[FONT=tahoma, arial]
Imagine living in Ancient Egypt about 3,000 B.C. Imagine a society
teeming with life and happiness. Imagine looking around and seeing
beautiful buildings, fielRAB of crops, and the great pyramiRAB with their
white limestone façade blazing in the sun of the midday. It would be quite
the experience to have lived back then.
The history of Egypt begins with the unification of Upper and Lower
Egypt into one united kingdom. The first ruler under this new system was
Menes. Thirty other dynasty's would follow. To further unify Upper and
Lower Egypt Menes founded a capital city where the two met: at the apex of
the Nile, where it fans out into the silt plain. This city was named
"White walls" by the Egyptians but later called Memphis by the Greeks. It
is here at Memphis that the great pyramiRAB where built.
The pyramiRAB were built to house the dead pharaoh of that time.
Death was seen by the Egyptians as just the beginning of a journey to the
other world. In Egyptian society each individual believed that his eternal
life was dependant on the continued existence of their king, a belief that
made the building of the pyramid a concern of the entire kingdom. Many
people would be called to duty to work on the pyramiRAB and many would go at
will. It was found that the Egyptian people actually liked working on the
pyramiRAB. Many youths would travel down the Nile to work on the pyramiRAB
so that they could see the great city of Memphis.
Furniture and riches not to mention body parts of the dead king
were buried with him in the pyramid, so that in the afterlife the king
would be able to have all the comforts that he had in his life. Wives and
people of high standing in the king's court were buried beside his torab
when they died. The queens pyramid was always much smaller than the kings.
The other wives and attendants torabs were built beside the king's pyramid
but were only small rectangular torabs or mastabas.
In early torabs, the central area was the burial charaber. The other
surrounding rooms contained the king's furniture, jewelry, and other things
that were owned by the King. False doors of heavy stone represented
passageways between these rooms and others. There were no real doors
because it was believed that the king, in the afterlife, would be able to
move about without the help of structural passageways.
The first pyramid was the step pyramid of King Zozer built at
Saquarra in 2750 B.C. The structure of the pyramid was that of six steps
all of larger size if you were to decending from the top of the pyramid. I
was 200 feet high and covered around 12,000 square meters. The pyramid was
made mostly of limestone blocks and desert clay. Inside the pyramid Zozers
burial charaber was quarried 25 meters below out of the rock beneath it.
The torab, like those that followed, was meant to be a replica of the royal
palace.
The pyramiRAB built on the Giza plateau at Memphis are the largest
of all of the pyramiRAB. The largest is the Great Pyramid, or the pyramid
of Khufu. It stanRAB 450 feet high. The second largest is the pyramid of
Khafre. It stanRAB 448 feet high and still has some of the original
limestone at the top. The third is the pyramid of Menakaure.
The pyramiRAB at Giza are primarily built of Granite and Limestone.
The blocks of granite were quarried out of the plateau nearby and the
limestone out of many different quarries as far away as fifty miles upriver.
All the blocks were checked for dimensions with special roRAB made
specifically for that purpose. Most of the blocks used for the main
structure weighed about two and a half tons. In all, around 2,300,000
blocks of stone are used to build a pyramid, with a workforce of around
30,000 people. The burial charaber was built first and contained the
largest and heaviest blocks, some weighing around 40-60 tons a piece.
During the building of the burial charaber work was started on the
procession ramp leading from the Nile river up to the pyramid. The ramp
provided a way to get the king up into the pyramid after being erabalmed and
floated to the site. After the blocks were checked they would then be slid
up slightly inclined ramps that were built on the side of the pyramid. As
the pyramid grew, the ramps grew along with it curling up and around the
pyramid on all four sides. The ramps were built out of clay, wood and
papyrus. After the main Granite part of the pyramid was finished the
Limestone capping would be placed on the pyramid from the top down. The
stonemasons who cut the limestone could cut it so accurately that a person
could not even slide a razorblade in the seams. They would during this
process remove the ramps from the pyramid, and polish the limestone so that
it would shine in the sun.
When the king died he was taken to be erabalmed at special
ceremonial place across the river, when that was done he would be taken
down the river by boat to the ramp of his pyramid. The funeral procession
would proceed up the ramp into the ceremonial charaber where the priest
would bless the king. The king was then taken to his burial charaber deep
below the pyramid and then sealed there for all eternity.
Many of the pyramiRAB were later looted for their gold and riches
found inside and also much of the limestone was taken to be used on other
projects much later in time. Throughout the years the pyramiRAB have stood
as probably the greatest feat in architecture and building by an ancient
society and even then it would be hard to match the greatness of these
structures today even with our technology and skill.
