Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx & the Last Wonder of the Ancient World
The Giza pyramid complex — 13 kilometres southwest of Cairo city centre on a limestone plateau above the west bank of the Nile — contains the Great Pyramid of Khufu (the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World, built approximately 2560 BCE, 146.5 metres tall, consisting of approximately 2.3 million stone blocks weighing on average 2.5-15 tonnes), the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Menkaure, and the Great Sphinx — the most visited archaeological site in the world and the defining image of ancient Egyptian civilization.
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The Great Pyramid of Khufu — The Only Surviving Wonder
Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops, Pyramid of Khufu, Al-Haram Al-Akbar — built approximately 2560-2540 BCE during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, 146.5 metres tall originally (now 138.8 metres due to the loss of the outer casing stones), base 230.4 metres per side, volume approximately 2.6 million cubic metres, comprising approximately 2.3 million stone blocks of limestone, granite, and basalt weighing 2.5-80 tonnes each — the largest pyramid ever built and the most precisely engineered structure of the ancient world): the Great Pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for approximately 3,800 years (until the completion of the Lincoln Cathedral spire in 1311 CE); the precision of its construction is extraordinary — the base is level to within 2.1 centimetres, the sides are oriented to the cardinal directions to within 0.05 degrees, and the four corners are nearly perfect right angles; the interior chambers (the King's Chamber, Queen's Chamber, and the Grand Gallery — accessible to visitors at extra cost) were robbed of their contents in antiquity but still contain the empty red granite sarcophagus of Khufu.
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The Great Sphinx — Guardian of the Plateau
The Great Sphinx of Giza (Arabic: Abu al-Hol, 'Father of Terror' — the monolithic limestone statue carved directly from the bedrock of the Giza plateau, 73.5 metres long, 20.2 metres tall, with a face approximately 4.1 metres wide, generally believed to depict the head of Pharaoh Khafre (builder of the second pyramid) on the body of a crouching lion): the Sphinx is the world's largest monolithic sculpture and the oldest known monumental sculpture; the precise date of its construction is uncertain (estimated between 2558 and 2532 BCE during the reign of Khafre, though some researchers argue for an older date based on weathering patterns on the limestone body); the nose (broken off) and the royal beard (fragments in the British Museum and Egyptian Museum) were both intact in ancient times; the Sphinx Enclosure (the depression around the Sphinx, carved from the bedrock and used to quarry stone for the nearby temples) shows evidence of extensive water erosion that some researchers use to argue for a pre-dynastic date.
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Pyramid of Khafre & the Valley Temple
Pyramid of Khafre (the second pyramid of Giza, 136.4 metres high (originally 143.9 metres), built approximately 2530 BCE for Pharaoh Khafre (Chephren) of the Fourth Dynasty — appearing taller than the Great Pyramid due to its higher elevation on the plateau and its steeper angle): the Pyramid of Khafre retains some of its original white Tura limestone casing at the apex (the only major pyramid to preserve any of its casing stones in situ — a reminder that all three Giza pyramids were originally faced with polished white limestone that would have gleamed brilliantly in the Egyptian sun before being stripped for building material in medieval Cairo); the Valley Temple of Khafre (the mortuary temple at the base of the causeway connecting the pyramid to the river — one of the best-preserved Old Kingdom temples, built of enormous blocks of red Aswan granite, the walls of the T-shaped hall formerly lined with 23 statues of Khafre in diorite, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo).
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Solar Boat Museum — Khufu's Sacred Burial Barque
Solar Boat Museum (Boat Museum, Giza plateau — the museum housing the reconstructed cedar-wood solar boat of Khufu, discovered in 1954 in a sealed pit on the south side of the Great Pyramid): the Khufu ship (also called Solar Boat) is a full-size vessel measuring 43.6 metres long and 5.9 metres wide, dismantled into 1,224 pieces and sealed in the pit for approximately 4,600 years before discovery; the boat (fully reassembled and displayed in its purpose-built museum on the plateau) is the world's oldest intact ship and represents one of the finest examples of ancient Egyptian shipbuilding; it is believed to have been a ceremonial vessel used to carry the body of the pharaoh across the Nile in his funeral procession, or alternatively a solar barque intended to transport the spirit of the pharaoh across the sky with the sun god Ra in the afterlife; a second, partially excavated boat pit was found nearby in 1987.
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Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids
Sound and Light Show at the Giza Pyramids (performed nightly at the base of the Sphinx, multiple shows in different languages — one of the oldest and most celebrated sound-and-light spectacles in the world, first performed in 1961): the show projects coloured lights onto the pyramids and the Sphinx while an audio narration recounts the history of ancient Egypt and the building of the pyramids, using the Sphinx as the narrating voice; the dramatic setting — the three illuminated pyramids rising from the dark desert plateau, the Sphinx in the foreground, and the Cairo city lights visible to the east — creates one of the most atmospheric theatrical presentations of archaeological history available anywhere; viewing the pyramids illuminated at night from the sound and light show amphitheatre provides a completely different experience from the daytime visit.
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Giza Plateau & the Pyramid Builders' Village
The Giza Plateau (the limestone escarpment on the west bank of the Nile at Giza, containing not only the three main pyramids and the Sphinx but also three subsidiary pyramids, several mastaba tombs, two mortuary temples, two valley temples, a sphinx temple, workers' barracks, a boat storage area, and the workers' village (discovered 1990 by archaeologist Zahi Hawass south of the plateau): the discovery of the pyramid builders' village has revolutionized understanding of the construction of the pyramids — the workers were not slaves (as traditionally assumed from Greek sources) but skilled, well-fed, and medically cared-for Egyptian workers who were organized into gangs with names like 'Friends of Khufu' and 'Drunkards of Menkaure'; the workers' bakeries, breweries, fish-processing facilities, and medical facilities have all been excavated, showing that the construction workforce of perhaps 20,000-30,000 workers was maintained at state expense with a dietary standard far above that of the average ancient Egyptian.