Help Im Dying Inside

Pyramids

and Tombs

“When a pharaoh died he was

buried in a tomb designed to

protect his body forever.

This tomb was called

a pyramid.”

 The theory behind the tomb was that

if a pharaoh's body were destroyed, his

Ka (soul) would have nowhere to go

and would die. If his Ka died, he would

not be able to be united with the sun.

This in turn would cause the gods to

become angry, and they would no

longer protect the land or people of

the pharaoh. At least, this is what the

pyramids started out to be. They soon

became not only a final resting place,

but a symbol of power.

The first pyramid built was for King

Djoser. This pyramid and a few after

were called Step Pyramids. These

pyramids had steps from the top to

the bottom. This was supposed to

represent a gigantic stairway for the

king to climb to join the sun god in the

sky. It was during King Sneferu's reign

of power that the true pyramid, with

smooth, sloping sides was built. This

pyramid was to represent the mound

upon which Amun-Re stood to call

the other gods and goddesses. These

pyramids were built with winding

passageways, false doors, and walls of

granite. Most of the pyramid, however,

was solid. The actual entrance to the

burial tomb was disguised to look like

the outer surface of the pyramid. All

of these precautions were seemingly

in vain. By around 1000 b.c. grave

robbers had ransacked most, if not all,

the pyramids.

The largest and most famous

pyramid is the Great Pyramid located

in the Giza plateau, near Cairo.

This pyramid was built for the pharaoh

Khufu (Cheops). Over two million

blocks of limestone were used, and it

took over twenty years to build. The

base of the Great Pyramid covers the

size of almost ten football fields. Even

with their primitive tools, the Egyptians

cut the base so that it misses being

perfectly proportioned by only a few

inches. They also cut the outer and

inner blocks so precisely that a knife

blade won't fit...