The first wonder of the world: Egyptian pyramids. Pyramids of Giza in Egypt Message about the first wonder of the world - pyramids
Seven Wonders of the World- these words have become firmly established in everyday life. They are used when they want to emphasize the outstanding merits of either a work of art, or a grandiose structure, or a scientific discovery. But why exactly seven miracles? Was this number chosen at random? The number "seven" has been revered since ancient times. Since the lunar month was used as the basis for the calendar. There are 28 days during a lunar month. During this period, the Moon waxes and wanes, going through 4 phases (quarter Moon, half Moon, full Moon, new Moon). These phases of the moon change every seven days. The seven heavenly bodies, including the Sun and Moon, were associated with certain heavenly deities of the ancient Babylonians. In their honor, a seven-tiered tower was built in Babylon. The same Babylonians believed that a deceased person passes through 7 gates in the kingdom of the dead. The ancient Greeks also attached great importance to the number 7. In the legends of the Minotaur, the Athenians were required to sacrifice 7 boys and 7 girls. Seven is the sacred number of Apollo. There were also 7 sages whom the Greeks revered. With the number 7, the ancient Greeks associated the idea of something complete and perfect. More often than others, ancient authors included among the seven wonders of the world:
Everyone knows how many interesting, sometimes amazing scientific discoveries were made by scientists on ancient Egyptian soil. Her tombs and temples yielded a lot of wonderful finds. But the greatest miracle of Egypt, which amazed people even in ancient times, were the pyramids - these amazing artificial mountains - the tombs of the ancient Egyptian kings. Travelers sailing along the yellow waters of the Nile were always struck by the sharp edge where the Nile Valley with its green fields and date groves gives way to the hot sands of the dead Libyan Desert.
Even further to the west, amazing mountains are visible. They are regular in shape and stretch for tens of kilometers - from the modern city of Cairo to the Fayum oasis.
This - Egyptian pyramids. They seem to grow out of the desert sands - colossal, majestic, overwhelming a person with their extraordinary size and severity of outline. Standing at the foot of the pyramid, it is difficult to imagine that these huge stone mountains were created by human hands. Meanwhile, they were actually built from individual stone blocks, just as children today build pyramids from cubes. Thousands of hands of slaves and Egyptians subject to the pharaoh were busy with hard and useless labor - the creation of a huge stone mountain, which was supposed to hide the dead body of the Egyptian king in its depths. By creating an eternal tomb, the pharaoh provided his immortal spirit with an eternal home.
The first Egyptian king to erect a pyramid over his tomb was Pharaoh Djoser. This oldest pyramid in Egypt consists of six huge steps. Before the construction of the first pyramid, tombs with a massive rectangular above-ground part made of stone were erected in Egypt. In shape they resemble Arab benches - mastabas - and under this name they entered science. The pyramid of Djoser was essentially six such mastabas, placed one on top of the other, decreasing towards the top. The creation of the world's first stone structure of such significant size (height about 60 m) is attributed to Imhotep, a remarkable medical scientist, mathematician and architect, former vizier of King Djoser. Imhotep's fame was so great that within a few centuries his name was surrounded by legends. From later times, figurines depicting this remarkable architect have been preserved. Apparently, Pharaoh Djoser himself was so pleased with the unprecedented tomb built by Imhotep that he allowed the architect’s name to be carved on the base of his statue - an honor completely unheard of in ancient Egypt. During excavations of the mortuary temple, located near the pyramid of Djoser, scientists found fragments of several statues of the pharaoh and among them a pedestal on which the name of Imhotep was written.
Excavations near the pyramid of Djoser discovered an entire “city of the dead” surrounding the tomb of the pharaoh. Mastabas were built around - tombs of members of the royal family and nobles close to the pharaoh. There was also a mortuary temple here, where sacrifices were made in honor of the deceased pharaoh. During excavations of the temple, archaeologists discovered a hall decorated with the oldest columns in the world. True, these were not yet ordinary round columns, they only protruded half from the walls, but Imhotep, long before the Greek architects, created the prototype of a strict and slender Dorian colonnade.
