Architecture of the Egyptian pyramids: features, history The section is in the process of filling and adjusting. How the Egyptian pyramids were built When the Egyptian pyramids began to be built
There are fewer and fewer unsolved mysteries on our planet every year. Constant improvement of technology, collaboration of scientists from various fields of science reveals to us the secrets and mysteries of history. But the secrets of the pyramids still defy understanding - all discoveries give scientists only tentative answers to many questions. Who built the Egyptian pyramids, what was the construction technology, is there a curse of the pharaohs - these and many other questions still remain without an exact answer.
Description of the Egyptian pyramids
Archaeologists talk about 118 pyramids in Egypt, partially or completely preserved to this day. Their age ranges from 4 to 10 thousand years. One of them - Cheops - is the only surviving “miracle” from the “Seven Wonders of the World”. The complex called the “Great Pyramids of Giza”, which includes and, was also considered as a participant in the “New Seven Wonders of the World” competition, but was withdrawn from participation, since these majestic structures are actually a “wonder of the world” on the ancient list. 
These pyramids have become the most visited excursion sites in Egypt. They are perfectly preserved, which cannot be said about many other buildings - time has not been kind to them. And local residents contributed to the destruction of the majestic necropolises, removing the cladding and breaking out stones from the walls to build their houses. 
Egyptian pyramids were built by pharaohs who ruled from the 27th century BC. e. and later. They were intended for the repose of rulers. The enormous scale of the tombs (some reaching almost 150 m in height) was supposed to testify to the greatness of the buried pharaohs; things that the ruler loved during his lifetime and that would be useful to him in his lifetime were also placed here. afterlife.
For construction, stone blocks of various sizes were used, which were hollowed out of the rocks, and later brick began to serve as material for the walls. The stone blocks were ground and adjusted so that a knife blade could not slip between them. The blocks were stacked on top of each other with an offset of several centimeters, which formed a stepped surface of the structure. Almost all Egyptian pyramids have a square base, the sides of which are oriented strictly to the cardinal points. 
Since the pyramids performed the same function, that is, they served as the burial place of the pharaohs, their structure and decoration are similar inside. The main component is the burial hall, where the sarcophagus of the ruler was installed. The entrance was not located at ground level, but several meters higher, and was masked with facing slabs. Stairs and passages-corridors led from the entrance to the inner hall, which sometimes narrowed so much that they could only be walked on squatting or crawling. 
In most necropolises, burial halls (chambers) are located below ground level. Ventilation was carried out through narrow shaft-channels that penetrated the walls. Rock paintings and ancient religious texts are found on the walls of many pyramids - in fact, from them scientists draw some of the information about the construction and owners of burials. 
The main mysteries of the pyramids
The list of unsolved mysteries begins with the shape of the necropolises. Why was the pyramid shape chosen, which is translated from Greek as “polyhedron”? Why were the edges located clearly in the cardinal directions? How were huge stone blocks moved from the excavation site and how were they raised to great heights? Were the buildings built by aliens or people in possession of a magic crystal? 
Scientists even argue over the question of who built such tall monumental structures that stood for thousands of years. Some believe that they were built by slaves, who died by the hundreds of thousands during the construction of each. However, new discoveries by archaeologists and anthropologists convince us that the builders were free people who received good food and medical care. They made such conclusions based on the composition of the bones, the structure of the skeletons and the treated injuries of the buried builders. 
Mystical coincidences were attributed to all deaths and deaths of people involved in the exploration of the Egyptian pyramids, which provoked rumors and talk about the curse of the pharaohs. There is no scientific evidence for this. Perhaps the rumors were started to scare away thieves and looters who wanted to find valuables and jewelry in the graves. 
To the mysterious interesting facts The short time frame for the construction of the Egyptian pyramids can be attributed to this. According to calculations, large necropolises with that level of technology should have been built in no less than a century. How, for example, was the Cheops pyramid built in just 20 years? 
