Misplaced Pages

#63936

82-717: One of Cairo's well-known modern monuments, sometimes considered Egypt's second most famous landmark after the Pyramids of Giza , it stands in the Gezira district on Gezira Island in the River Nile , close to downtown Cairo . Built from 1956 to 1961, the tower was designed by the Egyptian architect Naoum Shebib , inspired by the Ancient Egyptian Architecture . Its partially open lattice-work design

164-445: A copper workshop, a hospital, and a cemetery (where some of the skeletons were found with signs of trauma associated with accidents on a building site). The metal processed at the site was the so-called arsenical copper . The same material was also identified among the copper artefacts from the "Kromer" site, from the reigns of Khufu and Khafre. The workers' town appears to date from the middle 4th Dynasty (2520–2472 BC), after

246-460: A crowd of approximately 100,000 people. The complex was used for the final draw of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship . Egypt's Minister of Tourism unveiled plans for a € 17,000,000 revamp of the complex by the end of 2021, in order to boost tourism in Egypt as well as make the site more accessible and tourist-friendly. According to Lonely Planet ,

328-498: A few hundred metres to the south-west, and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred metres farther south-west. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex. Consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre . Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways, and temples. Besides

410-617: A lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre. The original shape of the Sphinx was cut from the bedrock , and has since been restored with layers of limestone blocks . It measures 73 m (240 ft) long from paw to tail, 20 m (66 ft) high from

492-473: A prominent display of casing stones at its apex. Menkaure 's pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, and the king's pyramid. The valley temple once contained several statues of Menkaure. During the 5th Dynasty , a smaller ante-temple was added on to the valley temple. The mortuary temple also yielded several statues of Menkaure. The king's pyramid, completed c.  2510 BC , has three subsidiary or queen's pyramids. Of

574-537: A structure built, which is now referred to as the king's resthouse. During the 19th Dynasty , Seti I added to the temple of Hauron-Haremakhet, and his son Ramesses II erected a stela in the chapel before the Sphinx and usurped the resthouse of Tutankhamun. During the 21st Dynasty , the Temple of Isis Mistress-of-the-Pyramids was reconstructed. During the 26th Dynasty , a stela made in this time mentions Khufu and his Queen Henutsen . In 1903, rights to excavate

656-582: A temple dedicated to Hauron-Haremakhet near the Sphinx. As a prince, the future pharaoh Thutmose IV visited the pyramids and the Sphinx; he reported being told in a dream that if he cleared the sand that had built up around the Sphinx, he would be rewarded with kingship. This event is recorded in the Dream Stele , which he had installed between the Sphinx's front legs. During the early years of his reign, Thutmose IV, together with his wife Queen Nefertari, had stelae erected at Giza. Pharaoh Tutankhamun had

738-653: A total of 15 nations) until the Allied victory in November 1942. In modern times the Egyptian government has encouraged settlements in the oases, and surveyed for minerals, particularly oil. In October 2020, President Abdul Fattah el-Sis i ordered the revival of an ambitious decades old agricultural project once named the Toshka Project (aka the New Valley Project), aimed at creating a new delta in

820-481: A well in the floor of the temple by Mariette in 1860. Others were found during successive excavations by Sieglin (1909–1910), Junker, Reisner, and Hassan. Khafre's complex contained five boat-pits and a subsidiary pyramid with a serdab . Khafre's pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu Pyramid by virtue of its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of its construction—it is, in fact, smaller in both height and volume. Khafre's pyramid retains

902-524: Is a desert in the Sahara between western Egypt and eastern Libya in North Africa , 74% of the area is covered by sand dunes. The Great Sand Sea stretches about 650 km (400 mi) from north to south and 300 km (190 mi) from east to west. On satellite images this desert shows a pattern of long sand ridges running in a roughly north–south direction. However, despite the apparent uniformity

SECTION 10

#1732787087064

984-506: Is a narrow burial-shaft leading to three levels for a tomb and below it a flooded area. It was first mentioned by Hassan, and a thorough excavation was conducted by a team led by Hawass in 1999. It was opened to tourists in November 2017. During the New Kingdom Giza was still an active site. A brick-built chapel was constructed near the Sphinx during the early 18th Dynasty , probably by King Thutmose I . Amenhotep II built

