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Vista de les tres pirĂ mides de Gizeh, a el Caire.
La necròpolis de Gizeh es troba a l'altiplĂ de Gizeh, a les rodalies del Caire, a Egipte. En aquesta necròpoli de l'antic Egipte es van erigir la pirĂ mide de Kheops, tambĂ© coneguda com la Gran PirĂ mide, la pirĂ mide de Kefren i la relativament petita pirĂ mide de MicerĂ, junt amb diverses pirĂ mides subsidiĂ ries menors, temples funeraris i la Gran Esfinx.
De les tres pirà mides principals es conserva el seu nucli, conformat per blocs de pedra calcà ria, però del seu revestiment, de calcà ria polida o granit rosat, sols en queden algunes restes, ja que aquests blocs van ser utilitzats per construir edificis a la propera ciutat del Caire. La pirà mide de Kefren sembla la més alta, però és a causa que va ser construïda sobre una zona més elevada a l'altiplà de Gizeh; en realitat és la de Kheops la de major altura i volum.
La necròpolis de Gizeh Ă©s la mĂ©s gran de l'Antic Egipte, amb enterraments datats des de les primeres dinasties. A finals de l'Imperi Antic, durant la sisena Dinastia havia a Gizeh uns quants centenars de tombes. El seu esplendor el va assolir durant la quarta dinastia, quan es van erigir la pirĂ mide d'Jufu (Kheops), la pirĂ mide de Jafra (Kefren) i la relativament petita pirĂ mide de Menkaura (MicerĂ), junt amb diverses subsidiĂ ries menors, temples funeraris, temples de la vall, embarcadors, calçades processionals i es van excavar fosses contenint barques solars cerimonials. TambĂ© es va esculpir a la roca de l'altiplĂ la Gran Esfinx. Associats a aquests monuments reals es troben nombroses mastabes de membres de la famĂlia reial, altres concedides pel faraĂł a funcionaris i sacerdots, i alguns monuments d'èpoques posteriors relacionats amb el culte als avantpassats.
La Gran Pirà mide estava considerada en l'antiguitat un de les Set meravelles del món, i és l'única de les set que fins i tot perdura. El 1979, el conjunt de Menfis amb les seves necròpolis i pirà mides (Gizeh, Abusir al-Melek, Saqqara i Dashur) va ser declarat Patrimoni de la Humanitat per la Unesco, amb el nom de Menfis i la seva necròpolis, la zona de les pirà mides des Gizeh fins Dahshur. Està catalogada com un patrimoni de tipus cultural.[1]
It is believed the Great Pyramid of Giza (left) was built as a tomb for fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu and was constructed over a 20 year period. Khufu's vizier, Hemon, or Hemiunu, is believed by some to be the architect of the Great Pyramid. It is thought that, at construction, the Great Pyramid was originally 280 Egyptian cubits tall, 146.5 metres (480.6 ft) but with erosion and absence of its pyramidion, its present height is 138.8 metres (455.4 ft). Each base side was 440 cubits, 230.4 metres (755.9 ft) long. A royal cubit measures 0.524 metres. The mass of the pyramid is estimated at 5.9 million tonnes. The volume, including an internal hillock, is roughly 2,500,000 cubic metres. Based on these estimates, building this in 20 years would involve installing approximately 800 tonnes of stone every day. Similarly, since it consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks, completing the building in 20 years would involve moving an average of more than 12 of the blocks into place each hour, day and night. The first precision measurements of the pyramid were made by Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie in 1880–82 and published as The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh. Almost all reports are based on his measurements. Many of the casing stones and inner chamber blocks of the Great Pyramid were fit together with extremely high precision. Based on measurements taken on the north eastern casing stones, the mean opening of the joints is only 0.5 millimetres wide (1/50th of an inch).
The pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years, unsurpassed until the 160-metre-tall spire of Lincoln Cathedral was completed c. 1300. The accuracy of the pyramid's workmanship is such that the four sides of the base have an average error of only 58 millimetres in length. The base is horizontal and flat to within ±15 mm. The sides of the square base are closely aligned to the four cardinal compass points (within 4 minutes of arc) based on true north, not magnetic north, and the finished base was squared to a mean corner error of only 12 seconds of arc. The completed design dimensions, as suggested by Petrie's survey and subsequent studies, are estimated to have originally been 280 cubits high by 440 cubits long at each of the four sides of its base. The ratio of the perimeter to height of 1760/280 cubits equates to 2π to an accuracy of better than 0.05% (corresponding to the well-known approximation of π as 22/7). Some Egyptologists consider this to have been the result of deliberate design proportion. Verner wrote, "We can conclude that although the ancient Egyptians could not precisely define the value of π, in practice they used it". Petrie, author of Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh concluded: "but these relations of areas and of circular ratio are so systematic that we should grant that they were in the builder's design". Others have argued that the Ancient Egyptians had no concept of pi and would not have thought to encode it in their monuments. They believe that the observed pyramid slope may be based on a simple seked slope choice alone, with no regard to the overall size and proportions of the finished building.
