The Pyramid of Cheops is the oldest of the seven wonders of the world. The first wonder of the world: the Egyptian pyramids Why the Egyptian pyramids are a wonder of the world
The Great Pyramids are the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that has survived to this day. Ancient Egypt - one of the earliest states in the world - arose in the valley of the longest river on our planet, the Nile, around 3000 BC. e., when the legendary Pharaoh Mena united the country and became the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. This state existed for more than two and a half thousand years, it was replaced by 30 dynasties before it fell under the attacks of the Persians.
Scientists divide the history of Ancient Egypt into the following eras: First (early 4 thousand BC) and Second (mid 4 thousand BC) predynastic periods; Early Kingdom (XXXII-XXIX centuries BC); Ancient Kingdom (XXIX-XXIII centuries BC); First transition period (XXIII-XXI centuries BC); Middle Kingdom (XXI-XVIII centuries BC); Second transition period (late 18th - mid 16th centuries BC); New Kingdom (XVI-XI centuries BC); Third transition period (XI-X centuries BC); Late Kingdom (IX-VII centuries BC); era of Persian rule (late VI-IV centuries BC). And only a few centuries of the Old Kingdom fell on the era of the pyramid builders.
The high priest of the sacred city of Annu, which the Greeks called Heliopolis, the astronomer Imhotep connected the pyramids with the sky. Previously, kings were buried in mastabas, which consisted of an underground burial chamber and a rectangular stone structure above the ground. But Imhotep ordered the construction of five more similar buildings above the mastaba, and received a step pyramid for his pharaoh Djoser. The pharaoh had to ascend to the sky along these steps.
The pyramids of the pharaohs Cheops, Khafre and Mikerin located in Giza are called the Great Pyramids. They belong to the period of the IV dynasty. They were not stepped, but smooth pyramidal in shape, lined with white limestone and sparkled in the sun. The Cheops pyramid is made up of 2 million 300 thousand stone blocks, precisely fitted to each other, without any binding substances. The weight of each block is approximately from 2 to 14 tons. Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian who visited Egypt two millennia after the construction of the Great Pyramids, wrote that the blocks were lifted using wooden levers from tier to tier along special ramps, and not far from the Cheops pyramid was found An ancient quarry and the remains of a ramp. The remains of a harbor were discovered, where stones were delivered from afar.
Who built the pyramids? According to Herodotus, these were slaves. Moreover, their work was so exhausting that 100 thousand slaves changed there every three months. However, recent archaeological studies refute this claim: the remains of a builders' camp and their burials were found. These were, most likely, free people who performed labor duties and received payment for their work. The workers were divided into teams, and there were even competitions between the teams! However, it is difficult to imagine that construction was abandoned during the Nile flood, when the suffering began - after all, most Egyptians were engaged in agriculture. Most likely, some specialists lived near the pyramids permanently. These people were taken care of and treated well. One construction worker had a craniotomy and another had his leg amputated, but lived for many years after that. After all, building pyramids was not an easy task and required great precision and knowledge.
The pyramids themselves and their structure are fraught with many mysteries. Remains of ditches were found near the pyramids. Probably, the ditches were filled with water and the stone was chipped off, focusing on its level, so that the site became level. The ditches were dug so that the structure was located exactly along the cardinal points. The average deviation from the exact direction is only slightly greater than 3°. The architects navigated by the stars, and probably did this with the help of reflections in the water. A thin rope was pulled over a ditch filled with water and moved until its reflection on the surface of the water coincided with the reflection of the star. Researcher Kate Spence thinks these were the stars Mizar and Kohab in the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Perhaps the pyramids were a kind of observatory calendars, because the Egyptians used the stars to determine the beginning of the Nile flood, or the stars simply had a sacred meaning - after all, the Egyptians believed that after death a pharaoh becomes a star in the northern sky. “Star” hypotheses haunt researchers. Robert Bauvel, for example, believes that the system of corridors and chambers in the Great Pyramid corresponds to the pattern of the constellation Orion, and even the location of the pyramids at Giza also depicts this constellation. Whether this is a coincidence or not is unknown.
