Essay/Term paper: Ancient egypt

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Political Science

In my report, I will discuss how the pyramids were built,

what purpose they served, the three pyramids at Giza, some

messages found on the stones that were used to build

pyramids, and what a mastabas is. Pyramids are tombs built

for Egypt's pharaohs. Pyramids are large structures with four

sides that are the shape of a triangle, that meet at the top to

form a point. The ancient Egyptians used the pyramids as

tombs for the pharaohs and temples for their gods. The

pyramids have one or two little temples attached to them,

which holds their relatives and servants. A few pyramids still

stand today, and are great attractions for tourists. The

pyramids were built by taking blocks of granite to the

workshop, measuring the blocks down to size, shaping the

blocks, and placing the blocks into the body of the pyramid.

The core of the structure is now completed. Then, you place

the limestone blocks on the top of the structure (they started

putting the blocks on top and then worked their way down).

They left two empty rooms to place the pharaoh and his

belongings in. They sealed the pyramids so well, it took four

hundred years for two robbers to figure out how to get in.

The pyramids were built by free citizens, drafted for public

work, not by slaves of any sort. The pyramids were built by

four thousand expert stone sculptors all year round. An extra

work group of about ninety-five thousand men worked on

the pyramids during the four month period of the inundation

(the time of enforced idleness for farmers, since the field

were covered with the Nile water flood ). The pyramids

were built between the year 1600 B.C. and the year 2700.

Many scholars believe that the reason why the pyramids

were built in a triangular form is because it has a religious

meaning to the Egyptians. The slanting side might have

reminded the Egyptians of the slanting rays of the sun, that

the pharaoh's soul could climb to the sky and join the gods.

In the pyramids they buried the pharaoh's body. There was a

chamber for the body. There was also a chamber for

treasures of gold and other priceless items for the pharaoh's

afterlife. Sometimes a boat is placed inside so the pharaoh

would have a way to transport himself into his afterlife. In

Pharaoh Cheopses pyramid, therewas his mummy, caskets

full of jewels, furniture inlaid with ivory and gold, silver and

alabaster bowls and vessels, chests filled with clothing and

precious ornaments, and jars filled full of food and wine.

You must think that the pyramids must have been large to

hold all of that, and as a matter of fact the base of the

pyramid covers enough area to hold ten football fields. The

three pyramids at Giza stand on the west bank of the Nile

River,outside of Cairo. They are the largest and best

preserved pyramids. The largest of the three was for

Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops). The next to largest was for

Pharaoh Khafre. The smallest (yet not small at all) was for

Pharaoh Menkaure. The first known pharaoh to have a

pyramid was Pharaoh Zoser,in the year 2650 B.C. Imhotep

built it for him. If you ever see something that looks like a

pyramid, except it's smaller than one, and has a flat top,

don't mistake it for a pyramid, it's a mastabas. In the

mastabas the king's relatives and servants are buried. Some

blocks had marks on them to show where they belonged.

Others had messages like " this side up ", " vigorous gang",

or even " how drunk the king is ". In conclusion, the

pyramids were built by free, drafted, citizens. Pyramids were

used to bury the pharaohs. The messages on the stones were

decoded. The three pyramids at the Giza were the largest,

and a mastabas is not a pyramid. BIBLIOGRAPHY

CASSON,LIONEL. ANCIENT EGYPT.

CANADA:TIME INCORPORATED,1965. NEWBY,P.H.

THE EGYPT STORY, ITS ART, ITS MONUMENTS,

ITS PEOPLE, ITS HISTORY.ITALY:ABBEVILLE

PRESS,1979 PAYNE,ELIZABETH.THE PHARAOHS

OF ANCIENT EGYPT.NEW YORK:RANDOM HOUSE

INCORPORATED,1984. "PYRAMIDS." WORLD

BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA,1977 ??