The Pyramid of Djoser (or Zoser), or step pyramid (kbhw-ntrw in Egyptian) is an archeological remain in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the city of Memphis. It was built during the 27th century BC for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser by Imhotep, his vizier. It is the central feature of a vast mortuary complex in an enormous courtyard surrounded by ceremonial structures and decoration.
Explore Cairo Browsing our Cairo tours for a range of exciting sightseeing trips and excursions. We offer everything from a simple guided private & group tours to Egyptian Museum, Giza Pyramids & Sphinx, Sakkara, and Memphis, Old Cairo, Islamic & Coptic sites, Sultan Hassan mosque, Azhar mosque, Alabaster mosque, Khan ElKhalili, Babilyon fortress, hanging church, Ben Ezra synagogue and more.
The pyramid at Meidum is believed to be Egypt's second oldest (after the step-pyramid of Djoser, whose design Meidum followed to some degree) but is also the earliest attempt at a true pyramid with four smooth side elevations.
Its original builder is usually considered to be Huni, last pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty, but most likely the larger part was constructed under the reign of his successor Sneferu (who also built two major pyramids at Dashur much further north).
The building we see today looks as much like a massive tower as a pyramid; which is due to the ancient collapse of much of the outer structure after the design was modified from a step-pyramid form (like its predecessor at Saqqara) to a smooth-sided one. The extra weight of the additional outer casing was too much and the pyramid was reduced to the present tower of masonry rising from a mass of debris.
There are several internal passages on different levels that lead to the relatively small burial chamber, beginning with a steep descent from the northern face. The ceiling of the chamber is remarkable for its tapering form, corbelled inwards as it rises in the manner of the better known but later grand gallery of the great pyramid of Khufu.
Near the pyramid are several large mudbrick mastaba tombs of a similar age, one of which is accessible by a series of narrow tunnels and passages that only the more intrepid traveller should attempt.
For more on this remarkable site see below:-
By day 4 I had already tagged the 4 major objectives of the trip so I took a side trip to Pyramid Mountain. It's 200 ft shorter than the rest so doesn't make it into the top 100, and there's a trail all the way to the top so it's not as challenging (which was nice with the rain).
The pyramid at Meidum is believed to be Egypt's second oldest (after the step-pyramid of Djoser, whose design Meidum followed to some degree) but is also the earliest attempt at a true pyramid with four smooth side elevations.
Its original builder is usually considered to be Huni, last pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty, but most likely the larger part was constructed under the reign of his successor Sneferu (who also built two major pyramids at Dashur much further north).
The building we see today looks as much like a massive tower as a pyramid; which is due to the ancient collapse of much of the outer structure after the design was modified from a step-pyramid form (like its predecessor at Saqqara) toa smooth-sided one. The extra weight of the additional outer casing was too much and the pyramid was reduced to the present tower of masonry rising from a mass of debris.
There are several internal passages on different levels that lead to the relatively small burial chamber, beginning with a steep descent from the northern face. The ceiling of the chamber is remarkable for its tapering form, corbelled inwards as it rises in the manner of the better known but later grand gallery of the great pyramid of Khufu.
Near the pyramid are several large mudbrick mastaba tombs of a similar age, one of which is accessible by a series of narrow tunnels and passages that only the more intrepid traveller should attempt.
For more on this remarkable site see below:-
The earliest pyramid was the Step Pyramid of king Djoser of the Old Kingdom's 3rd Dynasty over 4,600 years ago. The pyramid was the largest structure ever erected at Saqqara, the necropolis that overlooked the ancient capital of Memphis. Its construction was initially in the form of a low mastaba tomb upon which extra levels were gradually added to give it a step-like appearance.
Underneath Djoser's pyramid was a complex system of corridors with a burial chamber lined with Aswan pink granite about 28 metres underground. The entrance was sealed with a three-tonne granite plug. The pyramid's outside would have been cased with fine limestone, but this was removed long ago. Nearby were the Mortuary Temple, a Great Court and various other structures.
