In what year was the Cheops pyramid discovered? Who and when built the Cheops pyramid. Theories for the creation of the Cheops pyramid

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Age of the pyramid

Architect Great Pyramid believed to be Hemiun, vizier and nephew of Cheops. He also bore the title "Manager of all Pharaoh's construction projects." It is assumed that the construction, which lasted twenty years (during the reign of Cheops), ended around 2540 BC. e. .

Existing methods for dating the time when construction of the pyramid began are divided into historical, astronomical and radiocarbon. In Egypt, the date for the start of construction of the Cheops Pyramid was officially established (2009) and celebrated - August 23, 2560 BC. e. This date was obtained using the astronomical method of Kate Spence (University of Cambridge). However, this method and the dates obtained with it have been criticized by many Egyptologists. Dates according to other dating methods: 2720 BC. e. (Stephen Hack, University of Nebraska), 2577 BC. e. (Juan Antonio Belmonte, University of Astrophysics in Canaris) and 2708 BC. e. (Pollux, Bauman University). Radiocarbon dating gives a range from 2680 BC. e. to 2850 BC e. Therefore, there is no serious confirmation of the established “birthday” of the pyramid, since Egyptologists cannot agree on exactly what year construction began.

First mention of the pyramid

The complete absence of mention of the pyramid in Egyptian papyri remains a mystery. The first descriptions are found in the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) and in ancient Arab legends [ ] . Herodotus reported (at least 2 millennia after the appearance of the Great Pyramid) that it was built under a despot pharaoh named Cheops (Greek: Cheops). Koufou), who ruled for 50 years, that 100 thousand people were employed in construction. for twenty years, and that the pyramid is in honor of Cheops, but not his grave. The real grave is a burial near the pyramid. Herodotus gave erroneous information about the size of the pyramid, and also mentioned about the middle pyramid of the Giza plateau that it was built by the daughter of Cheops, who sold herself, and that each building stone corresponded to the man to whom she was given. According to Herodotus, if “to lift the stone, a long winding path to the grave was revealed,” without specifying which pyramid he was talking about; however, the pyramids of the Giza plateau did not have “winding” paths to the tomb at the time Herodotus visited them; on the contrary, the Descending Passage of BP Cheops is distinguished by careful straightforwardness. At that time, no other premises were known in the BP.

Appearance

Surviving fragments of the pyramid's cladding and the remains of the pavement surrounding the building

The pyramid is called "Akhet-Khufu" - "Horizon of Khufu" (or more accurately "Related to the firmament - (it is) Khufu"). Consists of limestone and granite blocks. It was built on a natural limestone hill. After the pyramid has lost several layers of cladding, this hill is partially visible on the eastern, northern and southern sides of the pyramid. Despite the fact that the Cheops pyramid is the tallest and most voluminous of all Egyptian pyramids, yet Pharaoh Snefru built the pyramids in Meidum and Dahshur (Bent Pyramid and Pink Pyramid), the total mass of which is estimated at 8.4 million tons.

Initially, the pyramid was lined with white limestone, which was harder than the main blocks. The top of the pyramid was crowned with a gilded stone - pyramidion (ancient Egyptian - “Benben”). The cladding shone in the sun with a peach color, like “a shining miracle to which the sun god Ra himself seemed to give all his rays.” In 1168, the Arabs sacked and burned Cairo. Residents of Cairo removed the cladding from the pyramid in order to build new houses.

Statistical data

Pyramid of Cheops in the 19th century

Map of the necropolis near the Cheops pyramid

Height (today): ≈ 136.5 m
Side angle (current): 51° 50"
Side rib length (original): 230.33 m (calculated) or about 440 royal cubits
Side fin length (current): approx. 225 m
The length of the sides of the base of the pyramid: south - 230.454 m; north - 230.253 m; west - 230.357 m; east - 230.394 m
Foundation area (initially): ≈ 53,000 m2 (5.3 ha)
Lateral surface area of the pyramid (initially): ≈ 85,500 m2
Base perimeter: 922 meters
Total volume of the pyramid without deducting the cavities inside the pyramid (initially): ≈ 2.58 million m3
Total volume of the pyramid minus all known cavities (initially): 2.50 million m 3
Average volume of stone blocks: 1,147 m3
Average weight of stone blocks: 2.5 tons
The heaviest stone block: about 35 tons - is located above the entrance to the “King’s Chamber”.
The number of blocks of average volume does not exceed 1.65 million (2.50 million m³ - 0.6 million m³ of rock base inside the pyramid = 1.9 million m 3 /1.147 m 3 = 1.65 million blocks of the specified volume can physically fit in the pyramid , without taking into account the volume of mortar in interblock joints); referring to a 20-year construction period * 300 working days per year * 10 working hours per day * 60 minutes per hour leads to a speed of laying (and delivery to the construction site) of about a block of two minutes.
According to estimates, the total weight of the pyramid is about 4 million tons (1.65 million blocks x 2.5 tons)
The base of the pyramid rests on a natural rocky elevation about 12-14 m high in the center and, according to the latest data, occupies at least 23% of the original volume of the pyramid
The number of layers (tiers) of stone blocks is 210 (at the time of construction). Now there are 203 layers.