It is interesting that the length of the base of the Cheops pyramid is 230 m, its height was originally 146.7 m. Half the perimeter of the base, divided by the height, will give the number 3.137, close to the number π (3.1415). How did the Egyptians know the number pi? This question led to numerous hypotheses, including the existence of an unknown high civilization. In the 20th century discovered a new mystery of the pyramids when the structure of the DNA molecule was deciphered. It turned out that it is a double helix, reminiscent of a ladder of sugar (deoxyribose) and phosphoric acid. The “steps” of this ladder are nitrogenous bases. And they attach to the “sides” of DNA precisely at angles from 50° to 54°, with an average angle of 51°45′. In the Cheops pyramid the angle of inclination of the faces is 51°51′! Did the Egyptians really know the structure of DNA? The answer may be much simpler. This structure is the most durable and it was developed precisely in the process of evolution. The structure of the pyramids is just as strong. The ancient builders, from their own experience and thanks to the calculations available to them, came to the conclusion that it was precisely this tilt that would make the pyramids stable. And they were not mistaken - the ancient pyramids have survived to this day, leaving researchers with a wide field for work.
A story about the pyramids would be incomplete without mentioning the Sphinx. The word is Greek, but what the Egyptians called it is unknown. The Sphinx - a reclining lion with a human head - is the oldest monumental sculpture on earth. The face of the sphinx is believed to represent Pharaoh Khafre (c. 2575-2465 BC), whose pyramid is nearby. But the Sphinx has Negroid features, and other images of Khafre do not confirm this. The date of creation of this sculpture is also unknown. The traces of erosion found on it make us wonder: what if the Sphinx is much older, because heavy rains fell in Egypt 10 thousand years ago. True, erosion can also be explained by the usual destruction of the limestone from which the statue is made. Interestingly, the sphinx's nose is broken off. According to one version, this was done by a Sufi fanatic in 1378, when he saw that peasants were bringing gifts to the sphinx in the hope of a good harvest. He became angry and struck the statue, for which he was torn to pieces by the crowd. This story confirms that even in the era of Islam, the Egyptians continued to worship the ancient deity. This means that the ancient civilization continued to live in the memory of the people, and not just in historical works.
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The Pyramid of Cheops is a legacy of ancient Egyptian civilization; all tourists coming to Egypt try to see it. It amazes the imagination with its grandiose size. The weight of the pyramid is about 4 million tons, its height is 139 meters, and its age is 4.5 thousand years. It still remains a mystery how people built the pyramids in those ancient times. It is not known for certain why these majestic structures were erected.
Legends of the Cheops Pyramid
Shrouded in mystery, ancient Egypt was once the most powerful country on Earth. Perhaps his people knew secrets that are still inaccessible to modern humanity. Looking at the huge stone blocks of the pyramid, which are laid with perfect precision, you begin to believe in miracles. 
According to one legend, the pyramid served as a grain storage facility during the great famine. These events are described in the Bible (Book of Exodus). Pharaoh had a prophetic dream, warning of a series of lean years. Joseph, the son of Jacob, sold into slavery by his brothers, managed to unravel Pharaoh's dream. The ruler of Egypt instructed Joseph to organize the procurement of grain, appointing him as his first adviser. The storage facilities must have been huge, given that they fed many nations for seven years when there was famine on Earth. The slight discrepancy in dates - about 1 thousand years old - is explained by adherents of this theory by the inaccuracy of carbon analysis, through which archaeologists determine the age of ancient buildings. 
According to another legend, the pyramid served to transfer the material body of the pharaoh to the higher world of the Gods. An amazing fact is that inside the pyramid where the sarcophagus for the body is located, the mummy of the pharaoh was not found, which the robbers could not take. Why did the rulers of Egypt build such huge tombs for themselves? Was their goal really to build a beautiful mausoleum that testified to greatness and power? If the construction process took several decades and required enormous amounts of labor, it means that the final goal of constructing the pyramid was vitally important to the pharaoh. Some researchers believe that we know very little about the level of development of ancient civilization, the mysteries of which have yet to be discovered. The Egyptians knew the secret of eternal life. It was acquired by the pharaohs after death, thanks to technology that was hidden inside the pyramids. 
