The Pyramids of Giza: Wonders of the Ancient World

The pyramids of Giza, built by Khufu (c. 2589–2566 BCE), Khafre (c. 2558–2532 BCE), and Menkaure (c. 2532–2503 BCE) on a sandstone plateau about 15 kilometers southwest of modern Cairo, are the only surviving Wonders of the Ancient World. For more than 4,500 years, the three great pyramids have looked out over the Nile Valley, drawing travelers, conquerors, and pilgrims who came to marvel at their scale. The largest of them, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, was the tallest building on Earth for more than 3,800 years. Beside them stands the Great Sphinx of Giza, a colossal limestone statue that has been puzzling visitors for millennia.

The Site

The Giza plateau is a long, rocky shelf that rises about 60 meters above the valley floor. Its natural advantages made it irresistible to the Fourth Dynasty pharaohs:

• A solid bedrock foundation, essential for buildings of such enormous weight.
• A commanding view of the rising sun, important in the Egyptian cult of the sun god Ra.
• A view to the west, the direction of the realm of the dead, where the sun set and the afterlife began.
• Easy access to the Nile, on which the bulk of the building materials arrived.

The whole Giza necropolis, with its three pyramids, several smaller queens’ pyramids, causeways, mortuary temples, valley temples, and the Great Sphinx, is one of the great architectural complexes in the history of the world. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most-visited tourist site in Egypt.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu

The Great Pyramid of Khufu, the largest and oldest of the three, was built c. 2589–2566 BCE for the pharaoh Khufu, the second ruler of the Fourth Dynasty. It is the only one of the Seven Wonders still standing.

Originally, the pyramid was 146.6 meters (481 feet) tall. Today, after the loss of its outer casing stones, it stands 138.8 meters (455 feet) high, but it is still the most massive stone building on Earth. The structure contains an estimated 2.3 million stone blocks, each weighing an average of 2.5 tons, and the whole building weighs some 6 million tons. The accuracy of its construction (the four sides are aligned to the cardinal directions with an error of less than 0.067 degrees) was a feat that engineers of the modern era only began to understand in the twentieth century.

For a full guide, see our article on the Great Pyramid of Khufu and who actually built the Great Pyramid.

The Pyramid of Khafre

The Pyramid of Khafre was built c. 2558–2532 BCE for Khafre, Khufu’s son. It is the second of the three Giza pyramids, originally 143.5 m tall and now 136.4 meters (448 feet), appearing almost as tall as its father’s. The illusion is partly because it was built on higher ground, and partly because it was built with a slightly steeper angle (53°10’ vs. 51°50’ for Khufu).

The pyramid is distinguished by the fact that some of its original casing stones still survive at the very top, and by the magnificent Valley Temple of Khafre, built of massive blocks of red granite, which still stands at the eastern end of the causeway. The temple contains some of the most impressive statuary of the Old Kingdom, including the famous diorite statue of Khafre (now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo), with the protective god Horus perched behind his head.

Beside the causeway, the Great Sphinx of Giza sits as a guardian of the complex. The Sphinx is 73 meters (240 feet) long and 20 meters (66 feet) high, carved from a single outcrop of limestone. For the full story, see the Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Sphinx.

The Pyramid of Menkaure

The Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three, was built c. 2532–2503 BCE for Menkaure, Khafre’s son. It was originally about 65 meters (213 feet) tall, small in Giza terms, but still larger than most of the other Egyptian pyramids.

It is also the most finely finished of the three, cased for its lower sixteen courses in red Aswan granite. The Valley Temple of Menkaure, rediscovered in 2010 beneath the sand, was found in near-perfect condition, with alabaster and granite floor tiles still in place. The temple contained the famous triads of Menkaure, three slate statues showing the king flanked by the goddesses Hathor and a nome goddess, and several female figures, including the famous queen statue (also now in the Egyptian Museum).

The Smaller Pyramids

In addition to the three great pyramids, the Giza plateau contains a number of smaller pyramids, generally identified as the tombs of queens and of the children of the kings. There are three small pyramids beside the Pyramid of Menkaure, and several small ones beside each of the main pyramids.

The easternmost of the three small pyramids beside Menkaure’s pyramid belonged to Khamerernebti II, believed to be Menkaure’s queen. Each queen’s pyramid had its own small mortuary temple. The archaeological record is incomplete; several of these smaller monuments have not been fully excavated, but they show that the Giza complex was a multi-generational necropolis, not just a single king’s tomb.

The Mortuary and Valley Temples

Each of the three great pyramids was the center of a large architectural complex, which included a mortuary temple on the east side of the pyramid, a causeway running down to the valley, and a valley temple at the edge of the flood plain. These were the buildings where the rituals of the king’s funeral were performed, and where offerings were made to his ka, the spiritual double, for the rest of eternity.

The Mortuary Temple of Khufu is in ruins; only its basalt paving survives. The Mortuary Temple of Khafre, although heavily robbed, is still recognizable. The Mortuary Temple of Menkaure, also robbed, contains some remarkable reliefs, including a famous scene of the smiting of the enemies.

The Great Sphinx of Giza

The Great Sphinx of Giza is the largest monolithic statue in the world. It is carved from a single outcrop of limestone, in the shape of a recumbent lion with the head of a pharaoh, almost certainly Khafre. The monument is 73 meters (240 feet) long and 20 meters (66 feet) high, and the face is 4 meters (13 feet) wide.

The Sphinx is missing its nose and its ceremonial beard. There are many legends about how the nose was lost, most famously that it was shot off by Napoleon’s troops, although this is impossible, since drawings made before Napoleon’s expedition already show the Sphinx without a nose. The most likely explanation is that the nose was deliberately removed in the fourteenth century by a Sufi cleric named Saim al-Dahr, who considered the Sphinx an idol.

For the broader context, see our article on the Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Sphinx.

The Pyramids in History

The pyramids of Giza are mentioned in the earliest records of Egyptian history. They appear in inscriptions of the New Kingdom, when the pharaoh Thutmose IV placed the Dream Stele between the paws of the Sphinx, recording a story of his ascension to the throne. The Greek historian Herodotus visited Giza in the fifth century BCE and described the pyramids in some detail, including stories about the hardships of their construction.

In the medieval Islamic period, the pyramids were visited by travelers, who sometimes made drawings of them showing the smooth white casing still in place. The casing was stripped during the fourteenth century to build the city of Cairo, and the rough, weathered core that we see today is what remains. For the modern history of the site, including the early archaeological work of the British Museum, the French expedition led by Auguste Mariette, and the long-term excavations of George Reisner and Mark Lehner, see our guide to the Old Kingdom of Egypt. A small pleasure I recommend, if you can find it: Reisner’s Mycerinus (1931), the excavation report on Menkaure’s pyramid, remains one of the most beautifully produced archaeological publications of the 20th century.