Pyramids of Giza: 5 Things You Should Know

Question: Pharaoh Khufu ordered the Great Pyramid built around 2560 BC. Why did Egypt’s kings want such enormous stone tombs?

Answer: The pyramids were royal tombs built to protect the pharaoh’s body and guide his spirit into the afterlife. Their massive size also displayed the king’s power and godlike status.

Question: Many movies show slaves building the pyramids. What did archaeologists discover near Giza that changed this picture?

Answer: The pyramids were built by paid, skilled Egyptian laborers and rotating crews of farmers, not slaves. Their nearby village and tombs show they were well fed, cared for, and respected.

Question: The Great Pyramid holds about 2.3 million stone blocks, some from quarries far away. How did workers move the distant ones?

Answer: The Nile was the builders’ highway, carrying granite by boat from Aswan, hundreds of miles south. A papyrus diary kept by an official named Merer records shipping white limestone from nearby Tura to Giza.

Question: The Great Pyramid’s sides line up almost perfectly with north, south, east, and west. How did builders manage without compasses?

Answer: Egyptian builders used careful observations of the stars and sun to align the pyramids with true north. Their accuracy rivals that of some modern buildings.

Question: Today the Great Pyramid looks rough and stepped, but it was once smooth and bright white. What happened to its outer layer?

Answer: The pyramids were once covered in polished white limestone that gleamed in the sun. After an earthquake in 1303 loosened much of it, the stones were carried away to build medieval Cairo.