Secrets of the Pyramid of Khufu Revealed

Great pyramid of Khufu
For lovers of indecipherable mysteries, it will be nice to know that the secrets of the pyramids are still as hidden as ever. These huge historical monuments were built in an ancient period, and yet they are extremely perfect. But if you think about it, there are several ancient monuments that share this perfection. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the most famous and curious, and that’s why it requires to know these amazing facts about it.

Khufu was the second pharaoh of the fourth dynasty of Ancient Egypt during the time of the Old Kingdom. To his sons, Chephren and Menkaure have built the other two pyramids of Giza, but neither of these two has the same imposing dimensions as the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

1. It is composed of 2,300,000 blocks of stone
The weight of the blocks is varied and ranges from 900 to 30 thousand kilograms. Inside, the temperature maintains a constant 20° C. It was covered with limestone that made it reflect light, as if it were a giant mirror.

2. The pharaoh’s chest was placed there during construction
The chest found in the Pharaoh’s chamber is too big to pass through the small tunnels of the pyramid, so it must have been put there during construction.

3. This pyramid is aligned with two other
The Pyramid of Cheops, also known as the Giza Pyramid, is aligned with two others: the pyramids of Khafra and Menkaure, following the stars that form Orion’s Belt. The passage to descend the pyramid points to the pole star known as Alpha Draconis.

4. It has revolving doors
Besides this pyramid, only two others have this kind of doors: Meidum pyramid and bent pyramid of snefru. All three were son, father and grandfather, respectively. Although it weighs several tons, Giza’s revolving door is very easy to open from the inside and practically impossible to find from the outside.

5. One of the 7 wonders of the world
Of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, the Pyramid of Giza is the only one still standing. Moreover, it was the tallest building in the world for thousands of years, more precisely until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was built.

6. Cheops had the largest pyramid and the smallest statue
Although the Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest, the smallest statue found of a pharaoh belongs to Cheops. It’s only three inches long and made of ivory.

7. It was not built by slaves
For many years it was thought that the pyramid was built by thousands of slaves, but Egyptologists have accepted that it was many skilled workers who led this project. Cheops’ nephew planned the construction and the pharaoh spent a lot of money dressing and feeding the workers with quality products.

8. It was built with levers
Although its construction was always mysterious, it is known that the easiest method could have been with wooden or bronze levers. Once the first step was established, a machine made of logs was used to lift the stones to the second step, and so on.

9. There are three chambers inside the pyramid
The king’s chamber, the queen’s chamber and the never-finished chamber are the three places inside it. However, experts say that there is a fourth space under the queen’s chamber which is where Cheops was actually buried. Others think that Cheops was never really in the pyramid.

The King Chamber Is The First Main Part Of The Khufu Pyramid
There are three well-known chambers within the great pyramid of Giza. The first chamber is the king’s chamber which is a façade with granite and only holds a rectangular granite sarcophagus. Above the chamber are the five rooms called relieving chambers, and between them is a limestone beam. The purpose of these relieving chambers was to absorb the pressure on the king’s great chamber and redirect it into the surrounding stones.

Above the first floor are two narrow shafts with a misconception of appearing to be aligned with certain stars of the northern and southern skies so they help in ascending the king’s spirit & soul to the heavens. It all made the Great Pyramid one, if not the greatest, part of Egypt to be carved in history books with golden letters!!

The Queen’s Chamber Is The Second Well-Known Part Of The Khufu Pyramid
The second chamber is the queen’s personal chamber, in which the wife of the pharaoh was kept, and contains the same design as the king’s chamber with some minor different designs. The chamber nestles in the pyramid midway between the north and the south. It’s 11 cubits in length towards the east-west and 10 cubits towards the north-south with a tapered roof of 12 cubits. At the end of the royal chamber towards the east, lays a 9-cubit niche in height. The niche has an official depth of 2 cubits. However, the niche was dug further at the hand of some treasured holdings’ hunters. The queen chamber is among the pyramid’s parts which also had an underestimated number of valid and fabricated stories built upon its design and value.

The Grand Gallery Is The Third Famous Part Of The Khufu Pyramid
The history of the Great Pyramid’s building also includes establishing a third chamber known as the Grand Gallery which is a passage that provides access to the royal burial chambers. It is exactly 8.6 m (28 ft) high, and 46.68 m (153.1 ft) long. The walls of the gallery are perfectly lined with massive granite blocks corbelled inwards by 2.4–3.9 in on both sides. It also has a slight overhang until the structure meets at the high point, making the grand gallery a little more incredible. There are so doubts the Grand Gallery will add more flavor to your exploration; it’ll make you treasure even the slightest of dust your fingers might run into touching its walls.

Notes: For an additional charge, you can go inside the Great Pyramid of Cheops.
The Great Pyramid of Cheops (entrance fee) costs 30 USD per person

Going inside Pyramids of Cheops requires an early start as tickets are quite limited.
The inside thoroughfares of the Pyramids are small and warm, so for those suffering from claustrophobia it is not recommended

Khufu Pyramid is located in Al Haram within Nazlet El-Semman, in El Giza Desert as a part of the Giza Governorate. It’s nestled in Giza in the famous Giza Pyramids Complex on the Nile Bank at the exact intersection of the longest line of latitude and longitude. It’s situated in the same space as the other two great pyramids and one Great Sphinx that, together, have sworn to send the travelers’ minds reeling!!

The Khufu pyramid is 138 meters high, completed around 2560 BC. The sides of the Great Pyramid of Khufu rose at an angle of 51.8 degrees, the base is 227 meters. The Khufu pyramid was originally 147 meters high, but due to the removal of its outer shell and lining, it lost 9 meters in height.

The warmth of its people, the beauty of its landscapes, and the grandeur of its monuments make holidays in Egypt one of the favorite options for tourists.
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