The mortuary temple and the pyramid were surrounded by a wall of white limestone and, according to the architect’s plan, formed a single architectural ensemble.
The largest pyramid was built by Pharaoh Khufu (or Cheops in Greek), who lived in the 28th century. BC.
This huge pyramid has stood for almost five thousand years. Its height reached 147 m (now, due to the collapse of the top, its height is 137 m), and each side is 233 m long. In order to go around the Khufu pyramid, you need to walk about a kilometer. Until the end of the 19th century. Khufu's pyramid was the tallest structure on earth. Its enormous size amazed everyone who was in Egypt. It is not for nothing that the first Russian travelers who came to Egypt called the pyramids “man-made mountains.”
Scientists have calculated that Khufu's pyramid was made of 2,300,000 huge blocks of limestone, polished smooth, and each of these blocks weighed more than two tons. Carefully hewn and polished limestone blocks were so skillfully fitted to one another that it was impossible to insert a knife blade into the gap between two stones.
The stones were tightly adjacent to one another and held together by their own weight. The accuracy of the work of stonemasons and grinders is worthy of surprise, especially if you imagine that the ancient artisans who created such grandiose monuments of human labor also used stone tools. In the quarries on the right bank of the Nile, near the ancient capital of Egypt, Memphis, thousands of workers quarried stone to build the pyramid. Along the boundaries of the stone block marked on the limestone rock, workers hollowed out deep grooves in the stone. This work took a lot of effort and labor. Having dug holes in the furrow, the workers hammered wedges of dry wood into them and watered them with water. The wet wood began to swell, the crack grew larger, and the block broke away from the rock. The broken stone was pulled out of the quarry shafts using thick ropes woven from papyrus (such ropes were found in ancient quarries). The limestone blocks were then hewn together by specialist stonemasons. Stonemasons worked using a range of tools made from wood, stone and copper. This work, of course, was easier than the work of quarrying stone, but even here they had to work from dawn to dusk under the scorching sun. Blocks of white facing limestone were transported on boats to the other side of the Nile. They were transported to the construction site by loading them onto special wooden sleds.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century. BC, was the first scientist to report in detail the information he collected about the pyramids. Herodotus's work was an extensive narrative consisting of nine books, in one of which he described his journey to Egypt.
According to Herodotus, in order to drag the stone blocks up, an inclined embankment was built. Subsequently it was leveled. Along it, the builders, driven by the sticks of the overseers, pulled heavy stones on ropes, which were installed in place with the help of a wooden lever. How many people died under the weight of a broken block of stone, how many were maimed while laying stones, how many died from backbreaking labor right here, near the still unfinished walls of the pyramid! And this has been going on for twenty long years. When the masonry of the pyramid was completed, its steps were laid with facing blocks. They were brought from quarries located in Upper Egypt, near Aswan. The facing blocks were lifted up along the ledges of the pyramid and laid from top to bottom. Then they were polished. Under the rays of the southern sun they shone with a dazzling brilliance against the background of the cloudless Egyptian sky. Herodotus says that the construction of Khufu's pyramid lasted about twenty years. Every three months, workers were changed, the number of which reached 100,000 people. The whips of the overseers, the grueling heat, and inhuman labor did their job. After all, there were no machines for lifting two-ton limestone blocks. Everything was done only with the help of living human power. Even if we accept Taking into account that Herodotus made a number of obvious exaggerations and inaccuracies, the figures he cited still give an idea of the enormous scale of work undertaken by Cheops to create the colossal tomb.
