Giza Pyramid Complex

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The Giza pyramid complex is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. It includes the three Great Pyramids (Khufu/Cheops, Khafre/Chephren and Menkaure), the Great Sphinx, several cemeteries, a workers' village and an industrial complex.

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Overview

The Pyramid complex of Khufu is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex bordering what is now el Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

Khufu’s pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, now buried beneath the village of Nazlet el-Samman; diabase paving and nummulitic limestone walls have been found but the site has not been excavated. Khufu's pyramid still has a limited number of casing stones at its base. These casing stones were made of fine white limestone quarried from the nearby range.

Pyramid Complexes

circa 2570 BCE

Pyramid Complex of Khufu
The Pyramid complex of Khufu is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex bordering what is now el Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact. Khufu’s pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, now buried beneath the village of Nazlet el-Samman; diabase paving and nummulitic limestone walls have been found but the site has not been excavated. Khufu's pyramid still has a limited number of casing stones at its base. These casing stones were made of fine white limestone quarried from the nearby range.

circa 2500 BCE

Pyramid Complex of Khafre
The Pyramid Complex of Khafre/Chephren includes the funerary temple, boat pits, rock-cut tombs, subsidiary pyramid, cause way, the great Sphinx, and valley temple of Khafre. Khafre's pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, the Sphinx temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple and the king's pyramid. The valley temple yielded several statues of Khafre. Several were found in a well in the floor of the temple by Mariette in 1860. Others were found during successive excavations by Sieglin (1909–10), Junker, Reisner, and Hassan.

circa 2500 BCE

Pyramid of Menkaure
The Pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three main Pyramids of Giza, located on the Giza Plateau in the southwestern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. Menkaure's pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, and the king's pyramid. The valley temple once contained several statues of Menkaure. During the 5th Dynasty, a smaller ante-temple was added on to the valley temple. The mortuary temple also yielded several statues of Menkaure.

Great Sphinx of Giza Complex

circa 2500 BCE

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt and is commonly believed to have been built during Old Kingdom during the reign of the Pharaoh Khafre (c. 2558–2532 BCE). The Sphinx dates from the reign of king Khafre. During the New Kingdom, Amenhotep II dedicated a new temple to Hauron-Haremakhet and this structure was added onto by later rulers.

Giza Settlement

circa 2500 BCE

The Giza Settlement is located to the southeast of the Khafre and Menkaure complexes. Among the discoveries at the workers' village are communal sleeping quarters, bakeries, breweries, and kitchens, a hospital and a cemetery. The town appears to date from the middle 4th dynasty (2520–2472 BCE), after the accepted time of Khufu. The work of quarrying, moving, setting, and sculpting the huge amount of stone used to build the pyramids might have been accomplished by several thousand skilled workers, unskilled laborers and supporting workers. Bakers, carpenters, water carriers, and others were also needed for the project.

List of Mastabas

circa 2340 BCE

Mastaba of Seshemnefer IV
The Mastaba of Seshemnefer IV is one of the most prominent tomb located in cemetery GIS of the Giza Necropolis in Egypt, it dates from the early Sixth Dynasty. The tomb was completely uncovered during Junker's excavations, which took place in 1928/9. It dates from the early Sixth Dynasty (c. 2340 BCE), and was built for the official Seshemnefer IV (LG 53). Five reliefs from the mastaba of Seshemnefer IV are on display in the Egyptian collection of the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim.

circa 2340 BCE

Mastaba of Hemiunu
The Hemiunu Mastaba (G4000) located in Giza Western Field lies close to Khufu's pyramid, and contains reliefs of his image. Some stones of his badly damaged mastaba (G4000 [es]) are marked with dates referring to Khufu's reign. His statue can be found at the Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Germany. Ancient looters had ransacked the mastaba in their quest for valuable items and the wall to the serbad had a child-sized hole cut into it.

circa 2340 BCE

Tomb complex of Senedjemib
The Senedjemib Tomb Complex belongs to 5th/6th dynasty officials (vizirs) named Senedjemib Inti (father) and Senedjemib Mehi (son).

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See Also

References

Points of Interest

Pyramid Complexes

Pyramid Complex of Khufu · Pyramid Complex of Khafre · Pyramid Complex of Menkaure

Major Pyramids

Minor Pyramids

Pyramid of Hetepheres I (G1-a) · Pyramid of Meritites I (G1-b) · Pyramid of Henutsen (G1-c) · Pyramid G2-a · Pyramid G3-a · Pyramid G3-b · Pyramid G3-c

Temples

Mortuary Temple of Khufu · Mortuary Temple of Khafre · Mortuary Temple of Menkaure · Temple of Isis · Valley Temple of Khufu

Cemeteries

Cemetery GIS · G7000 · G1000 · G1100 · G1200 · G1400 · G1500 · G1600 · G2100 · G2300 · G4000 · G5000 · Junker Cemetery East · Steindorff Cemetery ·

Mastabas and Tombs

G1020 · G1101 · G1109 · G2370, (+)G2378 · G4000 · G7110,(+)7120 · G7130,(+)7140 · G7210, (+)7220 · · ·

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