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Photo: Douwe C. van der Zee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.Test your knowledge on the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest and last remaining wonder of the ancient world. Discover the engineering marvels, historical figures, and fascinating facts behind this monumental tomb.
Curious Tourist 0–4 · History Buff 5–8 · Pyramid Scholar 9–10
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Excavations of the workers' village at Giza have proven that the pyramid builders were not slaves, but rather paid, well-fed Egyptian laborers. They worked in organized shifts and were fed bread and even meat, which was a luxury in ancient Egypt.
Photo: KennyOMG, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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The Great Pyramid was built as a monumental tomb for the Pharaoh Khufu (known in Greek as Cheops) during the Old Kingdom. His son, Khafre, built the second-largest pyramid nearby, which still retains some of its original casing stones at the top.
Photo: UserPpPp, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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The pyramid was originally covered in highly polished Tura limestone casing stones that reflected the sun's light brilliantly. While the inner core is made of local yellow limestone and the burial chambers use pink Aswan granite, most of the white casing was stripped away for other buildings.
Photo: Karl Richard Lepsius, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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The Khufu ship is a magnificent, full-size solar barque that was dismantled and buried in a pit. Reassembled like a giant puzzle, it is one of the oldest and best-preserved vessels from antiquity, designed to carry the pharaoh into the afterlife.
Photo: Matthäus Wander, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
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Lincoln Cathedral in England was completed around 1311 and held the title of the world's tallest structure for over two centuries. Before this, the Great Pyramid had reigned supreme for an astonishing 3,800 years. Interestingly, the cathedral's central spire eventually collapsed during a storm in 1548 and was never rebuilt.
Photo: DrMoschi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Hemiunu, a nephew of Pharaoh Khufu, served as vizier and overseer of royal works. He is credited with directing the huge operation to build the Great Pyramid. Imhotep is another famous architect, but he designed the Step Pyramid of Djoser about a century earlier.
Photo: Einsamer Schütze, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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The Diary of Merer is a set of papyrus logbooks written by an Egyptian inspector who led a crew transporting limestone blocks from Tura to Giza. It is the oldest known papyrus with writing and provides invaluable daily details about the construction during Khufu's reign.
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When first completed around 2560 BC, the Great Pyramid stood at approximately 146.6 meters (481 feet) tall. Over the millennia, the loss of its outer casing stones and its capstone reduced its height to about 138.8 meters, which is its present-day height.
Photo: Douwe C. van der Zee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Scientists placed special detectors inside and around the pyramid to catch muons, tiny particles made when cosmic rays from space hit our atmosphere. Stone stops some of them, so extra muons getting through revealed a hidden space at least 30 metres long above the Grand Gallery. Nobody knows yet what this 'Big Void' was for.
Photo: Douwe C. van der Zee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Archaeologists led by Mark Lehner found a walled workers' town just south-east of the pyramids, with shared sleeping halls, bakeries, kitchens and even a place to treat the sick. The finds show the builders were well-fed, organised workers rather than slaves, eating bread, beef and fish.
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