The entire burial structure was almost solid masonry. The entrance to the pyramid was always located on its northern edge, at a height of about 14 m from the ground. Inside the pyramid there were several chambers, of which only two were burial chambers. One, the lower one, as scientists suggest, was intended for the king’s wife. The second, somewhat larger in size (10.6 x 5.7 m), located at a height of 42.5 m from the base of the pyramid, served as the tomb of the pharaoh himself. It contained a sarcophagus made of red polished granite. Above the king's burial chamber there are five blind chambers, one above the other, apparently intended to distribute the pressure above the chamber. In the thickness of the pyramid there are several narrow and long passages leading to chambers located inside the pyramid and to a chamber dug under its base. Scientists also traced two ventilation slits that penetrated the thickness of the stonework and came from the chamber of Cheops itself. When clearing the surface of the pyramid, marks made in red paint and containing the name of Pharaoh Khufu were discovered on many blocks. Parts of the ancient cladding were discovered by archaeologists while clearing the sand-covered lower part of the pyramid. The pressing of the facing stones was so perfect that it was impossible to immediately determine the places where they were connected. And when photographing this cladding, the researchers had to specially paint around the seams where the blocks met. We can safely say that none of the kings who ruled after Khufu could surpass his tomb in size and grandeur, but the name of the pharaoh, who decided to glorify himself by building a pyramid of unprecedented magnificence, was hated by the population of Egypt for many centuries.
The second largest after the tomb of Khufu is considered to be the pyramid of Pharaoh Khafre (Khefre). It is 8 m lower, but less destroyed. The top of the pyramid retains part of the polished cladding. The remaining pyramids are much smaller, and many of them are badly damaged.
Near the pyramid of Khafre, a hill rises from the desert sand. Its height is about 20 m, length is about 60 m. Approaching the hill, travelers see a huge statue carved almost entirely from rock. This is the famous Great Sphinx - a figure of a reclining lion with a human head. His face was cracked, his nose and chin were broken off. So the Muslim Arabs mutilated the statue, which had stood for thousands of years. The Arabs believed that evil spirits lived in the statues of ancient Egyptian gods, and therefore tried to destroy as many of their images as possible. They were unable to cope with such a giant as the Great Sphinx, but they disfigured him thoroughly.
“Father of Terror” is what the desert inhabitants call the Great Sphinx. He inspires them with the greatest fear at night, illuminated by the bright moon, when deep shadows give his features special expressiveness.
In ancient Egypt, not every mortal had the right to approach the pyramid - this “eternal horizon”, beyond which the pharaoh “went” (they did not say about the pharaoh that he died - he “went” beyond the horizon, like the sun; Egyptian kings called themselves sons sun). In order for those who wished to be able to honor the memory of the deceased pharaoh without offending his greatness, a funeral temple was erected at some distance from the pyramid - something like a reception hall for the deceased king. Massive rectangular pillars of polished granite supported the ceiling. The granite walls and floor of the building were carefully polished.
In order to preserve the king’s body, which was the abode of his soul (the Egyptians called it Ka), from decay, he was embalmed.
The pharaoh's relatives and priests made sure that the deceased was not in danger in the afterlife, that he could move freely inside his tomb, and that the gods would accept him as an equal. Therefore, the walls of rooms inside the pyramids are often covered with prayers and spells. Doors that led from one room to another or from a corridor to a cell were subjected to especially careful spells. On the walls adjacent to the doors there are images of door guards - baboons, wolves, lions, and spells against them and evil demons threatening the deceased pharaoh. These texts, discovered in large numbers, are among the oldest works of religious literature. Scientists called them “pyramid texts” after the place where they were found.
Caring for the safety of the spirit of the deceased in the afterlife, his relatives did not forget about vital things. Jewels and various items that belonged to the pharaoh were kept in special rooms. After all, the ancient Egyptians believed that the deceased continues to live after death, that he needs all the things that he needed during life. And the magnificent tomb of the king served as his home, just as a luxurious palace was his home during his lifetime.
On holidays in memory of the deceased pharaoh, a solemn procession headed to his pyramid. In a hall with columns in front of the image of the pharaoh, “seated next to Ra,” prayers were performed and sacrifices were made. These days in the “city of the dead” near the large pyramids it was noisy and lively.