Great Pyramids
This is the name of the funeral complex near the city of Giza, consisting of three large pyramids, a huge statue of the Sphinx and small satellite pyramids, probably intended for the wives of rulers. 
The original height of the Cheops pyramid was 146 m, the side length was 230 m. It was built in 20 years in the 26th century BC. e. The largest of Egypt's landmarks has not one, but three burial chambers. One of them is below ground level, and two are above the base line. Intertwining corridors lead to the burial chambers. Along them you can go to the chamber of the pharaoh (king), to the queen's chamber and to the lower hall. The Pharaoh's Chamber is a chamber made of pink granite, measuring 10x5 m. It contains a granite sarcophagus without a lid. Not a single report by scientists contained information about the mummies found, so it is unknown whether Cheops was buried here. By the way, the mummy of Cheops was not found in other tombs. 
It still remains a mystery whether the Cheops pyramid was used for its intended purpose, and if so, then apparently it was plundered by looters in past centuries. The name of the ruler, by whose order and design this tomb was built, was learned from the drawings and hieroglyphs above the burial chamber. All other Egyptian pyramids, with the exception of Djoser, have a simpler engineering design. 
Two other necropolises in Giza, built for the heirs of Cheops, are somewhat more modest in size:
Tourists travel to Giza from all over Egypt, because this city is actually a suburb of Cairo, and all transport interchanges lead to it. Travelers from Russia usually travel to Giza as part of excursion groups from Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada. The trip is long, 6-8 hours one way, so the excursion usually lasts 2 days. 
The great buildings are accessible to visitors only during working hours, usually until 17:00, in the month of Ramadan - until 15:00. It is not recommended for asthmatics, as well as people suffering from claustrophobia, nervous and cardiovascular diseases, to enter inside. You should definitely take it with you on your excursion drinking water and hats. The excursion fee consists of several parts:
- Entrance to the complex.
- Entrance inside the pyramid of Cheops or Khafre.
- Entrance to the Museum of the Solar Boat, on which the body of the pharaoh was transported across the Nile.
With the Egyptian pyramids in the background, many people like to take photos while sitting on camels. You can bargain with camel owners.
Pyramid of Djoser
The first pyramid in the world is located in Saqqara, near Memphis - former capital Ancient Egypt. Today, the pyramid of Djoser is not as attractive to tourists as the necropolis of Cheops, but at one time it was the largest in the country and the most complex in terms of engineering design. 
The funeral complex included chapels, courtyards, and storage facilities. The six-step pyramid itself does not have a square base, but a rectangular one, with sides 125x110 m. The height of the structure itself is 60 m, inside it there are 12 burial chambers, where Djoser himself and members of his family were supposedly buried. The pharaoh's mummy was not found during excavations. The entire territory of the complex, 15 hectares in size, was surrounded by a 10 m high stone wall. Currently, part of the wall and other buildings have been restored, and the pyramid, which is approximately 4700 years old, has been preserved quite well.
The Egyptian pyramids are one of the greatest attractions in the world. They, according to archaeologists, are the tombs of pharaohs, members of their families and court nobles. This version is generally accepted and its confirmation is considered to be the presence of mummies inside. But is it? What secrets do these buildings keep? Who built them and how? For what? What's inside? You will find answers to your questions in this article.
Pyramids in Egypt: why were they built?
During the period of the Old Kingdom (c. 2707 - 2150 BC, III-VI dynasties), structures began to be created for burials, symbolizing the sacred mountain - the desire of humanity to reach heaven.