1066-612: Is a roughly lung-shaped area of sandy desert lying astride the border with Libya, 320 km (200 mi) inland from the Mediterranean. The sea is divided by a long peninsula of rocky desert along the border, leaving the eastern lobe in Egypt and the western in Libya, where it is called the Calanshio desert. On the Egyptian side it was known historically as the "Libyan Desert", taking its name from Ancient Libya , which lay between

1148-680: Is by far the oldest of the Ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence. The earliest settlement of the Giza plateau predates the pyramid complexes. Four jars from the Maadi culture were found at the foot of the Great Pyramid, likely from a disturbed earlier settlement. Further Maadi settlement near the site was uncovered during work on the Greater Cairo Wastewater Project. Recent reassessment of

1230-471: Is described by one writer as "a plateau standing on average some 500 feet [150 m] above sea level, barren, rubble- and boulder-strewn, dark brown in colour, occasionally dotted with scrub, and, at first sight, flat". He also states that little of the area conforms to "the romantic view... the Hollywood scenery of wind-formed dunes with occasional oases fringed with palm" (although such areas do exist in

1312-537: Is intended to evoke a pharaonic lotus plant, an iconic symbol of Ancient Egypt . The tower is crowned by a circular observation deck and a revolving restaurant that rotates around its axis occasionally with a view over greater Cairo . According to documents published by Major General Adel Shaheen, the funds for the construction of the tower were originated from the Government of the United States through

1394-741: Is the site of large white chalk rock formations, created through erosion by wind and sand. It is also the site of cliffs (at the northern end of the Farafra Depression), sand dunes (part of the Great Sand Sea), as well as Wadi Hennis and oases at Ain El Maqfi and Ain El Wadi . The park serves as the refuge for various animals, including the endangered Rhim gazelle and the vulnerable Dorcas gazelle , as well as Barbary sheep ; jackals ; Rüppell's , red and fennec foxes; and

1476-551: Is two-thirds of the land area of the country. Its highest elevation is 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in the Gilf Kebir plateau to the far south-west of the country, on the Egypt-Sudan-Libya border. The Western Desert is barren and uninhabited save for a chain of oases which extend in an arc from Siwa , in the north-west, to Kharga in the south. It has been the scene of conflict in modern times, particularly during

1558-458: The Americans to react by calling it "Nasser's prick". Because of that, a local Islamic group issued a fatwa to demolish the tower in the 1990s, stating that it "could excite Egyptian women", but this failed to be implemented due to its influence on national history and popularity among the nation and tourists. Between 2006 and 2009, the tower underwent an £E 15 million restoration project by

1640-455: The CIA that represented by Kermit Roosevelt , which had provided around $ US1-3 million to Gamal Abdel Nasser as a personal gift to him with the intent of stopping his support for Algerian Revolution and other African independence movements . Affronted by the attempt to bribe him, Nasser decided to publicly rebuke the U.S. government by transferring all of the funds to the Egyptian government for

1722-474: The Central Field , near the valley temple of Menkaure . The pyramid complex of Queen Khentkaus includes her pyramid, a boat pit, a valley temple, and a pyramid town. Most construction theories are based on the idea that the pyramids were built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place. Disagreements arise over the feasibility of the different proposed methods by which

SECTION 20

#1732787087064

1804-884: The Giza necropolis and also known as the Pyramids of Giza or Egypt , is the site on the Giza Plateau in Giza and Greater Cairo , Egypt that includes the Great Pyramid of Giza , the Pyramid of Khafre , and the Pyramid of Menkaure , along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx of Giza . All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt , between 2600 and 2500 BC. The site also includes several cemeteries and

1886-555: The Great Sphinx . All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt , between c.  2600  – c.  2500 BC . The site also includes several temples, cemeteries, and the remains of a workers' village. The site is at the edge of the Western Desert , approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) west of the Nile River in the city of Giza , and about 13 km (8.1 mi) southwest of

1968-748: The Second World War . Administratively the Western Desert is divided between various governorates; in the north and west, the Matrouh Governorate administers the area from the Mediterranean south to approx 27°40' N latitude, and the New Valley Governorate from there to the Sudan border, while in the east parts of the Western Desert lie in the Giza , Fayyum , Beni Suef , and Minya Governorates . The region