A mere mortal did not dare approach the pyramid - the sacred resting place of the pharaoh who became a deity. However, the riches that filled the storerooms of the royal tomb were a great temptation for robbers. The builders of the pyramids also foresaw this. The entrance to the crypt was closed from the inside with a heavy keystone. After the end of the funeral ceremonies, the supports were knocked out from under the stone and the entrance to the central chamber of the pyramid, where the magnificent granite sarcophagus with the body of the pharaoh stood, was closed forever.
The same huge stone, lowered down an inclined passage into the crypt, blocked the passage to the corridor.
The well through which people descended was filled up after all the entrances and exits were walled up. The royal grave was inaccessible to people and demons. The pharaoh could rest peacefully under the hundred-meter huge pyramid hanging over the vaulted crypt.
But all precautions were in vain. The royal tombs were robbed in ancient times, and to this day only empty halls and complex passages inside the pyramids have survived.
But although the texts of the pyramids praised the divine power of the pharaoh, although the powerful walls of the pyramid reliably covered the burial of the king, the huge granite sarcophagi in the pyramids of kings Khufu and Khafre are empty. Even in ancient times, the temples at the pyramid of Khafre were destroyed. Huge statues of Pharaoh Khafre were broken and thrown into a well, from where archaeologists extracted them during excavations. It was clear that these magnificent statues made of dark, hard stone had not suffered from time. They were deliberately damaged, broken into pieces, mutilated.
In Egypt, even the most noble person did not dare to think about building such a funerary structure as a pyramid. Only Pharaoh, the son of the Sun, could have such a grandiose tomb. The tombs of noble Egyptians were either carved into the rock or built of stone or brick. These were low rectangular structures built above the crypt. The tombs of the Egyptian nobility are usually crowded around the pyramids, as if the nobles wanted to be closer to the pharaoh even after death.
These mastaba tombs usually had several rooms. In the main one there was a sarcophagus with the body of the deceased. In one of the rooms, things that belonged to the owner of the tomb were stored. In a small room there was usually a statue of the deceased. The walls of the mastabas were decorated with paintings or painted reliefs. The colors of the paintings amaze with their brightness and freshness. The liveliness and subtlety of the drawing were amazing. But Egyptian artists worked with rather rough brushes made from pieces of fibrous wood. At one end such a piece was broken with a stone until it was softened, forming a rough fringe. It was with such primitive brushes (several brushes with remains of paint on them were found in tombs) that artists created elegant, picturesque images that decorated the walls of the tombs.
Here you can see scenes of everyday life - harvesting, sowing, artisans and farmers at work, hunting, boating on the Nile, girls dancing, warriors dancing. Simple people, hardworking and talented - these were the Egyptian workers depicted at their usual activities.
And it was not the nobles - the owners of rich, decorated mastabas, who boastfully listed their services to the pharaoh, who immortalized themselves by building these tombs, but humble workers, whose names are not mentioned in the inscriptions.
They built irrigation canals and dams, they carved magnificent statues, erected beautiful temples, and decorated the walls of buildings with wonderful reliefs full of life's truth. And in these pictures of everyday life they immortalized themselves, their invisible work, without which the entire thousand-year-old culture of Egypt could not have existed. Without knowing it themselves, they have preserved to this day on the stone pages of the walls stories about their hard working life, about the forced existence of some and the prosperity of others, about their sorrows, fun and entertainment.
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The Pyramids of Giza were built during the 4th Dynasty of Pharaohs (around 2550 BC) presumably as tombs for kings and queens. The architecture of Ancient Egypt is represented by 90 pyramids, the main of which are the Pyramids of Giza, which are located on the edge of the capital Cairo. The largest in the world, the Pyramid of Cheops, towering above the plateau, is one of the most ancient historical and cultural monuments untouched by time. For 4,300 years, the Pyramid of Cheops was the tallest building on Earth. In 1889, its place was taken by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The pyramid is built entirely of limestone. Scientists have still not been able to find out by what mechanisms this grandiose pyramidal complex was built. During its construction, 1,300,000 stone blocks weighing from 2.5 to 15 tons were used. The length of its base is 230 meters. The four sides of the Cheops Pyramid face the four cardinal directions at an angle of 52 degrees. The original height of the Pyramid was 146.5 m, but today it is only 137 meters. The pyramid lost 9 meters in height due to the fact that the limestone covering and facing stones that were on the top were removed from the pyramid and used by the Turks in power in Egypt and used in the construction of houses and mosques in Cairo. The Cheops pyramid has two exits. Both of them are located in its northern part: one is the main one and the second is 17 meters above ground level.