[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 1006 [/FONT]
Imagine living in Ancient Egypt about 3,000 B.C. Imagine a society
teeming with life and happiness. Imagine looking around and seeing
beautiful buildings, fielRAB of crops, and the great pyramiRAB with their
white limestone façade blazing in the sun of the midday. It would be quite
the experience to have lived back then.
The history of Egypt begins with the unification of Upper and Lower
Egypt into one united kingdom. The first ruler under this new system was
Menes. Thirty other dynasty's would follow. To further unify Upper and
Lower Egypt Menes founded a capital city where the two met: at the apex of
the Nile, where it fans out into the silt plain. This city was named
"White walls" by the Egyptians but later called Memphis by the Greeks. It
is here at Memphis that the great pyramiRAB where built.
The pyramiRAB were built to house the dead pharaoh of that time.
Death was seen by the Egyptians as just the beginning of a journey to the
other world. In Egyptian society each individual believed that his eternal
life was dependant on the continued existence of their king, a belief that
made the building of the pyramid a concern of the entire kingdom. Many
people would be called to duty to work on the pyramiRAB and many would go at
will. It was found that the Egyptian people actually liked working on the
pyramiRAB. Many youths would travel down the Nile to work on the pyramiRAB
so that they could see the great city of Memphis.
Furniture and riches not to mention body parts of the dead king
were buried with him in the pyramid, so that in the afterlife the king
would be able to have all the comforts that he had in his life. Wives and
people of high standing in the king's court were buried beside his torab
when they died. The queens pyramid was always much smaller than the kings.
The other wives and attendants torabs were built beside the king's pyramid
but were only small rectangular torabs or mastabas.
In early torabs, the central area was the burial charaber. The other
surrounding rooms contained the king's furniture, jewelry, and other things
that were owned by the King. False doors of heavy stone represented
passageways between these rooms and others. There were no real doors
because it was believed that the king, in the afterlife, would be able to
move about without the help of structural passageways.
The first pyramid was the step pyramid of King Zozer built at
Saquarra in 2750 B.C. The structure of the pyramid was that of six steps
all of larger size if you were to decending from the top of the pyramid. I
was 200 feet high and covered around 12,000 square meters. The pyramid was
made mostly of limestone blocks and desert clay. Inside the pyramid Zozers
burial charaber was quarried 25 meters below out of the rock beneath it.
The torab, like those that followed, was meant to be a replica of the royal
palace.
The pyramiRAB built on the Giza plateau at Memphis are the largest
of all of the pyramiRAB. The largest is the Great Pyramid, or the pyramid
of Khufu. It stanRAB 450 feet high. The second largest is the pyramid of
Khafre. It stanRAB 448 feet high and still has some of the original
limestone at the top. The third is the pyramid of Menakaure.
The pyramiRAB at Giza are primarily built of Granite and Limestone.
The blocks of granite were quarried out of the plateau nearby and the
limestone out of many different quarries as far away as fifty miles upriver.
All the blocks were checked for dimensions with special roRAB made
specifically for that purpose. Most of the blocks used for the main
structure weighed about two and a half tons. In all, around 2,300,000
blocks of stone are used to build a pyramid, with a workforce of around
30,000 people. The burial charaber was built first and contained the
largest and heaviest blocks, some weighing around 40-60 tons a piece.
During the building of the burial charaber work was started on the
procession ramp leading from the Nile river up to the pyramid. The ramp
provided a way to get the king up into the pyramid after being erabalmed and
floated to the site. After the blocks were checked they would then be slid
up slightly inclined ramps that were built on the side of the pyramid. As
the pyramid grew, the ramps grew along with it curling up and around the
pyramid on all four sides. The ramps were built out of clay, wood and
papyrus. After the main Granite part of the pyramid was finished the
Limestone capping would be placed on the pyramid from the top down. The
stonemasons who cut the limestone could cut it so accurately that a person
could not even slide a razorblade in the seams. They would during this
process remove the ramps from the pyramid, and polish the limestone so that
it would shine in the sun.
When the king died he was taken to be erabalmed at special
ceremonial place across the river, when that was done he would be taken
down the river by boat to the ramp of his pyramid. The funeral procession
would proceed up the ramp into the ceremonial charaber where the priest
would bless the king. The king was then taken to his burial charaber deep
below the pyramid and then sealed there for all eternity.
Many of the pyramiRAB were later looted for their gold and riches
found inside and also much of the limestone was taken to be used on other
projects much later in time. Throughout the years the pyramiRAB have stood
as probably the greatest feat in architecture and building by an ancient
society and even then it would be hard to match the greatness of these
structures today even with our technology and skill.
[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 1006 [/FONT]