2050-539: The city centre of Cairo . It forms the northernmost part of the 16,000 ha (160 km ; 62 sq mi) Pyramid Fields of the Memphis and its Necropolis UNESCO World Heritage Site , inscribed in 1979. The pyramid fields include the Abusir , Saqqara , and Dahshur pyramid complexes, which were all built in the vicinity of Egypt's ancient capital of Memphis . Further Old Kingdom pyramid fields were located at

2132-411: The mastaba numbers such as Cemetery G 1000, Cemetery G 1100, etc. The West Field contains Cemetery G1000 – Cemetery G1600, and Cemetery G 1900. Further cemeteries in this field are: Cemeteries G 2000, G 2200, G 2500, G 3000, G 4000, and G 6000. Three other cemeteries are named after their excavators: Junker Cemetery West, Junker Cemetery East, and Steindorff Cemetery. The East Field is located to

2214-518: The sand cat . In pre-historic times the Western desert is thought to have been a semi-arid grassland , home to savanna animals and hunter-gatherers ; evidence of abundant wildlife can be found in the cave paintings of the Gilf Kebir. It is thought that over-grazing and climate change led to desertification and the current geography. Even after this, however, the oases remained inhabited, and

2296-542: The war between Israel and Hamas , a photo of the tower with the Palestinian flag circulated on social media. However, the photo was actually a modified version of a photo taken in 2010. Pyramids of Giza The Giza pyramid complex (also called the Giza necropolis ) in Egypt is home to the Great Pyramid , the Pyramid of Khafre , and the Pyramid of Menkaure , along with their associated pyramid complexes and

2378-663: The Antiquities Museum at Kharga has artifacts dating back to times before the early Egyptian kingdoms. In ancient times the area was regarded as being under the jurisdiction of the kingdom of Egypt, and Egyptian remains can be found in all the oases. In 525 BC, the Lost Army of Cambyses , a military expedition by the Persian king Cambyses II got lost in the desert while searching for the Oracle of Ammon , at Siwa. In 333

2460-530: The Egyptian Arab Contractors Company. The restoration and repair process cost about 15 million pounds, which included treating and restoring the tower's concrete and adding 3 floors of metal structures at the bottom of the tower inlaid with the body, and another floor above the entrance. It also added an emergency staircase and an elevator for visitors, and installation of new LED lighting to improve efficiency. In 2023, during

2542-537: The Giza pyramids were astronomically oriented to the cardinal directions within a small fraction of a degree. According to the disputed Orion correlation theory , the arrangement of the pyramids is a representation of the constellation Orion . The work of quarrying, moving, setting, and sculpting the huge amount of stone used to build the pyramids might have been accomplished by several thousand skilled workers, unskilled laborers and supporting workers. Bakers, carpenters, water carriers, and others were also needed for

Cairo Tower - Misplaced Pages Continue

2624-504: The Great Pyramid. During the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century), people may have taken the rest away for building projects in the city of Cairo. To ensure that the pyramid remained symmetrical, the exterior casing stones all had to be equal in height and width. Workers might have marked all the blocks to indicate the angle of the pyramid wall and trimmed the surfaces carefully so that the blocks fit together. During construction,

2706-559: The Great Sand Sea has two large areas with different types of megadunes. The Egyptian sand sea lies parallel to the Calanshio Sand Sea of Libya, with which it is contiguous in the north. The dunes of the Great Sand Sea cover about 10% of the total area of the Western Desert. The Black Desert (‏الصحراء السوداء) is a region of volcano-shaped and widely spaced mounds, distributed along about 30 km (19 mi) in

2788-989: The Italian Ernesto Schiaparelli from the Turin Museum, the German Georg Steindorff from the University of Leipzig who had funding from Wilhelm Pelizaeus, and the American George Reisner from the Hearst Expedition. Within a matter of months, the site had been divided between the concessionaires following a meeting at the Mena House Hotel involving Schiaparelli, Ludwig Borchardt (Steindorff's representative in Egypt), and Reisner. By

2870-766: The Italian excavations ceased at Giza. As the Italians were more interested in sites which might yield more papyri, they turned their concession of the southern strip of the Western Cemetery over to the Americans under Reisner. In 1978, the Grateful Dead played a series of concerts later released as Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 . In 2007, Colombian singer Shakira performed at the complex to

