The Pyramids Of Egypt Essay, Research Paper

In my report, I will discuss how the pyramids were built, what

purpose they served, the three pyramids at Giza, some messages

found on the stones that were used to build pyramids, and what a mastabas is.

Pyramids are tombs built for Egypt’s pharaohs. Pyramids are

large structures with four sides that are the shape of a triangle, that meet at the top to

form a point. The

ancient Egyptians used the pyramids as tombs for the pharaohs and temples for their gods.

The pyramids

have one or two little temples attached to them, which holds their relatives and servants. A

few pyramids

still stand today, and are great attractions for tourists.

The pyramids were built by taking blocks of granite to the workshop, measuring

the blocks down

to size, shaping the blocks, and placing the blocks into the body of the pyramid. The core

of the structure

is now completed. Then, you place the limestone blocks on the top of the structure (they

started putting

the blocks on top and then worked their way down). They left two empty rooms to place

the pharaoh and

his belongings in. They sealed the pyramids so well, it took four hundred years for two

robbers to figure

out how to get in.

The pyramids were built by free citizens, drafted for public work, not by slaves of

any sort.

The pyramids were built by four thousand expert stone sculptors all year round.

An extra work

group of about ninety-five thousand men worked on the pyramids during the four month

period of the

inundation (the time of enforced idleness for farmers, since

the field were covered with the Nile water flood ).

The pyramids were built between the year 1600 B.C. and the

year 2700.

Many scholars believe that the reason why the pyramids were built in a triangular

form is

because it has a religious meaning to the Egyptians. The slanting side might have reminded

the Egyptians

of the slanting rays of the sun, that the pharaoh’s soul could climb to the sky and join the

gods.

In the pyramids they buried the pharaoh’s body. There was a chamber for the body.

There was

also a chamber for treasures of gold and other priceless items for the pharaoh’s afterlife.

Sometimes a boat

is placed inside so the pharaoh would have a way to transport himself into his afterlife.

In Pharaoh Cheopses pyramid, therewas his mummy, caskets full of jewels,

furniture inlaid with

ivory and gold, silver and alabaster bowls and vessels, chests filled with clothing and

precious ornaments,

and jars filled full of food and wine. You must think that the pyramids must have been

large to hold all of

that, and as a matter of fact the base of the pyramid covers enough area to hold ten

football fields.

The three pyramids at Giza stand on the west bank of the Nile River,outside of

Cairo. They are

the largest and best preserved pyramids. The largest of the three was for Pharaoh Khufu

(Cheops). The

next to largest was for Pharaoh Khafre. The smallest (yet not small at all) was for Pharaoh

Menkaure.

The first known pharaoh to have a pyramid was Pharaoh Zoser,in

the year 2650 B.C. Imhotep built it for him.

If you ever see something that looks like a pyramid, except it’s smaller than one,

and has a flat

top, don’t mistake it for a pyramid, it’s a mastabas. In the mastabas the king’s relatives and

servants are

buried.

Some blocks had marks on them to show where they belonged. Others had

messages like ” this

side up “, ” vigorous gang”, or even ” how drunk the king is “.

In conclusion, the pyramids were built by free, drafted, citizens. Pyramids were

used to bury the

pharaohs. The messages on the stones were decoded. The three pyramids at the Giza were

the largest, and

a mastabas is not a pyramid.

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