Ancient Civilizations: A Concise Guide to Ancient Rome, Egypt, and Greece (3-Books Box Set Book 1) by Hourly History

Ancient Civilizations: A Concise Guide to Ancient Rome, Egypt, and Greece (3-Books Box Set Book 1) by Hourly History

Author:Hourly History [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2017-11-14T00:00:00+00:00


—Robert Blair

The Great Pyramid of Giza was one of the heralded Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, in company with; the Colossus at Rhodes, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the statue of Zeus at Olympus, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Pharos lighthouse at Alexandria, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. All of the wonders were amazing feats of early engineering, the like of which will not be seen again, and all but one is gone; the Great Pyramid is the only one of the ancient wonders that have survived to modern times, and even it has not passed the centuries unscathed. The limestone casing that used to shine bright white has long since fallen away or been robbed away for use in other construction. Although the Great Pyramid, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu, is the largest and most famous, two other pyramids stand nearby on the Giza plateau. The Great Sphinx also stands guard close by. There are somewhere around one hundred and twenty identified pyramids known in Egypt, but there are certainly more that have yet to be uncovered.

With the availability of satellite images, many pyramids have been discovered recently based on the visible impact on the landscape. These remain mysterious shapes in the sand until excavations can take place. Of the known pyramids, there are many different construction styles believed to have evolved through the thousands of years during which pyramids were built. They are also preserved in very different states. Some structures identified as having been ancient pyramids are now nothing more than stone rubble foundations.

It is believed the first pyramid in Egypt was built around 2630 BCE near Saqqara. Since 2950 BCE, it had been a custom for prestigious burials to have a mastaba tomb, a flat, rectangular structure built to contain the burial. When the mastaba was being built for the Pharaoh Djoser, a priest and healer in his court was the architect of the sacred space. The architect’s name was Imhotep.

Imhotep designed a structure in which the traditional rectangular shape of the mastaba was changed to a square. After the first square had been built, another smaller square level was added on top. This strategy was continued until the structure had risen six levels, sequentially smaller and angled slightly inward to control the distribution of the massive amount of weight. The end result appears as a four-sided staircase culminating in a flat top. Because of its appearance and perhaps the step by step manner of construction, Imhotep’s revolutionary building is known as the Step Pyramid, and gives its name to all pyramids built in this design. When the Step Pyramid was completed, it was the highest construction on Earth at two hundred and three feet high. The base of the structure was three hundred and fifty-eight by four hundred and ten feet. The entire pyramid was cased with polished white limestone to finish the exterior. Erosion and stone robbing have taken their toll on the pyramid, and the casing stones are no longer there, but the pyramid is still an impressive structure, even in its aged state.



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