2952-595: The Mediterranean to the latitude of Siwa Oasis , while the region to the south was referred to as the Inner Desert. However, during the Second World War the term Western Desert came to apply not only to the coastal desert of Egypt but also to the area fought over in Libya, ranging beyond the Egypt-Libya border to Gazala , Cyrenaica and even El Agheila . The contemporary use of the term refers to

3034-528: The Mortuary Temple of Khufu, which was connected to the pyramid. Of this temple, the basalt pavement is the only thing that remains. The king's pyramid has three smaller queen's pyramids associated with it and three boat pits. The boat pits contained a ship, and the two pits on the south side of the pyramid contained intact ships when excavated. One of these ships, the Khufu ship , has been restored and

3116-597: The Nile and Cyrenaica. With the formation of the state of Libya , the term "Western Desert" has come to describe the part of the Sahara in Egypt. To the Ancient Greeks, the term Libya described the whole Saharan littoral west of the Nile to the Atlas Mountains . In Roman times, the term Libya was limited to Cyrenaica and the region between there and Egypt, organized as the provinces of Libya Superior and Libya Inferior. The term Libyan Desert then applied to

3198-681: The Oracle of Ammon was visited by Alexander the Great , where he was confirmed as the son of Amun . With the absorption of the kingdom of Egypt into the Roman Empire, the desert region was organized into the province of Libya Inferior, while Cyrenaica became Libya Superior. In time the region came under the jurisdiction of the Byzantines and their successors, the Arabs, Mamluks and Turks. In 1882

3280-685: The Sand Sea where dunes are sculpted into fantastic shapes); the area is also the location of a series of oases created where the land dips sufficiently to meet the aquifer. These lie in an arc from Siwa in the north-west near the Libyan border, to Bahariya , Farafra , Dakhla , then Kharga in the south. East of Siwa lies the Qattara Depression , a low-lying area dotted with salt marsh and extending 310 km (190 mi) west to east and 135 km (84 mi) north to south. Further to

3362-408: The Sphinx's associated temples. Reisner claimed Menkaure's pyramid as well as its associated queens' pyramids and pyramid temple, along with a portion of Schiaparelli's Eastern Cemetery. Any future disputes were to be resolved by Inspector James Quibell , as per a letter from Borchardt to Maspero. This arrangement lasted until 1905, when, under the supervision of Schiaparelli and Francesco Ballerini,

Cairo Tower - Misplaced Pages Continue

3444-631: The West Field and Pyramids of the Giza Necropolis were divided by three institutions from Italy, Germany, and the United States of America. Prior to the division of the Giza Plateau into three institutional concessions in 1903, amateur and private excavations at the Giza Necropolis had been permitted to operate. The work of these amateur archaeologists failed to meet high scientific standards. Montague Ballard, for instance, excavated in

3526-647: The Western Cemetery (with the hesitant permission of the Egyptian Antiquities Service) and neither kept records of his finds nor published them. In 1902, the Egyptian Antiquities Service under Gaston Maspero resolved to issue permits exclusively to authorized individuals representing public institutions. In November of that year, the Service awarded three scholars with concessions on the Giza Necropolis. They were

3608-428: The Western Desert between the White Desert in the south and the Bahariya Oasis in the north. Most of its mounds are capped by basalt sills, giving them the characteristic black color. The mounds of the Black Desert, up to 100 metres (330 feet) high, vary in size, composition, height, and shape as some are dark consisting of iron quartzite while others are more reddish as its surface rocks consist of iron sandstone. On

3690-448: The accepted time of Khufu and completion of the Great Pyramid. According to Lehner and the AERA team: Using pottery shards, seal impressions, and stratigraphy to date the site, the team further concludes: Radiocarbon data for the Old Kingdom Giza plateau and the workers' settlement were published in 2006, and then re-evaluated in 2011. As the pyramids were constructed, the mastabas for lesser royals were constructed around them. Near

3772-501: The afterlife. The tombs' proximity to the pyramids and the manner of burial supports the theory that they were paid laborers who took pride in their work and were not slaves, as was previously thought. Evidence from the tombs indicates that a workforce of 10,000 laborers working in three-month shifts took around 30 years to build a pyramid. Most of the workers appear to have come from poor families. Specialists such as architects, masons, metalworkers, and carpenters were permanently employed by