Pink Pyramid in Dahshur. CC BY-SA 3.0, Link Scientists suggest that the Egyptians' belief in the ascension of the spirit to the gods is fundamental the purpose of their construction. In their opinion, even today, these structures represent man's dream of achieving Higher Consciousness. There are other opinions on this matter, which are given below. Some occult researchers of the secrets of the Egyptian pyramids spent the night in the inner chambers. They wrote books about their mystical experiences. Several theories try to explain the technology of their construction, but no one knows exactly how and why these famous architectural monuments were built. There are only versions and assumptions. One of the greatest mysteries: how did people move such massive stone blocks using primitive tools? The Egyptians left thousands of illustrations depicting daily life in the Old Kingdom. It is curious that none of them show their construction. But maybe these images are just too much for the eyes to modern man? Perhaps, looking at the drawings, we are not able to see their method of creating grandiose structures, because it radically differs from modern ideas? Here's what information you can find about this on the Internet. But there is an architect who created a project according to which the Cheops pyramid can be built today. Read about it in the article Construction of the Cheops pyramid on the Architecture channel. Director Florence Tran's film Unraveling the Mystery of the Cheops Pyramid features this interesting version by Jean-Pierre Houdin (Jean-Pierre). His father, a former civil engineer, came up with the idea of building using an internal ramp. The evidence presented is quite convincing. See a detailed study conducted by a Frenchman. Maybe he solved the mystery of the construction of the Egyptian pyramids? The earliest known pyramidal structures are found at Saqqara, northwest of Memphis. The oldest of them is the Pyramid of Djoser, built around the period 2630 - 2611. BC. during the third dynasty, the first adviser to the king, architect and builder, high priest of Ra in Heliopolis, poet and thinker Imhotep. He is considered the founder of this architectural form, proposing to build three more smaller ones above the main one. His tomb has not yet been identified. Therefore, there is no mummy of Imhotep. Do you think the mystery of the Cheops pyramid has been solved? Write your thoughts in the comments.
“Secrets of the Pyramids (The Secret of Orion)” by R. Bauval, E. Gilbert offers a version about the stellar orientation of the buildings.
The American prophet and medium Edgar Cayce spoke about the significance of the pyramids for the lost civilization of Atlantis. Information is available on the Internet.Egyptian pyramids: about the secret of construction
Who was the architect of the first pyramid?
Where are the most famous Egyptian pyramids located?
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There are several hundred pyramids on Earth - from relatively small ones to buildings the size of a 30-story building. But scientists still have questions about their functionality.
Common features
Despite the fact that the pyramids scattered throughout the planet vary in size, shape, and construction time, they are much more common features than it might seem at first glance. Researchers note a largely similar style in the construction of the pyramids. This applies to both stone processing and its installation. Some pyramids, in particular the Mexican ones and those located in the depths of the ocean, are united by the presence at the foot of a “stylized head” carved from a monolith.
Scientists at the University of California recently mapped all known pyramids and found that they are located approximately on the same line. If we take the Giza pyramids as our starting point, then this line ends at the Guimara pyramids, built on the Canary Islands.
According to the Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl, the similarity of ancient megalithic buildings is explained by the fact that there was an exchange of experience between the islands and continents. With his expeditions, Heyerdahl proved the possibility of ancient people swimming over fairly long distances.
Tomb
The most popular hypothesis for the construction of pyramids is the desire of contemporaries to perpetuate the name of an earthly ruler by building a tomb for him. For these purposes, according to most historians, special burial chambers were created in the Egyptian pyramids, which were equipped for the posthumous life of the pharaoh: he was left with jewelry, household utensils, furniture, and weapons. And false corridors and stone doors, according to popular belief, were supposed to protect the pharaoh from uninvited guests.
However, according to archaeologists, mummies have never been found in the pyramids. Burials took place in necropolises. For example, the mummy of Tutankhamun was found in the Valley of the Kings, Ramses II was found in rock tombs, and the mummy of Cheops, the “owner” of the largest Egyptian pyramid, was never discovered.
Knowledge Repository
One of the latest versions of the functional purpose of the pyramids suggests that they were built as a repository of knowledge of previous civilizations, in which astronomical and geographic information expressed in the language of geometry.
Domestic and foreign scientists, including the British mathematician John Legon, carried out numerous calculations of the length of the faces and bases of the pyramids, their volumes, areas and even the distances between the pyramids, and discovered strict patterns of multiplicity of series of numbers.