Concavity of the sides

Concavity of the sides of the Cheops pyramid

When the sun moves around the pyramid, you can notice an unevenness - a concavity in the central part of the walls. This may be due to erosion or damage from falling stone cladding. It is also possible that this was specially done during construction. As Vito Maragioglio and Celeste Rinaldi note, the pyramid of Mycerinus no longer has such concave sides. I.E.S. Edwards explains this feature by saying that the central part of each side was simply pressed inward over time by the large mass of stone blocks. [ ]

As in the 18th century, when this phenomenon was discovered, today there is still no satisfactory explanation for this architectural feature.

Observation of the concavity of the sides at the end of the 19th century, Description of Egypt

Tilt angle

It is not possible to accurately determine the initial parameters of the pyramid, since its edges and surfaces are currently for the most part dismantled and destroyed. This makes it difficult to calculate the exact angle of inclination. In addition, its symmetry itself is not ideal, so deviations in the numbers are observed with different measurements.

Geometric study of ventilation tunnels

A study of the geometry of the Great Pyramid does not provide a clear answer to the question of the original proportions of this structure. It is assumed that the Egyptians had an idea about the “Golden ratio" and the number pi, which were reflected in the proportions of the pyramid: thus, the ratio of height to base is 14/22 (height = 280 cubits, and base = 440 cubits, 280/440 = 14/ 22). For the first time in world history, these quantities were used in the construction of the pyramid at Meidum. However, for the pyramids later eras these proportions were not used anywhere else, as, for example, some have height to base ratios, such as 6/5 (Pink Pyramid), 4/3 (Pyramid of Khafre) or 7/5 (Broken Pyramid).

Some of the theories consider the pyramid to be an astronomical observatory. It is claimed that the pyramid's corridors point precisely towards the "polar star" of the time - Thuban, ventilation corridors south side- to the star Sirius, and from the northern side - to the star Alnitak.

Internal structure

Cross section of the Cheops pyramid:

The entrance to the pyramid is at an altitude of 15.63 meters on the north side. The entrance is formed by stone slabs laid in the form of an arch, but this is the structure that was inside the pyramid - the true entrance has not been preserved. The true entrance to the pyramid was most likely closed with a stone plug. A description of such a plug can be found in Strabo, and its appearance can also be imagined based on the preserved slab that covered the upper entrance to the Bent Pyramid of Snefru, the father of Cheops. Today, tourists get inside the pyramid through a 17-meter gap, which was made 10 meters lower by the Baghdad caliph Abdullah al-Mamun in 820. He hoped to find the pharaoh's countless treasures there, but found there only a layer of dust half a cubit thick.

Inside the Cheops pyramid there are three burial chambers, located one above the other.

Funeral "pit"

Underground Chamber Maps

A 105 m long descending corridor running at an inclination of 26° 26'46 leads to an 8.9 m long horizontal corridor leading to the chamber 5 . Situated below ground level in a limestone bedrock, it remained unfinished. The dimensions of the chamber are 14x8.1 m, it extends from east to west. The height reaches 3.5 m, the ceiling has a large crack. At the southern wall of the chamber there is a well about 3 m deep, from which a narrow manhole (0.7 × 0.7 m in cross-section) stretches in a southern direction for 16 m, ending in a dead end. At the beginning of the 19th century, engineers John Shae Perring and Richard William Howard Vyse cleared the floor of the chamber and dug a well 11.6 m deep, in which they hoped to discover a hidden burial chamber. They were based on the testimony of Herodotus, who claimed that the body of Cheops was on an island surrounded by a canal in a hidden underground chamber. Their excavations came to nothing. Later studies showed that the chamber was abandoned unfinished, and it was decided to build the burial chambers in the center of the pyramid itself.