Some researchers believe that the Cheops pyramid was built by a great civilization even more ancient than the Egyptian one, about which we know nothing. And the Egyptians only restored existing ancient buildings and used them at their own discretion. They themselves did not know the intention of the forerunners who built the pyramids. The Forerunners could be giants of the Antediluvian civilization or inhabitants of other planets who flew to Earth in search of a new homeland. The gigantic size of the blocks from which the pyramid is built is easier to imagine as a convenient building material for ten-meter giants than for ordinary people. 
I would like to mention one more interesting legend about the Cheops pyramid. They say that inside the monolithic structure there is a secret room in which there is a portal that opens paths to other dimensions. Thanks to the portal, you can instantly find yourself at a selected point in time or on another inhabited planet of the Universe. It was carefully hidden by the builders for the benefit of people, but will soon be found. The question remains whether modern scientists will understand the ancient technologies to take advantage of the discovery. In the meantime, archaeological research in the pyramid continues. 
In the era of antiquity, when the Greco-Roman civilization began to flourish, ancient philosophers compiled a description of the most outstanding architectural monuments on Earth. They were called the "Seven Wonders of the World." These included the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes and other majestic buildings built before our era. The Pyramid of Cheops, as the oldest, is in first place on this list. This wonder of the world is the only one that has survived to this day; all the others were destroyed many centuries ago. 
According to the descriptions of ancient Greek historians, the large pyramid shone in the rays of the sun, casting a warm golden sheen. It was lined with meter-thick limestone slabs. The smooth white limestone, decorated with hieroglyphs and designs, reflected the sands of the surrounding desert. Local residents later dismantled the cladding for their homes, which they lost as a result of the devastating fires. Perhaps the top of the pyramid was decorated with a special triangular block made of precious material. 
Around the Cheops pyramid in the valley there is a whole city of the dead. Dilapidated buildings of mortuary temples, two other large pyramids and several smaller tombs. A huge statue of a sphinx with a broken nose, which was recently restored, is carved from a monolithic block of gigantic proportions. It was taken from the same quarry as the stones used to build the tombs. Once upon a time, ten meters from the pyramid there was a three-meter thick wall. Perhaps it was intended to protect the royal treasures, but it could not stop the robbers. 
History of construction
Scientists still cannot come to a consensus on how ancient people built the Cheops pyramid from huge blocks of stone. Based on the drawings found on the walls of others, it was assumed that workers cut each block into the rocks and then dragged it to the construction site along a ramp made of cedar. History does not have a consensus on who was involved in the work - peasants for whom there was no other work during the Nile flood, slaves of the pharaoh or hired workers. 
The difficulty is that the blocks had to not only be delivered to the construction site, but also raised to a great height. Before its construction, the Cheops Pyramid was the tallest structure on Earth. Modern architects see the solution to this problem differently. According to the official version, primitive mechanical blocks were used for lifting. It’s scary to imagine how many people died during construction using this method. When the ropes and straps holding the block broke, it could crush dozens of people with its weight. It was especially difficult to install the upper block of the building at a height of 140 meters above the ground. 
Some scientists suggest that ancient people had the technology to control Earth's gravity. The blocks weighing more than 2 tons, from which the Cheops pyramid was built, could be moved with ease using this method. The construction was carried out by hired workers who knew all the secrets of the craft, under the leadership of the nephew of Pharaoh Cheops. There were no human sacrifices, backbreaking labor of slaves, only the art of construction, which reached the highest technologies that are inaccessible to our civilization. 
The pyramid has the same base on each side. Its length is 230 meters and 40 centimeters. Amazing accuracy for ancient uneducated builders. The density of the stones is so great that it is impossible to insert a razor blade between them. An area of five hectares is occupied by one monolithic structure, the blocks of which are connected with a special solution. There are several passages and chambers inside the pyramid. There are ventilation holes facing different directions of the world. The purpose of many interior spaces remains a mystery. The robbers took away everything valuable long before the first archaeologists entered the tomb. 