In the 11th century e. The treasure seeker Caliph el-Mamun suggested that there were countless treasures inside the pyramid and sent masons to open the entrance to it. They dug a tunnel into the pyramid, which deviates from the original entrance and connects with it after 35 meters. They found nothing inside the pyramid: the tombs of the pharaohs had been plundered in ancient times.
From the main entrance to the Pyramid, a long narrow corridor with a low ceiling leads to the place where the sarcophagus was located. It descends to a depth of more than 100 meters and leads to a chamber located approximately 24 meters below ground level.
20 meters from the descending corridor there is another tunnel that leads to the very heart of the pyramid. It ends at the largest part of the pyramid - the Great Gallery. And it is a rectangular hall 49 square meters in length and 15 meters in height. From the Grand Gallery, a long tunnel leads to the second chamber, which is known as the Tomb of the Queens.
Rising from the Great Gallery, you can find the entrance to the third chamber; a sarcophagus is installed here, which was made from a single block of granite stone. The premises of this chamber are an amazing archaeological find: it was built from granite blocks that were brought from the southern Egyptian city of Aswan, located 1000 km from the Giza plateau! The roof of the chamber consists of 9 granite slabs, the weight of each of which is estimated at approximately 50 tons. The burial chamber has small rectangular exits from the pyramid. Scientists suggest that these depressions in the pyramid served to provide ventilation, or, according to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, they ensured contact between the pharaoh and the stars.
The Great Pyramid in Egypt belonged to the Egyptian king Khufu. The name "Cheops" was given to it by the Greeks. Both names are common. The same applies to the nearby Pyramid of Khafre (Greek "Khefre") and the Pyramid of Menkaure (Greek "Mykerina") located nearby on the Giza plateau.
Pyramid of Khafre, the second in order and largest pyramid on the Giza Plateau of Egypt. The main difference of this pyramid is the layer of facing white stone remaining on the top. When viewing the Pyramids of Giza, it seems that it is the largest. In fact, this is just an optical illusion, since it stands on a hill. The height of the Pyramid of Khafre is only 136 m, the width of the base is 214.5 m. Initially, the Pyramid of Khafre was 143.5 m in height.
No corridors leading to its center or burial chambers underground were found in the pyramid. The pyramid has a single entrance 15 meters above the ground, and a descent along a narrow corridor at an angle of 25 degrees into a burial chamber with an area of 14.2 by 6.9 m. This chamber contains a large black sarcophagus.
The smallest of the three pyramids on the Giza plateau was built for Khafre's son, Mikerinus: 65.5 m high (currently 62 m), with a base of 105 m and an angle of 51.3 degrees. This pyramid, like the other two on the Giza plateau, has a northern entrance. Besides its size, the Pyramid of Mikerin differed from the other two in that its cladding was made of pink granite, which was brought from Aswan. King Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt used it to build a residence in Alexandria.
In the suburbs of Cairo, where the Nile Valley smoothly turns into the Libyan Desert, the Great Pyramids of Egypt stand on the Giza Plateau. They are like a mirage, they appear from the hot sands of the desert. In ancient times, these amazing structures were. Centuries have passed, but they are impressive in their size, and their secrets still excite the minds of scientists and researchers.
Pyramids of Giza in Egypt
The Egyptian pyramids are the most famous and tallest in the world. This is the only surviving ancient wonder of the world. They aroused the admiration of great men and mere mortals. The pyramid complex at Giza, guarded by the Great Sphinx, is part of the huge necropolis of this city.
They were built during the time of the Egyptian pharaohs of the IV dynasty, which ruled the ancient state in 2639-2506 BC. Next to the huge structures there are small temples and pyramids in which the wives of the pharaohs, their officials and priests are buried. Scientists are still studying these burials.
