The Great Pyramids of Egypt

(36 Reviews)
100% Recommended

Susan Tindell

Rice Lake, WI
Certified Tahiti Specialist

La ora na! With 40 years of expertise, I've dedicated myself to bringing the enchanting vistas of Tahiti closer to you. Imagine waking up to the serene beauty of crystal blue waters kissing white sands, right from your bungalow in paradise. The So...

Great pyramids as we approach..

These structures are truly engineering marvels. About 455 feet tall, the Great Pyramid was built so well that the four sides of its base have an average error of only 58 millimeters in length. The base is horizontal and flat to within 21 millimeters. The sides of the square base are aligned to the four cardinal compass points, within 4 degrees of arc. Modern engineers would be hard-pressed to be that accurate. We would also have a difficult time handling the building materials, even with modern equipment. It is estimated that the Great Pyramid was built with 5.5 million tons of limestone, 8000 tons of granite, and half a million tons of mortar. And it was all built by hand. Not by slaves, as we have all been led to believe, but by paid native workers, who had to have something to do during the months when the Nile flooded the farmlands. The second pyramid, in the middle of the photo, is the Pyramid of Khafre, the son of Khufu, and it is slightly smaller than the Great Pyramid. Next to that is the Pyramid of Menkaure, which still has a couple of smaller pyramids around it; these were the tombs of the pharaoh's servants and concubines. Menkaure is the only pyramid open to the public, but only one person on our bus decides to go in. (No, it isn't me or Sue. She'd been inside on her visit here with our daughter Kim in 2005.) But we do get an up-close look at this one, along with the camels that were offered for rides by the ever-present vendors. A couple of cops are using camels to patrol the premises.

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