Currently, the pyramid is included in the UNESCO cultural heritage list. Her photo adorns many Egyptian tourist brochures. In the 19th century, Egyptian authorities wanted to dismantle the huge monolithic blocks of ancient structures to build dams on the Nile River. But the labor costs far outweighed the benefits of the work, which is why the monuments of ancient architecture still stand to this day, delighting pilgrims in the Giza Valley.
The only one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World that has survived to this day and, oddly enough, the most ancient is the Egyptian the Pyramid of Cheops. It is named after Pharaoh Cheops, its creator. Its dimensions are enormous. Height is about 140 m (corresponding to approximately the height of a 50-story skyscraper). The foundation area is now about 53,000 m? (originally 85,500 m?) with a base length of approximately 230 m. For comparison, we can say that five of the largest cathedrals in the world could easily fit in such an area.
Immediately after the death of Pharaoh Snofru, his son, the young Pharaoh Cheops, ordered the construction of his own pyramid to begin, which was supposed to surpass all existing pyramids not only in size, but also in luxury and splendor.
The construction site was chosen near the village of Giza. The strong rocky platform was supposed to withstand the weight of the pyramid about 6.25 million tons.
According to the Greek historian Herodotus, almost 100 thousand people worked on the construction of the pyramid for 20 years (~2560 to ~2540 BC). In addition to foreign slaves, Egyptian peasants also worked here, each of whom hoped that a piece of the glory and immortality of the pharaoh, who was sincerely considered the son of the sun god Ra, would touch him.
The burial of the pharaoh was a special ritual.
The body of the late ruler was cleaned, carefully embalmed and placed in a special burial chamber of the pyramid. The internal organs were placed separately in special sealed vessels, the so-called canops, which were placed in the burial pit next to the sarcophagus.
After the pharaoh's body found its final earthly resting place inside the pyramid, his "ka" left the tomb. According to the Egyptians, “ka” is the soul of the pharaoh, which left the body at the moment of his death and moved freely between the earthly and the afterlife. Having left the tomb, “ka” rushed to the top of the pyramid, where the father of all pharaohs, the sun god Ra, was already waiting for her in his solar boat. Thus began the pharaoh's journey into immortality...
Solar boat
It stood untouched for more than 3,500 years. All entrances were carefully walled up and it was believed that it was guarded by spirits who were ready to kill anyone who tried to penetrate it. And yet the pharaoh's mummy and all his treasures disappeared without a trace. Historians around the world are still trying to unravel this mystery.
If you decide to go to Egypt yourself and see the Pyramids with your own eyes, I advise you to read the article. I think the advice of an experienced traveler will be useful to you.
Wonder of the World No. 5: Pyramids of Egypt
The pyramids of Egypt are the oldest of the wonders of the world, which, moreover, have survived to this day. Of course, one can argue for a long time who created these amazing stone mountains, which seem to stand forever: the desert will be replaced by a rainforest, the forest will be replaced by a desert again, and they will still remain towering above the ground, inspiring respect for their creators.
Now they are already talking about the hand of aliens, about the Atlanteans who allegedly helped the ancient builders. Even the dates given are not the ones accepted. But for now these are only hypotheses, and the official version remains the same.
It is believed that the first pyramid was erected by the Egyptian pharaoh Djoser (ruled around 2780-2760 BC). There are legends that the main role in the creation of this huge structure (about 60 meters high) was played by the great figure of those times, Imhotep. (Didn’t we see his free interpretation not so long ago in “The Mummy”?) From a later time, figurines depicting this remarkable architect have been preserved. Apparently, Pharaoh Djoser himself was so pleased with the unprecedented tomb built by Imhotep that he allowed the architect’s name to be carved on the base of his statue - an honor completely unheard of in ancient Egypt. 
