The Great Pyramid of Khufu

1. The Great Pyramid of Khufu by Jonathan Margrave

2. Site Preparation • True north is located at the site and the corner of the pyramid is positioned. • The outlines of the pyramid’s base are marked. • A religious ceremony is conducted to bless the site of the future pyramid. • The pyramid site is leveled to the bedrock.

3. Quarry • Blocks weigh approximately 2.5 tons apiece. • Workers used copper tools, such as chisels, drills and saws and harder stone tools to quarry the rough stone blocks. • Rough stone blocks, core blocks, are used to create the core of the pyramid.

4. Growing Ever Higher • Teams of approximately 20 workers pulled the blocks into position, the blocks were aligned and then set into place. • Once the base course of blocks is set, ramps of mud and timber are constructed to get the blocks to the second level. • Workers then haul the blocks up the ramp and move them into place. • After each course is completed, the ramp is widened and expanded to reach the next level. • A capstone is placed on top of the the pyramid. The capstone is a smaller pyramid with a protruding piece that fits into an indentation on top of the pyramid, thus keeping the capstone firmly in place.

5. Inner Chambers • Inner rooms, tunnels, stairways that lead to dead-ends, and chambers are constructed with granite blocks as the pyramid gets higher and higher. • A burial chamber is constructed for the king. • The king’s sarcophagus is placed in the burial chamber, prior to roof • of the chamber being built. • The burial chamber walls are decorated with stories written in hieroglyphics.

6. Finishing The Exterior • Packing blocks are carefully cut and fit onto steps of the pyramid. • The outer casing blocks made of limestone are fitted to the packing blocks. • Limestone casing blocks are precisely cut and placed on outer casing blocks. The casing blocks are polished, giving the pyramid’s sides a clean, flat appearance.

7. Comprehension Questions • What part does religion play in the preparation on the pyramid site? • How much do the core blocks weigh? • How many workers, per team, were needed to haul the blocks into place? • What kinds of features are constructed inside the pyramid? • What material are the outer casing blocks made of?

8. Works Cited • Content Standards for California Schoolshttp://www.cde.ca.gov/standards/ • www.touregypt.net • www.guardians.net/egypt/pyramids/GP-plan1.htm • http://www.unmuseum.org/kpyramid.htm • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/explore/builders.html • http://www.egyptspyramids.com/html/article.html • http://www.site-ology.com/egypt/RELIG.HTM • www.virtualogy.com

9. Fun Facts The core blocks weighed 2.5 tons, or approximately the weight of 25 refrigerators. At 481 feet, Khufu’s pyramid was the tallest man built structure for over 4,000 years. Khufu’s pyramid is now 449 ½ feet, having lost 31 ½ feet when casing blocks were removed. The limestone casing blocks were removed to pave the streets of Cairo. The base of the pyramid is so big that nearly 10 football fields (complete with end zones) would fit on the base of the pyramid. It is estimated that the builders used over 2,000,000 core blocks. But the builders had some tricks, they filled some areas with sand or some other fill material.