The Elusive: Pyramids of Giza

“Man fears time, yet time fears the pyramids,” quoted an unknown Arabian philosopher. The Great Pyramids of Giza are probably the most ancient and legendary pyramids in the world, which also includes the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the seventh, and last standing wonder of the ancient world. The construction of these monumental structures, the astonishing history of why the pyramids were built, and the amazing tourism, are few of the many characteristics of the Great Pyramids of Giza.

The construction of these pyramids has baffled scientists and archeologists to this day. One thing is for sure, the pharaohs that built these pyramids wanted to show their power and authority over everything and everyone they owned (Great Pyramids of Giza). The construction of these pyramids took an outstanding twenty years to accomplish and was finished in 2560 B.C (Wikipedia). The process of building these pyramids was an extensively tough task for the slaves, or “workers” that built these wondrous structures (Pyramids_of_Giza). First of all, the slaves would carve huge chunks of limestone, miraculously, into two ton blocks of perfectly smoothened limestone. The amazing feat they accomplished was not using iron, but bronze tools. The bronze chisels and hatchets that they used were a lot less durable than any iron chisel. They carved out two million limestone blocks for the pyramids (Philips). The true mystery of these pyramids is how the Egyptian workers put one two ton block on top of another (Great Pyramids of Giza). A majority of scientists and archeologists believe workers of the time would use ramps to shift the blocks on top of another block. According to archeologists, workers would cover the stone ramps with mud to help the block move upwards (Wikipedia). Other scientists think that the workers rolled logs under the limestone blocks (Wikipedia). Few scientists believe they used cranes, but this would be very unlikely as the crane- which was more likely made out of wood- could not at all carry the two ton blocks. The total number of workers was 50,000 and the total blocks used ended at a number of about two million blocks, which was enough blocks to surround Paris with a ten foot high, three foot thick wall (Pyramids_of_Giza). In the end, the three pyramids were finished- the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre, and last but not least, the Pyramid of Menkaure. The Great Pyramid of Khufu was the tallest standing man-made structure, at 481 feet high, for over three millenniums (Pyramids_of_Giza). It was finally out-heightened in 1931 by the Empire State Building in New York City, New York (Great Pyramid Feature Stories). Even though the structuring of the pyramids is fascinating, the broad reasons of why it was built are extraordinary and have left an immense debate over this one subject.