During excavations of the mortuary temple, located near the pyramid of Djoser, scientists found fragments of several statues of the pharaoh and among them a pedestal on which the name of Imhotep was written.
One of the first ancient scientists to report on the pyramids was Herodotus. According to his stories, in order to drag the stone blocks up, an inclined embankment was built. Subsequently it was leveled. Along it, the builders, driven by the sticks of the overseers, pulled heavy stones on ropes, which were installed in place with the help of a wooden lever. How many people died under the weight of a broken block of stone, how many were maimed while laying stones, how many died from backbreaking labor right here, near the still unfinished walls of the pyramid! And this has been going on for twenty long years. When the masonry of the pyramid was completed, its steps were laid with facing blocks. They were brought from quarries located in Upper Egypt, near Aswan. The facing blocks were lifted up along the ledges of the pyramid and laid from top to bottom. Then they were polished. Under the rays of the southern sun they shone with a dazzling brilliance against the background of the cloudless Egyptian sky. Herodotus says that the construction of the pyramid of Khufu lasted about twenty years. Every three months, workers were changed, the number of which reached 100,000 people. The whips of the overseers, the grueling heat, and inhuman labor did their job. After all, there were no machines for lifting two-ton limestone blocks. Everything was done only with the help of living human power. Even if we accept Taking into account that Herodotus made a number of obvious exaggerations and inaccuracies, the figures he cited still give an idea of the enormous scale of work undertaken by Cheops to create a colossal tomb. In the same story, Herodotus mentions an inscription made on the pyramid, which indicated the amount, spent on onions, garlic and radishes for the workers was equal to 1600 talents. “If this is really so,” exclaims Herodotus, “then how much should be spent on iron tools for work, on food and clothing for the workers?”
The pyramids are constantly being explored and very often something interesting is found, which immediately gives rise to new myths and mysteries. Currently, the so-called mines in the Great Pyramid of Cheops are being intensively studied. Interesting hypotheses are put forward by scientists R. Bauval and E. Gilbert in their best-selling book “Secrets of the Pyramids”...
The only one of the “Seven Wonders of the World” that has survived to this day are the Egyptian pyramids. Ancient Egyptian architecture, even today, amazes with the power of its enormous stone structures. Among the huge columns of ancient temples, rising to the sky and often standing like trees in a forest, you can get lost. At the entrance to these temples, like a formidable guard, stand huge statues of pharaohs and stone sphinxes. Sphinx - in Ancient Egypt - the embodiment of royal power, a statue depicting a fantastic creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human or sacred animal.
About 5 thousand years ago, the first small slave states appeared in the valley along the lower Nile. At the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. the rulers of one of them subjugated the entire country, creating a single kingdom with its center in the city of Memphis, located on the left bank of the Nile, south of where the city of Cairo is now located. Around 2800 BC e. Pharaoh Khufu became the ruler of this state. Subsequently, Greek historians changed his name to Cheops. This is what they call it in our time. Huge wealth and unlimited power were concentrated in the hands of the pharaohs.
Cheops' grandfather and father spent their wealth not only on court luxury and majestic tombs - pyramids, which were supposed to perpetuate the names of formidable rulers. Their slaves built dams, dug canals, and installed sluices to evenly distribute the waters of the Nile to irrigate the fields. Thanks to this, high harvests were harvested from the fields of Egypt, which brought more and more income to the pharaohs.
Cheops thought only about glorifying himself. The flattering and cunning priests told him: “Earthly life is short. The houses we live in are hotels. Man's true home is the tomb, the house of eternity, where he will dwell for millions of years. If you want to be immortal, take care of your tomb." And Cheops decided to reduce government spending as much as possible, and spend most of his income on creating a tomb that would be taller and more majestic than all the previous royal tombs.
There were not enough foreign slaves, and Egyptian farmers began to be involved in the work. Pharaoh ordered to choose the strongest and most resilient for the work. Each farmer had to work for a third of the year on the construction of the pyramid. To the capital Memphis, according to the Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century. BC e., up to 100 thousand people were rounded up. They were fed stale cakes, dried fish, garlic and radishes. Many died, but more and more were brought in to replace them...