Until now, researchers continue to argue about the purpose of these structures. There is a traditional version that says that the huge mounds that rise above the mortal world are the tombs of the pharaohs. Their ashes in such burials were closer to the sky and the sun. Some scientists believe that the Egyptian pyramids are temples where ministers of the cult of the Sun performed religious ceremonies. Other researchers suggest that these were scientific laboratories created for astronomical observations. German archaeologists have put forward another interesting hypothesis. They believe that the pyramids are natural generators of earth energy. Thanks to her, the pharaohs were “charged” and rejuvenated. Pharaohs visited the pyramids as regularly as a modern person goes to a psychologist or massage therapist. Most scientists believe that they were on Earth before the biblical flood. Therefore, all their secrets will have to be unraveled for more than one generation.
Egyptian pyramids: interesting facts
The great ones were erected at different times under several pharaohs, who created tombs and monuments for themselves for centuries. The oldest of them is the Pyramid of Djoser. Its construction dates back to 2670. It is located in the city of Saqqara. Its height is 62 meters. The name of the author of this pyramid is known - he was the ancient Egyptian architect Imhotep. He was highly revered in Ancient Egypt, and later, even in myths, he became the main patron of crafts and arts - the son of the god Ptah.
The second largest ancient Egyptian pyramid was built by the son of Cheops, Pharaoh Khafre. It is lower than the nearby tomb of Cheops, its height is 136.4 meters, but since it is located on a higher point of the plateau, it competes with the Great Pyramid. At its top, a white basalt lining still remains, which is very reminiscent of a glacier. The internal structure of the pyramid is quite simple - two chambers, two entrances, located on the north side. One of them is located at a height of fifteen meters, and the second is directly below it, at the base of the building.
The Pyramid of Mikerin was built in 2504 BC. It is much smaller than the two great pyramids. Height - 66 meters. Scientists believe that the small size is due to the fact that Mikerin was not the legal heir to the throne. However, when he finally gained power, the structure began to have a more monumental appearance. Unlike the pyramids of Cheops and Khafre, its cladding was made of huge blocks of pink granite, which were brought to Giza from Aswan along the Nile. And downstream it was built. According to the surviving records of contemporaries, despite its more modest size, this structure was considered the most beautiful in Egypt.
Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt
Much later, similar structures were built in other areas of the country, which Egypt is proud of today. Giza, whose pyramids are known all over the world, gained great fame thanks to one of them - Cheops. It has become a real wonder of the world, which can still be seen in our time. The three tallest structures are rightfully considered the great Egyptian pyramids - the pyramids of Cheops, Mikerin and Khafre. But do not forget that in this ancient city there are many small buildings that keep no less secrets than the more monumental ones.
The Pyramid of Cheops in Giza was built a long time ago. It is still unknown exactly how long it took to build it. This great pyramid of Giza is believed to have stood since the time when the country was ruled by Cheops, the pharaoh of the 4th dynasty. The enormous interest in the history of its construction continues today. Myths about the pyramid There are many theories about the origin of this grandiose structure. Some of them are based on information received from Egyptologists, others have a somewhat exotic, fairy-tale touch. There is even a version that this structure was erected by aliens or some vanished civilization that lived in these places even before the appearance of the pharaohs. And they built it using unknown technical capabilities. According to such theories, the age of this pyramid at Giza is significantly higher than that indicated by modern scientists.
It is quite difficult to accurately measure the parameters of the Cheops pyramid in our time, since it has suffered greatly over its long history. Today, for example, the stone that crowned the structure is no longer there; the facing slabs have been destroyed. According to data obtained using modern measuring instruments, initially great pyramid of giza had a height of 146.5 meters. The length of one side is 232.5 meters. The sides have a slope of 51 degrees 50 minutes. Weight - 6,400,000 tons. The internal structure of the famous one is quite interesting.