Ascending Corridor and Queen's Chambers

From the first third of the descending passage (18 m from the main entrance), an ascending passage goes south at the same angle of 26.5° ( 6 ) about 40 m long, ending at the bottom of the Great Gallery ( 9 ).

At its beginning, the ascending passage contains 3 large cubic granite “plugs”, which from the outside, from the descending passage, were masked by a block of limestone that fell out during the work of al-Mamun. Thus, for the first 3000 years from the construction of the pyramid (including during the era of its active visits in Antiquity), it was believed that there were no other rooms in the Great Pyramid other than the descending passage and the underground chamber. Al-Mamun was unable to break through these plugs and simply hollowed out a bypass to the right of them in the softer limestone. This passage is still in use today. There are two main theories about the traffic jams, one of them is based on the fact that the ascending passage has traffic jams installed at the beginning of construction and thus this passage was sealed by them from the very beginning. The second argues that the current narrowing of the walls was caused by an earthquake, and the plugs were previously located within the Great Gallery and were used to seal the passage only after the funeral of the pharaoh.

An important mystery of this section of the ascending passage is that in the place where the traffic jams are now located, in the full-size, albeit shortened model of the pyramid passages - the so-called test corridors north of the Great Pyramid - there is a junction of not two, but three corridors at once, the third of which is a vertical tunnel. Since no one has yet been able to move the plugs, the question of whether there is a vertical hole above them remains open.

In the middle of the ascending passage, the design of the walls has a peculiarity: in three places the so-called “frame stones” are installed - that is, the passage, square along its entire length, pierces through three monoliths. The purpose of these stones is unknown. In the area of the frame stones, the walls of the passage have several small niches.

A horizontal corridor 35 m long and 1.75 m high leads to the second burial chamber from the lower part of the Great Gallery in a southerly direction. The walls of this horizontal corridor are made of very large limestone blocks, on which false “seams” are applied, imitating masonry from smaller blocks . Behind the western wall of the passage there are cavities filled with sand. The second chamber is traditionally called the “Queen’s Chamber,” although according to the ritual, the wives of the pharaohs were buried in separate small pyramids. The Queen's Chamber, lined with limestone, measures 5.74 meters from east to west and 5.23 meters from north to south; its maximum height is 6.22 meters. There is a high niche in the eastern wall of the chamber.

Drawing of the Queen's Chamber ( 7 )

Niche in the wall of the Queen's Chamber

Corridor at the entrance to the queen's hall (1910)

Entrance to the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Niche in the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Ventilation duct in the queen's chamber (1910)

Corridor to the ascending tunnel ( 12 )

Granite plug (1910)

Corridor to the ascending tunnel (on the left are closing blocks)

Grotto, Grand Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Another branch from the lower part of the Great Gallery is a narrow, almost vertical shaft, about 60 m high, leading to the lower part of the descending passage. There is an assumption that it was intended to evacuate workers or priests who were completing the “sealing” of the main passage to the “King’s Chamber.” Approximately in the middle of it there is a small, most likely natural extension - the “Grotto” (Grotto) of irregular shape, in which several people could fit at most. Grotto ( 12 ) is located at the “junction” of the masonry of the pyramid and a small, about 9 meters high, hill on the limestone plateau lying at the base of the Great Pyramid. The walls of the Grotto are partially reinforced by ancient masonry, and since some of its stones are too large, there is an assumption that the Grotto existed on the Giza plateau as an independent structure long before the construction of the pyramids, and the evacuation shaft itself was built taking into account the location of the Grotto. However, taking into account the fact that the shaft was hollowed out in the already laid masonry, and not laid out, as evidenced by its irregular circular cross-section, the question arises of how the builders managed to accurately reach the Grotto.

