The great pyramid of Cheops

The Great Pyramid of Cheops, Giza, near Cairo • ISTOCKPHOTO

L dimensions
Its original height was 146.6 m; each side measured about 230 m. It is estimated that 230,000 limestone blocks were required to build it.

L e weight and volume
Its volume is estimated at 2,521,000 m ³ , and its weight at 5,750,000 tons. According to Herodotus, 100,000 workers participated in its construction.

The Upper Temple
This rectangular building with a portico hosted rituals and offerings ensuring the survival of the deceased pharaoh. It was connected by a causeway to the lower temple.

Coating
Originally, it was clad in fine Toura limestone, which no longer exists today. In the interior fittings, Aswan granite was used if necessary.

The pyramids of queens
Near the Great Pyramid are four so-called “satellite” pyramids. One was perhaps devoted to the double – the ka – of the king, and the other three to his wives.

The boats
Along the south side of the Great Pyramid, a 43.4m long cedar sun bark, disassembled into more than a thousand pieces, was unearthed in a pit in 1947.

The adjacent tombs
Family members of the pharaohs and high officials of the country had the privilege of erecting their tombs around the pyramid and thus being able to indirectly benefit from the offerings and rites practiced in the funerary temple of the pharaoh.