3854-422: The archaeological structures, the ancient landscape has also been investigated. Khufu 's pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, now buried beneath the village of Nazlet el-Samman; diabase paving and nummulitic limestone walls have been found but the site has not been excavated. The valley temple was connected to a causeway that was largely destroyed when the village was constructed. The causeway led to

3936-428: The area to the south of these provinces. This became a misnomer during colonial times when Cyrenaica and the land to the west was organized as the Italian colony of Libya in 1911, and the term Western Desert used to describe the area within Egypt became more common. Playfair described the Western Desert of 1940 as 390 km (240 mi) wide (i.e. from the Nile to the Libyan border) and 240 km (150 mi) from

4018-459: The base to the top of the head and 19 m (62 ft) wide at its rear haunches. Its nose was broken off for unknown reasons between the 3rd and 10th centuries AD. The Sphinx is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt and one of the most recognisable statues in the world. The archaeological evidence suggests that it was created by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom during the reign of Khafre ( c.  2558–2532 BC). The Great Sand Sea

4100-419: The basis for war-time operations by such forces as the Long Range Desert Group . This period was also marked by the search for Zerzura , a mythical oasis in the deep desert. During the Second World War , from June 1940 until November 1942, it was the location of the Western Desert Campaign fought between the Axis powers (Italy and Germany) and the Western Allies (principally Britain and Commonwealth countries,

4182-436: The causeway of Khafre and the Great Sphinx. These tombs include the tomb of a commander of the army named Ahmose and his mother Queen Nakhtubasterau, who was the wife of Pharaoh Amasis II . The South Field includes mastabas dating from the 1st Dynasty to 3rd Dynasty as well as later burials. Of the more significant of these early dynastic tombs are one referred to as "Covington's tomb", otherwise known as Mastaba T, and

SECTION 50

#1732787087064

4264-428: The east of Khufu's pyramid and contains cemetery G 7000. This cemetery was a burial place for some of the family members of Khufu. The cemetery also includes mastabas from tenants and priests of the pyramids dated to the 5th Dynasty and 6th Dynasty. This cemetery dates from the time of Menkaure (Junker) or earlier (Reisner), and contains several stone-built mastabas dating from as late as the 6th Dynasty . Tombs from

4346-403: The east side of the complex. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre . Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids. The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx , a mythical creature with the head of a human, and the body of

4428-401: The east, near the Nile, another depression gives rise to the Fayyum Oasis , a heavily populated area separate from the main Nile valley. To the south, beyond the Bahariya oasis lies the Black Desert , an area of black volcanic hills and dolerite deposits. Beyond this, north of Farafra, lies the White Desert , an area of wind-sculpted chalk rock formations, which give the area its name. To

4510-446: The entire desert in Egypt west of the Nile. The Giza Plateau (هضبة الجيزة) is a plateau in Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo , Egypt, at the edges of the Western Desert, site of the Fourth Dynasty Giza Necropolis , which includes the Great Pyramids of Khufu , Khafre and Menkaure , the Great Sphinx , several cemeteries, a workers' village and an industrial complex. The Giza pyramid complex (مجمع أهرامات الجيزة), also called

4592-403: The four major monuments, only Menkaure's pyramid is seen today without any of its original polished limestone casing. The Sphinx dates from the reign of king Khafre . During the New Kingdom, Amenhotep II dedicated a new temple to Hauron-Haremakhet and this structure was added onto by later rulers. Khentkaus I was buried in Giza. Her tomb is known as LG 100 and G 8400 and is located in

4674-411: The importance of this discovery. The pyramids of Giza and others are thought to have been constructed to house the remains of the deceased pharaohs who ruled Ancient Egypt . A portion of the pharaoh's spirit called his ka was believed to remain with his corpse. Proper care of the remains was necessary in order for the "former Pharaoh to perform his new duties as king of the dead". It is theorized

4756-456: The king to fill positions that required the most skill. There are multiple burial-shafts and various unfinished shafts and tunnels located in the Giza complex that were discovered and mentioned prominently by Selim Hassan in his report Excavations at Giza 1933–1934 . He states: "Very few of the Saitic [referring to the Saite Period ] shafts have been thoroughly examined, for the reason that most of them are flooded." The Osiris Shaft