Anyone who enters this majestic structure can visit four spacious rooms. These are the chambers of the king and queen, a large gallery and an underground chamber. Researchers discovered four shafts inside the pyramid. At first there was an assumption that they were necessary for ventilation of rooms, but later a bolder version arose, according to which the mines are channels to the stars.
Two of them are aimed at the North Star, the third - at the star Sirius, the fourth - at Orion. Since ancient times, people have sought to climb to the top of the Cheops pyramid, where there is a small area measuring ten square meters. There was a belief that there you could come into contact with eternity. Many famous Russians have visited this mysterious place. Among them is Emperor Nicholas II. And today many tourists come to Giza who want to see this miracle with their own eyes. Those who are interested in the history of Egypt can read about. 
Sphinx - guardian of the pyramids of Giza
The Pyramids of Giza are guarded by the Great Sphinx, the oldest sculpture that has survived to this day. This is a lion with the head of a man. The history of the creation of this figure is no less mysterious than the history of the pyramids. There are many versions of the appearance of the Sphinx, but the most common of them says that the sculpture was built by Khafre in memory of his father, Pharaoh Cheops.
It is believed that the Sphinx was created much earlier, and under the pharaoh it was dug out of the sand during the construction of the great pyramid. Some inconsistency with the first version is that the face of the Sphinx has Negroid features, while all images of Cheops that have survived to this day do not have such features.
Many legends are associated with the Sphinx's lack of a nose. The most common theory is that this mythical animal lost its nose to Napoleon's cannons during the battle between the Turks and the French in 1798. But this is fiction, because there are images from 1737 in which the Sphinx no longer had a nose. Therefore, this sculpture is a big mystery for scientists around the world who study the civilization of Ancient Egypt. Many of the finds are stored in.
Nowadays, the pyramids in Giza are one of the world's main attractions, which are fraught with a great many secrets and mysteries. It is not at all surprising that the Egyptian pyramids are under the protection of UNESCO. Every year millions of tourists come to Egypt to see them and feel the extraordinary spirit of ancient times.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is a list of famous ancient monuments compiled by ancient historians and travelers, including the “father of history” Herodotus.
The list was edited several times, and its classic version was formed 2.2 thousand years ago thanks to the efforts of Philo of Byzantium. The list of “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” includes: the pyramid of Cheops, the “hanging gardens” of Babylon, the statue of Olympian Zeus, the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, the mausoleum in Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the lighthouse on the island. Pharos in Alexandria.
Pyramid of Cheops, Egypt
The Pyramid of Cheops, or the Great Pyramid, is the only one of the 7 wonders of the world that has survived to this day. The age of the structure is 4500 years. Over the course of 20 years, 120 thousand Egyptians, by the sweat of their brow, erected a grandiose pharaoh’s tomb. The Cheops pyramid is made up of 2.5 million blocks weighing 2.5 tons each. Without the use of cement or other fastening agents, the blocks are fitted so tightly to each other that the gap between them does not exceed 0.5 mm.
Initially, the pyramid had a height of 147 meters, but today, when its top is destroyed and the highest point is at 138 meters, the tomb of Cheops still makes a majestic impression. For almost 4000 years, until the 14th century AD, the Pyramid of Cheops bore the title of the tallest structure in the world.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Asia
Around 600 BC Ancient Babylon roared on the territory of modern Iraq. The city reached its greatest prosperity under King Nebuchadnezzar II, who entered into a military alliance with his main enemy, Assyria, and became related to the Median king Cyaxares, marrying his daughter Amytis (Semiramis). The king ordered the famous “hanging gardens” to be laid out for his wife. The gardens were located on a four-tiered platform, reminiscent of an ever-blooming green hill. The base of the terraces was made of stone blocks covered with a layer of reeds and filled with asphalt. Then there was a double layer of brick, and even higher - lead plates that prevented the seepage of irrigation water. A fertile layer of soil was laid on top of this structure, on which trees, palm trees, and flowers were grown. The magnificent gardens, elevated to great heights, seemed like a real wonder of the world in sultry, dusty Babylonia.
