Abhishek Dubey

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Egyptian Pyramids

and their vast history.Made By:-

Abhishek Dubey

XI-A



What is a pyramid?y A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular

and converge at a single point.

y The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or anypolygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three

triangular surfaces (at least four faces including the base.The square pyramid, with square base and four triangleouter surface is a common version.

y A pyramid's design, with the majority of the weight closer tothe ground and with the pyramidion on top means that less

material higher up on the pyramid will be pushing from theabove. This distribution of weight allowed early civilizationsto create stable monumental structures.



Pyramid Of The Moon,

Teotihuacan



Egyptian Pyramidsy The Egyptian pyramids are the most well recognized

pyramidal structures in the world.

y There are 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of

2008. Most were built as tombs for the country¶sPharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle

Kingdom periods.

y The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest Egyptian

pyramid. It is one of the seven wonders of the world



History of the Egyptian

Pyramidsy By the time of the early dynastic period if Egyptian

history, those with sufficient means were buried inbench-like structures known as mastabas.

yImhotep is credited with being the first to conceive thenotion of stacking mastabas on top of each other-creating an edifice composed of a number of steps thatdecreased in size towards its apex

y T

he result was the Step Pyramid of Djoser ± which wasdesigned to serve as a gigantic stairway by which thesoul of the deceased pharaoh could ascend to theheavens.



History contd«.y The most prolific pyramid-building phase coincided with

the greatest degree of absolutist pharaonic rule.

y It was during this time that the most famous pyramids

those near Giza, were built.

y Over time as authority became less centralized the

ability and willingness to harness resources required

for construction on a massive scale decrease and later

pyramids were smaller, less well-built and often hastily

constructed.



Contd«y Long after the end of Egypt's own pyramid-building

period, a burst of pyramid-building occurred in what ispresent-day Sudan, after much Egypt came under therule of the Kings of Napata.

y While Napatan rule was brief and ceased in 661 BC,the Egyptian influence made an indelible impressionand during the Sudanese Kingdom of Meroe thisflowered into a full- blown pyramid-building revival,

which saw more than two hundred indigenous butEgyptian-inspired royal pyramid-tombs constructed inthe vicinity of the kingdoms' capital cities.



Symbolism of Egyptian

Pyramidsy The shape of Egyptian pyramids is thought to represent the

primordial mound from which the Egyptians believed theearth was created.

y The shape of a pyramid is thought to be representative of

the descending rays of the sun, and most pyramids werefaced with polished, highly reflective white limestone, inorder to give them a brilliant appearance when viewed froma distance.

y Pyramids were often also named in ways that referred to

solar luminescence.y For example, the formal name of the Bent Pyramid at

dashur The Southern Shinning Pyramid and that of Senworset at el-Lahun was Senworset is Shinning





y The Egyptians believed the dark area of the night skyaround which the stars appear to revolve was the physicalgateway into the heavens.

y One of the narrow shafts that extends from the main burial

chamber through the entire body of the Great Pyramidpoints directly towards the center of this part of the sky.

y This suggests the pyramid may have been designed toserve as a means to magically launch the deceasedpharaoh's soul directly into the abode of the gods.

y All Egyptian pyramids were built on the west bank of theNile, which as the site of the setting sun was associated withthe realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology



Diagram of the interior structures of the Great Pyramid.

The inner line indicates the pyramid's present profile, the

outer line indicates the original profile.



Number and location of

pyramidsy In 1842 Karl Richard Lepsius produced the first modern list of

pyramids, in which he counted 67. A great many more have sincebeen discovered. As of November 2008, 118 Egyptian pyramidshave been identified.

y The location of Pyramid 29, which Lepsius called the "

HeadlessPyramid", was lost for a second time when the structure was

buried by desert sands subsequent to Lepsius' survey. It was onlyfound again during an archaeological dig conducted in 2008.

y Many pyramids are in a poor state of preservation or buried bydesert sands. If visible at all they may appear as little more than

mounds of rubble. As a consequence archaeologists arecontinuing to identify and study previously unknown pyramidstructures.