4838-453: The kingdom of Egypt became a British protectorate, and in 1912 the territory to the east was claimed by Italy as the colony of Libya. In the 20th century the Western Desert became an arena of conflict; during the First World War it was the location of the Senussi Campaign against the British and Italians. The 1930s saw an upsurge of exploration and mapping expeditions by British Army officers, such as Ralph Bagnold and Pat Clayton , laying

4920-499: The large Mastaba V which contained artifacts naming the 1st Dynasty pharaoh Djet . Other tombs date from the late Old Kingdom (5th and 6th Dynasty). The south section of the field contains several tombs dating from the Saite period and later. In 1990, tombs belonging to the pyramid workers were discovered alongside the pyramids, with an additional burial site found nearby in 2009. Although not mummified, they had been buried in mudbrick tombs with beer and bread to support them in

5002-420: The middle of Western Desert and increasing living space and prosperity for Egypt's growing population. President El-Sisi specified that 6.4 billion Egyptian pounds ($ 413 million) would be needed for the necessary infrastructure, breathing new life into national hopes for turning the desert green. Originally, Project Toshka was spear-headed by former President Hosni Mubarak , who spent 40 billion Egyptian pounds on

SECTION 60

#1732787087064

5084-412: The outer surface of the stone was smooth limestone; excess stone has eroded over time. New insights into the closing stages of the Great Pyramid building were provided by the recent find of Wadi el-Jarf papyri, especially the diary of inspector Merer , whose team was assigned to deliver the white limestone from Tura quarries to Giza. The journal was already published, as well as a popular account of

5166-439: The outskirts of the Black Desert are volcanic hills proving the eruption of dark volcanic dolerite , dating back to the Jurassic period 180 million years ago. The White Desert is a national park , first established as a protected area in 2002. It is located in the Farafra depression , 45 km (28 mi) north of the town of Qsar El Farafra . Part of the park is in the Farafra Oasis ( New Valley Governorate ). The park

5248-412: The project. Along with the methods used to construct the pyramids, there is also wide speculation regarding the exact number of workers needed for a building project of this magnitude. When Greek historian Herodotus visited Giza in 450 BC, he was told by Egyptian priests that "the Great Pyramid had taken 400,000 men 20 years to build, working in three-month shifts 100,000 men at a time." Evidence from

5330-415: The pyramid not only served as a tomb for the pharaoh, but also as a storage pit for various items he would need in the afterlife. The people of Ancient Egypt believed that death on Earth was the start of a journey to the next world. The embalmed body of the king was entombed underneath or within the pyramid to protect it and allow his transformation and ascension to the afterlife . The sides of all three of

5412-405: The pyramid of Khufu, the main cemetery is G 7000, which lies in the East Field located to the east of the main pyramid and next to the Queen's pyramids. These cemeteries around the pyramids were arranged along streets and avenues. Cemetery G 7000 was one of the earliest and contained tombs of wives, sons, and daughters of these 4th Dynasty rulers. On the other side of the pyramid in the West Field,

5494-422: The radiocarbon dating puts the Maadi culture's eponymous settlement to c.  3800  – c.  3400 BC , which is also the likely maximum possible range for the Giza remains. The Giza pyramid complex consists of the Great Pyramid (also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu and constructed c.  2580  – c.  2560 BC ), the slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren)

5576-426: The refurbishment includes a new visitors' centre, an environmentally-friendly electric bus, a restaurant (the 9 Pyramids Lounge), as well as a cinema, public toilets, site-wide signage, food trucks, photo booths, and free Wi-Fi. The new facility is part of a wider plan to renovate the 4,500 year old site. Western Desert (Egypt) In Egypt , the Western Desert is an area of the Sahara that lies west of

5658-412: The remains of a workers' village. The Giza pyramid complex consists of the Great Pyramid (also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu and constructed c. 2580 – c. 2560 BC), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred metres to the south-west, and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred metres farther south-west. The Great Sphinx lies on

5740-442: The river Nile , up to the Libyan border , and south from the Mediterranean Sea to the border with Sudan . It is named in contrast to the Eastern Desert which extends east from the Nile to the Red Sea . The Western Desert is mostly rocky desert , though an area of sandy desert , known as the Great Sand Sea , lies to the west against the Libyan border. The desert covers an area of 680,650 km (262,800 sq mi) which

