Great Pyramid of Giza - History, Story and Facts

The Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was built as a tomb forfourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) over a 10 to 20-year period concluding around 2560 BCE. Initially at 146.5 metres (481 feet), the Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.

Originally, the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface; what is seen today is the underlying core structure. Some of the casing stones that once covered the structure can still be seen around the base.

There have been varying scientific and alternative theories about the Great Pyramid's construction techniques. Most accepted construction hypotheses are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place.

There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was unfinished. The so-called Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only pyramid in Egypt known to contain both ascending and descending passages. The main part of the Giza complex is a setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.

History & Story about Great Pyramid of Giza

• There is so much stone mass in the pyramid that the interior temperature is constant and equals the average temperature of the earth, 20 Degrees Celsius (68 Degrees Fahrenheit).
• Two types of limestone were used for construction. A soft limestone either pure or nummulitic was used for the bulk of the core blocks and a hard white limestone for the mantle. Hard limestone becomes more polished with age.
• The base of the pyramid covers 55,000m2 (592,000 ft2) with each side greater than 20,000m2 (218,000 ft2) in area.
• The outer mantle was composed of 144,000 casing stones, all highly polished and flat to an accuracy of 1/100th of an inch, about 100 inches thick and weighing about 15 tons each.
• The average casing stone on the lowest level was 5 ft. long by 5 ft. high by 6 ft. deep and weighed 15 tons.
• The mortar used is of an unknown origin. It has been analyzed and its chemical composition is known but it can't be reproduced. It is stronger than the stone and still holding up today.
• There are no hieroglyphics or writing in the Great Pyramid.
• With the mantle in place, the Great Pyramid could be seen from the mountains in Israel and probably the moon as well.
• There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid – King’s chamber, Queen’s chamber and unfinished chamber. A team of French Egyptologists (Gilles Dormion and Jean-Yves Verd’hurt) claims that an undiscovered room lies underneath the pyramid’s Queen’s Chamber and insists that it is the actual burial chamber for Khufu and not the one known as the King’s chamber. 
• However, even those who believe that the King’s chamber was never put to use believe that Khufu may have been buried elsewhere rather than in another, hidden chamber. Well, there are still lots of mysteries concerning Khufu’s burial to be.. or never to be revealed.
•  One of the most mysterious parts of the Great Pyramid is the empty coffer in the King’s Chamber, it is made from a solid block of chocolate-colored granite and is even harder than the granite walls of the King’s Chamber. For thousands of years, researchers have wondered about its purpose. 
• Ancient legend says that it came from Atlantis or even from America.  It was never inscribed or decorated. 
• Also, since it is too large to pass through the low passages leading into the King’s Chamber, it is considered to be placed in the chamber before the chamber was closed and passages were sealed.
• The interior temperature of the Pyramid is constant and equals the average temperature of the earth, 20 Degrees Celsius (68 Degrees Fahrenheit).
• Another pleasant discovery in the Great Pyramid is a spectacular ancient cedar-wood boat, which was found sealed in a pit at the base of the Great pyramid.
• This boat was interred in pieces and has since been reassembled, restored and preserved in a climate controlled museum over the site of the original pit. The name “Djedefre”,  who was Khufu’s son and successor, is found on some of the slabs of stone that sealed the pit, indicating that probably the boat was put there by Khufu’s son.
• Only a few places on earth could hold the weight of the Great Pyramid.
• The height of the Great Pyramid is equal to the average height of land on earth.
• The space between the stones is smaller than a human hair, or piece of tin foil, exact to the thousandth of an inch. Today's technology can move stones 10 to 20 tons each to within 1 or 2 inches of each other.