun on the day of the spring-autumn equinox is much higher above the horizon there. This explains the great steepness of the walls of the Sudanese pyramids.

In 820 a.d. e. The Baghdad caliph Abu Jafar al-Mamun, in search of the innumerable treasures of the pharaoh at the base of the pyramid of Cheops, made a horizontal gap (2), which is used by tourists to enter the pyramid to this day. 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 half an cubit” inside. If anything in the pyramid was valuable, then the caliph's servants took it. And what was left, everything was taken out over the next 1200 years.

Judging by the appearance of the gallery (9), it seems that 28 pairs of ritual statues stood along its walls in rectangular recesses. But the exact purpose of the recesses is not known. Two facts testify to the fact that tall statues stood there: the eight-meter height of the gallery, and also on the walls there were large round peeling imprints from the mortar, with which the inclined statues were attached to the walls.

I will disappoint those who are determined to find “miracles” in the design of the pyramids.

More than a hundred pyramids have been discovered in Egypt today, and they are all different from each other. There are 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 is a rectangular base (Pharaoh Djoser ). There is no unity even among the three pyramids at Giza. The smaller of the three pyramids of Menkaure 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 (upper) 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 law, secret or knowledge, the “golden ratio” and so on, then everyone would have uniformity. But there is nothing like it.

Former Egyptian minister of archeology and current chief expert on ancient pyramids, Zahi Hawass, says: “Like any practitioner, I decided to test the assertion that food does not spoil in a 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 can you look for in the pyramid of Cheops? Perhaps, try to find the above-ground prayer room of the first mastaba, for which it would be possible to drill several holes down in the floor of the second (7) burial chamber, until an internal cavity is found below. Either from the grotto (12) find a walled passage to the halls (or re-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 that, perhaps, it will become known about the pharaoh of the first mastaba - a truncated trapezoid pyramid.

Of great interest on the plateau in Giza is the Sphinx

The stone body of the ancient Sphinx, located from west to east. Burial chambers and burials were also made from west to east. It can be assumed that 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. Perhaps even an earlier civilization, for example, the Atlanteans, whom the Egyptians deified and attributed to their ancient ancestors - the predecessor gods.

An identification study by American forensic scientists led to the conclusion 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 features and African origin.

It is likely that the burial chamber and mummy of the ancient pharaoh of Negro origin is under the front paws of the Sphinx. In this case, there should be a passage upward from the underground hall - the path for the resettlement of the “soul” of the pharaoh, for 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.

The veil of secrecy has been lifted over the "secrets" of the Egyptian structures at Giza. Now it remains to "log in". This requires permission from the Egyptian authorities, which they give to research scientists with great reluctance.

Any secret loses its attractive power when the secret is revealed.

Vladimir Garmatyu

Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)

The Pyramid of Cheops is part of the complex of the largest Egyptian pyramids located on the Giza plateau. This grand structure, together with the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, as well as the majestic Sphinx, makes up the so-called Giza pyramid complex. As many scientists believe, the location of the pyramids and the Sphinx within this complex is by no means accidental, and is due not only to the desire of the ancient builders to create an integral composition of these grandiose structures.

One of the earliest hypotheses considered the Egyptian (and other) pyramids as tombs, hence the names: the king's (pharaoh's) chamber and the queen's chamber. However, according to many modern Egyptologists, The pyramid of Cheops was never used as a tomb, but had a completely different purpose.

Some Egyptologists believe that the pyramid is a repository of ancient weights and measures, as well as a model of known linear and temporal measurements that are characteristic of the Earth and are based on the principle of rotation of the polar axis. It is considered confirmed that the one (or those) who led the construction of the pyramid had absolutely accurate knowledge of such things that were discovered by mankind much later. These include: the circumference of the globe, the longitude of the year, the average value of the Earth's orbit as it rotates around the Sun, the specific density of the globe, the acceleration of gravity, the speed of light, and much more. And all this knowledge, one way or another, is allegedly laid down in a pyramid.

It is believed that the pyramid is a kind of calendar. It is almost proved that it serves as both a theodolite and a compass, and of such accuracy that the most modern compasses can be compared with it.

Another hypothesis believes that not only the parameters of the pyramid itself, but also its individual structures contain many important mathematical quantities and relationships, for example, the number "pi", and the parameters of the king's chamber combine "sacred" triangles with sides 3-4-5 . It is believed that the angles and slopes of the pyramid reflect the most modern ideas about trigonometric values, and the contours of the pyramid with practical accuracy include the proportions of the "golden section".

There is a hypothesis that considers the pyramid of Cheops as an astronomical observatory, and according to another hypothesis, the Great Pyramid was used for initiation into the highest levels of secret knowledge, as well as for storing this knowledge. At the same time, a person initiated into secret knowledge was located in a sarcophagus.

The official theory says that the architect of the Great Pyramid is Hemiun, the vizier and nephew of Cheops. He also bore the title "Manager of all construction sites of the pharaoh." Construction under his leadership lasted twenty years and ended around 2540 BC. e. In Egypt, the date of the start of the construction of the Cheops pyramid is officially established and celebrated - August 23, 2470 BC. e.

However, there are other assumptions. Thus, the Arab historian Ibrahim ben ibn Wassuff Shah believed that the pyramids of Giza were built by an antediluvian king named Saurid. Abu Zeid el Bahi writes about an inscription that says that the Great Pyramid of Cheops was built about 73,000 years ago. Ibn Batuta claimed (and not only him) that the pyramids were built by Hermes Trismegistus, etc. The hypothesis of the Russian scientist Sergei Proskuryakov is very interesting, who believes that the pyramids were built by Aliens from Sirius and that the architect Hemiun himself was from Sirius. Vladimir Babanin also believes that the pyramids were built by Aliens from Sirius, and possibly from Dessa of the Cygnus constellation in ancient times, but during the time of Cheops, the pyramids were restored.

It seems logical that in any case the Pyramids were erected after the pole shift occurred on Earth, otherwise it would be impossible to orient the Pyramids with such incredible accuracy as they are located today.

Initially, the height of the Cheops pyramid was 146.6 meters. But time mercilessly dissolved 7 meters and 85 centimeters of this majestic structure. Simple calculations will show that now the pyramid has a height of 138 meters and 75 centimeters.

The perimeter of the pyramid is 922 meters, the base area is 53,000 square meters (comparable to the area of ​​10 football fields). Scientists calculated the total weight of the pyramid, which amounted to more than 5 million tons.

The pyramid is made up of over 2.2 million large stone blocks of limestone, granite and basalt, each weighing an average of 2.5 tons. There are 210 rows of blocks in the pyramid. The heaviest block weighs about 15 tons. The base is a rocky elevation, the height of which is 9 meters. Initially, the surface of the pyramid was a smooth surface, because. covered with a special material.

The entrance to the pyramid is at a height of 15.63 meters on the north side. The entrance is formed by stone slabs laid in the form of an arch. This entrance to the pyramid was sealed with a granite plug.

Today, tourists enter the pyramid through the 17th gap, which was made in 820 by Caliph Abu Jafar al-Ma'mun. He hoped to find the pharaoh's untold treasures there, but found only a layer of dust half a cubit thick.

Inside the pyramid of Cheops there are three burial chambers located one above the other.

When the sun moves around the pyramid, you can notice the unevenness of the walls - the concavity of the central part of the walls. Perhaps the reason for this is erosion or damage resulting from the fall of the stone cladding. It is also possible that this was deliberately done during construction.