In particular, the ratio of the perimeter of the base of the Cheops pyramid to its height is equal to the number 2Pi. Based on this fact, scientists conclude that the pyramid serves as a map projection on a scale of 1:43200 of the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth.
Navigation station
French researchers A. de Belizal and L. Chomery made an unusual assumption that the Great Pyramid of Egypt served as a transmitting station. According to researchers, thanks to the enormous mass of the pyramid and the peculiarities of its shape, which was a “false vibrational prism,” the possibility of powerful radiation was created.
Radiesthetic studies conducted by French specialists, in their opinion, showed that radiation could be detected at a very large distance using a reduced model of such a pyramid. This allowed ancient people to orient the route of a ship at sea or a caravan in the desert without a compass.
Calendar
Candidate of physical and mathematical sciences Olga Dluzhnevskaya suggests that the Mexican pyramid of Kukulcan could serve as a calendar. Along the entire perimeter, the structure is surrounded by stairs: on each side there are 91 steps - a total of 364, which is equal to the number of days in a year of the Mayan calendar. The stairs are divided into 18 flights, each of which corresponds to a month - that’s how many the Mayan calendar counted.
Moreover, the location of the pyramid is very clearly oriented to the cardinal points, which on the days of the equinox creates the opportunity for an unusual visual effect. When the rays of the sun fall on the steps, something similar to a huge snake is formed: its head appears at the base of the stairs, while its body extends up the entire pyramid.
Energy transformer
According to one hypothesis, pyramids are powerful generators that are capable of converting negative energy into positive. Thus, it is assumed that the accumulated energy of the Cheops pyramid is focused in the royal room at the location of the sarcophagus.
Russian engineer Alexander Golod indirectly confirms the functional purpose of the ancient pyramids by building so-called energy pyramids, which, in his opinion, harmonize the structure of the surrounding space and have a positive effect on humans. However, official science is skeptical about the theories of the Russian researcher.
Observatory
Recently, scientists are increasingly inclined to believe that the ancient pyramids were observatories. In particular, this is indicated by the “astronomical orientation” of the pyramids: to sunset during the summer solstice, and to sunrise during the winter solstice.
Egyptologist Nikolai Danilov says that the Great Pyramid as an observatory was mentioned by Arab historians. However, for a long time it was not clear how astronomers could climb the smooth walls of the pyramid, or how the internal structure of the pyramid corresponded to the tasks of the observatory.
The answer was found by English astronomer Richard Proctor while studying the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Proclus. It noted that the Great Pyramid was used as an observatory when it was built to the level of the Great Gallery, which opened onto a square platform.
Modern researchers are puzzled by one fact: why does the ascending tunnel of the Great Pyramid suddenly give way to a gallery whose height exceeds 8 meters? Proctor explains this as a convenience for stargazing. “If the ancient astronomer needed a large observation slit, exactly bisected by the meridian through North Pole to watch the passage celestial bodies, what would he demand from an architect? A very high tunnel with vertical walls,” the researcher concludes.
The first wonder of the world of all time, one of the main structures of our planet, a place full of secrets and mysteries, a point of constant pilgrimage for tourists - the Egyptian pyramids and in particular the Cheops pyramid.
The construction of giant pyramids, of course, was far from easy. Huge effort large number people were exerted to deliver stone blocks to the Giza or Saqqara plateau, and later to the Valley of the Kings, which became the new necropolis of the pharaohs.
At the moment, there are about a hundred discovered pyramids in Egypt, but discoveries continue, and their number is constantly increasing. IN different times one of the 7 wonders of the world meant different pyramids. Some meant all the pyramids of Egypt as a whole, some the pyramids near Memphis, some the three large pyramids of Giza, and most critics recognized exclusively the largest pyramid of Cheops.
Afterlife of Ancient Egypt
One of the central moments in the life of the ancient Egyptians was religion, which shaped the entire culture as a whole. Particular attention was paid to the afterlife, perceived as a clear continuation of earthly life. That is why preparation for life after death began long before death and was set as one of the main life tasks.