Contd«.y The most recent pyramid to be discovered is that of Queen

Sesheshet, mother of 6th Dynasty Pharaoh Teti located atSaqqara.

y The discovery was announced by Zahi Hawass, secretary

general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, on11 November 2008.

y All of Egypt's pyramids, except the small Third Dynastypyramid of Zawyet el-Amwat (or Zawyet el-Mayitin), aresited on the west bank of the Nile and most are grouped

together in a number of pyramid fields.y Some of the major pyramids fields are listed in forthcoming

slides



Abu Rawashy Abu Rawash is the site of Egypt's most northerly pyramid (other than

the ruins of Lepsius pyramid number one) ² the mostly ruined ThePyramid of Djedere, son and successor of Khufu.

y Originally it was thought that this pyramid had never been completed,but the current archaeological consensus is that not only was it

completed, but that it was originally about the same size as thePyramid of Menkaure which would have placed it among the half-dozen or so largest pyramids in Egypt.

y Its location adjacent to a major crossroads made it an easy source of stone. Quarrying ± which began in Roman times ± has left little apartfrom about 15 courses of stone superimposed upon the natural hillock

that formed part of the pyramid's core. A small adjacent satellitepyramid is in a better state of preservation.



The largely destroyed

Pyramid of Djedefre



Gizay Giza is the location of the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as

the "Great Pyramid" and the "Pyramid of Cheops"); thesomewhat smaller Pyramid Of Khafre; the relatively modestsize Pyramid of Menkaure, along with a number of smaller

satellite edifices known as "Queen's pyramids"; and theGreat Sphinx.

y Of the three, only Khafre's pyramid retains part of its originalpolished limestone casing, near its apex. This pyramidappears 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 bothheight and volume.





Map of Giza pyramid

complex.



Giza pyramid complex seen

from above



Abu Sir y There are a total of fourteen pyramids at this site, which served as the

main royal necropolis during the Fifth Dynasty.

y The quality of construction of the Abu Sir pyramids is inferior to thoseof the Fourth Dynasty ± perhaps signaling a decrease in royal power or a less vibrant economy. They are smaller than their predecessors,

and are built of low-quality local limestone.

y The three major pyramids are those of Niuserre (which also is mostintact) Neferirkare Kakai and Sahure.

y The site is also home to the incomplete Pyramid of Neferefre. All of the major pyramids at Abu Sir were built as step pyramids, although

the largest of them ± the Pyramid of Neferirkare Kakai ± is believed tohave originally been built as a step pyramid some 70 meters high andthen later transformed into a "true" pyramid by having its steps filled inwith loose masonry.



The Pyramid of Sahure at Abu Sir, viewed

from the pyramid's causeway.



Saqqaray Major pyramids located here include the Step Pyramid of

Djoser± generally identified as the world's oldest substantialmonumental structure to be built of finished stone ± thePyramid of Merykare, the Pyramid of Userkaf and thePyramid of Teti.

y Also at the Saqqara is the Pyramid of Unas, which retains apyramid causeway that is one of the best-preserved inEgypt. This pyramid was also the subject of one of theearliest known restoration attempts, conducted by a son of Ramesses II.

y Saqqara is also the location of the incomplete step pyramidof Djoser's successor Sekhemkhet, known as the BuriedPyramid



Saqqara contd«y South of the main pyramid field at Saqqara is a second collection

of later, smaller pyramids, including those of Pepi I, Isesi, Merenre,Ibi and Pepi II. Most of these are in a poor state of preservation.

y The Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Shepseskaf either did not share aninterest in, or have the capacity to undertake pyramid constructionlike his predecessors. His tomb, which is also sited at southSaqqara was instead built as an unusually large mastaba andoffering temple complex. It is commonly known as the MastabaFaraoun.

y A previously unknown pyramid was discovered at north Saqqara in

late 2008. It is believed to be the tomb of Teti¶s mother, it currentlystands approx 5m high, although the original height was closer to

14m. The opening of the tomb was scheduled for early December 2008.



The Step Pyramid of Djoser





Dahshur contd..y Several kilometeres to the north of the Bent Pyramid is

the last ± and most successful ± of the three pyramids

constructed during the reign of Snofru; the Red

Pyramid is the world's first successfully completed

smooth-sided pyramid. The structure is also the third

largest pyramid in Egypt ± after the pyramids of Khufu

and Khafre at Giza.

y Also at Dahshur is the pyramid known as the Black

Pyramid of Amenemhet III, as well as a number of

small, mostly ruined subsidiary pyramids.



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