The large gallery continues the ascending passage. Its height is 8.53 m, it is rectangular in cross-section, with walls slightly tapering upward (the so-called “false vault”), a high inclined tunnel 46.6 m long. In the middle of the Great Gallery along almost the entire length there is a square recess with a regular cross-section measuring 1 meter wide and 60 cm deep, and on both side protrusions there are 27 pairs of recesses of unknown purpose. The recess ends with the so-called. “Big step” - a high horizontal ledge, a 1x2 meter platform at the end of the Great Gallery, immediately before the hole into the “hallway” - the Antechamber. The platform has a pair of ramp recesses similar to those in the corners near the wall (the 28th and last pair of BG recesses). Through the “hallway” a hole leads into the funeral “Tsar’s Chamber” lined with black granite, where an empty granite sarcophagus is located. The sarcophagus lid is missing. Ventilation shafts have mouths in the “King’s Chamber” on the southern and northern walls at a height of about a meter from the floor level. The mouth of the southern ventilation shaft is severely damaged, the northern one appears intact. The floor, ceiling, and walls of the chamber do not have any decorations or holes or fastening elements of anything dating back to the construction of the pyramid. The ceiling slabs have all burst along the southern wall and are not falling into the room only due to the pressure from the weight of the overlying blocks.

Above the “Tsar’s Chamber” there are five unloading cavities with a total height of 17 m discovered in the 19th century, between which lie monolithic granite slabs about 2 m thick, and above there is a gable roof made of limestone. It is believed that their purpose is to distribute the weight of the overlying layers of the pyramid (about a million tons) to protect the “King's Chamber” from pressure. In these voids, graffiti was discovered, probably left by workers.

Interior of the Grotto (1910)

Drawing of a Grotto (1910)

Drawing of the connection of the Grotto with the Great Gallery (1910)

Entrance to the Tunnel (1910)

View of the Great Gallery from the entrance to the room

Large gallery

Grand Gallery (1910)

Drawing of the Pharaoh's Chamber

Pharaoh's chamber

Pharaoh's Chamber (1910)

Interior of the vestibule in front of the Tsar's chamber (1910)

"Ventilation" channel at the southern wall of the king's room (1910)

Ventilation ducts

From the "King's Chamber" and "Queen's Chamber" in the northern and south directions(first horizontally, then obliquely upward) the so-called “ventilation” channels 20-25 cm wide extend off. At the same time, the channels of the “Tsar’s Chamber”, known since the 17th century, are end-to-end, they are open both below and above (on the edges of the pyramid), then As the lower ends of the channels of the “Queen's Chamber” are separated from the surface of the wall by about 13 cm, they were discovered by tapping in 1872. The upper ends of the Queen's Chamber shafts do not reach the surface by about 12 meters, and are closed by stone Gantenbrink Doors, each with two copper handles. The copper handles were sealed with plaster seals (not preserved, but traces remain). In the southern ventilation shaft, the “door” was discovered in 1993 with the help of the remote-controlled robot “Upout II”; the bend of the northern shaft did not allow Then detect the same “door” in it by this robot. In 2002, using a new modification of the robot, a hole was drilled in the southern “door,” but behind it a small cavity 18 centimeters long and another stone “door” were discovered. What lies next is still unknown. This robot confirmed the presence of a similar “door” at the end of the northern channel, but they did not drill it. In 2010, a new robot was able to insert a serpentine television camera into a drilled hole in the southern “door” and discovered that the copper “handles” on that side of the “door” were designed in the form of neat hinges, and individual red ocher icons were painted on the floor of the “ventilation” shaft. Currently, the most common version is that the purpose of the “ventilation” ducts was of a religious nature and is associated with the Egyptian ideas about the afterlife journey of the soul. And the “door” at the end of the channel is nothing more than a door to the afterlife. That is why it does not reach the surface of the pyramid. At the same time, the shafts of the upper burial chamber have through exits to the outside and inside the room; it is unclear whether this is due to some change in ritual; Since the outer few meters of the pyramid's lining have been destroyed, it is unclear whether there were "Gantenbrink Doors" in the upper shafts. (could have been in a place where the mine was not preserved). In the southern upper shaft there is a so-called “Cheops niches” are strange extensions and grooves that may have contained a “door”. There are no “niches” at all in the northern upper one.

History of research

Recent Research

There are pyramids dedicated to them

The Pyramid of Cheops- the tallest pyramid in Egypt, at the same time it is the most mysterious and majestic structure in the world. This is the only remaining miracle from oldest list seven wonders of the world, a masterpiece of engineering and architectural art not only because of its gigantic size(its height is 150 meters, area is 4000 square meters, gigantic stones are stacked in 200 rows).

The Pyramid of Cheops was built around 2550 year BC. It seems that it is simply not subject to time, and, by the way, it is already at least 5 thousand years old. Who built them, and even so skillfully, is a question that has no answer.

