Introduction
It goes without saying that the Egyptian pyramids are the most famous. The ancient Egyptians held the believe that when their pharaoh died, they became Osiris, which meant the king of the dead. They believed that for him to continue carrying his duties as the dead’s king his spirit which remained with the dead body had to be taken care of. The paper is exploring and presenting the famous pyramids in the world.
The famous pyramids
There are over 100 pyramids in the land of Egypt, but the famous ones are the ones which are known by people due to their size and history. The three which are the largest and have been well preserved are located at Giza. They were built when the old kingdom began. The most is famous is the great pyramid. Giza is the home to Egypt’s most famous pyramids which are most popular of the pyramid ancient cities in the land of Egypt. Others are the famous sphinx and the pyramids of Menkaure and Khafre. Other sites are Abusir, Dahshur, Hawara, Saqqara and Zawyet el Aryan.
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"The Famous Pyramids in Egypt".
Number and location
- Abusir, which is near Cairo has 14 ancient Egyptian pyramids, and they date back to the 5th dynasty. Pyramids like Sahure, Nyusure Ini among others are located here.
- Dahshur hosts the ancient pyramids for peace. It has the Bent pyramid and red pyramid of Sneferu, white pyramid of Amenemhat and the black pyramid.
- Giza is the where the most famous pyramids are located as it contains the great pyramid built by Pharaoh Khufu. Pyramids of Menkaure and khafra together with the famous sphinx are located here.
- The Hawara pyramid which was built by Amenemhat III in 1814 B.C has not been well preserved.
- Saqqara has eleven major pyramids of ancient Egypt build over 300 years of civilization of ancient Egypt.
Who was in charge?
The soldiers with engineering military skills were mostly involved in the construction. They were built by paid skilled workers and the officials of the king were in charge of ensuring everything went well in the construction (Rossi 2003). Building a pyramid required thousands of workers and during construction; a pyramid worksite often grew into a town. Workers used stones to build the pyramid (Ervin 1998).
Why were they built?
To answer this, one can look at the great pyramid that was constructed for King Khufu who was a ruler in Egypt in 2500 B.C. This means they were mainly built for kings to be buried after they died. For example, in the great pyramid there are rooms which are hidden including the place of burial place of King Khufu.
The shapes of Egyptian pyramids which are square based had a certain meaning as they were a symbol of mound where the sun god was standing at the beginning of the time when he brought all the other gods and goddesses in being” (Zuravicky 2004).
How were they built?
The earliest pyramids were called mastabas which were built around 2630 B.C. The step pyramid was built in which 6 mastabas were placed on a decreasing size each on top of the other. This was based on Egypt religious cults. The Egyptian pyramids were made from limestone.
Conclusion and my opinion
Egypt is famously known for its pyramids. Egypt’s pyramids served as tombs. Pyramid was one of the seven wonder of the world its spread was motivated by individual convictions of each nation. Ancient pyramids have their origin in Egypt.
- Ervin, B. M. (1998). Making connections: Interdisciplinary art activities. Portland, ME: J. Weston Walch.
- Rossi, C. (2003). Architecture and mathematics in ancient Egypt. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Zuravicky, O. (2004). Exploring pyramids around the world: Making models of geometric solids. New York: PowerKids Press.