According to ancient Egyptian belief, man had several souls. The soul of Ka acted as a double of the Egyptian, whom he was to meet in the afterlife. The soul of Ba contacted the person himself and left his body after death.
Religious life of the Egyptians and the god Anubis
At first, it was believed that only the pharaoh had the right to life after death, but he could bestow this “immortality” on his entourage, who were usually buried next to the tomb of the ruler. Ordinary people get into world of the dead was not destined to happen, the only exception being the slaves and servants whom the pharaoh “took” with him, and who were depicted on the walls of the great tomb.
But for a comfortable life after death, the deceased had to be provided with everything necessary: food, household utensils, servants, slaves and much more necessary for the average pharaoh. They also tried to preserve the person’s body so that Ba’s soul could later connect with him again. Therefore, in matters of body preservation, embalming and the creation of complex pyramid tombs were born.
The first pyramid in Egypt. Pyramid of Djoser
Speaking about the construction of the pyramids in Ancient Egypt Overall, the beginning of their story is worth mentioning. The very first pyramid in Egypt was built about five thousand years ago on the initiative of Pharaoh Djoser. It is in these 5 thousand years that the age of the pyramids in Egypt is estimated. The construction of the Pyramid of Djoser was led by the famous and legendary Imhotep, who was even deified in later centuries.
Pyramid of Djoser
The entire complex of the building being erected occupied an area of 545 by 278 meters. The perimeter was surrounded by a 10-meter wall with 14 gates, only one of which was real. In the center of the complex was the pyramid of Djoser with sides 118 by 140 meters. The height of the Djoser pyramid is 60 meters. Almost at a depth of 30 meters there was a burial chamber, to which corridors with many branches led. The branch rooms contained utensils and sacrifices. Here archaeologists found three bas-reliefs of Pharaoh Djoser himself. Near the eastern wall of Djoser's pyramid, 11 small burial chambers were discovered, intended for the royal family.
Unlike the famous large pyramids of Giza, Djoser's pyramid had a stepped shape, as if intended for the pharaoh's ascension to heaven. Of course, this pyramid is inferior in popularity and size to the Cheops pyramid, but still the contribution of the very first stone pyramid It is difficult to overestimate the culture of Egypt.
The Pyramid of Cheops. History and Brief Description
But still, the most famous for the ordinary population of our planet are the three nearby pyramids of Egypt - Khafre, Mekerin and the largest and tallest pyramid in Egypt - Cheops (Khufu)
Pyramids of Giza
The pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops was built near the city of Giza, currently a suburb of Cairo. At present, it is impossible to say for sure when the Cheops pyramid was built, and research gives a strong scatter. In Egypt, for example, the date of the start of construction of this pyramid is officially celebrated - August 23, 2480 BC.
Pyramid of Cheops and Sphinx
About 100,000 people were simultaneously involved in the construction of the wonder of the world, the Pyramid of Cheops. During the first ten years of work, a road was built along which huge stone blocks were delivered to the river and the underground structures of the pyramid. Work on the construction of the monument itself continued for about 20 years.
The size of the Cheops Pyramid in Giza is amazing. The height of the Cheops pyramid initially reached 147 meters. Over time, due to sand filling and loss of lining, it decreased to 137 meters. But even this figure allowed it to remain the tallest human structure in the world for a long time. The pyramid has a square base with a side of 147 meters. To build this giant, it is estimated that 2,300,000 limestone blocks were required, weighing an average of 2.5 tons.
How were the pyramids built in Egypt?
The technology of building pyramids is still controversial in our time. Versions vary from the invention of concrete in Ancient Egypt to the construction of pyramids by aliens. But it is still believed that the pyramids were built by man solely by his own strength. So, to extract stone blocks, they first marked out a shape in the rock, hollowed out grooves and inserted dry wood into them. Later, the tree was doused with water, it expanded, a crack formed in the rock, and the block was separated. Then it was processed into the desired shape with tools and sent along the river to the construction site.
— Supporters of folk history believe that the pyramids were not built by the Egyptians, but by more ancient civilizations or even extraterrestrials. How can you refute this myth?