It is believed that the Cheops pyramid weighs 6,3 million tons, and contains more building material than all the cathedrals, churches and chapels of England! The pyramid was faced with white polished limestone until the 13th century. But after an earthquake in the 13th century, which loosened some of the casing stones, the Arabs began using casing to build and restore Cairo's mosques and palaces (including the Sultan Hassan Mosque).

Historians claim that the construction of the pyramid lasted 14 - 20 years, and their architect was Hemiun- Vizier of Cheops. In history books ancient egypt pictures of pyramid construction are shown, where Egyptian workers use cranes made from palm branches to build the pyramid - how naive it is! Not long ago, a team of Egyptological scientists conducted a small experiment - they tried to build a miniature pyramid 10 meters high using cranes made from palm branches, simulating the construction conditions of that time. The result was disastrous; the palm cranes simply could not withstand the weight of the stones, so the scientists soon had to stop their attempts.

The Pyramid of Cheops is the only pyramid with ascending and descending passages. It is impossible not to highlight the huge descent present in its design, called the “large gallery”. At its end there is a narrow passage that leads to the “king’s room”, where the walls are decorated with polished granite. Scientists believe that the "king's room" was a triumph of Egyptian geometry because, according to their calculations, it was built according to the golden ratio. The sarcophagus is made of a monolith of red granite, and its dimensions are even larger than the entrance to the room itself. The sarcophagus was first discovered in open form and no valuable things were found in it. Nowadays, no one knows whether it was intended for the body of the pharaoh.

In the very center is the smallest room - the “Queen's Room”. The eastern wall of the Cheops pyramid has a niche where, according to Egyptologists, there was a statue of the pharaoh's wife. The third room has an unfinished appearance and is located underground at a depth of 27.5 meters. It is decorated crudely, without the luxury of the other two rooms. There is an opinion among Egyptologists that this particular room was supposed to serve as a burial chamber for the pharaoh, but Cheops changed his mind and ordered it to be built higher.

Some constructive facts testify to the deep astronomical and mathematical knowledge of the priests who supervised the construction of the Cheops pyramid. For example, adding up the four sides of the base of this pyramid and dividing the resulting number by its height, we get 3.1416 - the well-known number “Pi”. And the next feature is simply amazing - the height of the Cheops pyramid exactly coincides with a billionth of the distance from the Earth to the Sun! It turns out that the Egyptians already 5000 years ago possessed the knowledge that even the scientists of Newton’s era did not have. It is not surprising that these days there are a wide variety of assumptions about how the Cheops pyramid was built, including hypotheses about the intervention of aliens in this process.

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The ancient Egyptian pyramids are the most mysterious and unusual buildings in the entire history of mankind. How they were built and why, their external and internal descriptions are questions that have concerned scientists for many years. The Pyramid of Cheops is the largest of all the pyramids, an architectural monument.

Today there is no clear and proven version of how these huge giants were built. But there are a lot of hypotheses and assumptions, each of which has both evidence and contradictions.

Preparation for construction

Pyramids were built from stone blocks. Some believed that all the blocks were the same size. But the theory was refuted. Preparations for construction included the extraction of such stone blocks from the rocks. To do this, they drew the shape of the future block on the rock, hollowed out the edges of the boundary with chisels and picks, and inserted wood into them.

Later, the tree was filled with water, as a result of which it swelled, and the rock cracked along a given boundary due to stress. The block was then separated.

Also, during preparation, they marked the ground with the designation of the four sides of the pyramid. We tried to outline them so that they were oriented to the cardinal points. Then the area under the base was leveled.

For this purpose, a square-shaped shaft was erected from sand and stones. Next, we divided this square into equal parts and filled it with water. The stones that were under water were removed, and the trenches were filled with a new layer of stones, which served as the foundation of the tomb.

Working with stone

The resulting blocks were carefully processed to obtain the required shape. Further along the river the blocks were transported to the construction site. Research has shown that the stones had a mass suitable for movement. Then construction began, starting from the lower tier. Having laid the blocks, the problem arose of lifting the blocks to the next levels.

The Pyramid of Cheops was built with enormous effort using minimal available technology at that time.

There are many theories about how the Egyptians lifted stones. Some scientists believe that 4 specially built brick ramps were used for the ascent. Some have suggested that the ramp was 1. Opponents of the theory argue that such devices cannot exist and suggest that there were lifting mechanisms. Although this version has not found evidence.