The first ten years were spent on preparatory work. They laid out a convenient path to the construction site chosen on the western bank of the Nile (near the outskirts of the modern city of Cairo - Giza), dug underground hiding places and laid the foundation. And in quarries, about 600 miles east of the Nile, blocks of limestone were chopped off and transported to the west bank. After this, a giant stone pyramid was built for 20 years. Its construction was completed in the 31st year of the king's reign.
2 million 300 thousand stone blocks weighing 2.5 tons each were smoothly hewn with copper tools (there were no iron tools at that time) and tightly fitted to each other. The height of the pyramid was 280 cubits (about 147 m), i.e., approximately the height of a modern forty-story building. The base side of the pyramid reaches 230 meters. It occupies more area than 9 football fields. The hewn slabs were laid with such perfection that even a needle could not be inserted into the seam between them. The entrance to the pyramid was on the north side. A narrow corridor led through a large gallery into the burial chamber (10x5x5 m), in which the royal coffin - sarcophagus - was installed. Unfortunately, it has not survived to this day, but it is believed that it was carved from stone. A side corridor led to the queen's crypt.
Cheops achieved his goal, although the working people grumbled and even the slave-owning nobility were dissatisfied with the excessive costs that were depleting the country.
After the death of the king, the faithful servants fulfilled everything that was prescribed by ancient customs. They opened the king's corpse, removed the brain and entrails, kept the body for 70 days in salt water, filled it with fragrant resin and wrapped the finished mummy in burial shrouds. The Egyptians believed that the resurrection of the dead was possible. They believed that the soul of the deceased, as long as his body was preserved, could return to it. At first, only the bodies of kings were turned into mummies, and later of all noble slave owners. Around the Pharaoh's pyramid were the tombs of nobles and officials. The owners of rich estates and luxurious houses wanted to be different from ordinary people even after death. The poor were simply wrapped in a mat and buried.
The sarcophagus with the king's mummy was placed on a huge sled, the oxen were harnessed and they were driven to the west, where, according to the teachings of the priests, there was an entrance to the afterlife. The mourners and mourners filled the air with wild cries. The priests slaughtered bulls and geese as sacrifices to the soul of the deceased. The royal mummy was placed inside the pyramid and the entrance to the tomb was walled up.
During one of the uprisings, the details of which are unknown to us, the mummy was thrown out of the crypt and disappeared without a trace.
There is no trace left of the ruler who built himself the greatest pyramid, which in ancient times was considered one of the “seven wonders of the world,” but the grandiose building, created by the Egyptian people with such difficulty and suffering, has stood for the fifth millennium and has changed little over time. Only the cracked outer cladding was broken off and stolen for new buildings, so that the pyramid dropped by 9 m.
In 1953, two Egyptian archaeologists dug out a cache at a depth of 17 m, covered with stone blocks, among the sands not far from the pyramid. Inside was a huge wooden boat of the pharaoh, 35 m long, with two rows of oars. Egyptian priests made this boat so that the royal deceased could sail in it after death along the heavenly waves to the distant kingdom of the dead.
The next year, another Egyptian archaeologist found a new pyramid in the sands - Pharaoh Hesemkhet, who lived a hundred years before Cheops. The pyramid, fortunately, was untouched! Not a single robber penetrated it. In the inner chamber there was an alabaster coffin, very well preserved, but, to the scientist’s disappointment, it turned out to be empty. The ancient Egyptians had a custom of building false tombs (cenotaphs). It is believed that the empty coffin was a spare one, in case the soul of the deceased wanted to leave the permanent tomb and move to another.
The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife. The priests inspired the people that even after death the pharaoh would remain the ruler and crowds of servants would work for him. Egyptian religion taught that the poor and slaves had no hope of a happy life even in the afterlife. Only pharaohs and nobles will be blissful after death as well as during life. In the afterlife, according to the Egyptians, there is the same inequality as on earth: some work, while others enjoy power and wealth.