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The pyramid at Cholula is not recognisable as such now -- it is just a large mound. However, in its original form it had the largest base of any pyramid known. Whether the Spanish stuck a church on top as two fingers to the pagans, or simply because it was a nice location, is not known for sure.
The pyramid of Senusret II, or Senwosret II as he is sometimes called, is situated near the Hawara channel which branches off from the Nile to supply the Faiyum basin.
Pyramid Lake is the geographic sink of the Truckee River Basin, 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Reno. Pyramid Lake is fed by the Truckee River, which is mostly the outflow from Lake Tahoe. The Truckee River enters Pyramid Lake at its southern end. Pyramid Lake has no outlet, with water leaving only by evaporation, or sub-surface seepage (an endorheic lake). The lake has about 10% of the area of the Great Salt Lake, but it has about 25% more volume. The salinity is approximately 1/6 that of sea water. Although clear Lake Tahoe forms the headwaters that drain to Pyramid Lake, the Truckee River delivers more turbid waters to Pyramid Lake after traversing the steep Sierra terrain and collecting moderately high silt-loaded surface runoff.
A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Lahontan (~890 feet deep), the lake area was inhabited by the 19th-century Paiute, who used the Tui chub and Lahontan cutthroat trout from the lake(the former is now endangered and the latter is threatened). The lake was first mapped in 1844 by John C. Frémont, the American discoverer of the lake who also gave it its English title.
In the 19th century two battles were fought near the lake, major actions in the Paiute War. In the 1960s a marker was placed commemorating these battles.
Because of water diversion beginning in 1905 by Derby Dam, the lake's existence was threatened, and the Paiute sued the Department of the Interior. By the mid-1970s, the lake had lost 80 feet of depth, and according to Paiute fisheries officials, the life of the lake was seriously under threat.
Pyramid Lake is located in southeastern Washoe County in western Nevada. It is in an elongated intermontane basin between the Lake Range on the east, the Virginia Mountains on the west and the Pah Rah Range on the southwest. The Fox Range and the Smoke Creek Desert lie to the north.
In a parallel basin to the east of the Lake Range is Winnemucca Lake now a dry lake bed. Prior to the construction of the Derby Dam in 1905 both lake levels stood at near 3,880 ft (1,180 m).[8] Following the dam completion the water levels dropped to 3,867 ft (1,179 m) and 3,853 ft (1,174 m) for Pyramid and Winnemucca respectively. In 1957 Pyramid Lake level was at 3,802 ft (1,159 m) and the dry Winnemucca Lake bed at 3,780 ft (1,150 m) had been dry since the 1930s.
The lake is the largest remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan that covered much of northwestern Nevada at the end of the last ice age. Pyramid Lake was the deepest point in Lake Lahontan, reaching an estimated 890 feet (270 m) due to its low level relative to the surrounding basins.
The name of the lake comes from the impressive cone or pyramid shaped tufa formations found in the lake and along the shores. The largest such formation, Anaho Island, is home to a large colony of American White Pelicans and is restricted for ecological reasons. Access to the Needles, another spectacular tufa formation at the northern end of the lake has also been restricted due to recent vandalism.
Major fish species include the cui-ui lakesucker, which is endemic to Pyramid Lake, the Tui chub and Lahontan cutthroat trout (the world record cutthroat trout was caught in Pyramid Lake). The former is endangered, and the latter is threatened. Both species were of critical importance to the Paiute people in pre-contact times.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Lake_(Nevada)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...
The Southern Memorial Pyramid was constructed by the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad in 1898 at the behest of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society. Also known as Meade's Pyramid, as it is located near the site of General's Meade's Union breakthrough of Stonewall Jackson's lines on December 13, 1862. The pyramid would inform RF&P passengers that they were passing through the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania Battlefield area. It remains along the CSX right-of-way today. View from Prospect Hill.
There has been much speculation about the meaning of this pyramid.
Washington Post, January 8, 1898, p. 3. "President E.T.D. Myers of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad has commenced the erection of a monument to mark the battle-fields of Spotsylvania, near Hamilton's Crossing. The monument will be of rough rubble granite, in the shape of a pyramid. Its base will be thirty feet and its height twenty-four feet. It is situated at the fifty mile post from Richmond and about three miles from Fredericksburg, in full view of passing trains. The land was donated by Mrs. William Pratt, and the monument is being built by the railroad company. "
On April 19, 1898, the Washington Post, p. 3, reported the monument had been completed on April 18.
Contributing Resource, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park. National Register of Historic Places 66000046
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