Drawings on the pyramid

Numerous drawings and diagrams on stone blocks also leave a lot of questions. In addition to the depicted figures of people and Gods, pictures of unknown technical structures and devices of unknown purpose were discovered. There are examples that resemble a modern helicopter. There are whole huge portraits.

The technology of painting also remains a mystery. After all, some parts of the drawings are darker, and some are lighter: unknown methods were used to lighten or darken the surface of the stone. Many unsolved paintings and recordings still exist today. Most researchers tend to assume that the drawings are a secret message for modern man.

Where is the Cheops pyramid located on the map?

The Pyramid of Cheops, the description of which is fascinating, is the only one of the “Seven Wonders of the World” that has survived to this day. It is located in the city of Giza in Egypt.

Today, on the map Giza is designated as a suburb of Cairo. It is located 30 km from the capital.

History of the pyramid and its age

The Cheops Pyramid is the oldest and largest of the 3 pyramids located on the Giza Plateau. Pyramids, as you know, were built as tombs of pharaohs in order to ensure a good and comfortable life for rulers in the afterlife.

The construction of the pyramid took several decades. Scientists are still debating exactly how much.

Some believe that construction took about 20 years. But the scale of the pyramid and the reign of Pharaoh Cheops (he himself supervised the construction) give reason to assume that the work took all of 40 years. Herodotus and his associates believed that the main builders were slaves, a large number of whom died at the construction site.

Modern researchers, on the contrary, believe that free Egyptians made up the majority of the workforce. After all, Cheops provided them with housing and food during their work. And the main reason was the spiritual component: everyone sought to show their involvement in the shrine of the immortal ruler, because only the pharaoh and his entourage had the right to immortality and life after death.

And by participating in the construction of the tomb, people hoped for the favor of the Gods or the pharaoh himself, wanting to be part of the retinue.

The architect is considered to be Cheops's nephew, Khemion, who meticulously worked on the project, calculating everything down to the smallest detail. Perhaps this explains the longevity of the pyramid. The age of the pyramid is about 4500 years. And the start date of construction is considered to be August 23, 2560 BC. This day is considered national holiday

in Egypt.

Appearance and dimensions of the pyramid, characteristics The overall dimensions of the pyramid are striking in their scale: the base area is 53 thousand square meters. m. Height - 138.8 m, although initially the building was another 9 m higher, but after many hundreds of years of earthquakes and sandstorms

contributed to the partial destruction of the top of the pyramid. Base - 230 m, rib length - 230 m. Volume - 2.58 million cubic meters. m.

The Pyramid of Cheops is adjacent to 2 others: the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure. Also nearby is another architectural monument - the Great Sphinx, the description of which also contains inexplicable facts.

Data for the 3 pyramids of Giza are given in the table:	Name of the pyramid	Construction time
Pyramid height	Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)	26th century BC
138.8 m	Pyramid of Khafre	Mid-26th century BC
143.9 m	Pyramid of Menkaure (Mykerinus)	2540-2520 BC

66 m

The body of the pyramid is built from limestone and granite blocks. On top it was covered with sparkling cladding, and the top was decorated with a golden stone. At present, neither the facing nor the decoration of the top has been preserved.

What is inside the Cheops pyramid

The Pyramid of Cheops, the description of the appearance of which is given above, also has a complex internal structure with rooms and corridors.

It contains:
Underground burial pit.
The king's chamber.
Queen's Chamber.
Large gallery.
Ventilation ducts.
Unloading chambers.
The entrance is original.
Entrance for tourists.

Passages or corridors.

All ancient Egyptian tombs have an entrance on the north side. The Cheops Pyramid is no exception. The entrance is located at a height of 16-17 m and has a non-random angle of inclination: it was at this inclination that the Egyptians could observe the North Star.

This original entrance to the tomb is unused and sealed with a stone plug.

Tourists today enter through an entrance located 10 m below, made by Abdullah al-Mamun, who wanted to enrich himself with the treasures of the pharaoh. For the convenience of tourists, the main passage was equipped with railings, steps, and lighting.

Burial pit

At the intersection of both entrances, the ascending and descending corridors begin. The descendant makes his way to the tomb, which is located underground and is a room measuring 14 by 8 m.

Engineers carried out further excavations from this room and dug a well and another narrow passage, hoping to discover the body of Cheops. However, their attempts failed. The burial pit was not completed and abandoned. It was decided to install the main burial chamber in the center of the pyramid.