The Great Pyramid of Cheops is the largest pyramid in the world. The base
of the Great Pyramid covers about 13 acres. It is
built from 2,300,000 stones, each weighing on average 2.5 tons, though
some of the stones weigh up to 13 tons. The stones
were quarried in Aswan and transported to Giza - a distance of almost 1000
kilometers. There are other, almost equally astonishing facts about the
pyramids of Giza. They were built with their sides very accurately
pointing to true North - within a few arcseconds. Air
shafts from the inner chambers of the pyramids point directly to individual
stars. In writings about
the pyramids, it's also often mentioned that the stones that make up the
walls of the inner chambers are so precisely cut that a needle or knife blade
couldn't penetrate the seams. All of this means, of course, that these
huge stones weren't just crudely cut and
semi-randomly stacked in a way that resulted in a pyramid. The pyramids were
carefully designed and built to rigorous specifications.
The number of visitors allowed to enter the Great Pyramid of Cheops is
restricted to 150 in the morning and 150 in the afternoon, so if it is your
hope to enter, plan ahead and arrive early.
From the perspective of this photo it's almost possible
to see the size of the stones used in construction of the pyramids.
Then when you consider how many stones were used and that each stone was
a different size and that all sides of the pyramids rose at the same angle
to meet at the top, it begins to impress.
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Then consider that air shafts were built to join the inner chambers, which
from the inner chambers pointed directly at stars mentioned in Egyptian
writings. And consider that the sides of the pyramids pointed directly at
true north,
with an error of a mere few arc-seconds - an accuracy that has baffled
scholars for eons. For an explanation of the accomplishment, see
the article published in Nature by Egyptologist Kate Spence.
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And finally - recognize that Cheops used an estimated 2,300,000 stones, each
weighing an average of 2.5 tons and each quarried in Aswan, 1 thousand
kilometers away.
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