Zeus statue, Olympia, Greece
In 435 BC. e. in Olympia - one of the sanctuaries of Ancient Greece - a majestic temple was built in honor of the ruler of the gods - Zeus. Inside the temple there was a huge 20-meter statue of the Olympian god seated on a throne. The sculpture was made of wood, on top of which ivory plates were glued, imitating the upper naked part of the body of Zeus. The god's clothes and shoes are covered with gold. In his left hand Zeus held a scepter with an eagle, and in his right hand a statue of the goddess of victory.
Temple of Artemis, Ephesus, Türkiye
The Temple of Artemis was built in 560 BC. King Croesus of Lydia in the city of Ephesus on the coast of Asia Minor. The huge white marble temple was framed by 127 columns 18 meters high. Inside was a statue of Artemis, the goddess of fertility, made of gold and ivory. In 356 BC. one vain resident of Ephesus, Herostratus, set fire to the temple, thus deciding to become famous and perpetuate his name. The sanctuary of Artemis was rebuilt, but in 263 it was destroyed and plundered by the Goths.
Mausoleum in Halicarnassus, Türkiye
The ruler of Caria, Mausolus, was still alive in 353 BC. began construction of his own tomb in Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum, Türkiye). The grandiose funeral structure, 46 meters high, surrounded by 36 columns and crowned with a sculpture of a chariot, made such a strong impression on contemporaries that since then all monumental tombs began to be called mausoleums after King Mausolus.
Colossus of Rhodes, Greece
A giant statue of the ancient Greek sun god Helios was installed at the entrance to the port of Rhodes in 292 - 280. BC e.. A slender young god, sculptured to full height, held a torch in his hand. Ships sailed between the legs of the statue. The Colossus of Rhodes stood in its place for only 65 years: in 222 BC. it was destroyed by an earthquake. The fragments of the sculpture were transported on 900 camels.
Alexandria Lighthouse, Egypt
Egyptian pyramids
One of the most mysterious and carefully studied wonders of the world that has survived to this day is the Egyptian pyramids.
Huge man-made mountains, created according to the calculations of famous and respected architects in Egypt using technologies amazing for the Ancient World, became the tombs of the rulers of Ancient Egypt - the pharaohs. The oldest is the step pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser, who ruled Egypt about 5,000 years ago. Before him, the rulers of Egypt limited themselves to funerary monuments of a simpler design. Djoser turned to the architect Imhotep with the wish that his tomb would surpass all those built so far, providing him with a peaceful and restful afterlife. This is how the first pyramid was built, reaching a height of 60 m.
A pyramid, in which all geometric parameters are carefully calculated, the edges of which are oriented to the cardinal directions and polished, creates a favorable environment in a certain place in its internal space that facilitates the preservation of the body of a deceased person.
The most famous throughout the world are the pyramids at Giza, intended for the pharaohs Cheops, Khafre and Mikerin. The Pyramid of Cheops is huge, it is simply overwhelming in its size - 147 m in height, the length of each side is 233 m, the occupied area is almost 50,000 sq.m. In this case, the sides of the pyramid are oriented to the cardinal points with an accuracy of 4 arc minutes. The pyramids are made of solid masonry. The stone blocks from which they are made weigh from 2.5 to 15 tons. How did the ancient masters manage to build such a miracle?
There are many hypotheses about how the pyramids were built. American engineer John Bush, for example, put forward a hypothesis according to which huge blocks were rolled over long distances using large round blocks. He conducted successful tests of such devices. The limestone blocks used in the construction of the pyramids were mined on the opposite bank of the Nile and transported by boat.
There are also more unusual assumptions about the construction of the pyramids. According to them, the pyramids are the work of the cosmic ancestors of humanity or the inhabitants of the sunken Atlantis, who hid information about secret knowledge under the pyramids.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the deceased, buried according to all the rules, would be resurrected in a special afterlife. The tomb becomes his home, in which his mummy (a carefully embalmed incorruptible body) is preserved, as well as many double sculptures and images of objects, animals and people that may be useful to him in the afterlife.
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