— A historian works with historical documents and specific facts. There are sources that say that the Egyptians built pyramids and tell who served as priests in the temples near the pyramids. The very life of the Egyptians Ancient kingdom concentrated around the pyramids. The Egyptians called the city pyramidal. They always talked about how they lived in a city under a certain pyramid.
For example, the famous Memphis is a city that arose on the site of the pyramid settlement of King Pepi I. During the New Kingdom, it became a major political, economic and military center.
However, in its name it still retained the name of the ancient pyramid - Mennefer.
Accordingly, all the officials who worked there bore titles that reflected their duties in this pyramidal city. Therefore, we can confidently say that the pyramids were built by the Egyptians. There were pyramids integral part their living space, and sources confirm this. If extraterrestrial civilizations were involved in construction, we would read this in the sources.
— Is the exact age of the pyramids known now?
- Yes. If we know that this pyramid was built by, say, Cheops, we know when he lived, this is the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. We also know that every pyramid has a pyramid temple. The space of this temple contains a huge number of royal names; we know to whom this pyramid was dedicated. Based on this, we can build a chronological chain. Starting from the initial date when any particular king reigned, we can, by summing up the reigns of each king, approximately calculate the chronological scale.
The Egyptians did not have a single scale (like, for example, the ancient Jews): when the reign of a particular king ended, the chronology began anew.
— Were the pyramids built exclusively as tombs of the pharaohs or did they have other purposes?
— First of all, a pyramid is a kind of symbol that concentrates ideological and religious attitudes around itself, it is a symbol of the presence of a deity in this world. In the cult of the pyramid, the king occupied one of the places. If we strictly follow the sources, then the pyramid was dedicated to the god Ra-Atum, the goddess Hathor, and the third place in it was occupied by the king. To understand what this pyramid symbolized, one must understand the relationship of these gods with each other. God Ra is the one who gave birth to this world, the solar god. Hathor is his wife. Their son is King Horus. And this king takes his rightful place in this system. He is also worshiped along with these gods.
- That is, the last god transferred all divine power to Horus, and he transferred all divine power to his son - the king?
Absolutely true, but... The king is not just the son of Horus. Horus has its own pedigree, and all power from the gods passed from the first god Atum to Horus, and from Horus to the king. Therefore, in the royal title, the god Horus is the main and last. He is the owner of the power - “ka”, transmitted from the first ancestor god. “Ka” is a kind of manna, the life force thanks to which everything exists. This strength is an essential attribute of power. The pyramid accumulates the power of “ka”.
It symbolizes the presence of not only the king, but also the first god in this world.
The ancestor god, revered in the pyramid, takes care of the king, who died and at the same time is the patron of this pyramid. Therefore, the pyramid is a sacred place for the Egyptians.
— But there is no clear answer to the question of what a pyramid is in science?
“The Egyptians themselves did not answer this question for us. Only fragmentary information, or rather hints, has been preserved. For example, they said that the pyramid is the “house of god”, that it is dedicated to the goddess Hathor. But the pyramid was also identified with the god of the dead Osiris, or the “Eye of Horus.” The pyramid was associated with the name of the king. We must try to systematize all this information.
African inferences are unusual. We are accustomed to the fact that every phenomenon has a single reasonable explanation: for example, for us the sky is the sky. Egyptians have different associations. Either this was due to the fact that their language was poorly developed, or their thinking was simply different.
It turned out that the sky was at the same time a woman, a cow, and an ordinary tabletop!
This unusual thinking tried to describe the phenomenon, somehow bring it closer, but did not contain the final answer to this question. Therefore, when we talk about a pyramid, it is difficult to understand what it is from an Egyptian point of view. It is clear that this is a kind of symbol of the connection between heaven and earth, between the king and the ancestor gods. But it’s hard to definitively answer what it is.
- And yet, why the pyramid? Why did the Egyptians want to build just like this? geometric figure, and not a cube, for example?
