Hello Kids, and welcome back to KidsCast! Today, we will gossip about the World's largest and most recognizable pyramids, The Pyramids of Giza! In this article, we will talk about the location, history, and facts about these pyramids. So, without wasting another minute, let us start!Location
Giza's Pyramids are the world's largest and most iconic pyramid structures. In Egypt's Old Kingdom era, they were built as a tribute to certain pharaohs of the fourth ruling dynasty. Egyptian civilization began with the Old Kingdom, which lasted from 2686 to 2181 BCE. In addition to the famous Sphinx statue, the pyramid complex at Giza consists of three main pyramids. In present-day Egypt, Giza is located just outside the city of Cairo.
HistoryThe three main pyramids at the Pyramids of Giza are Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. Khufu's pyramid is the largest of the three pyramids at Giza, standing over 480 feet high, making it the tallest stone structure in the world! The second largest pyramid is of Khafre, Khufu's son. In addition to the Pyramid, the famous Sphinx is believed to be made in honour of Khafre as it stands right beside his pyramid. The third and smallest pyramid is Menkaure. It stands just over 200 feet high.
The Sphinx statue which is said to be made in the honor of Khafre.
The Making
The making of these pyramids required an estimated amount of at least 20,000-40,000 people! Many people believed that the Egyptians had slaves to make these pyramids, but the truth is a little different. The pyramids were made by local Egyptians only. Egyptians were required to perform Manual Labor for the Government. This means, that people from all over the country came together to establish these amazing pyramids!
This project took 20 years to build! The workers worked 10 hours a day, crafting stones, putting the stones in place, and the most difficult of all, taking the stones up to the top of the pyramid. It is still a mystery how the Egyptians managed to take stones up to 400+ ft, in a time period when wheels weren't even invented!
The Great Sphinx
The Great Sphinx of Giza is a sculpture of a man with a lion's body! As it resembled the ancient Greek mythical winged monster, it was called a "Sphinx" by the ancient Greeks.
The Sphinx faces from west to east, and measures 73 meters (240 feet) long and 20 meters (66 feet) high.
As it is believed that the Sphinx was made in honour of Khafre, a lot of people believe that the face of the Sphinx is said to be a sculpture of Khafre himself! Now, how cool is that! If these theories are true, Khafre had a whole sculpture built just for him, which had his own facial features!
Some Facts Khufu's Pyramid required over 2 Million stones to be built: The Great Pyramid of Khufu was built using over 2.3 million stone blocks. Limestone and granite accounted for 5.5 million tonnes and 8,000 tonnes, respectively.
The Pyramids have shrunken over the years: After thousands of years of erosion and being stripped of their outer casings, pyramids are much shorter than they were originally. Khufu's Great Pyramid, originally 481 feet high, has now fallen to 455 feet.
They became a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Along with other ancient monuments in the Memphis region, the Pyramids of Giza have designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.
So, kids, that is it for today! We hope you liked this article of ours! We will soon be back with another amazing article, which will, as usual, be fun and knowledgeable! Till then, Happy Learning!
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