5822-422: The royals' sons Wepemnofret and Hemiunu were buried in Cemetery G 1200 and Cemetery G 4000, respectively. These cemeteries were further expanded during the 5th and 6th Dynasties . The West Field is located to the west of Khufu's pyramid. It is divided into smaller areas such as the cemeteries referred to as the Abu Bakr Excavations (1949–1950, 1950–1951, 1952, and 1953), and several cemeteries named based on

5904-630: The sites Abu Rawash , Zawyet El Aryan , and Meidum . The Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Khafre are the largest pyramids built in ancient Egypt , and they have historically been common as emblems of Ancient Egypt in the Western imagination . They were popularised in Hellenistic times, when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World . It

5986-515: The south of Kharga the plateau rises towards the Gilf Kebir, an upland region lying astride the Egypt-Sudan border and home to pre-historic sites such as the Cave of Swimmers . In the south-west, near the point where the borders of Libya, Sudan and Egypt meet, is an area of desert glass , thought to have been formed by a meteorite strike at Kebira , over the border in Libya. The Great Sand Sea

6068-461: The stone for the interior seems to have been quarried immediately to the south of the construction site. The smooth exterior of the pyramid was made of a fine grade of white limestone that was quarried across the Nile . These exterior blocks had to be carefully cut, transported by river barge to Giza, and dragged up ramps to the construction site. Only a few exterior blocks remain in place at the bottom of

6150-425: The stones were conveyed and placed. In building the pyramids, the architects might have developed their techniques over time. They would select a site on a relatively flat area of bedrock—not sand—which provided a stable foundation. After carefully surveying the site and laying down the first level of stones, they constructed the pyramids in horizontal levels, one on top of the other. For the Great Pyramid , most of

6232-567: The time of Menkaure include the mastabas of the royal chamberlain Khaemnefert, the King's son Khufudjedef (master of the royal largesse), and an official named Niankhre. The Central Field contains several burials of royal family members. The tombs range in date from the end of the 4th Dynasty to the 5th Dynasty or even later. Tombs dating from the Saite and later period were found near

6314-608: The tombs indicates that a workforce of 10,000 laborers working in three-month shifts took around 30 years to build a pyramid. The Giza pyramid complex is surrounded by a large stone wall, outside which Mark Lehner and his team discovered a town where the pyramid workers were housed. The village is located to the southeast of the Khafre and Menkaure complexes. Among the discoveries at the workers' village are communal sleeping quarters, bakeries, breweries, and kitchens (with evidence showing that bread, beef, and fish were dietary staples),

6396-442: The turn of the 20th century, the three largest pyramids on the Giza plateau were considered mostly exhausted by previous excavations, so the Western Cemetery and its collection of private mastaba tombs were thought to represent the richest unexcavated part of the plateau. George Reisner's wife, Mary, drew names from a hat to assign three long east-west plots of the necropolis among the Italian, German, and American missions. Schiaparelli

6478-600: The use of the tower construction, which he stated would be "visible from the US Embassy just across the Nile , as a taunting symbol of Egypt's, Africa and the Middle East's resistance, revolutions and pride". The book also stated that the General Intelligence Service took full responsibility for everything related to the design and planning work, including the selection of the architect who

6560-467: Was assigned the southernmost strip, Borchardt the center, and Reisner the northernmost. Rights to excavate the Pyramids were then also negotiated between Schiaparelli, Borchardt, and Reisner. Schiaparelli gained rights to excavate the Great Pyramid of Khufu along with its three associated queens' pyramids and most of its Eastern Cemetery. Borchardt received Khafre's pyramid, its causeway, the Sphinx, and

6642-601: Was assigned to design, the construction work, and even providing the necessary materials for the building with the aim of giving the heroic character of the president. However, its design was controversial as the Egyptians called it the "waqf Roosevelt" ("Roosevelt's endowment"), which was then mistakenly interpreted by the Embassy of Egypt in Washington, D.C. as the "waqef Roosevelt" ("Roosevelt's erection"). This prompted

6724-602: Was originally displayed at the Giza Solar boat museum , then subsequently moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum . Khufu's pyramid still has a limited number of casing stones at its base. These casing stones were made of fine white limestone quarried at Tura . Khafre 's pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, the Sphinx temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, and the king's pyramid. The valley temple yielded several statues of Khafre. Several were found in

#63936