— Initially, the pyramid was stepped: primitive mastabas were placed one on top of the other. It was built by the first architect of King Djoser, Imhotep. He simply built a smaller mastaba over each mastaba. The result was a stepped design. This design was present on early palettes in ceramics. We cannot say exactly what it is. Typically, such hieroglyphs denoted the tombs or pedestal of a god. There are a lot of points related to why the idea of creating an ideal design arose. Egyptians are Africans, their worldview is different from the European one. They deified the elemental forces that are responsible for procreation, the vital forces. One of the variants of the pyramid is a kind of mother’s womb, a goddess who harbors a king within herself. The womb contains within itself the embryo of a future life that will be reborn in heaven. There is another option.
The pyramid is the first hill on which the first ancestor god arose.
— Is there any system in how the pyramids are located relative to each other?
— There is a theory proposed by British engineer Robert Bauval that the pyramids of Giza represent the “belt of Orion” - three stars. Orion's Belt is a sacred constellation in many ancient cultures. In Egypt, Orion was identified with Osiris, the ruler of the underworld.
But we cannot prove the theory that the existing layout in Giza is connected with the cult of Osiris.
We do not find in any source that the “Orion’s belt” is associated with the complex of three pyramids. Two large pyramids depict some semblance of the celestial horizon, but the third is knocked out.
—Who was involved in the construction of the pyramids?
— This issue is debatable in historiography. IN XIX century It was believed that the pyramids were built by slaves who were in Egypt, including Jews who were captured by Pharaoh. In the 20th century, it was believed that a small part of society worked on construction sites - advanced workers and architects, of whom there were several tens of thousands. However, in fact, the entire population of the country worked on the pyramids. In fact, some part of society directly built the pyramid, but another part supplied the builders with everything they needed, prepared food for them, and another guarded them. Another part was involved in long expeditions for stone and metal. If we add everything up, then half of the country’s population is indirectly involved in this process. All active working population actually worked on the pyramids. This was a large-scale example of the division of labor in the history of Egypt, when some built, others provided the construction with everything necessary, and others supervised the entire process. Actually, this is how the Egyptian state arose.
— There is an opinion that even an atomic bomb similar to the one dropped on Hiroshima could not destroy the Cheops pyramid. Could the pyramid really withstand such a blow?
— When the pyramid was built, it was quite strong, then over time it sank due to its mass. They tried to destroy it in rather barbaric ways during the era of Arab rule, but the battering rams were clearly not intended for this purpose, and the pyramid survived, although it had lost its cladding. Therefore, now we need to think about preserving this amazing historical monument.
The pyramids can collapse not from atomic bomb, but from our inaction.
— Can we say that the threat of destruction hangs over the pyramids?
— The limestone is being destroyed. If the pyramids are not strengthened, they will collapse. The Cheops pyramid was partially strengthened with a polymer-containing composition; limestone does not absorb moisture so much and is resistant to air erosion. The Pyramid of Khafre looks worse and is partially crumbling.
— And the last question: what can we say to everyone who believes in the curse of the pharaohs?
— The curse of the pharaohs exists in our heads. If a person believes that it exists, then he will always subconsciously expect this curse. The first people who encountered the unusual Egyptian world were amazed that it did not fit into their usual picture; they saw architecture different from European, unusual images of gods and kings. When a person descended into the dungeon of the tomb, he was surrounded by the same incomprehensible and monstrous world of the dead. There are also an abundance of various spirits and demons who guard the peace of the deceased king. For some, this causes some kind of rejection effect, they begin to deny it. A mystical person, on the contrary, believes that here lies a world of special entities that can harm a living person.
Even serious scientists believed in this.
Muhammad Zakariya Ghoneim, who opened the second Saqqara pyramid of King Sekhemkhet, when he began work on the tomb, always said prayers with his workers for the repose of the soul of a particular pharaoh. He said that he believed that the spirit of the pharaoh resided in this pyramid, because he and his team felt it. Therefore, everything depends on our consciousness and religious conviction.
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